Climate control fan whines when starting up in cooler weather

quadna71 · Feb 9, 2017

I dropped it off Monday morning for them to take a look. Stopped by Tuesday evening to hopefully pick it back up but nobody had been able to hear the sound. I grabbed one of their techs and took him for a spin. Got the sound to become pretty prevalent - enough that he could distinctly hear it and we could reliably reproduce it once they had time to look at it further. They gave me a loaner to take home, told me to keep the loaner again last night, and I'm waiting to hear back from this afternoon before I head home. Hopefully they can figure it out.

quadna71 · Feb 20, 2017

Fast forward to this afternoon. We dropped it off for them to work on tomorrow. They determined the refrigerant line has collapsed to some degree - I guess the high pressure line is sleeved inside the low pressure line and eliminates the need for two separate lines? Either way they are changing out that line as well as replacing the whole compressor. Our theory (their tech and I) is that if the line is collapsed then there's no telling what sort of damage may have been occurring in the compressor due to lack or lubricant getting through. They think they will have time to complete it tomorrow but it depends upon the availability of the machine for reclaiming the refrigerant.

NorthernEX-T · Feb 21, 2017

quadna71 said:
Fast forward to this afternoon. We dropped it off for them to work on tomorrow. They determined the refrigerant line has collapsed to some degree - I guess the high pressure line is sleeved inside the low pressure line and eliminates the need for two separate lines? Either way they are changing out that line as well as replacing the whole compressor. Our theory (their tech and I) is that if the line is collapsed then there's no telling what sort of damage may have been occurring in the compressor due to lack or lubricant getting through. They think they will have time to complete it tomorrow but it depends upon the availability of the machine for reclaiming the refrigerant.

Please post this work order after you are finished with this job, could help lots of us out.

quadna71 · Feb 21, 2017

Is it located on the paperwork once the job is finished? They are keeping it again tonight to test it out a few more times to be sure the problem is solved and I should be picking it up on the way home from work tomorrow evening.

elykoj · Feb 23, 2017

quadna71 said:
Is it located on the paperwork once the job is finished? They are keeping it again tonight to test it out a few more times to be sure the problem is solved and I should be picking it up on the way home from work tomorrow evening.

update???

Blueciv · Feb 24, 2017

Interested

quadna71 · Feb 25, 2017

Picked it up Thursday evening. We were cautiously optimistic since it was quiet on the drive home but wanted to wait until Friday before we made the call. I'm happy to say that after the 130-mile drive to/from work yesterday that the sound seems to be completely gone! To recap, the howling sound was present anytime the A/C compressor clutch was energized and spinning the compressor. The line had collapsed internally and the howling sound was the refrigerant and lube squeezing through the collapsed section of line. While we couldn't readily hear it leaning over the engine with the hood open, all it took was placing the tip of the stethoscope on the line in various places to hear it clearly over the engine noise. When in the car, the noise insulation deadened the engine sound but the howling traveled right through the line and into the cabin. Sometimes the sound was faint and other times it was very very loud. This was based upon variables such as climate control temperature settings, outside temperature, humidity, etc as all of these affected how hard the A/C system had to work. All the work was done at Price Honda of Delaware. Here's a small screenshot of what they sent me. If there is another number somewhere on the form that helps others locate the problem via their local dealership then let me know and I'll attach that too.

Honda Civic 10th gen Climate control fan whines when starting up in cooler weather Screen Shot 2017-02-25 at 8.46.39 AM

elykoj · Feb 25, 2017

quadna71 said:
Picked it up Thursday evening. We were cautiously optimistic since it was quiet on the drive home but wanted to wait until Friday before we made the call. I'm happy to say that after the 130-mile drive to/from work yesterday that the sound seems to be completely gone! To recap, the howling sound was present anytime the A/C compressor clutch was energized and spinning the compressor. The line had collapsed internally and the howling sound was the refrigerant and lube squeezing through the collapsed section of line. While we couldn't readily hear it leaning over the engine with the hood open, all it took was placing the tip of the stethoscope on the line in various places to hear it clearly over the engine noise. When in the car, the noise insulation deadened the engine sound but the howling traveled right through the line and into the cabin. Sometimes the sound was faint and other times it was very very loud. This was based upon variables such as climate control temperature settings, outside temperature, humidity, etc as all of these affected how hard the A/C system had to work. All the work was done at Price Honda of Delaware. Here's a small screenshot of what they sent me. If there is another number somewhere on the form that helps others locate the problem via their local dealership then let me know and I'll attach that too.

What year and model do you have again? Mine makes that high pitch whirling noise when AC or heat is on. Soon as I shut it off, it goes away. I have taken it to dealer twice now and they said it's normal. This is not normal. It's soooo annoying I hate it. I have a 16 Touring sedan.

quadna71 · Feb 25, 2017

elykoj said:
What year and model do you have again? Mine makes that high pitch whirling noise when AC or heat is on. Soon as I shut it off, it goes away. I have taken it to dealer twice now and they said it's normal. This is not normal. It's soooo annoying I hate it. I have a 16 Touring sedan.

Same thing - ours is a '16 Touring sedan with about 17k on it. Purchased around August 1st and has been making the sound more or less since new.

m4ikel85 · Oct 13, 2017

quadna71 said:
Same thing - ours is a '16 Touring sedan with about 17k on it. Purchased around August 1st and has been making the sound more or less since new.

Hi there, I’ve been browsing through all pages in this section of the forum and this seems to be closest to what I’ve been facing so far. Would you happen to have a video/sound clip that has the noise?

The noise that I have is present when I press “On” for the AC control under the climate control menu. And the noise immediately goes off when I press “Off” (even when the fan is still blowing). It’s probably best described as a high pitched whistle/whine whenever I press on the accelerator. When the car is in motion, with slight acceleration, the noise is more pronounced. I’ve also recently noticed that even when the car is stationary, there’s a weird vibration kind of sound when i revv the engine slightly harder (goes away when the AC is switched to off, with fan still on). I pretty much heard it on day one when I got the car. But it’s getting louder after almost 2000 km.

I brought up it to my local dealer during the 1000km service, and as usual, they mentioned it’s normal. I simply can’t accept it as it’s literally giving me a headache with its high pitch.

If this is a fix, and if I can verify it’s indeed the same sound I’ve been hearing, it would mean a lot to me.

Climate control fan whines when starting up in cooler weather

quadna71

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NorthernEX-T

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elykoj

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m4ikel85

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