AC - no cold air

1998 Honda Civic LX manual transmission

About 3 years ago during the summer I drove over a railroad track with the AC on. I didn't hit the tracks hard, but they are elevated a bit so it was enough for a light and normal jostle. I heard a reasonably loud clunk-clunk noise. It wasn't the bump noise of the track, but a different noise just milliseconds after. From that point on the AC was dead. In my civic, when I normally turn on the AC when it works properly, you can feel the compressor / clutch engage and the load on the engine. Now, I can still hit the AC button on the dash and the little green light in it will come on, but the ac never engages and I just get ambient temperature air blowing. Just today, I decided to do something about it. I tested the pressure and the refrigerant is properly pressurizing the system. No leaks. When the car runs, I can see the belt rotating fine over the compressor wheel and that isn't seized up. I checked the related fuses and they are OK. I fed a positive wire I rigged up to the wire coming off the compressor and I get a small spark, but the clutch does not engage. Now I'm thinking it is the clutch or the compressor or both. I'm guessing that is what I need to change. I see it online for auction for about $250 delivered with a dryer and o rings and oil. So, A) should I just replace this next. B) I assume legally I need to get it evacuated, so that's OK. C) after I put the parts back on and if I did it right, do I need to just go to a pro and get it evacuated and charged and then I'm done? If I can get away with not depressurizing the system and just change a clutch, that would be great but I don't know for sure if it will solve the problem. Thanks.

One more thing. I can't tell if the inner part of the clutch is spinning or not due to the location of the compressor. It's pretty far down there and up close to the front left wheel. If necessary, I guess I can pull the wheel off and start pealing back the shrouding between the wheel and the engine compartment.

Thank you for the reply. I'll look into seeing if I can afford to get a pro to fix this. I did get one quote a while back and it was $650 US to replace the clutch to $1500 for the whole system. That seems significantly overpriced for the work to me. If I don't get a decent quote, I'll do it myself.

I have a 98 Honda Civic EX with about 70,000 miles on it and I am having trouble with my AC. Whenever I turn on the AC it makes a loud noise by my glove compartment and doesn't go away unless I turn off the AC. The AC blows cool air, but it is just so noisy. What can be the problem? Somebody told me it can be the compressor, or condenser? Can you please help me, thank you.

Hi,
I own a 1998 Honda Civic, 81000 miles. The Air conditioner blows hot air and shows no sign of cooling down. The heater was working fine during winter, but the cooler is giving me a hard time this summer.
Is there anything I can check before taking the car to a mechanic? I bought this car about a year ago when it had 71000 miles. I have never changed the coolant or done any service on it other than the regular oil changes.
Kindly advise.
Thanks,
Sarath

Three or four weeks ago I put two cans of artic freeze ultra synthetic r-134a in my wife's civic. The ac worked ok if it was a cool cool day but barely cut it if its hot out. The last couple of days it been in the 90s so I decided to put one more can in. After most of the can went in to the system the engine start shuddering and almost stalling. The a/c pump will kick on and off. If I shut the a/c off it runs fine. When I took it for a test drive and turned the a/c it would turn on for a sec then shut off again causing a sudden drop in power. Is it possible to put to much refrigerant in the system?

I have a 1998 honda civic with 64000 miles on it and the air conditioning was working fine like its supposed to now the blower only works on high and most of the air comes out on passenger side under the glove compartment what could cause this. Thank you for any assistance.

The a/c started blowing warm air when stopped at lights or going slow. Once I get up speed it starts to cool but not enough. I tried using the freeon, no help. Wouldn't take it at all. What could be the problem?

Yes I think this maybe the problem. That's talking money too isn't it? Thank you for replying back to me. Have a great day.

Ok, I know this is going to sound dumb. But I have two fans on my car. Which one is which? If you're facing the car say under the hood. Which one is the radiator and the other air fan?One of them does click on when the ac is on. But the other has not and my temp. Gage seems to rise but not all the way to half way. When the car gets warmer the air from the ac gets warmer also. Got any other ideas, something I may can check myself or have a friend check? I will have the fan checked also. Thank you. It's actually an integra engine.