Overcharged Air Conditioner?

Question

I have a 98 Honda Civic which was not blowing very cold air. So I added some R134a to it, and now it blows nice cold air. Now I have a new problem - whenever I run my A/C on full blast, my car's engine seems to have occasional power losses and it feels like my car is bogging down or skipping. Any ideas why this is happening? It goes away when I turn the A/C off.

Answer 1

You probably just feel the clutch in your a/c turning on and off. The a/c compressor takes a certain amount of power to turn. The power has to come from somewhere, in this case your engine. The compressor doesn't run continuously. It cycles on and off according to the temperature setting for your climate control. It is definatly not your alternator. The load from your alternator is not going to jump like your a/c unless the bearings are going out. You'll never notice a bad battery or alternator from the smoothness of your engine idle.

Answer 2

It takes power to run your AC. When the compressor kicks in you may notice a slight reduction in power. This is particularly noticeable in smaller cars such as the Civic. This is quite normal behavior.

It does NOT mean that your AC is overcharged. If it was, it would not cool properly. That said, you should have an AC tech test the pressure just to be sure.

Answer 3

the compressor is trying to lock up on it,,try letting some of the pressure out of it,,at the valve,,the high side of the system,,just a little is all it will take,,this will help it,,if you drive it like this it may brake a belt or ruin the compressor,,i do this for a living so this should help fix it,,,hope so anyway.

Answer 4

It could be your alternator not charging your battery all the way, and when you turn something else on it is drawing to much power. Or week battery.