System Description: Notes

The air conditioning (A/C) system removes heat from the passenger compartment by transferring heat from the ambient air to the evaporator. The A/C system refrigerant expands in the evaporator, and the evaporator becomes very cold and absorbs the heat from the ambient air. The blower fan pushes air across the evaporator where the heat is absorbed, and then it blows the cool air into the passenger compartment.

Fig 1: Air Conditioning (A/C) System Components

Courtesy of AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC.

This vehicle uses HFC-134a (R-134a) refrigerant, which does not contain chlorofluorocarbons. Pay attention to the following service items:

• Use only the recommended polyalkyleneglycol (PAG) refrigerant oil (DENSO ND-OIL 8) designed for the R-134a A/C compressor. Intermixing the recommended (PAG) refrigerant oil with any other refrigerant oil will result in A/C compressor failure.
• All A/C system parts (A/C compressor, discharge line, suction line, evaporator, A/C condenser, receiver/dryer, expansion valve, O-rings for joints) are designed for refrigerant R-134a.
• Use a halogen gas leak detector designed for refrigerant R-134a.
• Use only a recovery/recycling/charging station that is U.L.-listed and is certified to meet the requirements of SAE J2788 to service the R-134a air conditioning systems.
• Always recover refrigerant R-134a with an approved recovery/recycling/charging station before disconnecting any A/C fitting.