16 Civic AC Not Working

[Voltron]

I think these are the "good will" criteria as to whether they will pay for your repair but I think it's bogus. If you purchased a new car from them and the air conditioning system prematurely fails because it was made of low quality components, they should fix it. Period.

I agree. I asked because those were the first few questions they asked me. I mentioned it to my service guy at the dealership and he basically said they ask those those questions to see if you are loyal.

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[Voltron]

hey boys, TSB 19-091 is now your new best friend. I started a new thread about it but its 10 years unlimited mileage

God I hope my vin is included in this service bulletin. Thanks for posting. You have given me some hope

 

[jerost]

True, things like this reflect poorly on the company, and their "commitment" to "customer service". George Carlin had some interesting words about "customer service". Although I'm happy to get the "good will" fix for now.

It's funny. It seems they are more likely to pay for a post-warranty repair (a good will repair) if you have purchased multiple vehicles at that dealership and had your vehicles serviced by them. However, their behavior in not repairing my sub-standard AC system out of good will makes me far more likely to be unloyal to Honda and look to another make next time around. Do they actually think they make the only cars that attract people? I have owned four Hondas and four Toyotas in my lifetime, three of them new and five of them used. Next time around, it's highly unlikely I will shop for a Honda. I would definitely have considered Honda first if they had made this right by paying for my condenser. They have it backwards.

 

[Dan.Raw]

I had mine in 2 weeks ago. The tech refilled it and it was working again at first but just in the past few days it's started blowing warm air again. There's also a hissing sound coming from my vents while it's on. I have an appointment at 8am tomorrow to have it looked at again so I'll see what happens. Kinda getting fed up of this car. I've had so many annoying issues with it in the past year. I've had my 2013 Civic for 5 years and it hasn't had a single problem.

I'm really considering swapping this car for a 2016/2017 Accord.

I also hear the hissing sound you're describing. Did you find a cause?

Here's where I'm at:

I went to my nearest dealership and they told me they examined the whole system and found no leaks and that it was just out of freon. No charge since it's covered by the warranty. This was 2 weeks ago.

Guess what, my AC went out AGAIN! So, I took it to the dealership and I called the guy and he said oh turns out we have to change the compressor (which is still covered under warranty). BUT, "a rock hit your condenser, and that's not covered by warranty" so that's gonna be $800. Do they think I'm stupid? What do you guys think it's happening here? Did they lie before when they said "they examined everything and found no problems with the system"? OR, they're lying now and just want to find an excuse to charge me for something?

 

[firstblud]

hey boys, TSB 19-091 is now your new best friend. I started a new thread about it but its 10 years unlimited mileage

How did you get a copy of that? If i paid for repairs already on my '16, do you think I'd be eligible for reimbursement?

 

[JamesV1]

Got my condenser replaced. AC blows decently cold now. Still takes a minute or two to get cold but i have a black car and thats after its been baking in the sun

 

[CharlyWingate]

I also hear the hissing sound you're describing. Did you find a cause?

Here's where I'm at:

I went to my nearest dealership and they told me they examined the whole system and found no leaks and that it was just out of freon. No charge since it's covered by the warranty. This was 2 weeks ago.

Guess what, my AC went out AGAIN! So, I took it to the dealership and I called the guy and he said oh turns out we have to change the compressor (which is still covered under warranty). BUT, "a rock hit your condenser, and that's not covered by warranty" so that's gonna be $800. Do they think I'm stupid? What do you guys think it's happening here? Did they lie before when they said "they examined everything and found no problems with the system"? OR, they're lying now and just want to find an excuse to charge me for something?

I wouldn't pay for anything. If you can't work it out at this dealership I would go to another nearby one just mentioning the service bulletin and get it looked at. There's obviously a problem not sure why they wanna get 800 out of you.

 

[gen10_civics_ig]

Im starting to get nervous about this issue. I bought my car in April of 2016 and my wife has been complaining the last week or so that my car is really hot to be in. I told her just remote start it. It recently started hitting over 100 degrees here. I normally start to feel cold when I set my AC to 75 or 76. I typically set it to 76 or 77 even. But today I drove off to lunch and had it set to LO, full blast, and still felt warm. The air coming out of the vents feels cool but not cold or freezing....After 15 minutes of driving I finally started to feel like it was blowing some cold air in but I did not start to feel really cold at all, just barely cool enough. I checked the intercooler and condenser through the spaces between the grilles and I can see a ton of fins that are bent from road debris and bugs but I have no idea if theres a leak. Im starting to worry if its just a really hot day in my city or if my condenser is actually leaking. I am past the 3 yr / 36,000 mile warranty. I just recently hit about 45,000 miles and definitely over 3 years, so I dont know if my issue will be covered. Is there an easy way to tell if theres a leak without taking off the front bumper?

 

[y2k_o__o]

I wish I came across your facebook post and warning before I purchased my 2016 civic at MARKHAM HONDA as well. I have the exact same issue and dispute with those clowns at the dealer. I bought mine July 23 2018, and within less than a year putting ONLY 1800km on the car the A/C gave out on June 18, 2019. The pigs at markham honda are trying to rip me off by quoting me at $2647 a ridiculous overcharge for the replacement of their faulty comressor, condenser, and bogus surcharge for clutch and coil set....Fucking Honda Canada said my factory warranty expired just April 2019....frickin' 2-months over the warranty....its absolutely asinine and outrageous. Something really has to be done to hold them accountable for misrepresenting themselves and their products and misleading the public of selling a product that does meet industry standards and expectations, and negligence towards its customers. I really hope there's a class action lawsuit soon ... ...its injustice....Honda's quality have really plummeted....never associating nor will I be recommend Honda ever again

If anyone is starting a class action to Honda, I am definitely down for this!
my 2017 LX @ 31,000km is having driver side warmer than passenger side issue when AC is on....

 

[BYOUNG1980]

Hey guys,

Okay so we're at the Markham Honda dealer having the A/C parts replaced. Got the pictures providing serial parts numbers. Good news is that they're starting to use parts ending with A03, which are the latest and updated parts. They're still using the A01 condenser parts though.....which isn't promising....but will refer to the TSB A19-091 extended warranty should ANY issues continue after the repairs.

 

[arsh88]

Brought mine in today and same BS claim about "road debris" although now they're only quoting $850. I'll see if that's really the total otherwise i'm filing with my insurance. I guess if enough people start to file then maybe the insurance companies will go after Honda because they sure don't care about us. Luckily i'm barely driving so i'll be looking up ways to guard the condenser. If anyone has any DIY examples i'd appreciate it.

 

[GoodBytes]

Brought mine in today and same BS claim about "road debris" although now they're only quoting $850. I'll see if that's really the total otherwise i'm filing with my insurance. I guess if enough people start to file then maybe the insurance companies will go after Honda because they sure don't care about us. Luckily i'm barely driving so i'll be looking up ways to guard the condenser. If anyone has any DIY examples i'd appreciate it.

Before you do that, and have your insurance premium go up.
Try a different dealership. Don't mention that you went to another one before. I am not sure if it will work, but maybe say that you are new here, at the recommendation of a friend family member or something, and compliment them with "what you were told" about them. They'll probably pass it under Honda warranty even if it was a rock as a good gesture to gain you as a customer.

Another option, is to call Honda. They'll discourage you, saying it is not covered, but push on (nicely), and a case will be open under mediation. It just will take time... and it sucks that summer has started. But 850$ + tax is not something minor. You can get yourself many nice things with those savings instead or you know, put it in your savings... or get 850 chocolate bars... So many things you can do!

Please note: Ensure that no rocks are visible on the radiator. To me, the real issue is that the front of the car vents is the actual issue. And you can see from the Civic Hatchback which sport a much better grid (a design more commonly used by other car, then wide openings like the Sedan model). So I think Honda knew about the poor design. Keep in mind that the fins of the radiator will bent with great ease. Like, light pressure from your finger is enough to bend them, so use a fine tool if you do see a rocks (which might not be actual cause of the leak and just stuck there, but you don't want the dealership to see a rock and right away conclude that it is due to that).

Once your issue is fixed, put a screen to protect the front. I used a black window bug screen which I cut a nice rectangle and slip inside and use thin metal twisty stick to hold it which I found under the crafts section at the dollar store. I put attached the screen mesh at the top of the plastic section of the front vents opening to hold the screen so that it is not visible unless you bend down in front of the car. As no one does this. perfect! Was a pain to install, as I didn't want to put it at the front of the bumper and be ugly, nor wanted to remove the bumper so I had to work with the vent opening while being very careful to not touch the radiator. The end result, is that you don't even see anything. If you plan to keep the car for a while, I think it is worth the effort.

 

[arsh88]

Tried Honda and they don’t care and MN is on fire plus the stealership already has my car. I’m just gonna work on picking up some mesh to guard it once it’s repaired

 

[Gruber]

It's really worth it to look at the condenser through any openings available before going to the dealer. I looked at mine and I don't see any dents whatsoever. All I saw was a few bugs, otherwise perfect surface. Maybe it's possible to slide a phone in there and took pictures. Of course it would be best to take off the bumper cover, which is though a pita task in my opinion.

 

[jetixspeed]

Looking to fix this once and for all. would this be considered damage?

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