I drove my wifes 01' 4 cyl. Accord on Monday and the A/C was ice cold. I drove it today (Friday) and it isn't cold anymore. I notice an oily film on the shorter (lower) hose from the compressor. I guess the hose leaked out the oil and Freon 134? Any thoughts from you guys? Are Hondas of that vintage known for this? All replys are welcome.
A/C not blowing cold...
- Thread starter pbm
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there are many questions RE: A/C system not cold enough:
(1) how often does your wife/you run your A/C? (once a week?) also for how long (duration-wise)
(2) do you run A/C in the midst of winter?
(3) has your car suffered from frontal collision recently?
(4) do you have your vehicle A/C system serviced recently?
(5) what's the relative humidity/temp on Monday? and today?
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If your A/C has a sight glass on the top of the dryer, you shall be able to see/tell if your A/C has lots of bubbles in it (low in refrigerant). Also a good way to find out if your system has lost a lot of refrigerant recently.
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refrigerant leak issues aren't specific to Honda alone but virtually all A/C systems in automotives, no matter how good they are, shall suffer from minor refrigerant leak due to permeation in the rubber hoses and should be topped up every now and then. Other issues such as seal leak,etc. are also experienced every now and then.
(1) how often does your wife/you run your A/C? (once a week?) also for how long (duration-wise)
(2) do you run A/C in the midst of winter?
(3) has your car suffered from frontal collision recently?
(4) do you have your vehicle A/C system serviced recently?
(5) what's the relative humidity/temp on Monday? and today?
***********************************************************
If your A/C has a sight glass on the top of the dryer, you shall be able to see/tell if your A/C has lots of bubbles in it (low in refrigerant). Also a good way to find out if your system has lost a lot of refrigerant recently.
***************************************************************
refrigerant leak issues aren't specific to Honda alone but virtually all A/C systems in automotives, no matter how good they are, shall suffer from minor refrigerant leak due to permeation in the rubber hoses and should be topped up every now and then. Other issues such as seal leak,etc. are also experienced every now and then.
Most of the compressor oils these days have florescent dye in them. So what you do is put on these stylish yellow glasses and poke around your A/C system with an ultraviolet light. If there's a leak, it will glow bright green.
Before you do that though, you should hook up a gauge to your low pressure side and see what you have. A good refrigerant charge should be around 40PSI.
Before you do that though, you should hook up a gauge to your low pressure side and see what you have. A good refrigerant charge should be around 40PSI.
If you see oil where there was none, and your AC suddenly doesn't work, you have a leak.
If you see oil, a lot of refrigerant gas is long gone.
If you see oil, a lot of refrigerant gas is long gone.
I haven't had a frontal collision or any service done on the A/C and the temps were similar both days. We always run our A/C regularly over the winter so I'm sure the O-rings didn't dry out. Apparently my lower hose has leaked out the freon and oil. The question is why? It could be just that the hose went bad or else the pressure got too high because the fan didn't do its job. I'll be taking it in to an A/C shop this week (because the dealer would rape me). Is it normal for a 6 year old, 70K hose to go bad? Does anybody know if this is a problem with Hondas of this vintage?
hondasuv.com is full of posts relating to AC problems in Honda's. On my 01 CRV, I had to have the whole evaporator replaced as it just went bad one day. Unfortunately, I think it went bad towards the end of summer last year and I didn't think anything of it. When I went to replace the cabin filter, I noticed a lot of rust on all of the interior dash metal. I am sure that is something that will bite me again.
I would take it to the dealer. We've had a few 04 TSXs have A/C failures out of warranty. Acura picked up the tab for the parts and the customer only had to pay labor. Of course, these were all for a compressor failure.
Critic: I doubt Honda would pick up the tab on a car that was purchased new in April 01' and driven 70K and I really wouldn't expect them to. My 02' Buick with 86K and my recently purchased 97' Ranger with 74K still blow ice cold. So much for Honda reliability (I say this because I have the trouble prone A/T also). I probably won't buy a Honda again.
Did you check the A/C fuse? The last time that my A/C didn't cool I saw that the clutch wasn't engaging. The problem was just a blown fuse.
You may be surprised. Schmoe got Honda to pick up most of the tab for his transmission replacement at 135k on his 2002 Accord V6. Out-of-pocket for him was only $500.
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