O.T. Need help with my Honda A/C Options

[Bob L.]

Perfect timing! Middle of Texas summer and my A/C goes out.

Its a 2002 Civic. I'm going to replace the compressor and probably the drier.

Has anyone done this?

Any pitfalls I need to look out for? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[ThePaintedMan]

I'm still not sure I'd go tearing into things before diagnosing the problem. So one day it just started blowing hot? If the seals on the compressor are gone, you'd see low PSI from the low side and high side. Need to get some gauges on it and get some kind of a baseline. Or, at minimum, put some UV dye in the system (fairly cheap at the FLAPS) and you'll be able to tell exactly where the refrigerant is coming from. If the seals are gone on the compressor, it'll spew out the front or just underneath the compressor pulley.

It would suck to replace the compressor if it ended up just being a o-ring, or even simpler, a plugged orifice tube/expansion valve. For example, my wife's A/C started blowing cool, not COLD over a few weeks. Turned out to be a plugged orifice tube - a $1.50 part. Flushed the system, replaced the tube, new oil and refrigerant and it was good to go.

I believe Hondas have expansion valves, but those can get clogged too.