[DougNuts]

Since my car was new, the A/C had a profound impact on the power output and quite often you could feel and/or hear when the compressor kicked on.

Yesterday, I had to buy some R134a for my wife's Civic, so I threw the can onto the '04 Accord to see what the pressure was. Lo and behold, the pressure was slightly lower than it should have been. I used the can to bring the low side pressure up to around 40psi and the compressor seems to be living an easier life - less power sapping and a quieter and smoother when the clutch locks up.

I have no specs to back up any of this, and do so on your car at your own risk, but I'm happy with my results.

I wonder if Honda purposely fills the cars with a low, but functional, amount of refrigerant in order to be more "green".

 

[Accordriver]

Since my car was new, the A/C had a profound impact on the power output and quite often you could feel and/or hear when the compressor kicked on.

Yesterday, I had to buy some R134a for my wife's Civic, so I threw the can onto the '04 Accord to see what the pressure was. Lo and behold, the pressure was slightly lower than it should have been. I used the can to bring the low side pressure up to around 40psi and the compressor seems to be living an easier life - less power sapping and a quieter and smoother when the clutch locks up.

I have no specs to back up any of this, and do so on your car at your own risk, but I'm happy with my results.

I wonder if Honda purposely fills the cars with a low, but functional, amount of refrigerant in order to be more "green".

Highly doubt it. They may have done it to be more "cheap" but as far as Refrigerants go, R134 is hippe-level green compared to R12 (aka Dichlorodifluoromethane).

 

[Jaggy01]

Yeah, whenever I 'engage' the AC button, I can feel a marked difference in acceleration. I call this button my 'Turbo' button now Take it off and Gooooo!

 

[devi0us]

It states in the manual that the AC will put more stress on the engine resulting in lowered performance and mileage.

That said, I think all 7th gens do the clunk. Since I drive an I4, I turn off the AC if I'm merging into a fast highway. It's slow enough as it is without the AC.

 

[OEM]

Confused...

The computer knows when heavy acceleration is occurring, and cuts off the compressor, yes? You can then tell a momentary puff of warmer air is coming out of the a/c, then cooling resumes...

The last 4 cylinder Honda/Acura I had was a '90 Integra. The system was so good, I could NEVER tell a difference between a/c on or off. If I had, I never would have bought it (after a previous horrible experience with '78 Plymouth 4 cyl.).

Is this a common problem with 4 cylinder Accords? I can't think so, since I had a loaner for a day last year, and it drove just fine too.

 

[Accordriver]

Confused...

The computer knows when heavy acceleration is occurring, and cuts off the compressor, yes? You can then tell a momentary puff of warmer air is coming out of the a/c, then cooling resumes...

The last 4 cylinder Honda/Acura I had was a '90 Integra. The system was so good, I could NEVER tell a difference between a/c on or off. If I had, I never would have bought it (after a previous horrible experience with '78 Plymouth 4 cyl.).

Is this a common problem with 4 cylinder Accords? I can't think so, since I had a loaner for a day last year, and it drove just fine too.

It's more a problem with smaller engines in general. The 4-Cylinder in our odyssey takes a huge load from the A/C as well, which is why the engine will automatically increase the idle speed to compensate for the compressor (which I highly doubt the plymouth could do)

 

[Atomic Robot]

It's more a problem with smaller engines in general. The 4-Cylinder in our odyssey takes a huge load from the A/C as well, which is why the engine will automatically increase the idle speed to compensate for the compressor (which I highly doubt the plymouth could do)

Didn't know they made a 4-Cylinder Odyssey; is that a Gen 1?

My i4 does the clunk, as well. Even with the A/C on it still seems to respond pretty well when I punch it to get on the freeway...

 

[Accordriver]

Didn't know they made a 4-Cylinder Odyssey; is that a Gen 1?

Sure is; it's a 98 with the 2.3 liter, which also makes it damned difficult to find a replacement for the terrible transmission it has :/

 

[devi0us]

Confused...

The computer knows when heavy acceleration is occurring, and cuts off the compressor, yes? You can then tell a momentary puff of warmer air is coming out of the a/c, then cooling resumes...

The last 4 cylinder Honda/Acura I had was a '90 Integra. The system was so good, I could NEVER tell a difference between a/c on or off. If I had, I never would have bought it (after a previous horrible experience with '78 Plymouth 4 cyl.).

Is this a common problem with 4 cylinder Accords? I can't think so, since I had a loaner for a day last year, and it drove just fine too.

Actually, you're absolutely correct. However, I dislike flooring the throttle and waiting for the "turbo lag", so I just turn the AC off well before taking the on ramp. That way, I've got ... power on tap, if you could call it power.

 

[paperboy42190]

i read somewhere that you have to be something-certified to buy refrigerant? is that true? is it hard to recharge it yourself? can the average DIYer do it?

 

[BLCKFLSH]

i read somewhere that you have to be something-certified to buy refrigerant? is that true? is it hard to recharge it yourself? can the average DIYer do it?

I think that only applies to the old "freon" R12, ozone eating stuff, not the new R134.

 

[paperboy42190]

I think that only applies to the old "freon" R12, ozone eating stuff, not the new R134.

ooic

 

[CarlR33]

i read somewhere that you have to be something-certified to buy refrigerant? is that true? is it hard to recharge it yourself? can the average DIYer do it?

All car A/C people will tell you that these newer systems (aka the ones in our cars) will not loose refridg. like in the past (loose via aging). If the system is down it is because of a slow leak somewhere. Professional recharging is usually a flat rate charge no matter how little or much refridg. you need. Some places will let you come back at no charge (for refill) after 30 days if your troubleshooting the system with dye, etc.

 

[OEM]

On-line mobile a/c tech certification, $15.

All the $30 per 12 oz. can of R-12 you want, priceless.

 

[OEM]

the engine will automatically increase the idle speed to compensate for the compressor (which I highly doubt the plymouth could do)

Actually, it could. I say "could" not "did" because it wasn't delivered to me with the proper adjustment. It took me maybe 8 months to figure out the rather tedious procedure from the service manual I bought.

I had to adjust it myself because the dealer denied knowing anything about it. Die, Chrysler. :furious:

And then it had two acceleration modes with the a/c on: accelerating poorly (floored), and accelerating very, very poorly (any other throttle position).

 

[k_honda87]

Yea I have the same problem, I thought their was something wrong with my car after I bought it because of how much of a negative impact the A/C had when it was on. Definitely makes a difference when it comes time to shift, I hate it but I've learned to deal with it once I found out it's a common issue with the accords.

 

[DougNuts]

Yea I have the same problem, I thought their was something wrong with my car after I bought it because of how much of a negative impact the A/C had when it was on. Definitely makes a difference when it comes time to shift, I hate it but I've learned to deal with it once I found out it's a common issue with the accords.

I lived with it for 75K miles. Now, since I topped off the R134a, I rarely know if the compressor is running or not.