2017 A/C Issue

[Zeffy94]

My 2013 Tundra had probably the coldest AC I'd ever felt. The Civic, from day one, never compared.

My 07 RAV4 had freezer level AC. Just amazing what Toyota does.

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[Yourooteeah]

Everyone please file a complaint with the NHTSA
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

This was my complaint, added in the "safety" part to make it more appealing.

The air conditioner stops blowing cold air at idle and occasionally even when driving. This may pose a safety issue in hotter climates if there are children, elderly people, special needs persons, or pets in the vehicle when parked. Reading through the internet, there are hundreds if not thousands of owners with this same issue due to a faulty AC condenser from the factory. Honda has extended the warranty on the condenser alone but has not issued a full recall or warranty on the other parts/labor involved. This car has only 53k miles on it and this is the second time being serviced for this same problem.

 

[HayaiKuruma]

I’m right there with all of you. First time in my life I have experienced AC issues. My last vehicles each had over 225,000 miles and no AC issues. No issues at all as a matter of fact. 89 Nissan Pathfinder and 2001 Rav 4. Both manual trans. .

 

[Koa]

Have you tried doing using A/C refrigerant to solve the issue? Im gonna try doing that since my A/C is starting to act up.

 

[HayaiKuruma]

Have you tried doing using A/C refrigerant to solve the issue? Im gonna try doing that since my A/C is starting to act up.

So your familiar working with R-1234yf refrigerant? You have the equipment and experience? The only situation that sounds close to what your describing is that some civics come from the factory a little low on refrigerant.

 

[CastorX]

Everyone please file a complaint with the NHTSA
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

This was my complaint, added in the "safety" part to make it more appealing.

The air conditioner stops blowing cold air at idle and occasionally even when driving. This may pose a safety issue in hotter climates if there are children, elderly people, special needs persons, or pets in the vehicle when parked. Reading through the internet, there are hundreds if not thousands of owners with this same issue due to a faulty AC condenser from the factory. Honda has extended the warranty on the condenser alone but has not issued a full recall or warranty on the other parts/labor involved. This car has only 53k miles on it and this is the second time being serviced for this same problem.

I think it is also a safety problem that the windshield dryer or de-humidifyer function (I don’t know what is it called) is not working efficiently in this case!

 

[zspeed]

So your familiar working with R-1234yf refrigerant? You have the equipment and experience? The only situation that sounds close to what your describing is that some civics come from the factory a little low on refrigerant.

This is what I’m suspecting that they are sitting in the dealerships brandnew with a low level of refrigerant.

 

[Gruber]

No, AC not working will never be a safety issue. Cars are being sold without AC at all. Not so long time ago AC was a luxury, and those old timers still drove in Texas, Florida, etc. Horse carriages running long distance through the hot Wild West also didn't have AC.... And the people inside didn't wear T-shirts either.... Nice try though.


"Today, more than 99 percent of all new cars are air-conditioned. There's no A/C in base versions of the Chevrolet Aveo; Honda Civic; Hyundai Accent and Elantra; Jeep Wrangler; Kia Forte and Rio; Mazda 3; Mitsubishi Lancer; Nissan Versa; and Toyota Tacoma."
Jun 24, 2010

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/every-new-car-for-sale-without-air-conditioning-1765310475


There are though other, real built-in safety issues with the civics, such as:

- no rotary volume in older models (driver can lose control of the car fiddling with volume)
- no good place to put glasses (driver can lose control of the car when looking for glasses on the floor, or glasses can block the brake pedal)
- not enough cup holders (with the existing cupholders loaded by passengers, driver may spill a hot drink on her lap and loose control of the car)
- not enough USB ports (driver can lose control of the car when kids are fighting to plug in their phones)

 

[CastorX]

No, AC not working will never be a safety issue. Cars are being sold without AC at all. Not so long time ago AC was a luxury, and those old timers still drove in Texas, Florida, etc. Horse carriages running long distance through the hot Wild West also didn't have AC.... And the people inside didn't wear T-shirts either.... Nice try though.

"Today, more than 99 percent of all new cars are air-conditioned. There's no A/C in base versions of the Chevrolet Aveo; Honda Civic; Hyundai Accent and Elantra; Jeep Wrangler; Kia Forte and Rio; Mazda 3; Mitsubishi Lancer; Nissan Versa; and Toyota Tacoma."
Jun 24, 2010

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/every-new-car-for-sale-without-air-conditioning-1765310475

There are though other, real built-in safety issues with the civics, such as:

- no rotary volume in older models (driver can lose control of the car fiddling with volume)
- no good place to put glasses (driver can lose control of the car when looking for glasses on the floor, or glasses can block the brake pedal)
- not enough cup holders (with the existing cupholders loaded by passengers, driver may spill a hot drink on her lap and loose control of the car)
- not enough USB ports (driver can lose control of the car when kids are fighting to plug in their phones)

I'm sorry but I think your list is less of a safety issue list then an A/C.
no rotary volume in older models => Can be controllen on the steering wheel
no good place to put glasses => I don't know how is it in American cars be in Europe this is common
not enough cup holders => Again, I think it is an American thing, but defeinately not safety related and you must not drink or eat during driving at all (at least here)
not enough USB ports => You must not do it during driving anyways

However the car's windshield defogging system that blows air directly on the window uses the A/C to blow dry air on the window. I tried it out with enabled defogging and disabled A/C (you must turn it off in the climate menu fast) and it is horrible! Now that IS a safety issue. And after a summer rain this CAN happen, it happened to me multiple times this year. My A/C is still working but not as good as last summer.
The thing is that the whole system was designed with a working A/C system in mind unlike in cars where A/C was not available or optional.

 

[Yourooteeah]

No, AC not working will never be a safety issue. Cars are being sold without AC at all. Not so long time ago AC was a luxury, and those old timers still drove in Texas, Florida, etc. Horse carriages running long distance through the hot Wild West also didn't have AC.... And the people inside didn't wear T-shirts either.... Nice try though.


"Today, more than 99 percent of all new cars are air-conditioned. There's no A/C in base versions of the Chevrolet Aveo; Honda Civic; Hyundai Accent and Elantra; Jeep Wrangler; Kia Forte and Rio; Mazda 3; Mitsubishi Lancer; Nissan Versa; and Toyota Tacoma."
Jun 24, 2010

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/every-new-car-for-sale-without-air-conditioning-1765310475


There are though other, real built-in safety issues with the civics, such as:

- no rotary volume in older models (driver can lose control of the car fiddling with volume)
- no good place to put glasses (driver can lose control of the car when looking for glasses on the floor, or glasses can block the brake pedal)
- not enough cup holders (with the existing cupholders loaded by passengers, driver may spill a hot drink on her lap and loose control of the car)
- not enough USB ports (driver can lose control of the car when kids are fighting to plug in their phones)

Wow I really didn't think about that... If the absence of a volume knob, glasses holder, lack of cup holders, or let alone USB ports are much more dangerous than the possibility of a human or animal dying due to a failing AC that should otherwise be working two years into the serviceable life of a car... Then our focus should be recalling all those more important safety issues. What did drivers do before they had those luxury items you speak of. To be realistic, those items are not defective items from factory, at least not in the same numbers as this air conditioning issue is, to the point that Honda had to extend the condenser warranty by 10 years because they know the units are faulty.

 

[Yourooteeah]

I'm sorry but I think your list is less of a safety issue list then an A/C.
no rotary volume in older models => Can be controllen on the steering wheel
no good place to put glasses => I don't know how is it in American cars be in Europe this is common
not enough cup holders => Again, I think it is an American thing, but defeinately not safety related and you must not drink or eat during driving at all (at least here)
not enough USB ports => You must not do it during driving anyways

However the car's windshield defogging system that blows air directly on the window uses the A/C to blow dry air on the window. I tried it out with enabled defogging and disabled A/C (you must turn it off in the climate menu fast) and it is horrible! Now that IS a safety issue. And after a summer rain this CAN happen, it happened to me multiple times this year. My A/C is still working but not as good as last summer.
The thing is that the whole system was designed with a working A/C system in mind unlike in cars where A/C was not available or optional.

You're absolutely right, that is a safety issue should your windshield become completely fogged while driving in bad weather and the AC fails to clear the windshield, good point.

 

[Jt_theory]

This is what I’m suspecting that they are sitting in the dealerships brandnew with a low level of refrigerant.

I concur, this would be something a little out of the ordinary. If this were the case, I don't understand why they would not fill/pressurize the AC system full from the factory. Boggles my mind if transporting vehicles with a quarter filled system is a law.

 

[Shtumpa]

I concur, this would be something a little out of the ordinary. If this were the case, I don't understand why they would not fill/pressurize the AC system full from the factory. Boggles my mind if transporting vehicles with a quarter filled system is a law.

My 2017 ac stopped working hours after driving it off the lot, used car. I tested it beforehand and it seemed fine. There's some speculation that the seals dry up when not used for extended period, don't know if that makes any sense just speculation based on anecdotes that people have issues shortly after purchase or after the winter.

I filled mine up pretty high, close to "overcharged" on gauge and it's still working couple months later, although I do notice it takes longer for driver side to get cold so maybe it's slowly leaking out, I don't remember if it was like that right after I charged it. Gets really cold though still, and it's been 90s so maybe it's fine.

 

[Jt_theory]

My 2017 ac stopped working hours after driving it off the lot, used car. I tested it beforehand and it seemed fine. There's some speculation that the seals dry up when not used for extended period, don't know if that makes any sense just speculation based on anecdotes that people have issues shortly after purchase or after the winter.

I filled mine up pretty high, close to "overcharged" on gauge and it's still working couple months later, although I do notice it takes longer for driver side to get cold so maybe it's slowly leaking out, I don't remember if it was like that right after I charged it. Gets really cold though still, and it's been 90s so maybe it's fine.

I'm not an HVAC specialist, but I would think that's probably a thing. I don't review/research AC things much, however I would think that overtime perhaps if the system is not ran often(in the Winter) it would cause a problem. But I know we run our windshield defrosters in the winter, that automatically turns on the AC. I too am just speculating because there's also the assumption I'm making if AC systems lose pressure over time, and people would test it with a dye. Obviously leaks are frowned upon. After going through this thread, I almost feel my AC is not 100% either, and car is only 1yr old ?

 

[Gruber]

The seals definitely need to be kept lubricated, and the shaft seals in the compressor are only lubricated when it's operating. One compressor may be more resistant to being idle for long periods than another, depending on details, but also the 1234yf + its oil are probably more aggressive towards the seal materials (and aluminum) than previous freons.

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