I have a 99 Civic EX. The air conditioning blows out air but the air is not as cold as it should be. I thought i needed to just add more coolant to the system. I bought a can of R-134A that came with a pressure gauge. The gauge read extremely high and the gauge stated that there was a mechanical problem. It let me add a very small amount of freon but not that much. The air still blows out warm. The components of the system seem to be working ok. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

 

Does the compressor engage?

 

i am not sure. how would i be able to tell if it is engaging?

 

Watch for the plate next to the pulley to click in and start spinning.

Also any time it's "not cold enough" the heater valve on the firewall should be checked. The cable needs to push it all the way closed when the control on the dash is set to full cold.

 

I too have this issue with my 02 EX. My compressor does not engage. I have tried jumping the pressure switches and nothing happened. The fuses are good. I also tried the cheap repair kit with gauge and it also said the same thing. Some day I guess I will take it in to get fixed. I have been procrastinating because I know that AC repairs are not cheap.