2018 civic ex-l ac compressor

[SCOPESYS]

Well, I made it to the dealership earlier in the week. With the car having the rebuilt title, the warranty was cancelled. Which I did not bring up, the dealership figured out on their own. I had a software recall for something A/C related, which was done. The service advisor told me after about 45 minutes, to diagnose my A/C problem would be $392. "Which is BS in my book. Google: gen 10 civic ac problems, and you will see thousands of leaky compressor problems". To which I told her, that is quite a bit more than I want to spend just to diagnose it, So let's just skip that. which she was completely OK with. So with the recall, they drain the oil to check for moisture, So I opted to just do an oil change (5600 miles on car) they also rotated the tires. for a grand total of.......$46, and still no working ac. I think I'll just have to go to a local AC shop and get a quote. Assuming I can get the whole thing replaced and filled, and working for $600-750.

Most competent A/C shop ( set up fro R1234yf) will be able to tell you withing 5 minutes if your Refrigerant is low, and by how much.
If it's only partially empty, they might top it up, adding some dye, so any leaks can be found easily at a later date.
Unless you have a Major leak, that should at least see you through the summer, as well as tell you where the system is leaking, (UV Dye),

OR you could do all the above for about $140 in parts (Gauge & 2 x 8oz cans of R1234yf & Dye - & Leak fixer) .. and you would always have the Gauge to periodically measure your Low Pressure, to see how badly you are leaking.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/r1234yf-Re...Solstice-Color-Coded-Gauge-Taper/173575139424

https://www.ebay.com/itm/r1234yf-re...yf-Enviro-Safe-Stop-Leak-Sealant/153526710857

Being "out of warranty" is not such a bad thing -- it free you up to get the issue taken care of however you want, ( without being taken advantage of and deceived by a Dealer who is always playing Warranty games).

 

[Mpeter0525]

Awesome. That definitely looks like a better option for me. Thank you for the links also. Very helpful.
Any additional info on how to do that procedure myself? Do I put refrigerant in first, then dye, and sealer. Or dye and sealer, then top off with refrigerant?

 

[SCOPESYS]

Awesome. That definitely looks like a better option for me. Thank you for the links also. Very helpful.
Any additional info on how to do that procedure myself? Do I put refrigerant in first, then dye, and sealer. Or dye and sealer, then top off with refrigerant?

I would hold off on the Sealer - just pull vacuum & re-charge with Refrigerant, 8oz, then the Dye, and then enough refrigerant to give you the correct Low Pressure Gauge reading (with the A/C running at full blast.

Then, over time, if it is starts to leak, you will see where by looking for the UV dye.

You will also need to add the correct amount of A/C Oil, how much I am still learning about . I think the calculation of Oil is the most tricky part, based on what is replaced etc...

 

[Mpeter0525]

I would hold off on the Sealer - just pull vacuum & re-charge with Refrigerant, 8oz, then the Dye, and then enough refrigerant to give you the correct Low Pressure Gauge reading (with the A/C running at full blast.

Then, over time, if it is starts to leak, you will see where by looking for the UV dye.

You will also need to add the correct amount of A/C Oil, how much I am still learning about . I think the calculation of Oil is the most tricky part, based on what is replaced etc...

Alright, I ordered the dye, sealant, and refrigerant today. So I'll attempt to figure out the oil calculation also

 

[Mpeter0525]

Update 2:
I added a bottle of refrigerant 3 weeks ago, compressor kicked right on. And has been working great. I did not add dye yet, due to a shitty adapter, I even lost a little refrigerant when i was adding that. The threads on the adapter were crap, which are worse now after using it. If nothing else, hopefully I can make it through summer without having to add more. Either when I run out, or spring time, I'll get a new adapter and add dye then. I'll post more updates if anything changes

 

[Shtumpa]

Update 2:
I added a bottle of refrigerant 3 weeks ago, compressor kicked right on. And has been working great. I did not add dye yet, due to a shitty adapter, I even lost a little refrigerant when i was adding that. The threads on the adapter were crap, which are worse now after using it. If nothing else, hopefully I can make it through summer without having to add more. Either when I run out, or spring time, I'll get a new adapter and add dye then. I'll post more updates if anything changes

How’d it hold up?

 

[redmarco79]

There's a low pressure switch. If you have an AC recharge kit there's a pressure gauge. You could try adding freon but IMO it's a waste of freon. The AC compressor and the condenser are known to leak on our cars. Your car is rebuilt and who knows what other possibilities it could be. If you pay someone to diagnosis the issue they will add a dye to the freon and can find out exactly what's going on.



You're going to have to test it with a mutli-meter (you'll have to find schematics of the relay or find a service manual) or use a relay tester. What most people will do is get another relay and swap it. I highly doubt your relay is faulty though.

I have a 2016 civic, it just went out. Dealership quoting 1300$ for fix. Sounds ludicrous tbh. Ive had other cars and never had this issue, like ever. Probably used cheap materials.

 

[herox]

I have a 2016 civic, it just went out. Dealership quoting 1300$ for fix. Sounds ludicrous tbh. Ive had other cars and never had this issue, like ever. Probably used cheap materials.

Did the dealer say what was wrong? There's an extended warranty on the compressor since a big batch of them is faulty.

 

[Azjose86]

Back when I had my 2018 si. I had the same issue. Car had like 12k miles on it and started to get cool, but not cold air. I took it in to the dealership and they said a gasket where one of the lines connects to the compressor was not placed correctly from factory. They replaced the seal and refilled it. Didn't have ac issues for the next 8 months I owned the car. But I sold it. These cars are hot garbage. I was always paranoid of what else would go wrong with the car. I

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