Questions and Answers

Prelude A/C Acting Funny Q. I own a 1990 Honda Prelude Si with manual transmission, 75,000 miles (I walk to work), fuel injection, no ABS, A/C and cruise control. When the outside temperature is below 80 degrees, the A/C works beautifully. When it's hot outside, on occasion, the compressor light (the small red light on the A/C switch) comes on and cooling stops.

I can, on occasion, turn the A/C switch off and back on again and everything works okay. On other occasions when I turn the A/C switch back on, the compressor light comes back on and there's nothing I can do to get the A/C running again except to leave the car parked overnight. I took it to the dealer and they said they had checked the A/C and it was working fine and the light never came on. Another place told me they had "recharged" the coolant even when I told them that the A/C was cooling fine when the compressor light was not on. What is wrong with my A/C and how do I fix it?

Thanks,
Russ

A. I think the problem is with the RPS Pickup Sensor mounted on the A/C compressor. Preludes up to VIN JHMBA4 ~ LC026715 had a defective sensor. There is a new sensor to replace it but installing it requires evacuating and recharging the A/C. I would recommend taking it to the dealer and let them verify this is indeed what is wrong and they can do the modification.

They can reference bulletin No. 90-019 dated July 27, 1990.

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