97 Civic AC Condensor Fan Fuse Blowing

The fuse is in-line with the Condensor Fan & Compressor Clutch. With a cold engine and fresh fuse the AC will run for 5 minutes or so until the engine warms up... at that point the fuse blows causing the condensor fan to quit and the compressor clutch to disengage. I've checked relays, visible wiring, connectors, grounds, and other fuses in connecting circuits without finding any faults. What about the engine warming up would cause an increased current draw within this circuit to blow the fuse?

Turns out the compressor clutch coil was shorted out. Found a clutch rebuild kit at Advance Auto Parts for 99 bucks. Took a couple of hours, but I was able to swap out the coil without taking the compressor off of the car. Three of the compressors 4 mounting bolts had to be pulled to pivot the compressor downwards so that I could slide the pulley and coil on an off. Without doing this the frame rail was too close and wouldn't allow the coil to slide off all the way. I used a small shop hammer to tap the pulley on and off the shaft. The most difficult part of the repair was removing/seating the "C" clips as I didn't have much room to manuever. I expect a repair shop would have charged for a full compressor replacement. No freon was needed for this repair as the system was not opened.

Sorry to bring this thread back to life but I am having the same problem. I read the Haynes but it's not showing how to do this. I really need help on this b/c temperatures here are rising to the 100's and my kids and I need the A/C.

Can you post a step by step, please? I hope I can fix this coil this weekend.

Thanks for you help.

First... mine is a '97 Honda Civic EX and that part number at Advance Auto Parts was 47560 for a fair $99.00.

The job is a little daunting if you haven't much wrench experience.

1. Remove the A/C belt. (the haynes manual should cover this completely)
2. On the A/C Compressor remove 3 of the 4 mounting bolts. Leave the rear-bottom bolt loose but still in place. You will use this bolt to hold the compressor in place while you work. The goal is to pivot the compressor downwards so that you can gain access to the pulley side of it.

3. As I recall there is a nut in the center of the pulley, remove this... you may have to hold the pulley steady because it wants to spin as you turn the nut.

4. Once the nut is removed the outer plate should pull loose. Now look down to the bottom of the shaft where the plate you pulled loose came from. You should see a c-ring holding the pulley in place. You'll have to remove this c-clip to remove the pulley. And then once the pulley is off you'll have to remove another c-clip to remove the coil.

5. Installation is just the reverse of removal.

Notes: You'll have to use a hammer to tap the pulley on and off of the shaft... the alternative is to remove the compressor from the car and use a puller (available at autozone or the like for free rental), but in removing the compressor you'll have to pull a vacuum on the A/C system and refill it with freon.

The most difficult part of this procedure is removing/installing the C-rings on the shaft because of the tight location you are dealing with.

Good Luck... if you have more questions I'll attempt to answer them for you. Total procedure probably took 3 hours from start to finish... most of that time was spent fighting the C-ring into place.

Flashbac29:

Thank you for your response. My car is a 96 Honda Accord with 190K in the clock. It sounds like it is difficult and out of my league, especially if I have to remove the AC compressor due to the level of expertise required with the AC lines. However, I'll try your method first and I hope I can accomplish this task without further delay.

Thanks again.