texascivic

Hey there,

I have a 1990 Civic Si and lately my A/C has stopped blowing. It's strange because it is not consistent. Sometimes it will blow and sometimes it won't. I'm pretty sure it's not the blower motor itself because if that was bad...it should just stop working and not come back on...right???? I've had situations where I have left the house to go to the store and it blows fine. After leaving the store I start the Civic up and the A/C does not blow even though nothing was touched on the A/C control panel. After about five minutes of driving the blower will just kick in and it will blow great.

Has anyone had this kind of trouble and is there some kind of switch or relays that might be acting up? The actual control panel itself seems to be working fine...the A/C switch lights up when you move the blower speed lever from "Off" to any of the speeds. Also, you can hear the compressor kick on when you turn the A/C on...it just doesn't blow!!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Steve in Texas
1990 Honda Civic Si

prostang460

Is it cold when it does work? Is the compressor running the whole time, or does it kick out immediately? You may just need to add R12. Does the blower motor run on all of the heat settings?

Bogatyr

texascivic,
I think prostang460 mentioned the problem. In my old 1991 Civic the blower motor was only working occasionally and then stopped at all but the highest setting. There is a resistor on the housing that allows it to run at the lower speeds that is probably grounding itself out on the housing. If the blower runs without a hitch at the highest setting, then this is the case.
Bogatyr

texascivic

It won't blow on any setting regardless of temperature setting.

When it does blow, it blows really cold. Also, you can tell that the compressor kicks on when you turn the a/c button on because of the change in idle.

Maybe the blower motor is faulty and is only working intermittently. I was always told that when a blower motor goes bad...it just plain dies. Maybe that's not the case with Honda blower motors????

Thanks!
Steve in Texas
1990 Civic Si

Kai

In this case, it sounds like the A/C is fine and there is a short or break in the blower circuit.

Refridgerant level (R12) can be checked at the little spyglass near the radiator. If there are bubbles, you will have problems eventually but it probably wouldn't cause this problem.

texascivic

Yeah...I think the blower motor may be the problem afterall. A guy on another forum just told me that he had the same thing happen and that it was the brushes in the motor fouling out. Looks like I'll be in the dash this weekend...yuck.

Does anyone know what is involved with converting these systems to R-134? Just curious.

Thanks!

Steve in Texas
1990 Honda Civic Si

Kai

This is what happened to my old blower motor, in case you are interested. https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...threadid=79811

texascivic

Thanks for the photos Kai...that is helpful!

After work this evening I thought I would try something. I started the Civic and reached under the dash and tapped on the blower motor with my hand once and BINGO, the blower started blowing again.

Sounds like it's time for a new blower motor. Auto Zone sells new motors for $37. www.autozone.com

Thanks for all of your help!

Steve in Texas
1990 Honda Civic Si

Kai

I'll be damned, they sell new ones for an '87 for $30... would've been nice to know a month ago.

HELLracer

I say you just take it out. I live in so cal and its hot as hell and I roll every where with my windows down.