AC turns off after 10-15 min

shanevas2 on Mon June 10, 2013 10:08 AM

Year: 2007
Make: honda
Model: civic
Engine Size: 2.0
Country of Origin: United States

I have a 07 civic si. When i drive the car, after about 10-15 min the compressor turns itself on. I can run power to compressor and it kits on but not on it's own. And once it turns off I have not found it to turn back on untill car cools down. I thought thermal protection on the compressor, but I just did a continuity test and it has cont. any ideas? I live in texas. please help me. lol

mk378 on Mon June 10, 2013 10:39 AM

Likely the compressor relay, or the clutch gap. Do the condenser fans always start and the engine idle up slightly when you press the A/C button? Test if power is being applied to the compressor wire when the compressor is supposed to be running but it is not.

Jumping the compressor with the engine running is NOT recommended. If the fans aren't on you will get a dangerous overpressure, and the pressure switch is unable to stop it.

shanevas2 on Mon June 10, 2013 10:43 AM

Yes the fans run and the rpms jump like they should just after that 15 min perioud the compressor stops turning on. Thats why I though thermal protection was issue.

mk378 on Mon June 10, 2013 2:33 PM

The thermal protector only cuts out when the compressor gets REALLY hot, like it will when someone keeps running it with very little refrigerant. There would be little or no cooling effect all the time under those conditions.

More likely it's just that the clutch gap is too large to work when the coil is hot. The coil naturally loses strength as it heats up because the resistance of copper wire depends on temperature. Or the relay is not working all the time. You can differentiate between the two by checking if the car is applying voltage to the clutch wire. This test must of course be done when it is not working.

Edited: Mon June 10, 2013 at 2:34 PM by mk378

shanevas2 on Mon June 10, 2013 3:00 PM

Someone else on a civic form said relay also. when i give it power directly it works. so guess i will try replacing the relay and hope that's what the issue is. I will jack one from something else to test before I buy a new $60 relay. lol

Olds442 on Thu June 13, 2013 2:12 AM