Good morning everyone, I have a 2006 Honda Accord V6 auto w/ 177k. Recently, I got a new ac compressor put on and the compressor randomly does not engage, doesn't matter what I'm doing I could be driving or standing still idling. There were also instances that it would try to kick on but immediately stop on its tracks. I contacted the mechanic that put it on and they say it might be the high or low pressure line sensors that might be faulty they didn't even question that maybe it could be the compressor itself they put on or one of the components within the compressor. My question is can those pressure line sensors really cause what I have going on or is this guy blowing smoke?
Thanks for your time!
If sensors that detect low or high pressure conditions are defective they could be turning off the compressor. You'd want to check that system pressures are actually in the normal range. A sensor could be triggering due to actual operating conditions.
Alright then, I'll be going to him tomorrow morning and he's going to check if they're in within normal operating range. Would that be the only thing that could cause that issue? Would you check the ac compressor too, or any other parts?
It could well be some kind of electrical problem or a problem with an electronic control module. The AC compressor is probably OK being new, but that cannot be assumed, it needs to be checked. Hopefully the mechanic will do a proper diagnosis rather than using the parts cannon approach.
I'm hoping that he doesn't go that approach either.. but alright I'll see what happens tomorrow and hopefully this can be resolved same day.. heat waves coming
Alright Chuck, spent the whole morning with the mechanic annnnnnnnnnnd..... Still not resolved.
He hooked up his fancy scan tool, checked the electrical systems, he then checked the pressure lines, did the gauge test again, checked the freon levels, removed the freon and vacuumed the lines within the system to make sure no deposits or air were in the system, put the freon back in, made sure the ac would drip and not just sweat, rode tested it with a temperature gun and nothing still. He tells me he doubts it's the compressor that he has been getting compressors from wherever he gets them for years and customers never came back with any more issues and blah blah blah. I've gone to him over 3 times about the issue and still no solution. This is so frustrating...
Well it is tough to diagnose a problem that is intermittent and can't be reproduced at will. I take it that when the compressor engages the AC is working? It's almost certainly a random electrical problem. Could be anything from an intermittently bad clutch coil to anything down the line that controls it. About the only way I can think of to try narrowing it down would be to temporarily hot-wire the compressor as Scotty has shown in his videos. If the problem persists under those conditions it would have to be the compressor clutch.
The funny thing is the problem did reproduced right in front of his face and he still couldn't figure it out. Yeah you're right, the AC does work when the compressor is engaged. I did some more digging and I'm going to try what they call a "AC Self Diagnostic" and see if that tells me anything. I think you ought to be right though that it must be one of the pressure switches because when I look up on the symptoms of bad pressure switches one of them is a short "rapid" cycle. Maybe he didn't check it properly idk. But I'm gonna go out and see what I can do in the meantime.