AC Problems not working?

It starts hot and stays hot. So this wouldn't be a freon issue?

Thanks for both of the replies.

Hello Guys,

I have a 1998 Accord and last year my a/c would work on certain days and on some days it wouldn't. I brought it to a repair shop and they traced the problem to the climate control, which was replaced. Well now here we are again with the same problem occuring again. My a/c hasn't been on in a week and it's hot! What could be the problem? Certainly it was not climate control to begin with.

Mine did the Same on my 1997 Honda Accord. Blows hot air. Then a Certified Mechanic from church came over and lifted the passenger side felt panel near gear shift. Showed me a "gold bar" switch. He switched it over. Yes! Cold air. My **** was broken on the dash was all.

Church mechanic solution. Correction. Felt panel on floorboards of the Passenger side near the center of the gearshift thingy. A GOld bar switch that can be switched on instead of the broken one on your dash. Perhaps.

Air Conditioning problem
1998 Honda Accord 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 265K miles

Hi. My a/c "cool" is operating erratic. Often, at engine start and when driving in hot weather with system in "auto", the cold air won't come out and the fan compensates at full fan. Warm, outside temp air, comes out. Then, suddenly, it will come on and stay on, and very cold, like normal. Sometimes the system powers up normally. Also, sometimes when I accellerate really fast, after a few seconds the air will start getting cold, sometimes very slowly and sometimes almost immediately cold. I know the condensor fan works, and I don't hear any belt squeels to indicate a loose belt. My Haynes manual describes how to get diagnostic information out of the display but when I follow the procedure it turns off the system off instead of giving me "88" on the display. Any help here will also be appreciated. Thanks!

I'll check to see if in Manual mode it does this, but I'm pretty sure it does.

The problem seems to be fairly predictable. The A/C will not cool unless the car is initially driven for about 3 - 5 minutes, then it comes on strong. Almost sounds like a relay or some sensor acting erratic. Yesterday I checked the freon pressure and it was at the low end, 25, during idle, and when the clutch engaged it would go up past 30. So I added some freon. What I'm not sure of is if the clutch is engaging when the car is first driven.

It makes no difference if I take the system out of auto mode and into semi-auto. What I did notice today is the clutch is not engaging at cold start, even when the radiator fan is engaged (when A/C on). I actually took a flash light and observed the clutch under the hood. But after a short drive, the system starts working. I checked under the hood and noticed the clutch engaging and disengaging along with the radiator fan after that short drive.
Now, however, after recharging the system, I have a new problem! After the system warms up, it cycles on only momentarily, then off as if it were in some sort of self protection mode. The cooling is degraded, as you might expect. This just happened last night after I finished recharging the system. I left the car sit for about an hour, then I put the pressure gauge on it and while the compressor was engaged continuously (before it went into the cycling mode) it measured 32 PSI. But when I took a static pressure reading after engine shutdown it built up from 50 PSI all the way up to 80 psi. I'm not sure what the static pressure should be, but perhaps I've overcharged causing this new system power on/off cycling problem? When it cylces on/off you can hear sort of a metallic "pop".

Thanks. For the original problem, do you still think the expansion valve might be the problem after describing my original symptoms? Or could it be the air conditioning pressure switch located on top of the receiver-drier?

Any easy way to let some pressure out of the low pressure end other than taking it in for servicing? I just so happen to have one of those r-134 bottle screw on trigger valves that I can no longer screw on to another bottle because it would not spin off the old r134 can. But the trigger valve still works fine, and the hose attaches to the low end of the a/c system just fine as well. I know if I attach it and press the valve it would release pressure, I just don't know if that is considered ok to do. Or, if the a/c low pressure attachment point is like a schraeder valve, can one just push it to release pressure (again, low end side)?

Thanks. I very much appreciate the advice. I know the compressor is working at high rpm AFTER the initial 3 to 5 minutes of driving because once the a/c engages at that point, it works like normal for hours. And even if I turn off the car for 15 mins, it will start up with the a/c working. But the longer I let the car sit (more than 30 mins), the more probable I will not have a/c when I initially drive the car, but until 3 to 5 mins later (and in my neighborhood in the summer, you can boil in that time!).
Perhaps another clue is, when the a/c decides to turn on, it doesn't always turn on "full cold"; it often gradually builds up to full cold over the course of 2 mins or so. So, we have two symptoms: 1) no compressor engagement first 3 - 5 mins of driving; 2) when a/c finally starts working, it often gradually builds up to full cold.

I have a 98 honda accord ex 4 cyl and the a.C doesn't work(needs new air compreser still not fixed yet) I was driving and all of a sudden it was lots of smoke coming from my front driver tire. My car was not running hot and the smell was strong. It kind of smelled like a burning clutch(my car is auto) remember this smell from a pervious car I had. Brake pads are medium. Can you tell me what that might be?