Honda Repair: Air conditioning, clutch mechanism, clutch assembly

Question
1996 honda accord ex 2.2l
Hi there: Over the last couple of years I have been chasing a slow leak in the A/C system.  Some things my wife and I have noticed are that there is a draining sound coming from under the dash of the passenger side (eavaporator) and also fog comes out the vents.
I used the A/C system the other day for the first time (after the winter season - Canada) on the drive home from work.  When I got out of the car I noticed a burnring smell and upon further investigation smoke and black belt like resdue around the a/c compressor. Today I took off the altenator & power steering belts ( belts look ok -regular wear ) & started up the car - no smoke.I suspect the clutch mechanism has failed and may have contaminated the system.  As far as the fog, I believe that the evaporator has failed as well.  Am I on the right track here?  If I had the system drained by  a refrigeration tech do you think these parts could be replaced by  a do-it-yourselfer or take it to a shop and if so what is your educated guess at cost of repairs?
Thank -you
Andrew

Answer
Let's start with the belt. First the clutch going bad will not contaminate the system it is an external part. If the compressor has failed than we are talking about a whole new issue. You can replace just the clutch mechanism and pulley if the compressor is ok. I always replace the electromagnetic coil when I do a clutch. It does need to be shimmed properly. You also may want to try to find a used or remanufactured compressor and clutch assembly. Any time the A/C system is opened the receiver dryer SHOULD be replaced but I have serviced systems without replacing it. If there is what we call "black death" in the lines due to an internal compressor failure than the lines need to be flushed extremely well and Honda recommends replacing most of the components in the system so I hope yours is ok. The draining sound could be a low charge moving thru the evaporator or you could be hearing the expansion valve opening as well. I would recommend fixing the burning smell which sounds like a clutch problem, then charging the system and using an ultra-violet dye in the a/c system. It is very effective at pin pointing leaks and costs a lot less than a Yokogawa leak detector which is the only one that is worth using. If the evaporator is leaking you will see dye in the drain tube coming from the evaporator case where the water drips out. Usually a compressor clutch I would recommend taking it to a shop it should cost under $500.00. If the evaporator needs to be replaced it is labor intensive and usually requires a few hours of labor plus the part isn't cheap either. Unfortunately A/C work is usually very profitable for repair facilities and they don't cut many breaks. The EPA many strict rules we have to follow so the customer takes the hit on the recycling and recovery equipment we are required to use. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.