Help !!! My aircon compressor has started smoking when aircon turned on - first there is an odd smell then it turns to smoke. The refrigerant has leaked out as well. It seems that there might have been a leak which then caused the compressor to seize up. Does that make sense? Quite from Honda is £1900 plus VAT for the part alone ! Any ideas of a cheaper solution in the UK? I just bought my car (for a crazy price !) so feeling a bit down about it all. Thanks

 

I've recently regassed mine after a long time being unused, as part of a wider refurb. It 'clonks' heavily when it cuts in, so I'm wondering if mine is on the way out too. The jerk is so severe that you notice it jerk the car if your on steady throttle and low revs. I'm trying to use it as much as possible to see if it'll loosen up again!

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Ops, I sold my AC compressor for £60 last year but DHL lost it!

 

They can be had on online auction sites fairly cheaply. A proper vacuum and regas is necessary once the lines have been exposed to air etc.

 

Clonk on start up is maybe the clutch , you can clean this and adjust it , refer to manual , mine barely worked was full of rust .

shame the manufacturer of the compressors has a branch in Scotland , Glasgow but they won’t deal with joe public , I wanted a replacement temperature sensor I think Honda want £180 for £5 sensor , but some one here sent me one for nothing , at the moment it’s running shorted out.

maybe the noise is due to lack of lube in the system.

 

It looks to me like we share the Keihin HS-090R compressor with the Jazz/Civic/CRV except a different pulley/clutch size - anyone know if it's as simple as swapping the clutch or is there more to it than that?

 

I'd be looking around my area for an a/c specialist, they may be able to repair or work with the company in Scotland, no mates in the trade who can middle man for you?

 

Fit a shorter belt and bin it for now?

The AC rad is probably in bad nick too

 

Great shout, thanks Chippo. Didn't realise they were serviceable.

 

I ended up taking the compressor off (actually I paid someone to do that !!) and sending it off to Compressortech in Warwick who will give it a full refurb and report and send it back hopefully within a week. Fingers crossed it all works when it goes back on. Looks like the system was contaminated with dirt and oil so I may end up replacing all pipes as well. Getting more expensive as the days pass !