I have a 2017 CR-V EXL. Took in today for an AC diagnostic. I could hear the compressor kick on and the air was cool, not cold. Tech determined I had a compressor shaft seal leak. Turns out there is a service bulletin that came out about a month ago, so I got the repair for free. I'm in Indianapolis, not sure if this applies everywhere.

 

Do you happen to have the TSB number? That way others can look into it.

 

TSB is 23-015, but I was told it will be replaced by 23-040, which has the warranty extension. Taking mine in next week.

23-015 can be downloaded from the nhtsa below, fairly simple seal replacement, and refill.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10234576-0001.pdf

 

I'm guessing since 2022's are not included they were built with the fix....let's hope!

 

My 2019 CRV EXL with 23,800 miles lost ac last week due to ac hoses leaking fluids at the point of fitting and rubber on both hoses. I didn't take to my local dealership because they aren't trustworthy. This is the 7th Honda in our family since 2000. I called Honda HQ in Torrance and was given no consideration. This is the first Honda I have had a major issue with.

 

2018 CR-V EX AWD, discovered A/C not working when my wife tried it a couple of weeks ago with the first real hot day and her 94 year old mother in the car really needing A/C. Saw some websites with 5th Gen owners talking lemon laws, class action suits etc., taking the car in next Tuesday for the dealer's opinion. I talked with a very seasoned mechanic who works on many brands of cars and he has seen many of these A/C failures. His opinion is that the variable displacement pumps that Honda went to in order to increase gas mileage were under-designed and not long term reliability tested, to say the least. The "Black Death" that one of the other websites talked about is causing major concerns here, with several people describing that if the entire system isn't replaced so that the metal fragments from the compressor grenading aren't completely removed from the system you could see a recurrence. This is our 6th Honda since 1979 and the first real reliability complaint, only other was the 4 speed tranny failures on our '99 Odyssey, but that was after 175K miles. I'll post after I see the dealer next week.

 

Year? model?

See profile and fill in details. thx

 

Filled in, 2018 Touring, thanks

I don't think the TSB covers the 2.4l, the compressors are different.

 

Just got my '18 CR-V EX back from the dealer for the A/C problem, no charge to do the seal replacements under the warranty extension above. No fighting, arguing, crying or threats. Great service.

 

This isnt the thread to discuss heat folks. Keep on track....cheers!

 

I just received a warranty extension notice from Honda dealing with the A/C compressor shaft seal. Apparently the new refrigerant and oil required by new regulations may cause swelling of the compressor shaft seal. Anyway the warranty has been extended to 10 years with no mileage limitation. Additionally, if this has happened and you paid for the repair you are entitled to reimbursement. It includes a reimbursement request form. Be on the lookout for the notice..

My AC stopped blowing cold air in my 2017 CRV Touring last summer and I had the following services “A/C EVAC AND RECHARGE SYSTEM SERVICE”, “REPLACE A/C DISCHARGE HOSE” and “REPLACE A/C DRYER DESICCANT BAG”. Would these services apply to the extended warranty on the AC issue? I went to another garage for these services because twice I told my Honda dealer that I was having issues with the drivers side not blowing cool air intermittently and they said both times that they found no issue. I have my invoice but, not sure if they will cover work done by another garage.

 

Does not sound like they will cover it. Discharge hose is not related, but you can try.

 

Hello Thank you for posting the TSB information, I was able to get my AC issue fixed with just $100 out of pocket for the AC hose part which had leaked oil. but after the fix I am noticing the AC flow is low compared to how it was working before - in simple terms to me it feels like what used flow at 72 is now flow at 65. Anyone experience the same after this fix? I am going to put to test in a long drive this weekend but i can clearly see a difference.

My AC issues background below ;
In June\July 2021 : I noticed the AC is not working rather just blowing the air - took it to service center and they just filled the Freson for free which worked fine.
in May\June 2023 (2\3 weeks ago) : I noticed the same issue and did some search here in forum and found this thread & TSBs information then took the car for fixing it with both TSBs as printed copy - Mechanic checked my car and confirmed Shaft Seal leak also they told me it will cost $100(hose part)+$890 (labor) because in my case the oil has leaked into the AC hose already from the Shaft seal - i told them i will contact Honda for covering this as well because the oil leaked into the hose only because of the Shaft Seal Leak - the service adviser(i always interact with same adviser) fully understood and agreed they will contact Honda on my behalf and told me mostly it will be covered. Also asked me to comeback again to drop off because they need the car for whole day to make this fix. On the day of dropping (this week), Service adviser told me Honda agreed to cover the labor cost for hose replacement but i need to pay the part cost which is $100 so i paid and got it fixed.

Huge thanks to this forum, i have learned so much from it from the time i purchased by vechicle under MSRP till today it is my go to site for all information\issues.

 

I think this new untested 1234yf in my 2017 is affecting MORE than the compressor seal. I see an oil film at different hose connections also, so obviously there is some leakage there also. If the Compressor seal is going bad because of the incompatibility with that seal, how are we to know its not ALL the seals in the system? And maybe the hoses?

My cr-v in the last month is not putting out the COOL like it used to!!! And I was ready to try having some freon added!!!


I am now suspicious whether this new freon is also affecting hoses if it affects seals in a negative manner...

 

I'm not sure I'm understanding the issue. Your using the "AUTO" I assume.

 

yes, i always have it on Auto.

 

B.

C. Only if you want to FAFO, then go to B. anyways.

D. Inspect yourself for any leaks; @Dragonrider99 attached TSB.

https://www.crvownersclub.com/attachments/mc-10234576-0001-pdf.163955/

page 6

 

I have been having issues with my CRV ac. It has not been keeping up at all and it is very hot here currently. Last year they replaced the compressor and a few parts. I took it to the dealership and they charged me $500 to recharge freeon with dye. Then said they didn’t see any leaks and I picked up my car and it was exactly the same. They acknowledged that ac was low on freeon but can’t find a leak. I am upset to say the least as AC is a necessity out here. They had the car for 2 days and couldn’t find the real issue so not sure what to do now. The fan just doesn’t blow that hard but then sometimes does so almost like an electrical/computer issue but I can’t say for sure.

 

hey had the car for 2 days and couldn’t find the real issue

Maybe contact Honda customer service and note the TSB about the shaft seal (Honda has been concerned since 2021, looking for parts to inspect). The letter we received for the 10 year extended warranty and it has a reimbursement form to fill out. Independent repair shop bill should be ok?

Front page of extended warranty letter and TSB 23-040 link here:
A/C compressor shaft seal warranty extension
Wonder if these threads should/can be merged?

 

Taking my 2017 CRV EX-L into the dealer this Wed. As others have mentioned, my driver side vents blow warm air (passenger side vents are cooler). There is also a hissing sound when I start the car. Just to clarify for myself, the hissing noise a symptom of the "A/C compressor shaft seal" issue mentioned in the Warranty Extension letter? Is this likely to be covered by the dealer via the warranty extension?

 

No, hissing usually not related.

 

2020 Touring. In AUTO mode, the a/c always starts in recirculate and never changes to fresh air. If I manually change to fresh air, the AUTO light goes off, so I'm not sure if it is still in AUTO.
Shouldn't it at some point change to fresh air. I've driven over an hour and it stays in recirculate.

 

From your manual —-

All models
The AUTO indicator will go off, but functions unrelated to the button that were pressed will be controlled automatically.

Switching between the recirculation and fresh air modes
Press the (recirculation) or (fresh air) button to switch the mode depending on environmental conditions.
Recirculation mode (indicator on): Recirculates air from the vehicle’s interior through the system.
Fresh air mode (indicator on): Maintains outside ventilation. Keep the system in fresh air mode in normal situations.
Pressing the (windshield defroster) button turns the air conditioning system on and automatically switches the system to fresh air mode.

 

I've seen that. It just seems counterintuitive that switching to the mode you should be in for normal situations turns off the AUTO light.

Thanks.

 

If I am reading the manual correctly, pg 228, should not affect AUTO function, but word will disappear.



"Press the CLIMATE button to display A/C, MODE, fan control information on the audio/information screen to operate manually. Select icon to turn on or off A/C, change the vent mode, or change the fan speed.

If any buttons are pressed while using the climate control system in auto, the function of the button that was pressed will take priority.

The AUTO indicator will go off, but functions unrelated to the button that were pressed will be controlled automatically. During idle-stops, air-conditioning is suspended, and only the blower remains active. If you do not want air-conditioning suspended, press the Auto Idle Stop OFF button to cancel idle-stop.

To prevent cold air from blowing in from outside, the fan may not start immediately when the AUTO button is pressed.

If the interior is very warm, you can cool it down more rapidly by partially opening the windows, turning the system on auto, and setting the temperature to low. Change the fresh mode to recirculation mode until the temperature cools down.

 

Just to update what happened to me. Located in Chapel Hill/Durham area of North Carolina.

Earlier this summer noticed my A/C was not working well. Driver side vents blowing warm. Hissing noise. Went to Southpointe/Crown Honda after receiving the Honda letter and they said the seals were shaft seal was not leaking and thus not covered under warranty. Wanted $700 to replace a discharge hose and tried to sell me thousands of dollars of unrelated repairs from their multipoint inspections. Since my CRV has 42000 miles on it, and I've learned over the years that Southpoint/Crown Honda in Durham is the king of the service upsell, I declined all service.

Got a second opinion at Reggie Jackson Honda near Raleigh Durham airport today. They did the inspection and confirmed the a/c shaft seal was leaking on my vehicle and covered under Honda's new extended warranty for the system. The service staffer told me right away that "warm air blowing from the driver's vents is a sign of this issue" when I arrived. Repair done in about 3 hours. They did find when doing the repair that A/C field coil was damaged and that part also needed replacement (not under the warranty) and the total part and labor was $153. Reggie Jackon's multipoint inspection, btw, found none of the thousands of dollars of issues that Southpoint/Crown Honda had found (just recommended replacing cabin air filter which I normally do on my own with a $10 part).

Since it is in the 90s this week in North Carolina, it is great to have my 2017 CRV fixed with the A/C working well.

Hope this helps others looking into this issue. Moral of the story: quality of the dealership matters. And Southpoint/Crown Honda in Durham is not to be trusted.

 

They did find when doing the repair that A/C field coil was damaged and that part also needed replacement (not under the warranty) and the total part and labor was $153.

I would think that the seal freon oil leakage caused the A/C field coil (electromagnetic a/c clutch?) to fail. If Freon leaks out, the A/C has to work longer to maintain your interior temperature and that oil substance may deteriorate other parts. I think Honda should cover that replacement cost as part of this design failure. Otherwise Honda will be ticking off some repeat customers. They can think of this cost as a future sales incentive.

 

Yeah update to my issue. After some back and forth brought the car back. Where they didn’t find a leak before now said the compressor was leaking and contaminated the clutch and coil. This was I believe the same failure they repaired a year ago. Not feeling great about things I am still under an extended warranty but would think these parts should last more than a year.

 

Gen 5 2017 1.5t EXL Air Conditioning working intermittently. Could blow cold at 9 AM and hot at 10AM. Could blow cold on Monday and hot on Tuesday. Dealership does not know what the problem is or how to fix it. Here is what they have done so far: replace compressor seal, discharge hose, charged the system, fixed broken wire connected to ac pressure sensor, replaced cabin filter, replaced compressor clutch relay, exchanged climate control unit, confirmed operation of flaps, and finally, using a new tool from Honda, replaced the compressor seal again. Result is no change in symptoms. Sometimes blows cold, sometimes blows hot.
Has anyone had this problem and, if so, how did you fix it? Thanks.
Sorry, I don't know where or how to post, if someone would please tell me where I can find directions.

 

I had posted earlier in this thread regarding my issues with AC, but to save you some scroll back here's a summary:

On 4/1/2021 at 22292 miles, I took my 2018 Honda CR-V into local Honda because AC not working. Honda technician determined no coolant in system and performed a dye test to locate source of leak. Technician states test showed leak in discharge hose. Honda replaced AC discharge hose under warranty. On 7/19/2022 at 28728 miles, I again take vehicle to local Honda because AC not working again. This time, Honda technician diagnoses leak in AC suction hose which would need to be replaced. Because vehicle now out of warranty due to years, not miles, dealer requests Honda America to perform repair under goodwill due to vehicle low mileage, and history of AC leaks. Honda America declines.
Due to quoted cost of repair by Honda dealer, I elected to have repair performed by independent shop. I informed the shop of the diagnosis of Honda dealer. Per their own policy, the shop performed its own dye test to confirm dealer's diagnosis and discovered that the dealer diagnosis was incorrect. There was no leak in the suction line. The leak was at the compressor seal. The shop informed me via phone call that the only repair was to replace the compressor. I authorized the replacement. The replacement was completed and paid for on 8/6/2022.

So, when I received PA 6A5 which stated Honda would provide reimbursement if compressor repaired/replaced due to seal failure, I immediately filed all of the requested paperwork via their online site. That was 6 weeks ago. I finally received a response from Honda earlier this week. The entirety of the response is as follows:

After a thorough review of your case and the repair invoice you provided, we have found that your claim does not qualify for reimbursement for the following reason(s):

• No repair under the Compressor Shaft Seal warranty extension occurred

Campaigns only cover specific parts and/or repairs, and due to the reason(s) listed above, repair(s) are not eligible for reimbursement at this time. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us. However, we will be closing your case at this time.

Sincerely,

AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC.

I have replied to Honda requesting that they tell me what exactly in the provided documentation caused my claim to be denied so it can be corrected, and not to close the case in the meantime. Maybe I'll get a response in another 6 weeks. Hope others in same situation have better outcome.

 

I had posted earlier in this thread regarding my issues with AC, but to save you some scroll back here's a summary:

On 4/1/2021 at 22292 miles, I took my 2018 Honda CR-V into local Honda because AC not working. Honda technician determined no coolant in system and performed a dye test to locate source of leak. Technician states test showed leak in discharge hose. Honda replaced AC discharge hose under warranty. On 7/19/2022 at 28728 miles, I again take vehicle to local Honda because AC not working again. This time, Honda technician diagnoses leak in AC suction hose which would need to be replaced. Because vehicle now out of warranty due to years, not miles, dealer requests Honda America to perform repair under goodwill due to vehicle low mileage, and history of AC leaks. Honda America declines.
Due to quoted cost of repair by Honda dealer, I elected to have repair performed by independent shop. I informed the shop of the diagnosis of Honda dealer. Per their own policy, the shop performed its own dye test to confirm dealer's diagnosis and discovered that the dealer diagnosis was incorrect. There was no leak in the suction line. The leak was at the compressor seal. The shop informed me via phone call that the only repair was to replace the compressor. I authorized the replacement. The replacement was completed and paid for on 8/6/2022.

So, when I received PA 6A5 which stated Honda would provide reimbursement if compressor repaired/replaced due to seal failure, I immediately filed all of the requested paperwork via their online site. That was 6 weeks ago. I finally received a response from Honda earlier this week. The entirety of the response is as follows:

After a thorough review of your case and the repair invoice you provided, we have found that your claim does not qualify for reimbursement for the following reason(s):

• No repair under the Compressor Shaft Seal warranty extension occurred

Campaigns only cover specific parts and/or repairs, and due to the reason(s) listed above, repair(s) are not eligible for reimbursement at this time. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us. However, we will be closing your case at this time.

Sincerely,

AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO., INC.

I have replied to Honda requesting that they tell me what exactly in the provided documentation caused my claim to be denied so it can be corrected, and not to close the case in the meantime. Maybe I'll get a response in another 6 weeks. Hope others in same situation have better outcome.

About as useless as the reply I got from American Honda. This is truly crazy, but does confirm my suspicions about the thoroughness of some dealer's trouble-shooting capabilities!

 

We had our air conditioning compressor shaft seal replaced, and an oil change, in less than 3 hours, 11am to 2pm. Does that seem like the right amount of time? Seems quick to me for pulling off a pulley, taking freon out of system, removing shaft seal, replacing o-rings on discharge and suction lines, installing shaft seal, and adding freon back in. Plus getting an oil/filter change done, during a possible lunch break time.
But A/C is working better. Interesting that, set to LO, temperature out of center vent, at idle, is about 54F, but at 2000 rpm (still sitting stationary) the temperature goes down to 44F (using a fold out digital meat thermometer). I did not know rpm had that much effect. Stop and Go traffic might make it hard to keep the car interior temperature down on a hot day?

 

We had our air conditioning compressor shaft seal replaced, and an oil change, in less than 3 hours, 11am to 2pm. Does that seem like the right amount of time?

Possible, yes.

Mechanics get paid more the faster they work. Has its pros and cons.

 

Intermittent problems are the best! Maybe a loose or poorly connected temperature sensor?

 

I have a Honda CRV 2017 EX-L 1.5 Turbo model with 58k mileage on it. AC took forever to cool, used a thermometer on the middle vent and it was taking 1 hour to even get to 60 deg, and that's when I realized the freon was leaking. I added dye to it and found the issue at the shaft seal which is now covered by the new 10-year extended warranty.
Before you take it to the dealer, you can do your own DYE test, below is a picture of my CRV compressor with the seal leaking when the dye was added to it. DYE is added in the suction Low side under the hood. I used a R-1234 YF Freon with DYE CAN by Honeywell from Autozone and gauge set from advanced auto parts. WARNING - only do this if you are sure there is a leak. You will be adding moisture in your AC system and that can contaminate it. Proper way is to vacccum it out and recharge with DYE. After dye is added and engine is run for 20-30 min. You need a UV light to check in a dark place (your garage). As you can see in the pictures, the green dye leaked out from the front of the compressor. The second picture is of the discharge hose and you can see the green spray on it. That is not a leak, the centrifugal force of the compressor causes the freon and oil along with the dye to splash on the hose when it spins. Hence, the discharge hose most likely is not leaking as most of the complaints in this thread.

Had to take this CRV to 3 dealers to get it done right. First dealer tried to charge me a diagnostic fee of $400 which I said no. Added dye by myself and took it to second dealer by showing them the pictures below and they did not charge any fee but tried to argue with me on discharge hose leaking which I declined. Third dealer after showing dye in the system and compressor picture also did not charge diagnostic fee and confirmed just the shaft seal was leaking. If the dealer try’s to up sell the discharge hose and suction hose replacement, ask them to replace shaft seal first, clean up all the dye from the hoses and compressor then run the test with dye added again to check for leaks. If they don’t see any dye anywhere then all you had was a shaft seal leak. If you don’t know how to add dye, one simple test is take a powerful flash light and peak at the compressor from above and see if you see a shine on top of the compressor, also look around towards the hoses, you can see wet oily look. That’s an indication of a leak and most from the compressor which is causing the oil to be spun around towards the hoses.

 

I have a Honda CRV 2017 EX-L model with 58k mileage on it. AC took forever to cool, used a thermometer on the middle vent and it was taking 1 hour to even get to 60 deg, and that's when I realized the freon was leaking. I added dye to it and found the issue at the shaft seal which is now covered by the new 10-year extended warranty.
Before you take it to the dealer, you can do your own DYE test, below is a picture of my CRV compressor with the seal leaking when the dye was added to it. DYE is added in the suction Low side under the hood. I used a R-1234 YF Freon with DYE CAN by Honeywell from Autozone and gauge set from advanced auto parts. WARNING - only do this if you are sure there is a leak. You will be adding moisture in your AC system and that can contaminate it. Proper way is to vacccum it out and recharge with DYE. After dye is added and engine is run for 20-30 min. You need a UV light to check in a dark place (your garage). As you can see in the pictures, the green dye leaked out from the front of the compressor. The second picture is of the discharge hose and you can see the green spray on it. That is not a leak, the centrifugal force of the compressor causes the freon and oil along with the dye to splash on the hose when it spins. Hence, the discharge hose most likely is not leaking as most of the complaints in this thread.

Had to take this CRV to 3 dealers to get it done right. First dealer tried to charge me a diagnostic fee of $400 which I said no. Added dye by myself and took it to second dealer by showing them the pictures below and they did not charge any fee but tried to argue with me on discharge hose leaking which I declined. Third dealer after showing dye in the system and compressor picture also did not charge diagnostic fee and confirmed just the shaft seal was leaking. If the dealer try’s to up sell the discharge hose and suction hose replacement, ask them to replace shaft seal first, clean up all the dye from the hoses and compressor then run the test with dye added again to check for leaks. If they don’t see any dye anywhere then all you had was a shaft seal leak. If you don’t know how to add dye, one simple test is take a powerful flash light and peak at the compressor from above and see if you see a shine on top of the compressor, also look around towards the hoses, you can see wet oily look. That’s an indication of a leak and most from the compressor which is causing the oil to be spun around towards the hoses.

Thanks for a very thorough post and outstanding information. I have had a UV flashlight for awhile, and now I'll have a chance to use it... I normally buy the r1234yf refrigerant from Honeywell from Napa. Is the refrigerant from autozone with the dye in it a special can produced by Honeywell? I do have a cheap gauge I bought from Amazon, and also the expensive set I have yet to use thinking the dealer I took my car to knew what they were doing, and I would replace the lower discharge hose myself when it cools off here in Texas. Amazing you had to go to 3 dealers before you got one to fix the obvious! The technical service bulletin on this seems more thorough and dealers should more easily catch this...

 

Sharing my experience: 2017 EXL, no extended warranty, ~90K at the time warm air was noticed. Dealer found the leak; unfortunately it was not the AC compressor shaft seal as covered under the extended warranty. They said the expansion valve needed to be replaced and the HVAC service port line set to the expansion valve needed to be replaced. Both replaced and AC system recharged. Total was ~$1k. Working well 2.5k miles later this summer.