AC compressor failed

[Lankstarr]

My car is currently having the ac comp replaced.

I was coming off a dual carriageway and teh car stalled, I thought I had been a t7t with the clutch so carried on only to stall again!

I pulled over straight away to smell burning from the engine bay. Luckily this turned out to be burning rubber as the ac compressor had seized and the belt was slipping and melting.

RAC towed iot to Honda and they diagnosed the comp ( I could have just chopped teh belt and continued to drive it!).

The stealers quoted £1700 + VAT for the new copmpressor and said I would need to pay for belts labour and a few other things on top:eek:

That was never going to happen as I'm no mug! A quick search on Prime sourced me a nearly new compressor for £86 delivered and I will have it fitted at my dad's garage as he had a a/c recharge machine. I brought the belt from Honda and got some new transmission fluid whilst I was there (quite easy to change iof the back wheel is off anyway).

Hopefully my gearbox (which is notchy when cold) will be transformed with the New HOnda MTF... I'll let you know. I am driving the 91 manual; NSX that's in the forsale section at the moment, the gearbox feels new so this prompted me to get my fluids changed. If yours is notchy then I recommend trying it as it's quite cheap.

Luke

[WhyOne?]

Sounds like an impressive saving Luke!

Y1 had a new a/c compressor & a/c clutch fitted under warranty just as I became it's 'keeper'. Costs (all covered by the extended Honda warranty) were very much in line with those quoted to you - all in ~£2100 in the end!

[goldnsx]

Sorry to hear your bad luck! I got a new OEM compressor for a friend for £600 without labor.

[dan the man]

MTF oil always worked great in my tegs.

Thinks its MTF III now too...

[TheSebringOne]

Great savings Luke! Which seller on Prime did you purchase your comp & is it an geniune Honda/Acura part or after market?

[Lankstarr]

Shipping turned out to be more than first thought but the seller split the difference with me as he misquoted me (only extra £10).

It was a 2nd hand comp with 9/12 (can't remember) k miles on it from a 97 car. I was lucky that there was one for sale I think.

Compressors are commonly refurbished and I was considering this. My dad knows osmeone that does it and I will have a "spare compressor" once the new one is fitted.

I may have someone that already wants it but if not then it can be a spare club one for getting refurbed. I think the clutch may be shot as I've been told the teeth will have probably worn when the comp seized.

Worth keeping an eye on Prime if you think you may be due one.


Luke

[WhyOne?]

I think the clutch may be shot as I've been told the teeth will have probably worn when the comp seized.



Oooo....I do hope not for your sake!

Y1's compressor clutch went with the comp. (probably the same failure scenario as yours Luke).

Honda were able to source the compressor OK, but after checking UK / Europe / US / Japan, there wasn't a single a/c clutch in stock with Honda anywhere!

Honda kindly made one specially for Y1, but as you can imagine it wasn't a 24 hour service.

[TheSebringOne]

Wait a minute! You say you can't source one from anywhere in the world!? :eek: So what you do if you need one? Or are they not supposed to break and not specified in the Service Manual/intervals?

[Lankstarr]

The new comp came with the clutch so no worries for me there. If my clutch in the old one is good then it'll be worth keeping in case people struggle to get them in future.

The integra clutches are the same with a different pulley size (compressors are identical). People on Prime have run sucessfully with a smaller belt and the integra pulley.

I think I understand these things - I gather that the clutch and the pulley are one and the same thing (clutch has teeth to drive the comp, teeth are rotated because they are one end of the clutch and the other end is the pulley).

If i'm wrong then please correct me as it will be useful to know before the new comp goes on!

[WhyOne?]

Wait a minute! You say you can't source one from anywhere in the world!? :eek: So what you do if you need one?

That was certainly the case when Y1 needed one in June 2006. Honda had to manufacture the part - took about 2 weeks to arrive in the UK IIRC.

[nationofzeros]

Hi all - looking for advice on the most economical way to replace my NSX-R's knackered A/C compressor (NA1 OEM part DENSO 38810-PR7-A04)

I think I can safely put this down to my own stupidity in omitting to switch the A/C off for track session at Japfest 08. No doubt the A/C decided to kick in just as the engine was heading for rev limiter territory & destroyed the clutch.

Nevertheless at least it went out in a blaze of glory, causing the belt to wrap itself round the driveshaft, setting fire to it and creating an impressive trail of dense blue smoke that nearly gave me a coronary at the thought of a dropped valve or similar

I understand they are a right pain to fit so advice welcome

Thanks

Chris (incidentally Japfest 08 was cracking - thanks Matt for all the hard work)

[kowalski]

Hi Chris

I bought a new A/C compressor from ebay about 4 years ago and have had no problems since. It cost me about £80 plus shipping from the states.

There are currently 10 listed on ebay USA, all for about the same price.

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/items/Parts-Accessories___nsx-a-c_W0QQ_nkwZnsxQ20aQ2fc

Make sure you order the belt from them as well as mine came with a larger style pulley/clutch and the UK belt wouldnt fit. This seems to run cooler than the UK spec compressor, maybe because there weather is hotter!

I originally had Honda fit this as i heard horror stories about fitting these, but since then I have had to remove it during the fitment of my new headers. Its a little awkward but can be done if your a bit technically gifted . Just jack the rear end both sides, place on axle stands, remove the grey crossbeam and then you should have fairly good access to remove the four bolts attaching the compressor.

For refilling I just re did mine with the kits you can get from Halfords. cost about £30.

Hope this helps

leigh

[Lankstarr]

Hi Chris,

Thankfully it was just the compressor.

I'm sure Honda said it was just an hour's labour... my guy took 3 hours as he replaced the transmission fluid as well so I don't thinnk it's too bad.

Good luck!

Make sure you get the right size of pulley.

Cheers,

Luke

[nationofzeros]

Thanks guys - I went with the exchange rate & bought new unit from US A/C specialists complete with belt so pulley size issue should be OK. Came to around £125 inc delivery so could have been a lot worse...

Further report on fitment - until then I will just have to keep the windows down given the scorching nature of the weather (not)

[AR]

Crap man sorry to hear about that.

Glad to hear you are on your way to sorting it.

AR

[Lankstarr]

OK - worked out that pre and post 1997 cars (manual) have different clutch sets for the ac compressor (dunno why I didn;t think of it earlier!)

Here's a thread on Prime with a summary of my findings:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1044092#post1044092

Luke