A/C Questions

[PePe240sx]

On my '92 Civic VX, I noticed that there's a hissing sound that comes on when the A/C is on. I noticed it back in March since it didn't happen last summer after getting it recharged with R12 and replacing the drier. Is that something to worry about or is it normal?

Another question is for those with Civics with R12. How cold does your A/C get temperature wise? For some reason, it only peaks out at 66 degrees during the day and in the mid 50's at night. I figured out the problem last summer with the heater core valve but that doesn't do the trick anymore. You'd expect with R12 it would get a lot colder than 66 degrees but not in my Civic. Could it be the condenser that is causing the A/C to run at a limited capacity? Or the nature of the A/C systems in Honda in general?

[dsmrider]

either the orphice tube is plugged or bad a/c condensor

[HONDA GHANDI]

Wrong and wrong. Civics dont have orifice tubes, and a bad condenser would not cause a noise but poor performance.

A hiss noise is consistant with what you are saying about the poor performance. It may have a low charge. If it is truly still an R12 system you may have a leak or sticking expansion valve but its not likely. It is more likely that you have a small leak and your charge is low. I can usually get an R12 system to cool down to 38 at the center vent in the hot weather so something is not right with your system.