Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Mon 25 Apr 2022 12:04

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Nanny C

Hi. I'm in the UK.
I don't have anyone to help and I'm an older lady with basic car knowledge. Please bear with me ??

I'm loving the car so far. It's a Honda Civic 2001 1.4i SE model.
Drives lovely like a new car, but the air con doesn't work.
The light on the dash button does light up, but air flow is same as normal cool temp, and the air con is not heard / felt kicking in.

I've read the condenser could be dead, and that means big spends, which I won't be doing.
Any thoughts on simple checks a trustworthy garage can do, so that I don't incur huge costs to start with please?
Working air con would be a huge bonus for me, as I have a condition where I overheat easily.

Also I have no spare wheel. I don't like the puncture repair aerosols, so I am trying to locate a space saver wheel.
I know I need a 15 inch wheel (even a 14" will do) and know the lug spacing and tyre I need.

Someone has said I may as well get a normal sized wheel, but I'm thinking that they will be far heavier (uses more fuel) and one probably won't fit properly in the wheel well.
Thoughts please?

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Edited by Eva's nanny on 25/04/2022 at 12:09

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 25 Apr 2022 14:24

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - elekie&a/c doctor

Any repair to the Aircon on this is is going to be expensive. Probably not within budget. As for the spare wheel, I would go to tyre shop and seek advice from them .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Mon 25 Apr 2022 14:36

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Nanny C

I've just seen that the air con relays that engage the clutch are temperamental in these cars, which costs a few pound to fix, so not necessarily expensive.

I'm looking for a used space saver wheel and no breakers or ebay sellers can be bothered to measure the distance between lugs. Im now paying over £200 for new, so the search goes on.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 01:50

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - edlithgow

I don't know much about aircon.

I have it on the current car but havn't used it for a very long time, and would now be afraid to do so in case there is no coolant and the pump is damaged by being run dry.

I'm not sure if this is a valid concern (other posters may confirm/deny) but in case it is, IF your proposed relay replacement works, you should perhaps confirm the system doesn't need recharging before running it.

Edited by edlithgow on 26/04/2022 at 01:53

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 08:11

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Topdude

I don't know much about aircon.

I have it on the current car but havn't used it for a very long time, and would now be afraid to do so in case there is no coolant and the pump is damaged by being run dry.

I'm not sure if this is a valid concern (other posters may confirm/deny) but in case it is, IF your proposed relay replacement works, you should perhaps confirm the system doesn't need recharging before running it.

The a/c compressor won't run if there is low pressure (no gas) in the system so it is perfectly safe to give it a try.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 08:19

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Topdude

Regarding the original post, you could go to a trusted independent garage and pay about £40 / £50 to have them test / refill the a/c system. If still not working you can decide whether to pursue it any further or not.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 08:47

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - elekie&a/c doctor

Fixing the ac on a 20 year old civic with a £10 relay would be a miracle. You don’t even need to buy a new relay , just swap it out with the horn relay , same part .

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 09:40

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - catsdad

Reference the spare wheel the weight difference between a space saver and a full size will not make any discernible real-life difference to fuel consumption. Lugging around a lot of excess weight is a waste but a few extra pounds on a wheel is not an issue.
Space savers are easier to handle and take up less room but you still have a full sized damaged wheel to deal with if you have a puncture. If it were me I would try to get a full sized spare as long as it would fit the boot, perhaps with spacers to even out any lump in the luggage area floor due to the spare being deeper than the wheel well. However a quick scout on eBay suggests space savers are generally easier to source. Some professional sellers also offer a jack and the essential retaining bolt to stop it flying loose in a bump.
It is nuisance if sellers won’t check specific measurements but some better ones seem to offer to check against your car reg to ensure compatibility. However doing a dummy run with a car reg taken from AutoTrader I couldn’t see any obvious matches in the first couple I tried. It might take some digging. You may have to take what you can get rather than being able to choose between a full size and space saver.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 26 Apr 2022 17:36

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Crickleymal

Regarding the original post, you could go to a trusted independent garage and pay about £40 / £50 to have them test / refill the a/c system. If still not working you can decide whether to pursue it any further or not.

This ^^^^^^

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 28 Apr 2022 14:49

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Nanny C

Thanks for the replies. I've just been to ATS for a pressure test and the system is empty. Fella said it could be left overnight for a leak test for £15, but then even if the system holds recon, there's nothing to say the condenser isn't dead.

I've left it at that, and will see how I cope with the real sun heat when it comes.

As for the spare wheel, ATS referred me to a large breakers here. They don't have anything at all.

I think I'm going to open up options and go for a full sized wheel, but I'm struggling to find them too! Getting sick of looking to be honest...

The usual tyres are 185 / 70 / R14's.

ATS said the wheels are:

PCD / STUD PATTERN: 4 x 100

CENTRE BORE: 56.1

I thought I could find these easy, but sellers all over only have scant info on the used wheels they are selling :-(

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 28 Apr 2022 15:03

Honda Civic 2001 1.4i ES - Air con / spare wheel help please - Falkirk Bairn

Google "spare wheels direct"