every now and then question

I have a 92 prelude and the a/c wasn't cooling well and the compressor
only came on every now and then. I took it to a mechanic and he
charged it. It only cooled every now and then. He then said that he
needed to replace the evaporator and dryer. Then he called me and said
that the compressor needed replacing because the seal was leaking. I
alresdy had sunk enough money into it so I said okay. It cools good
now, but ony every now and then. I took it back and he said that the
a/c relay needed replacing. Replaced, but it still only cools every
now and then. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be?

 

You'd need to describe the behavior in more detail to get a good answer and
the Honda systems of that era were not exactly great at cooling anyway,
IME. Did the expansion valve get replaced with the evaporator? Have you
checked that the condenser (in front of the radiator) fins are clean and
free of any clogging by (insect) debris? Do the fans come on OK with the
compressor? Is the system charged with R-12 or has it been converted to
R-134a?

The only other thing I can think of off-hand is that there is a small
amount of water (vapor) in the system which is causing the expansion valve
to freeze up which will stop the system working for a while... until it
melts, which will allow the system to work again... until it recirculates
through the system and refreezes the valve. In that case, your mechanic is
doing a bad job of evacuating the system before charging with refrigerant
and you should find someone who can do the job properly... and probably
replace the receiver dryer again.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??