I am writing this article to share the experience I had with my 2006 Honda Civic air conditioning problems. I sorted the root problem based on every symptoms the car gives and hunt for the best solutions. Honda Civic owners who face different kind of air conditioning problems should go through this article. I strongly believe that this article could save you hundreds of unwanted repair cost from untruthful dealers or mechanic.
Last week, I was driving my Honda Civic from Northern Thailand to Southern Thailand, out of sudden, the car AC stops working. It blows only hot air. I parked the car and had a glass of coffee. The AC works again when I start the car. However, it blows hot air again after 1-2 minutes of cold air. This is definitely a weird symptoms to me. As a person who knows nothing about car, the only thing I can do is drive it to the nearest AC workshop. The mechanic, Chang, opened the car hood and did some checking with the gauges on his hand. He told me the air-cond gas is still full but the AC compressor is gone. The approximate price is $1,200 include labour charge. This sounds ridiculous to me because I remember I had just replace the compressor clutch and refill the gas a year ago. I decided to leave with it and go to another shop.
Here comes another mechanic, Shyne, Shyne was a good man and he told me the AC compressor clutch works for 1-2 minutes then stop working. The compressor clutch is the metal plate attached to the compressor as shown in the image below. When you switch on the AC, it should be running/spinning.
In my case, it spins for a few minutes then stop working. It works again after a few minutes then stop working, again and again. After a 5-minute checking, Shyne told me the AC compressor, condenser and other parts are working fine. He told me that it was the AC compressor relay that giving the problem. The AC compressor relay is located at top right under the car hood. Please refer to the image below.
Once you opened it, you will see a few relay and fuses (see also Honda Civic Fuse Diagram). The AC compressor relay is the one circle in red in the image below. The original relay from Honda is MITSUBA brand, made in VIETNAM. In order to test if it is the relay that cause the problem, you can always switch other relay (similar readings) to the one circle in red. Once switched, you will know if it is the problem. Bingo! It is!
In Thailand, there are options to go for Omron or Denso relay. Personally I am more to Denso therefore I bought a brand new DENSO relay at only 100 baht ($3 dollars). It is made in Thailand and that could be the reason why it is cheap.
A special tool is needed to remove the AC compressor relay. However, you can use a flat screwdriver to remove it. Make sure you remove it gently.
This is how my under hood fuse box look like with the new DENSO AC compressor relay (the one in blue). Now my Honda Civic air conditioning is working again and all I spent is just $3 instead of $1,200. Always check your relay, fuses and wiring related parts if your AC is not working. Do not simply believe untruthful mechanic because Honda Civic air conditioning compressor is something could last for at least 6-12 years (or 150,000-180,000 km).
See also: Honda Civic Engine Vibrates in Parking Reverse Transmission, 2007 Honda Civic Fuse Diagram and Honda Civic: It still smells new after runs for one hundred thousand km in five years.
This article is written and submitted by Somchai Songsakul, from Thailand. Please use the Write For Us page if you would like to submit an article to MalaysiaMiniLover.com.
