With the warm weather descending here into South Carolina, I am paying special attention to my air conditioning system. When the a/c is on, it does an overall acceptable job over time. However, if I use my hand to feel the flow of air coming out of the vents, I notice something a bit unusual, with about a one or two minute apparent cycle time. I will notice that the air flowing out is quite cold, and then a while later it will feel merely cool for several seconds duration. Just as I begin to worry that the a/c may have quit, it suddenly becomes quite cold again. It would appear that the compressor is cycling on and off. I just don't know if this is characteristic of the compressor used in S2000's, and perhaps other very recent model Honda's, or if there is some sort of defect I should call to the dealer's attention at my first servicing [nearly 2000 miles, and I have nothing yet to put on the complaint list].
Has anyone else noticed similar behavior of the a/c system?

 

I don't run the air too often, but I do notice that it cycles the same way as yours. I wish it wouldn't cycle because it seems to take an awfully long time to cool the car down.

John

 

Usually when it does that it means you are low on freon. Haven't noticed any cycling on my S...Have it checked just for piece of mind....

 

I noticed the same with my car last summer. I spoke with the Honda S2000 technician who ran a diagnostic and said the system checked out fine. The problem he indicated is with the compressor cycling and there is no adjustment. My car is a 2001 and I was wondering if Honda made any change to the 2002 model.

 

[QUOTE] Originally posted by R C
]I noticed the same with my car last summer. I spoke with the Honda S2000 technician who ran a diagnostic and said the system checked out fine. The problem he indicated is with the compressor cycling and there is no adjustment. My car is a 2001 and I was wondering if Honda made any change to the 2002 model..
............
My car is a 2002 model, manufactured in December 2001. Perhaps that is just the design, and its purpose is to ease the load that the compressor puts on the engine, to save gas and power expenditure. I'll keep watching to be sure it is all right, but I am downright disappointed that I seem to have absolutely nothing on my 'bitch list' for the first maintenance.

 

As I recall, the compressor is designed to cycle every so often. There's nothing wrong with your AC.

If you put the system on recirculate you probably won't notice the cycle as much.

 

After the 00 Acura TL I had, the S2000 A/C doesn't seem to put out in this car very well. I have a my 02.

 

I have an 01, my wife and I joke about the AC, it has a mind of its own, sometimes cool, sometimes not. For some reason, putting the top down and running up in VTEC range solves the problem ... I just plain forget about the AC

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Destiny2002
[B]After the 00 Acura TL I had, the S2000 A/C doesn't seem to put out in this car very well.

 

Compressors must cycle but what surprised me was how long the S2000 compressor remains off before cycling back on. Initially the air conditioning system provides excellent cooling, but once the compressor begins cycling it remains off for an extended period while the fan circulates air from the duct. Once the compressor runs again, the air temperature drops nicely. I was hoping that the compressor cycle could be adjusted but learned that it cannot. The variation is most noticable on a hot day while idling in traffic. I don't recall what the temperature spread is, but even the technician who is quite familiar with the S, was surprised to see how warm the temperature rose before the compressor cycled back on. Like most Stook owners, I've owned several other Hondas as well as an older Miata and never experienced such high temperature swings with compressor cycling.