[flynhigh]

First of all, I love this car - drives great, looks great, fuel mileage is great, nice and quiet inside (not so outside , love the features, no issues except this.

Every first some hot days in Spring or early Summer I found myself getting hot air from the vent when I first turned on A/C and I had to bring my car to dealership and it was fine after they just recharged the gas (not repair, I guess) until the end of Summer (or don't know exactly when the gas completely escapes).
Tomorrow will be my third time bringing this car in and I don't know if this will be my last time or just another trip that I need to do every year until the end and start forking out my own money since my warranty will be expiring next year.
Anyone has the same issue I'm having?
And is there any way that I can do to fix it for good with warranty that I still have?

Too bad that the lemon law doesn't apply here in NJ since two years already passed since purchase - I thought they fixed this when they repaired second time

Thanks,
Terry

 

[RickBlaine]

Terry,

That is not normal. You may want to get Honda Corporate involved, and not just the dealer. A/C system is expensive as heck to repair. You don't want a $1,000 issue next year.

I hope you did not pick up a rock through the condenser. That happens and is NOT covered by warranty. Member "Glen e" has an excellent write-up on protecting your condenser with gutter guard from Home Depot for $10.

Anyhow, save your documentation and contact Honda Corporate. You need this fixed properly.

It sounds as if everything is working, but that you have a minor leak due to a bad seal perhaps. Over time, that bad seal can let in moisture and destroy an expensive A/C part.

Good luck and please report back to help other members.

 

[greyhonda]

You live in NJ, so don't need AC through the winter. Do you run it once a week anyhow? Doing so helps with the seals.

The next time you have it charged, have them add tracer dye. Sounds like you have a leak, and that will help locate it.

 

[so-cal-accord]

not sure if it helps or not, but I just bought a '15 EX-L to replace a 2003 BMW 325i that had the same issue - slow freon leak. Took it to a specialist multiple times to have them put the tracer dye in the system, still couldn't pinpoint the leak. Finally they said the leak must be in the evaporator, which would have necessitated taking apart the dash to get to - estimate was "at least $2500." And that's why my wife and I got rid of the car.

So yeah, try and get to the bottom of that as quickly as possible.

 

[flynhigh]

Thanks for the tip, RickBlaine!
Any idea how to get Honda Corporate involved properly, just a phone call and ask them to call my dealer?

 

[flynhigh]

Thanks for the tracer dye tip, greyhonda!
I'll ask about it when I get to dealer.

 

[RickBlaine]

Thanks for the tip, RickBlaine!
Any idea how to get Honda Corporate involved properly, just a phone call and ask them to call my dealer?

Call the 800 number and politely, but firmly, tell them your A/C must have a slow leak because you have done this twice before. Sadly, your dealer is suggesting yet another recharge. You think there must be some sort of leak. It has been doing this since new and you would like it fixed once and for all.

I find that writing down a few well-written key points makes you seem more confidant and knowledgeable. You don't want too many "uhs" in the conversation.

Most important is a higher level of documentation. As mentioned, when it is out of warranty it will get expensive.

If you call screaming, you may get bounced around. Be polite, but firm, and have your documents ready....

Dye is a good tool to figure out where the leak is....but they should state WHY the refrigerant was low....

Heck, my 1991 Nissan 240sx has NEVER needed a recharge! And yes, run it once a while even in winter to keep seals lubed properly.

 

[danbudy]

We had a similar issue with our 2006 pilot. After owning it a few months it was blowing hot air. Dealer checked it out, recharged the system and added the dye. I also did the gutter guard to protect the condenser at this time, just in case.

About a year later the a/c was blowing hot again.
We took it back in and it was once again low. THey could not find a leak. Almost a year later, it was low, so we took it to another Honda dealer and they could not find the leak either. They added dye and in again later, they rechecked it, but could not find the leak.

After that, I just started topping the system off every spring with a can of Freon. It never got worse during the 9 years and 6 months that we owned it.

I agree, it should not leak. My 2000 Honda accord has never needed Freon and it has 299k miles on it!

Luck of the draw I guess. Good luck and consider getting a gauge set and topping it off your self yearly. Also, definitely do the gutter guard!

 

[danbudy]

In addition, Freon is only $12 a can at the auto parts. And a set of gauges is about $60. I just bought three cans of 134A Freon at walmart for $6 a can. So it could be worse...

 

[flynhigh]

Called Honda customer service and got a case #.
I will tell the dealership tomorrow about this and hope they can find where it's leaking and fix this time for good not just recharge it with the backing of this case #, although it seems very difficult to fix based on postings by so-cal-accord and danbudy.

My other question to AC experts out there is: how to test if it's fixed given the very slowly leaking condition?

 

[greg1c]

As the issue takes a year to notice the effect, it is difficult. Normally leaks occur at connections. Two methods to find small leaks, dye and electronic leak detectors. The hardest leak to find is in the evaporator core.

 

[flynhigh]

They found the leaking part and ordered it to replace.
Apparently, they put the dye last year when they recharged and they immediately noticed the leaking spot this time.
I now remember that they told me to come back a week later to check again at that time but I didn't since A/C was working fine.
If they have explained why I need to come back to fix for good I would have come back for it.
Anyway, I'm glad they found the leaking part and hope that fixes this issue for good.
Will post updates when they replace the part.

 

[msupc]

I have been lurking on this forum since August of 2014 when I picked up my 2013 EX-L V6 w/Nav, and it had 3k miles on it since then.

I travel quite a bit as I am in sales, and my odometer reads somewhere around 75k miles now.

I had this exact problem earlier this year when I was out of town. It was one of the first warm days of the year, and when the car wouldn't cool off I knew there was a problem. When I got back in town the next day I dropped the car off at the dealer to have it checked out. They couldn't find any damaged or leaking parts, so they filled it with freon and dye. I haven't asked them to look at it again as it has blown cold air ever since, but now it seems the problem may come back. I just had the oil changed last week at the dealer, and I am thinking that the next time I get the car serviced I will ask them to look for the dye leaking out.

Please update us on the final results. I am nearing the 100k mile CPO warranty period, so I would like to get this handled before then.

 

[danbudy]

Definitely let us know which part was leaking and why.

 

[flynhigh]

Here's status update.

I went to dealer last Saturday to replace the part and after replacing it they found my compressor is making noise.
That worries me a little bit since it didn't make any noise and I wonder what other things got affected by this.
The service manager mentioned that he had conversation with American Honda and he doesn't want me to drive the vehicle and come back later with another issue.
So, he gave me loaner car and promised me to fix this issue also.
American Honda regional manager also has been contacting me for the status twice.
Great customer service, I think.

Any idea why freon leak caused compressor noise and any other parts that I need to worry about?

 

[danbudy]

what part was leaking and what did they replace?

 

[Ricky Bobby]

If these new systems are like the old systems there is a small amount of lubricant in the AC system. With you freon leak the lubricant probably escaped as well. Running the compressor with no freon or lubricant could have damaged it.

 

[flynhigh]

OK, I got the vehicle back and am glad to report that all has been fixed.
Two things they did to fix A/C issue:
1. Replaced a leaking pipe - don't know exactly where but rep. told me it's just connecting pipe that's leaking
2. Replaced compressor that was making noise after recharging the gas
Fixes were covered by warranty and I'm very happy with Honda and dealer's customer service
I hope that was my final trip to dealer for A/C issue though.

Thank you all for your help on this matter!

 

[RickBlaine]

Thanks for coming back and reporting the conclusion. This WILL help another member down the road this summer.

 

[danbudy]

I'm glad that it worked out for you. Let us know if you have any other issues with it. I hope that this is the finisher of your problem.

The compressor is the heart of the system, so you will probably not have any further problems. It was really good of them to replace it for being noisy. That could have really drove your nuts!