Honda Repair: 92 Honda Civic LX A/C Problem, honda civic lx, compressor clutch

Question
Craig,

I have a 92 Honda Civic LX Air Conditioning problem.  It turns out that my air conditioning seems to like to work when it is cold outside and not when it is really hot!  I took it in for service and the mechanic recharged my system (added some freon and put some dye in it to check for leaks). He said that there were no leaks, but that was a little low on freon.  I'm afraid that he didn't fix the problem.  The classic scenario is my car will be sitting in the hot sun during the day, I'll get in to drive the car and the fan will blow, but I don't get cold air for the duration of my drive which could be 20-40 minutes.  It seems to be intermittent, because sometimes it will also work just fine under the same conditions, but it does seem to not want to work more when it has been baking in the sun. It also seems to work more reliably at night or when it's been in a cool or shaded area.  Is there a sensor, switch, or component which might be sensitive to heat? Do you have any advice as to how to go about fixing this one?

Thanks in advance,

Raland

Answer
I'd start by checking the relay that operates the compressor clutch first.  These are bad about causing an intermitant problem.  They are located under the hood, by the p/s reservoir, bolted together with the condensor fan relay.  You can start the car and at idle see if the compressor clutch is on.  If it isn't, I would tap on the relay and see if the clutch engages.  If it does, its the relay.  It could also be the compressor clutch coil going bad but that usually fails after it runs for a while.