2005 Civic Hybrid -- A/C problem?

I've owned my Hybrid for about a month. No problems until today when I
noticed that the A/C compressor seemed to "click" on and off,
alternating between 72 degree cool air and warmer, more humid air. I
do not have "ECON" turned on, as I am away that in "ECON" mode the
compressor will shut off when you come to a stop. Instead, this was
occuring during speeds between 40-60mph. I had the fan turned on
medium speed.

Does this sound like a low freon problem?

 

Its normal for an AC compressor to cycle off whenever the temperature
reaches whatever it was set to.

ECON mode in every Honda I've owned means the AC is off all the time and you
are using fresh air ventilation exclusively. Have they changed it?

 

I had the temperature set on 72, and at the times that the compressor
shut off, it certainly didn't feel that cool. Probably more like 77 or
78 degrees -- it was humid and stuffy. I'll see how it does on the way
home today.

Regarding ECON mode, when the engine is running the compressor
definitely seems to be on because the air is cool. When I come to a
stop and the engine shuts off, the compressor shuts off as well.

 

With my 2003 Civic Hybrid, I can tell when the A/C cycles on and off by
engine sound, sometimes, but I don't notice that the air is hot and humid.
I can't hear it click.

Presuming that not all of them were Civic Hybrids, the ECON button is a
different thing, exclusive to the Hybrid. It sets a mode where the engine
shuts off when you stop. What it does to the air flow depends on where the
knobs are set in the climate controls, which every Honda doesn't have.

 

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Even if you set it for ice cold, it has to cut out from time to time so
it won't ice up. House air conditioners are the same. Same with
de-humidifiers. If it iced up, you'd be getting no air at all. :-(

'Curly'

 

What was your temperature setting? Fresh or recirc? What was the
outside temp and humidity?

 

does the engine shut off at the same time? if so, thats normal. i think.

 

The air that's coming out the vents is 72 degrees?

Professor
www.telstar-electronics.com

 

The Honda Hybrids only shut the engine off when the car is stopped (or
below about 5mph if you're light on the brake).

 

Skipped over in conversation so far, but that would be acceptable if the
ambient temp was 100+, or high humidity.

The 2003 Honda Civic Service Manual has a chart for how cold the A/C outlet
temp should be. It is a sliding scale based on humidity, and it is inlet
to outlet temperature related, roughly 35F difference.

I've seen the spec for other cars to be a straight 20 degrees.