I just picked my car my car up today after having the compressor replaced (MY 2000). I too noticed it blowing warm air more frequently and then finally it would put out no cold air at all. The repair took almost 2 weeks to complete because of difficulty obtaining a replacement compressor. Other components in the system also had to be replaced which were not discovered until after the new compressor was installed. I have not heard of other stooks with this problem and believe it to be infrequent.

 

Hey ORIF,

You wouldn't happen to be an orthopedic surgeon, would you?
ORIF= Open Reduction Internal Fixation

 

I agree with the coolant theory. My girlfriends prelude is the same way(it has the newer coolant), however my crx blew pretty cold (it has the older coolant)

 

for those that think this car's AC is weak compared to other's, you must have driven some ice truck. any car that can blow cold air out the vents with the top down has a great AC... perhaps it's just mine, but my car blows out VERY cold air...

-Shing

 

Is there a way to mod your a/c so it'll blow colder air? Sounds stupid I know...but it'll be so useful

 

I put the AC on sometimes with the top down when the area around feet & legs starts to get warm. Just a blast helps cool things down for awhile. Feel guilty everytime I do it, though!

 

It's all relative, kind of like the radio. Compared to what was available years ago, this AC works great. Back in the 60's & 70's the only AC available for many cars was the aftermarket hang-on type, rather than a factory unit.

My '71 BMW 2002 had a unit that was so inefficient as to be virtually unuseable on a hot day. My dad had an aftermarket unit on his '65 Porsche 356C coupe that never really got cold. He would come home on a hot day looking like a wilted pot plant. He loved that car so much that he would never admit the AC sucked.

I've found that if you start out on recirc., high fan, and slowly cut down your fan speed, you will maintain an optimum temperature.

 

Car A/C systems are placed under enormous demands and it's amazing they work as well as they do. They operate at varying capacities or cooling capability (the compressor spins at varying speeds with the engine compared to a home A/C where an electric motor drives the compressor at a constant speed), the entering air temperature of the evaporator can be over 120 degrees (compared to a home A/C where your return air temp is less than 80 degrees), and the blower speeds vary considerably (the dashboard control). But, the bottom line is that because of the new refrigerant (R134a), most systems deliver air that is slightly warmer than the old R12 systems, based on the properties of the refrigerant. That's not to say that an R134a system can't cool a car - it just requires a bigger system, which places more of a load on an engine (and horsepower loss). If anyone had a car in the mid 1990's when the R134a systems first came out, they know how bad they were. Manufacturers basically just adapted their old R12 systems to use R134a, and the performance went down significantly. With more experience with R134a, and new technology, things are getting better.

With all of that said, if the performance of any system is decreasing, have the system checked - it probably has a leak. It only takes a very small leak to cause a large reduction in cooling capacity since a car uses a relatively small amount of refrigerant. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not know how to properly service A/C systems, and unless you know that there is a problem, it's best to keep peoples hands off the system.