# 1997 Honda Accord intermittent air conditioning **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** clutches, airconditioning, alternators\ **Created:** [June 5, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275 "2007-06-05T18:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jstevans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a5b964/32.png) [@jstevans](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jstevans)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/1 "2007-06-05T18:57:03Z")
Hi all, Back on the old discussion boards I posted a question about the above topic and received a lot of help. I thought it polite to post how it turned out. The original post is at [http://car…page=&vc=1](http://cartalk.com/board/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=402356&an=&page=&vc=1) Here’s the interesting end to the story. The area where the compressor is located is all steel, no way for me to get into the clutch. So, I more or less surrendered to the idea of bringing it to a shop and paying hundreds of dollars for a fix. Then, stay with me here, my battery died and it turned out the alternator was bad. I did some research and read that flickering lights are an indicator of a dieing alternator. Well, I’ve had flickering lights for ages. So, I replaced the alternator, charging voltage went from 12.6 volts to 14.6 volts. And now, the air conditioner always works! It seems that the alternator had been failing for a long time and thus producing low voltage. Now that the voltage is back to normal the air conditioning clutch is pulling in perfectly. So, thanks for all the help, I figured you would find this solution interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/2 "2007-06-05T19:55:18Z")
Glad to hear it worked out for you. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/d/1d47c66a543aa6c5a7873bb2320858f978ff52ed.png) [@system](https://community.cartalk.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/3 "2007-06-06T18:34:21Z")
Thank you for taking the time to follow up 🙂 I have a friend who has a 94 Accord with an A/C issue. I will let him know about your experience. ---
**Author:** ![star882](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/star882/32/39_2.png) [@star882](https://community.cartalk.com/u/star882)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/4 "2007-06-09T17:13:31Z")
HVAC technicians know that a little undervoltage is worse than a little overvoltage to a compressor. That’s why it’s common practice to inspect and replace power relays during routine maintenance. A bad relay can drop voltage and burn out the compressor. Of course, if you checked voltage at the compressor when it tries to start, you would have caught it right away. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/d/1d47c66a543aa6c5a7873bb2320858f978ff52ed.png) [@system](https://community.cartalk.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/5 "2007-06-09T18:15:10Z")
Once again STAR this is automotive A/C, there are not power relays to replace as routine maintenence. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Riviera\_1990](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/big_riviera_1990/32/43_2.png) [@Big\_Riviera\_1990](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Big_Riviera_1990)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/6 "2007-06-13T03:55:36Z")
Disregard the above information. -Matt ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Riviera\_1990](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/big_riviera_1990/32/43_2.png) [@Big\_Riviera\_1990](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Big_Riviera_1990)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/7 "2007-06-13T03:55:54Z")
From star, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Craig58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@Craig58](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Craig58)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-intermittent-air-conditioning/275/8 "2007-06-13T04:06:11Z")
Simply amazing.