16 Civic AC Not Working

rwsmith123

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Looking to fix this once and for all. would this be considered damage?
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Damage to just the fins by road debris doesn’t disqualify it from being covered, only damage to the tube face (thicker horizontal lines) caused by road debris wouldn’t be covered. See page 4 of the TSB which has photos which illustrates this. Several people have posted that when dealers were confronted with that information that they quickly changed their tune and covered repairs that they said wasn’t going to be covered.

https://www.civicx.com/forum/attachments/a19-091-pdf.167960/
 
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This same exact problem happened to me. Went to turn on the AC in the beginning of summer and hot air blowing. Went to the dealer to replace the condenser and AC software update under the recall. Seems like many people were there for the same issue. They did the recalls without issues, however, I did bring up the service bulletin from the start.

After retrieving my car the service rep said they changed my oil and was listed on the work order as it was required for the AC software update. I checked my oil after getting home. Oil on the dipstick was completely black, my K&N oil filter was still on there, and they didn't bother resetting the Engine Oil Life maintenance on the console. I ended replacing my own oil as I have always done.

Seems like if they can't fool you for one thing they will try to get you somewhere else. Luckily I have always done my own maintenance and avoid dealers as much as I can.
 

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Warmer weather has finally arrived in Southern Ontario and I found out today the AC on my 16 Civic isn’t working. The good news is I’m still under warranty and if it is deemed to be a road hazard that caused it, I can probably go through insurance. I know little about cars but after reading several forums online, I went out to take a peek at the radiator to look for obvious damage and found something that I’m curious about. While looking at the front of the car, there is a plastic part to the right of the Honda logo just behind the grille that I’m wondering what it is. Any ideas?

27CD6459-7F71-4499-BC88-D0093202F963.jpeg
Pin holes in the condenser. Very common. I've had 2 Civics 2 different years.
 

Danielle

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Pin holes in the condenser. Very common. I've had 2 Civics 2 different years.
There is a class action suit for Honda Civic 2016-2017. Save all receipts and contact the law firm: 909.557.1250 ask for Pat Espinosa
 


JohnnyL

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There is a class action suit for Honda Civic 2016-2017. Save all receipts and contact the law firm: 909.557.1250 ask for Pat Espinosa
Had a 2016 and now a 2019. Both were under warranty with less than 15k on them. Both repaired no cost.
 

Danielle

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Had a 2016 and now a 2019. Both were under warranty with less than 15k on them. Both repaired no cost.
My 2017 just came out of B2B warranty last month, however I just picked up this car on Tuesday eve and they did not disclose a/c issue. I’m at dealership now. They are saying they will fix at no cost but hopefully they stand by that. I am weary being they have lied once already.
 

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My 2017 just came out of B2B warranty last month, however I just picked up this car on Tuesday eve and they did not disclose a/c issue. I’m at dealership now. They are saying they will fix at no cost but hopefully they stand by that. I am weary being they have lied once already.
You should be good to 100K
 

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Just to chime in here with my experience. Leased Honda Civic 2016 Touring for 3 years, March 2016 - March 2019. Bought it outright given my positive experiences with Honda reliability and basically 0 issues. By perhaps June 2019 (3 months later) AC was failing. By the end of Summer, completely hot air. I watched all these threads, saw the condenser warranty mentioned.

Called Honda of America, they confirmed the extended warranty on Condenser and said to take it to my dealer for assessment. If condenser was found to have an issue and no road damage, they'd cover repair and cost of assessment. Took it to my dealer (Honda of Oakland), they assessed for $246 and said "Yes, condenser needed to be replaced and covered under warranty, but compressor also needs to be replaced, as well as clutch assembly, esimated cost, with warranty is $1975."

Called Honda of America back, calling BS, I was not found at fault, and they basically just shrugged and said only the condensor was covered.

I've waited now almost a year to see if they'd extend the warrantly beyond the condensor, but no luck yet. Had to do a 6 hour drive through 100 degree heat with all the windows down and my wife clutching bags of ice. I'm planning to go back to the service center and argue, I bought the car from them, but don't expect to get much headway.

Others have recommended taking it to other service centers, but I'm not going to continue paying $250 at each service place to have them check it again to only be told that it will cost $2000 to replace.

I'm strongly considering having them just replace the condensor (under warranty) so I can get my assessment fee recovered, refill with Freon and see if I can sell the car before the freon runs out (ideally to another dealer) as this is just insane, it's nearly 10% of the cost of the car to fix this issue that is no fault of my own that arose (conveniently) immediately after me purchasing it off-lease and immediately after the 3 year warranty expired.

I'm definitely considering reaching out to the class action lawsuit mentioned earlier in the thread.

Open to any other ideas anyone has or other solutions.
 


JohnnyL

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Just to chime in here with my experience. Leased Honda Civic 2016 Touring for 3 years, March 2016 - March 2019. Bought it outright given my positive experiences with Honda reliability and basically 0 issues. By perhaps June 2019 (3 months later) AC was failing. By the end of Summer, completely hot air. I watched all these threads, saw the condenser warranty mentioned.

Called Honda of America, they confirmed the extended warranty on Condenser and said to take it to my dealer for assessment. If condenser was found to have an issue and no road damage, they'd cover repair and cost of assessment. Took it to my dealer (Honda of Oakland), they assessed for $246 and said "Yes, condenser needed to be replaced and covered under warranty, but compressor also needs to be replaced, as well as clutch assembly, esimated cost, with warranty is $1975."

Called Honda of America back, calling BS, I was not found at fault, and they basically just shrugged and said only the condensor was covered.

I've waited now almost a year to see if they'd extend the warrantly beyond the condensor, but no luck yet. Had to do a 6 hour drive through 100 degree heat with all the windows down and my wife clutching bags of ice. I'm planning to go back to the service center and argue, I bought the car from them, but don't expect to get much headway.

Others have recommended taking it to other service centers, but I'm not going to continue paying $250 at each service place to have them check it again to only be told that it will cost $2000 to replace.

I'm strongly considering having them just replace the condensor (under warranty) so I can get my assessment fee recovered, refill with Freon and see if I can sell the car before the freon runs out (ideally to another dealer) as this is just insane, it's nearly 10% of the cost of the car to fix this issue that is no fault of my own that arose (conveniently) immediately after me purchasing it off-lease and immediately after the 3 year warranty expired.

I'm definitely considering reaching out to the class action lawsuit mentioned earlier in the thread.

Open to any other ideas anyone has or other solutions.
Well if it were me I would have the condenser replaced for free anyways. No harm with that. Like you I lease my cars but I will not buy my car at the end of the lease simply because of the AC issue. Sad thing because otherwise I like the car.
 

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So now that my AC is failing, and the warranty expires in half a year, and assuming it may be leaking at the compressor, if I take it to the dealer service..... it would make sense for them to replace the condenser, recharge, and then wait until I come back with the same leak again next year, so they can replace the compressor out of warranty. "Now your compressor is leaking, sir. That will be $2200"
 

JohnnyL

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So now that my AC is failing, and the warranty expires in half a year, and assuming it may be leaking at the compressor, if I take it to the dealer service..... it would make sense for them to replace the condenser, recharge, and then wait until I come back with the same leak again next year, so they can replace the compressor out of warranty. "Now your compressor is leaking, sir. That will be $2200"
I would think if they put a new condenser in, recharged the system and you went back in say 4 months they would be able to tell if some refrigerant has leaked out? That's what I would ask anyways. Needless to say the compressor could crap out a few months after the warranty expires also. Pretty frustrating..
 

schmiddr2

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16 EXL. Over the last year my AC air temps from the vents has varied randomly even when set at one temp. And when the outside temps get higher it is more noticable. More recently I've noticed my vents not blowing as much air when using AC. I've had some days where its very humid or rainy and the vents will blow fog like when opening the freezer door on fridge. If i turn the AC to off, gradually the vents blow harder and the fog goes away.

I've had the car to the dealer but they didn't really want to find the problem and just told me that the refrigerant freon is full. After some hours of research I've determined the most likely culprit is the expansion valve. Its on the side of the evaporator. Ill be changing it within the next few weeks. Good video on YT were a guy changes this on an Accord, with new o rings and oil.
 

JohnnyL

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16 EXL. Over the last year my AC air temps from the vents has varied randomly even when set at one temp. And when the outside temps get higher it is more noticable. More recently I've noticed my vents not blowing as much air when using AC. I've had some days where its very humid or rainy and the vents will blow fog like when opening the freezer door on fridge. If i turn the AC to off, gradually the vents blow harder and the fog goes away.

I've had the car to the dealer but they didn't really want to find the problem and just told me that the refrigerant freon is full. After some hours of research I've determined the most likely culprit is the expansion valve. Its on the side of the evaporator. Ill be changing it within the next few weeks. Good video on YT were a guy changes this on an Accord, with new o rings and oil.
Don't know if you run your car in ECNO mode but if you do the compressor will not run all the time and it will blow random. Turn it off and the compressor is always engaged. If it's super hot out it's hard for it to keep up in Ecno mode.
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