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Grinding/ hissing noise when a/c is on

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accord2001

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Hi all,

recently when turning on a/c in my 01 Accord 1.8 i start hearing a noise coming from behind the passenger floor panel, aka under the glove box, having researched the internet its sounded like the sound is coming from the a/c blower motor, it makes a hissing sound follow by a small grinding noise, once i turn the a/c off the sound is gone and today the air con doesn't gets cold either, the question is, is it a problem with the a/c blower motor or it be the air con compressor? hence i am not entirely sure if a broken a/c blower motor be main cause for the air con not working...

any advice is much appreciated dude!

happy Accord owner

Anto
 
Welcome to TA fella
 
Hey dude.

It could be either to be honest. Have you first checked that the fan goes round when you turn the air con on? It's the one on the right as you look into the engine bay. Then have you checked when the gas was last topped up? If there's no gas then the air con will not get cold which you have already said.
Does the fan blow freely? And do you hear the noise when the fans on without the air con being on?

The air con might not be working for any of the reasons you've said. You might just have to take it to a trusted garage to get them to check the motors and the compressors. And also to check if there is any gas in the system.

Si.
 
Welcome.

Chances are mate that it is the internal blower from the symptoms you have described. If the a/c compressor had gone then the noise would be from the engine bay and not in the cabin. Could even be the flap that directs the air from hot to cold as they are motorised?
Its a bit of a pain to investigate/replace but you will save yourself a substantial amount of cash by doing it yourself. Whilst your at it you may aswell replace the pollen filter too as that needs to come out! Source yourself a workshop manual, there is one available on one of the threads on this site. If I can find it, I will post you a link.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi Anto.

Welcome to TA. here is the link to the panel removal to get to the blowers and replace the pollen filter if you are doing that. I used it last week to replace the pollen filter. took me 45mins. sourced the pollen filter from Gowan Motors on the navan road for €35 inc VAT. it is possible that there could be some dirt caught up in the blowers or the flaps. Although the hissing sounds like the A/C needs to be regassed.
 
I had the same issue on mine. Had it re-gassed from dealers this morning. Still not working. They're checking it now. Let you know how i get on. Does your car have climate control?
 
rash65 said:
I had the same issue on mine. Had it re-gassed from dealers this morning. Still not working. They're checking it now. Let you know how i get on. Does your car have climate control?
Click to expand...
Hey fella,

Any more info on the issue? Hope it was all sorted.
 
Ladies n gents, I am so :blush: overwhelmed with the response as well as greeting i am getting, absolutly gob smacked! just an extra bit of info i only got the a/c gas refilled (by a approved garage) 2 months ago and have checked the 2 fan belt is workin perfect, and i did hear that click sound when compressor engaged. i will take a look under the glove box and try to see wats the story is, and will let ya'll know.

thanks again for ur help and is much appreciated sepcially Andy, BigDave, luvmyaccord et al......

Anto
 
One way to check you've got enough gas in the system, is to have a look through the sight glass on top of the receiver/dryer. If it's like mine, there was a load of crud you'll have to clean off first, but underneath all that is a little window.

The dryer is by the power steering pump, above the compressor on the right hand side of the engine, and has two pipes going into it.

This is what the dryer looks like
receiver-driers-319.jpg


With the AC switched on, if you look through the sight glass, you should see some foamy bubbles appear whenever the compressor kicks in, and after a few seconds, the foam should disappear and you should then see running fluid. If you still see foam or bubbles, it's usually because there isn't enough gas in the system.

I'm a bit annoyed because I just bought my Accord and insisted the AC was checked for leaks and recharged by the dealer (not Honda) before I bought it. This they did, and added a UV dye which helps show future leaks, which it looks like I've got two of right now. One on the discharge port of the condenser, the other on one of the connections to the dryer. So much for leak testing :(

It's probably the o-rings which dry out and perish if the AC isn't used, but replacing them is a real swine.

AC-use it, or lose it
 
No luck with mine. It needs a new condensor. £1110 for the part only. Going to try to get one from the breakers. Is it possible to change this myself or is it a job for a garage?
 
Flaming hell...Have you tried HH for a price?
 
No way! Did you rest your finger on the '1' key too long, or are they really charging that much? I'm picking up a brand new one tomorrow for £74 inc. Just got to find someone to discharge/recharge afterwards.

Changing is pretty straighforward, it's probably worth renewing the o-rings at the same time. They're probably only about £780 for each o-ring from whoever it was quoted you for the condenser :lol:


rash65 said:
No luck with mine. It needs a new condensor. £1110 for the part only. Going to try to get one from the breakers. Is it possible to change this myself or is it a job for a garage?
Click to expand...
 
Condensor here (Item 9) is much less...unless I am looking at a completely incorrect thing (for my 02 1.8) http://www.hondaoriginalparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection_pfk.php?block_01=17S1T01&block_02=B__5800&block_03=2653



This is an image of where the reciever is, and as mentioned you will most likely need to clear away dust from the top viewing window.

aircon_sight.jpg
 
hi, i had the same problem on mine, the system needed to be re gased so it was under pressure, this stopped the hissing noise, after been inspected it turned out to be the elbow connection at the condensor end of the hose that connects the condensor to the compressor, this set me back £82 from honda! while i had all the glove box out investigating i changed the pollen filter, hope this helps
 
wait till i pick my self up! OMFG?!?

I had the clutch go on my compressor so poped down the scrappys and picked 1 up for 30 bucks

dis charged the gas out my old system by holding in the low pressure valve then undone the two pipes to the compressor
10mm

then i removed the power steering pump by undoing a 12mm bolt on the pump.
take off the power steering belt and then push the pump to the right, out of the way (a cable tie helps)

then out comes the altonator, there is a 12mm nut under the pully and the 12mm bolt on the top.
remove the belt and flip the altonator up on top of the rocker cover, i didnt remove any of the wiring form the altonator.

now undo the gray wiring plug for the compressor, and undo the 4 12mm bolts on the compressor. this is it free now and you can lift it up and out.

fitting the new 1 is the exact opposite. time was 1hour and 10min :

sorry forgot to say down to halfords and £50 refill got my system back up and going.

I would say tho get a new set of o-ring on the pipes coz there bad for leaking. i was going too but the scottish heat wave hit first and was despreat for cool air lol.
 
Wait, you dumped your f-gas straight to the atmosphere?!?!?! :eek:
 
Great. What was wrong with the off button?
 
I am just trying to reinforce the fact that F-Gas is a nasty nasty substance and you can't just dump it because you think there is a problem with your AC. Let's face it, AC problems are not an engine/car killing issue.

I appreciate you have a great level of mechanical knowledge and that is why I am surprised you just dumped the gas. I have a small leak on the low pressure side of my system. I could fix it myself in 5 minutes and take my car in for a cheap regas; but I'm not going to. Partly because I have a pet hate of AC,and my missus is the only one that uses it; but mainly, because I know enough about the stuff to know I don't want it sloshing around in my atmosphere. Especially considering that it is relatively cheap and easy to do things properly.

Nowt against you personally; but please people. This stuff may not be toxic, it may not explode, but like engine oil, unless it is disposed of properly we are only screwing ourselves in the long run.
 
hay a no you dont mean anything personal Dan and i appreciate you commenting on it, it was a reather selfish thing to do and i never even thought about it when doing to be honest with you :unsure: .

now Pepster i think you just went over board with the oil scenario :blush: i do possess enuf comment sence to no that!
 
Gordon, it is a case of responsibility - I see where CJ is coming from. The problem is understanding what chemicals do. We all know that oil is a difficult thing to deal with but AC gas is invisible so most people don't care. Yet it is one of the most harmful things released into out atmosphere, It is reassuring to see you acknowledge your mistake!

CJ's comparison is more accurate than you might like to admit - but you've caught our drift and that is the main thing
thumbs.gif
 
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