[spotpup]

Just a bit of click bait there. It is the second failure of an AC compressor in this vehicle with second compressor lasting around 130K before dying. The first on died around 64K and Honda picked up the tab. This one gave up its ghost this past weekend going out with a scream and a little pop. Was providing nice cold air up to the point of failure. I did the check swapping the relays around to no avail. Not having the tools to properly evacuate and recharge the system, I sent it over to a local mechanic who specializes on Honda's. He said it will be done by Tuesday and is giving me a 3yr parts/labor warranty on the repair. Due to the age he will be changing all the seals, evaporator, condenser and other wear items in the system. If the compressor came apart vs locked up, I am looking at a bit more time to flush the debris out of the lines, hence the Tuesday completion. If no shrapnel, she should be ready to go after work today....

I am a bit sad I can't handle this myself, but after seeing where that compressor is buried... I'm not that sad.

 

[Wildcat]

Yeah, she's definitely buried in that mess! :BigGrin: I'm glad I paid it. Although I see a trend of these compressors pooping out at 130k. Both of ours died at around the same mileage. I'm also glad the dealers I used went over the whole system and cleaned up any additional leaks (o-rings, valves, etc.) as that saved some future grief. And I have a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.

I did a condenser coil on an '88 Accord, back in the days when R-12 was cheap. My uncle used to have a small tank he'd carry around with R-12 or R-22, depending on what he was working on. He had the vacuum pump to evacuate the system, and a gauge manifold. I did all the work at home, then we met at the office one morning and we evacuated and filled it in not too much time. To really do it right, though, I would need to get all the equipment--a gauge manifold and hoses, pump, recovery tank, and a way to test for leaks using UV lighting. For something I might do every few years, it's not worth it.

 

[spotpup]

Turned out it was just seized up. No shrapnel to deal with on this one. Its running nice and cold again. My brother in law does HVAC and I've used him to evacuate/charge systems for me since he has all the hoses, tanks, etc. He treats his R12 like gold these days. Just didn't have the time to coordinate this go around to use his tools. What I'd really like to get is a 2 post lift when I get my barn put in. It would make working on cars so much easier.

The mechanic did point out uneven wear on my rear pads. I had changed the left rear caliper back in August, seized up and skipped the right since it was moving freely. Had less than half the pad left on the right while the left looked new. Swapped out the right caliper along with a new set of rear pads, bleed the lines and good to go

 

[Wildcat]

That's good on the compressor.

Our left caliper seized up on the blue CR-V, but that was due to a torn caliper pin boot. It took a bit of work to get the old pin out, but I replaced the pin and put on a new boot. All in 18° weather with the snow falling during the last hour of the job. Yeah, I'm crazy that way! But it needed to be done.

 

[spotpup]

That's good on the compressor.

Our left caliper seized up on the blue CR-V, but that was due to a torn caliper pin boot. It took a bit of work to get the old pin out, but I replaced the pin and put on a new boot. All in 18° weather with the snow falling during the last hour of the job. Yeah, I'm crazy that way! But it needed to be done.

I hear you. 68 and sunny yesterday was a treat to work on the V. Usually most of my repairs are done when it is cold, wet or a combination of both.

When I did the left the piston was seized. The right was moving a bit yesterday, but not smoothly and when I removed it there was a bunch of junk in there along with the seal starting to leak. Good to get that old brake fluid out. Ever play with one of those power/vacuum bleeders? Would be handy when doing brakes yourself.

 

[Wildcat]

Interesting--I may need to look into one of those newfangled brake bleeders. Mine consists of a clear plastic hose and an empty windshield washer fluid jug. :BigGrin:

I'm lucky that I haven't had pistons seize up, but I'll keep an eye on them. I've had to replace the brake hardware due to the pads not moving smoothly within the calipers.

 

[kloker]

Dang! That's terrible luck on the compressor. Mine, on my '07, is still running strong at 92k. Just had it recharged. These systems only hold about 1.5+ pounds or so of refrigerant. When I bought the car (got it from a little old lady in California) it was about half empty but still cooled some. I got my mechanic to evacuate, leak check, and recharge, and its been great ever since. I suspect that one of the main reasons these compressors go bad is the fact that they hold such a small amount of Freon that it doesn't have to leak much to start overworking the compressor. So, my advice is to have it checked at least once a year, depending on where you live. I'm in a hot climate, so twice a year for me. My half empty system was only down just a little over a half pound of gas. Left alone it would have toasted the compressor in short order. Still, I expect it had never been checked in eleven years, yet had only leaked a half pound. No detectable leak, though. But I will be keeping a close eye on it, as it is very important here in the tropics.

 

[EasiTek]

Changing the evaporator, condenser, compressor and lines....yikes...that IS the whole system! But if there is debris in there, compressors will continue to blow. Ask about an aftermarket in-line filter to be added. It is mounted just before compressor. You are looking at thousands to do all that work.

 

[spotpup]

Lines were not changed and no leaks were found when they evacuated the system. Had they found debris when they disassembled the compressor, they would have flushed the lines and cleaned them out. If not possible, then they would have replaced them. They did do all O rings on the lines as well. I agree, if you start pulling lines, you are getting in to some additional costs for parts and labor. If not compromised, clean and working fine, why change? 3yr on parts and labor will get the V through to the point where my son is out of school and able to buy what he wants. Cost wise it was not too bad. Compressor with 3yr warranty, new was a bit over 200, the other parts/ fluids came to around 120. With labor, I was around 550 out the door. He gets all his parts from Rock Auto, and had I done the work myself, that is where I would have bought them as well. I paid for shipping on the parts, no other markup there. Other than consumables, this is the first large dollar failure repair money I've put in to the V since we bought it. The other failure repair was a door lock actuator for 40 bucks that I changed myself. Great vehicle.

 

[kloker]

Changing the evaporator, condenser, compressor and lines....yikes...that IS the whole system! But if there is debris in there, compressors will continue to blow. Ask about an aftermarket in-line filter to be added. It is mounted just before compressor. You are looking at thousands to do all that work.

Why, yes, it is! I had the entire system replaced in my F250, with all new parts. It was $2,000. Sure blows cold, though.

 

[kloker]

Lines were not changed and no leaks were found when they evacuated the system. Had they found debris when they disassembled the compressor, they would have flushed the lines and cleaned them out. If not possible, then they would have replaced them. They did do all O rings on the lines as well. I agree, if you start pulling lines, you are getting in to some additional costs for parts and labor. If not compromised, clean and working fine, why change? 3yr on parts and labor will get the V through to the point where my son is out of school and able to buy what he wants. Cost wise it was not too bad. Compressor with 3yr warranty, new was a bit over 200, the other parts/ fluids came to around 120. With labor, I was around 550 out the door. He gets all his parts from Rock Auto, and had I done the work myself, that is where I would have bought them as well. I paid for shipping on the parts, no other markup there. Other than consumables, this is the first large dollar failure repair money I've put in to the V since we bought it. The other failure repair was a door lock actuator for 40 bucks that I changed myself. Great vehicle.

I buy the whole story except for this part:

3yr on parts and labor will get the V through to the point where my son is out of school and able to buy what he wants.

That right there is what I like to affectionately call magical thinking. It certainly did not happen that way for my children, or my grandchildren. Here are some anti-magical words: student loans, actual paying jobs, European backpacking trips, major relocation … you get the idea. But, best of luck, anyway.

 

[Wildcat]

The other failure repair was a door lock actuator for 40 bucks that I changed myself.

I've had to replace the right rear actuator, and finally had time to do it last week. I found a deal on a genuine Honda actuator at Amazon ("used" via their warehouse--basically, just damaged original packaging) for just over $40. But removing it was a pain, again. I could not break those screws loose! I tried my impact head on the power drill and it didn't move them--it just twisted the tip of the #3 bit slightly. I tried the hammer impact driver but that did nothing (probably because the bits that came with it are crap). I got a couple of #3 3/8" drive bits from the store--they fit perfectly but both snapped off with first use. (Had they been properly heat treated, they likely would have worked.) I finally had to buy a tungsten carbide bit for the Dremel and grind most of the screw and broken bits away, so I could drill out those screws. Once that was done, it was simple enough to replace. Much easier than the driver's door. I still have a right front actuator, unused, that I thought I needed--given how these fail, I'll hang onto it.

Fingers crossed our compressors all hold up!

 

[spotpup]

I buy the whole story except for this part:

That right there is what I like to affectionately call magical thinking. It certainly did not happen that way for my children, or my grandchildren. Here are some anti-magical words: student loans, actual paying jobs, European backpacking trips, major relocation … you get the idea. But, best of luck, anyway.

Man these brownies are really good!!!! I hear you on that one. For both of our kids, once they graduate and land paying jobs, they get to be "responsible" for their own insurance, cell phone, student loans, etc. Same goes for advance degrees. If they want to go back for something higher than a Bachelor's then it is on them to make it happen. If they want to go spend a week at the beach with friends, well then they need to save from their jobs to be able to do that. The older one works his day job and then is a waiter on Friday evenings at a country club to afford his toys. The youngest works weekends while in school for his gas/spending money. We've done the finance thing with them as they've grown up so they can see how much something costs and the sacrifices it takes at times. Both are good at getting their wants and needs in order. Not to say we don't help where we can if we can, but yeah, I won't be funding or cosigning on a new CRV for the boy once he graduates. If it dies while he is in school or trying to get a job, another good used Honda is in his future. To each their own though. If you have the means and it is something you want to do as you say, best of luck to you.

 

[cospinner]

I thought I would add in my contribution. Have a 2007 CRV with 129K miles, just had compressor clutch and coil go bad - right on schedule apparently. Had independent shop replace entire compressor assembly for ~$1000. I might write to Honda regarding the service bulletin but just for my benefit, not expecting anything.

 

[wlong01]

I thought I would add in my contribution. Have a 2007 CRV with 129K miles, just had compressor clutch and coil go bad - right on schedule apparently. Had independent shop replace entire compressor assembly for ~$1000. I might write to Honda regarding the service bulletin but just for my benefit, not expecting anything.

Save your ink. Compressor clutch went on our 2008 right around 111k miles. Extended warranty had just run out.
Honda N/A said too bad.

 

[Wildcat]

Yep, on a 12 year old car, nobody will guarantee anything. There was one former member here just recently who got all bent out of shape for Honda not covering a repair on a 10+ year old A/C compressor and went to shop the competition...I mean c'mon, seriously? I don't like that I had to replace two A/C compressors within a year on our '09s but what else was I going to do? With 120-130k miles on them, and 8 or 9 years passed since they were built (one died in 2017, the other in 2018), I never would expect Honda to cover the repairs. At least they have given accommodations in some rare situations in the past, which is something not many others would do. Ford gave me a throbbing middle finger when I inquired, and GM offered to pay us for a $20 head gasket whose failure caused $1000+ in engine damage.

 

[Wildcat]

Not to say we don't help where we can if we can, but yeah, I won't be funding or cosigning on a new CRV for the boy once he graduates. If it dies while he is in school or trying to get a job, another good used Honda is in his future.

I'm at a point with my daughter's 2002 Accord that I'm wondering if upgrading to a better car would be wise. I have a list of about 20 things that need replacing this summer. Now it's up to about $900 in parts, on top of the hundreds I've put into it recently (new tires, rusted brake line, and other things). We only paid $1500 for it. Things are just rusting all over the bottom--the latest is the gas tank, which has a leak on top of it. Very common for this model, I'm finding. I also need to replace the other brake line, and the fuel lines could probably stand to be replaced also. The front suspension is all shot--bushings worn and dried out, ball joints worn, you name it. Then the transmission issue on top of it (likely a solenoid or valve, but not ruling out internal damage). With all the money dumped into it already, though, we'll probably keep it.

If I did replace it, I'd find a nicer, older TSX, maybe 2007 or 2008.