is this normal? a/c question

oilspot

Just had a friend top off the freon charge in my 91. The a/c blows cold, I was really suprized about that!!!
The belt is old and needs to be replaced. But before I replace it I just wanna know if this is normal.
When I'm driving all of a sudden the belt will start making a squeling (how the hell do you spell that??) noise out of nowhere. I guess it could just be the belt being loose/ old slippery. I would just think that it would make noise from the second i hit the gas. The interior of the car is not all the way cooled down so it's not like a thermostat is turning the compressor on and off.
I don't wanna go through the trouble of replacing the belt if the compressor is lugging down for no good reason.

I've been driving old vw's for the last 18 years, so my knowledge on a/c is very, very limited.

bam-bam

When you take off the belt, check the tensioner pulley bearings for play/roughness.

SiWagon

The belt is either loose or old.Check tension .Spray so ''No Squeak'' on it If some1 has a can.

oilspot

I need a new belt! A worn/ malfunctioning tensioner pulley makes sense for the way the it flips out at steady speeds.
Lazy question... Does the ac belt run anything else? I figure i'll pull the belt, check the tensioner. If the tensioner needs replacing it will probably take a few days to get it. Will I be able to drive the car with the belt off?
Another question about the ac... It my wifes new beetle, when you turn the ac fan on high, you get kinda a tornado effect in the car. In my little wagon it almost seems like it could use a little more ac fan speed to really cool off the car (mostly when it's been sitting in the sun or something of the sorts). Is that normal for the gen 4 civics?

bam-bam

oilspot wrote:

I need a new belt! A worn/ malfunctioning tensioner pulley makes sense for the way the it flips out at steady speeds.
Lazy question... Does the ac belt run anything else? I figure i'll pull the belt, check the tensioner. If the tensioner needs replacing it will probably take a few days to get it. Will I be able to drive the car with the belt off?
Another question about the ac... It my wifes new beetle, when you turn the ac fan on high, you get kinda a tornado effect in the car. In my little wagon it almost seems like it could use a little more ac fan speed to really cool off the car (mostly when it's been sitting in the sun or something of the sorts). Is that normal for the gen 4 civics?

1) No. The AC belt is just AC, tensioner, crank. Yes, you can drive it without the belt.

2) I bet your evaporator is dirty. The outside air intake is from the wiper/cowl grille and there is no filter. When You turn your AC on high, it makes all kinds of noise, but it's trying to blow through 20 years of muck.
The only way I can see to clean it is to remove the evaporator( easy enough, but you must discharge the system.) I'm fixing to do this on the Pebbleswagon, i'll try to get pics and a how-to.

oilspot

tensioner pulley... $47 ... damn!

Eagle Beagle

a squeling (how the hell do you spell that??)

the sound a pig makes when you try to catch it for dinner ?

the fan(switch) is the fan, the ac cools the air ...
you can check the ventilation system if everthing is connected like
it should be, tape if needed, so all the air from the ventilator is
delivered to the dash vents ...
also you can check the inlet grille for debris ...

the ventilator is under behind the glove compartment, maybe a drop
of oil ...

the system is not state of the art, but it should do its job between 2 and 10 minutes ... mine does

funny thing, today i was at a carwash, engine runnin, ventilation on ...
outside wet and foamy, car blowing big soapbubbles
from the outlet grilles, maybe next time ill take a picture

: )