- Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:41 am
#311473
Hello to all of your fellow EG lovers, Ive been obsessed with EGs since my first 93 DX hatch I bought in 1998. Drove it for 500,000 miles and went on to bigger cars, then lost my job in 2009 and just a few months ago got myself a humble 92 DX Sedan, have done a ton of work all over the car, but there is one issue I havent been able to fix myself, I pray someone has gone through this situation before, because I have yet to see a definitive post on here about this, and hopefully once I figure it out, I can help others who run into it....
Ok here is all the data:
First, what I noticed right off the bat:
80A fuse in engine bay had been blown, then soldered together
Burning smell in the engine bay fuse box
Multiple wire splices from ECU to engine bay, and from ECU to AC head unit
A switch bypassing everything straight to the compressor relay
Compressor completely seized up
Evaporator totally clogged with organic matter
So here is what I replaced so far:
What has been replaced brand new:
All fuses in-dash and in engine bay
Compressor
Compressor clutch relay
Evaporator
Condenser fan
Condenser fan relay
80A engine bay fuse
Expansion valve
AC head unit (junkyard, all solder looks good, no cracks/corrosion, continuity looks good on all points, switch on and off)
Idle issue replacement brand new:
IACV
TPS
PCV
Upstream oxygen sensor
Cat
What has not been replaced yet:
AC Thermo switch
Condensor (have it, just didnt want to decompress system again just for this until I figure out the compressor issue)
Ok, so after all that work, the bypass switch AND the head unit would engage the compressor and air blew cold.
Most of this work would be completed around midnight or 1AM, I live in North Texas, so its probably 80-90 degrees at midnight.
I'd take it for a spin at night, and it was all good, compressor would stay on. When I would get off the gas and out of gear, the idle would drop so low that it would sometimes stall out (hence why I started replacing the sensors and what not, I also cleaned out FITV and throttle body really well, FITV was like 5 turns out when I went in there, now its tightened all the way down, didnt really notice any difference in the stalling, but the general timing and performance of the motor felt better after all this)
The next day on my way to work, compressor would not come on, so then Id go in and replace something else (sensors etc) and then Id get the compressor to click on, it would blow cold, then the clutch would disengage, then 5 seconds later, reengage, then 5 seconds later disengage, and repeat this process until I turned the compressor off.
Then it would not come on at all.
I have tested continuity on pretty much every wire in the entire car, in the bay, in the cabin, in the dash etc. The only thing I've noticed that is odd is the thick ground wire coming out of the back of the head unit will get VERY hot to the touch after about 30 seconds after I hit the compressor switch on the head unit. When I noticed this, the compressor had gotten to the point where it wont even turn on at all anymore, no matter what I did.
I'm getting close to taking it to the Honda dealership to troubleshoot the electrical issue, but before I did, was wondering if anyone had any ideas...
I have a copy of the service manual, but I have issues understanding some of the steps, here is an example of my lack of electrical knowledge:
"Disconnect the AC thermostat 2P connector" (I did this)
"Connect 1 and 2 terminals using a jumper wire" (I did this with a paperclip, would this work? If not, what is a jumper wire?)
"Start the engine" (I did this)
"Does the compressor engage?" (It didnt)
"Turn off ignition"
"Reconnect the AC thermostat 2P connector"
"Disconnect the compressor clutch relay 4P connector"
(Here is where I get lost)
"Measure voltage between the WHT wire terminal and the body ground" (So I put my positive probe on WHT wire terminal, and my negative probe on any ground?)
"Is there battery voltage?" (so does this mean I should see 12+ volts? What setting on meter should it be on to test this part?)
"If no, then Repair open in the WHT wire between the under-hood fuse/relay box and the compressor clutch relay" (again, lost, so what do I do, cut the wire near both ends and replace with the same gauge wire inbetween?)
Of course this process is just repeated a bunch of times, I just need the elementary understanding to complete the steps.
Any help with this would be great, and Id be in debt to anyone who knows what Im dealing with.
Thanks to anyone who has any experience with this specific issue I've described.
I love EG Civics, and definitely EG-Civic, this community rocks! I hope to be a contributing factor on this site at some point, maybe starting with this post because I've camped this website for months, and I've been working on this one issue for over 2 weeks, with 80+ hours of my own time messing with it after replacing all these components, Im really close to turning it over to a professional, but maybe Ill get lucky
Thanks again for such a great site, have a great day!
Jon
Ok here is all the data:
First, what I noticed right off the bat:
80A fuse in engine bay had been blown, then soldered together
Burning smell in the engine bay fuse box
Multiple wire splices from ECU to engine bay, and from ECU to AC head unit
A switch bypassing everything straight to the compressor relay
Compressor completely seized up
Evaporator totally clogged with organic matter
So here is what I replaced so far:
What has been replaced brand new:
All fuses in-dash and in engine bay
Compressor
Compressor clutch relay
Evaporator
Condenser fan
Condenser fan relay
80A engine bay fuse
Expansion valve
AC head unit (junkyard, all solder looks good, no cracks/corrosion, continuity looks good on all points, switch on and off)
Idle issue replacement brand new:
IACV
TPS
PCV
Upstream oxygen sensor
Cat
What has not been replaced yet:
AC Thermo switch
Condensor (have it, just didnt want to decompress system again just for this until I figure out the compressor issue)
Ok, so after all that work, the bypass switch AND the head unit would engage the compressor and air blew cold.
Most of this work would be completed around midnight or 1AM, I live in North Texas, so its probably 80-90 degrees at midnight.
I'd take it for a spin at night, and it was all good, compressor would stay on. When I would get off the gas and out of gear, the idle would drop so low that it would sometimes stall out (hence why I started replacing the sensors and what not, I also cleaned out FITV and throttle body really well, FITV was like 5 turns out when I went in there, now its tightened all the way down, didnt really notice any difference in the stalling, but the general timing and performance of the motor felt better after all this)
The next day on my way to work, compressor would not come on, so then Id go in and replace something else (sensors etc) and then Id get the compressor to click on, it would blow cold, then the clutch would disengage, then 5 seconds later, reengage, then 5 seconds later disengage, and repeat this process until I turned the compressor off.
Then it would not come on at all.
I have tested continuity on pretty much every wire in the entire car, in the bay, in the cabin, in the dash etc. The only thing I've noticed that is odd is the thick ground wire coming out of the back of the head unit will get VERY hot to the touch after about 30 seconds after I hit the compressor switch on the head unit. When I noticed this, the compressor had gotten to the point where it wont even turn on at all anymore, no matter what I did.
I'm getting close to taking it to the Honda dealership to troubleshoot the electrical issue, but before I did, was wondering if anyone had any ideas...
I have a copy of the service manual, but I have issues understanding some of the steps, here is an example of my lack of electrical knowledge:
"Disconnect the AC thermostat 2P connector" (I did this)
"Connect 1 and 2 terminals using a jumper wire" (I did this with a paperclip, would this work? If not, what is a jumper wire?)
"Start the engine" (I did this)
"Does the compressor engage?" (It didnt)
"Turn off ignition"
"Reconnect the AC thermostat 2P connector"
"Disconnect the compressor clutch relay 4P connector"
(Here is where I get lost)
"Measure voltage between the WHT wire terminal and the body ground" (So I put my positive probe on WHT wire terminal, and my negative probe on any ground?)
"Is there battery voltage?" (so does this mean I should see 12+ volts? What setting on meter should it be on to test this part?)
"If no, then Repair open in the WHT wire between the under-hood fuse/relay box and the compressor clutch relay" (again, lost, so what do I do, cut the wire near both ends and replace with the same gauge wire inbetween?)
Of course this process is just repeated a bunch of times, I just need the elementary understanding to complete the steps.
Any help with this would be great, and Id be in debt to anyone who knows what Im dealing with.
Thanks to anyone who has any experience with this specific issue I've described.
I love EG Civics, and definitely EG-Civic, this community rocks! I hope to be a contributing factor on this site at some point, maybe starting with this post because I've camped this website for months, and I've been working on this one issue for over 2 weeks, with 80+ hours of my own time messing with it after replacing all these components, Im really close to turning it over to a professional, but maybe Ill get lucky
Thanks again for such a great site, have a great day!
Jon