Hi,

I've been having problems with my 97 si AC, as the car warms up or the outside temp is warm, the air coming out the vents, isn't cold. My Honda mechanic has changed about everything from soup to nuts on this (compressor, condenser, various lines etc) and it's still not working the way it should but he says it's testing fine.

My question is this.....when I turn on my fan, bits of leaves are blowing into the car, and I was wondering how normal is this, and is this why there is perhaps warm air also coming in, defeating the efficiency of the AC unit?

I've invested more money than I should have to try to remedy the problem and wondering if anyone has some thoughts on the question and solution.

thanks......Jim

 

Check that the heater valve on the firewall closes fully with the dash control at full cold. It's very common for that to be out of adjustment, leading the heater and the A/C to fight each other. The heater will win.

For leaves, you could pull the blower motor/fan assembly and clean it out of there. That is simple, unplug the wire, remove 3 screws, and drop the fan out. It's even better to remove the evaporator but that requires opening the lines, you would need equipment to recover and replace the refrigerant. Leaves get in because the system pulls air from the grille under the windshield and there's nothing but a coarse screen to keep them out. If you park under a tree a lot you're going to have leaves, and they're going to clog your evaporator coil and reduce A/C performance.

 

Thanks for the quick reply to my question. I was just looking at the parts list on my bill and they replaced the valve assembly water $72.00, and the cable temp control $12.00 as well as condensor comp $351 the evaporator sub assembly $390 and various pipes. Would the valve assembly be the heater valve that you mentioned?