1996 Civic Full System Rebuild Poor Cooling

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somedude01
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Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 12:34 pm

1996 Civic Full System Rebuild Poor Cooling

Post by somedude01 »

Hey all. This one has me kind of stumped due to my lack of proper service equipment. I just recently replaced Condenser, Evap, TXV, Compressor, and Receiver Drier and every o-ring on my girlfriend's 96 Civic sedan. The car was cooling alright before but the condenser was damaged and leaking, the evap was caked in gunk, and the compressor had a nasty whirring noise that was not cured with a little more oil. This made me opt for a full rebuild.

I have 60/265 on a 90-95f day at an idle. Revving to around 1500 gives more than 280 high and only lowers low side to 50-55. Spraying water on the condenser drops the high pressure like a rock to 180 ish. The vent temp stays at 62-70f with the car closed up. This car also has dark tint all around. The expansion valve audibly whistles and is not OEM because they show the valve as discontinued. -_- I'm thinking this may be my issue, especially with an elevated low side.

I vacuumed it down for 2 and a half hours with no leaks. The car calls for 22 oz and I used exactly two 12oz cans to charge it up. I also used 4oz of PAG46 but did not flush the one hose that stayed mounted. Is it possible I have too much oil and/or or a bad TXV? I've already taken the car back apart and drained an ounce of oil with zero change in performance. I also removed the one hose to double check how much oil it could possibly hold and it had maybe a drop or two. The oil also seemed kind of foamy when drained.. I dunno if that matters at all.

I know my symptoms scream condenser problem, but my vent temperature stayed 62-70f the whole time even when using water. The fan is also directly sealed to the condenser. The car does eventually cool to 40f but it only did that in a rain storm while cruising at 50mph. I've also had the heater valve line vice-gripped off for the last 2 weeks with no change.

I probably won't tear this car back apart until I get a micron gauge and a refrigerant scale with a 30lb cylinder. I'm getting tired of guessing and just want my stuff to work. :P

I appreciate all the help I can get and as always this site has been awesome!
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