08 CRV A/C only works at Idle..

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Fiancee's CRV's A/C is doing something strange. A/C compressor only works at idle. if you rev the engine it will kick off and blow warm air. I figured it may be a little low on freon so I hooked up my gauge today and at idle it will show in the green, when its reved the pressure will fall and the compressor will kick off. I added a little freon but the pressure never got any higher. It was odd. Any idea? Also the compressor seems to me that it is lugging the engine more than it should, but that may be me just being paranoid.
 
Originally Posted By: Skid
Probably has too much refrigerant, and the overpressure switch is shutting the compressor off.


Well I know its not that it has been working fine for the 3 years we've had it and no freon had ever been added till I put some in today, and what I added didn't change any of the symptoms.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Expansion valve

+1 - had a 99 Civic did the exact same thing .
 
Clutch gap too wide will do things like this. The compressor engages at first. But after it disengages normally to cycle off it doesn't always re-engage, and the air goes warm. You may have normal operation for a few minutes after a cold start, but the situation gets worse as the clutch coil heats up, because that reduces its magnetic output.

Another possibility is the condenser fan not working, leading to a trip on over pressure with the car sitting still. If this is the case it will still always cool OK at highway speed since that forces air through the condenser.

If it runs cold sometimes, the refrigerant must be OK. It is a problem other than the charge amount. In any case, trying to charge by pressure without watching the high side pressure is likely to cause problems.
 
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Our 08 CRV ac wouldn't work at all. Replaced the compressor relay with the updated version and has been working fine for the last two years.
 
Took it to the shop and on the way I noticed the temp gauge on the car was getting hotter than it should have been (I don't normally drive the car) they found a cracked radiator and said they 'topped off the a/c'. All is well now it seems. I still can't explain the symptoms, but maybe they had something to do with the car running hot.
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
Took it to the shop and on the way I noticed the temp gauge on the car was getting hotter than it should have been (I don't normally drive the car) they found a cracked radiator and said they 'topped off the a/c'. All is well now it seems. I still can't explain the symptoms, but maybe they had something to do with the car running hot.

How many miles on the car?
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
90k miles.. Really surprised me for the radiator to go on a car so new.
Sure, but that is 8 years of driving.

Most Japanese cars come with a radiator that cracks at the upper plastic end cap. After 7 years, those radiators could crack at any time.

Denso, Koyo, Calsonic, it doesn't seem to make any difference.
 
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