Odd sound- '01 Civic air conditioner

I have a 2001 Civic EX. I'm about to take it in to the dealer for a
look at something while it's still under warranty-- but they've tried
to fix it once before to no avail, so I thought I'd see if anyone here
had any ideas.

Last year, towards the end of the summer, we would hear an occasional
"whistling" sound while the air conditioner was running. The sound
was very intermittant-- kind of a high-pitched "whooooop," just a
second long, once every 3-5 minutes.

So we took it in to the dealer and they replaced the blower.
Unfortunately it was the end of the summer so we didn't use the AC
much after that, so we couldn't really test it. Never did hear it
while using the heater during the winter. Now that summer is back,
we're using the AC and hearing this weird sound again.

The AC performance doesn't appear to be affected in any way. Would
appreciate any thoughts anyone might have about what could be causing
this. Thanks!

 

My guess, based on your description of a "whoooop" every few minutes, is
that it's slippage on the compressor clutch when it engages... if it's
coming from under the hood. I had a similar problem years ago with a '88
Integra. The air gap between the clutch and pulley can usually be measured
with a feeler gauge and it's probably too wide. In my case it involved
reshimming the clutch.

Rgds, George Macdonald

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

 

check the access door/cover to the a/c filters, behind the glovebox. it may
be cracked open. push on it with the a/c on, it may be bowed or bent causing
a whistling noise.

 

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If it sounds at all like somebody blowing thru an harmonica, they may
have installed your CAbin Filter incorrectly. Check paperwork to see if
they changed it. As LEX said, maybe the cover for the cabin filter isn't
snapped on correctly either.

'curly'

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