the first time i drove my car, (august of 2009) i turned on my A/C and it made my car lurch really weird. like accelerated unevenly. so i hadnt turned it on since then, cuz it was a cool fall so i opened the windows. so this june i drove to a concert an hour away, and it was raining hard on the highway so i couldnt open the windows, so i used my ac, and it did fine, i didnt notice anything. so the last 2 days it has been 100+ here, and i decided to use my ac, but it lurched again, and this time it accelerated VERY VERY unevenly, i couldnt even get out of the parking lot without having to turn it off. i dont really know how to describe the feeling. I usually just only open the windows anyways, but lately its been so hot that i actually drip sweat off my face while driving. anybody know what could be the problem?

i have a 95 civic ex 2dr coupe

 

Well when you turn your AC on the clutch engages, which marries your ac belt and your ac compressor. So when you turn it on (ac) and it causes poor driveablity it seems like your compressor is trying to seize up. So with the info you gave me I'd say probably bad ac clutch or compressor, it wouldn't be a bad idea to change both. But to change that you'd need to pull out refrigerant that's in there and put refrigerant back in with the same amount of PAG (or Honda AC oil not sure if they have a specific one or not) oil that came out, which would require you to have an AC service machine (very pricey unless you work at a shop). Or you could just kill all the birds, bees, and trees and let it back into the atmosphere and then try and find a spec on how much oil it takes lol

Hope that helped

 

Check that the condenser fan works. If the fan doesn't work, the pressure will build abnormally high when the car is not moving. At highway speed, air gets rammed through anyway so you don't need the fan. The high pressure causes a strain on the compressor and engine. The "lurching" effect is completed by the tendency of the compressor to cycle on and off rapidly because of the pressure safety switch.

 

how would one go about seeing if their condenser fan works?

 

Open the hood, turn the key to ON(II), turn on the cabin blower, and push the A/C button. Does the driver-side fan run?

 

To check the actual fan motor itself you can unplug the condenser fan and jump 12volts across it. If the motor energizes (fan turns on lol) it is good if she doesn't she's bad lol. If the problem was the condenser fan not engaging, it may not necessarily be the fan itself. It could be the input (what's telling the motor to energize) or there could be an open in the circuit or a short to ground may have developed (may cause intermittent fan operation). If your fan motor passes the jump test and you suspect the problem to be the fan motor not engaging, you'd need a schematic and a DVOM to pin point your problem
How many miles are on it?

 

yeah i understood, like, 5% of that maybe haha. im kinda not very smart when it comes to cars.

there are 230k on the body, 150k on engine/tranny

 

what do you mean blow? like can i feel air on the drivers side or.. what? haha sorry

 

You should be able to just turn the car on and turn the a/c on and if the fan turns on they it works. The fan will always turn on right away. Just open the hood and check. If the fan is spinning then your problem lies else where.

I remember the first time I took my a/c out, the coolant shot up and scared the **** out of me, stuff is not good to breath in.

 

Well worst comes to worst you always got that "280 AC" hahaha