Who’s had a Condenser puncture?

spectre186

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I have a 2016 EX-T. At 16k miles I lost all cold air in AC due to condenser puncture. Curious to see if this is a common problem with newer civics.

The repair from th dealership was $1,000! Just insane to have to fork out that kind of money on such a new car. If more people are having issues we should complain together to Honda corporate.
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blznweels

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I have a 2016 EX-T. At 16k miles I lost all cold air in AC due to condenser puncture. Curious to see if this is a common problem with newer civics.

The repair from th dealership was $1,000! Just insane to have to fork out that kind of money on such a new car. If more people are having issues we should complain together to Honda corporate.
I had that happen on my 8th gen, 2 days after the dealer replaced the entire AC system, chasing down a Freon leak. That one hurt emotionally and financially.
Something kicked up on the freeway in Yuma in the middle of summer and blew out all the new gas in 115 degree BFE.
It happens.:dunno:
 

niknjay

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I have a 2016 EX-T. At 16k miles I lost all cold air in AC due to condenser puncture. Curious to see if this is a common problem with newer civics.

The repair from th dealership was $1,000! Just insane to have to fork out that kind of money on such a new car. If more people are having issues we should complain together to Honda corporate.
I have a 2016 EX-T. At 16k miles I lost all cold air in AC due to condenser puncture. Curious to see if this is a common problem with newer civics.

The repair from th dealership was $1,000! Just insane to have to fork out that kind of money on such a new car. If more people are having issues we should complain together to Honda corporate.

We have the a 2016 EX with the same issue - about the same mileage. I see a lot of issues with AC on here and other places on the net - i think a lot more of them are due to leaks. I was shocked when they suggested that its from puncture. They showed me where they said it was leaking from and the fins are bent and loose. The plastic grill in front is still perfect - no damage to it etc - it looks like the condenser is just an inferior component. It the intake grill is wide open offering no protection to the internal components - its almost like this is an area they want to make a profit on. I can have it replaced but its just going to get damaged again. Honda Civic 10th gen Who’s had a Condenser puncture? 20180514_191858_resized Honda Civic 10th gen Who’s had a Condenser puncture? 20180514_191909_resized
 

latole

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Front grill are not there for protection it is just aesthetic.
Condenser must receive maximum fresh air.

My opinion;
In order to make a car that consumes little gas and sells at a relatively low price, Honda has to compromise; lighter materials, thinner so more fragile.

* The base model sells for less than $ 17,000 canadian.
The most expensive models are simply more gadgets
 

fjrman

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That's an inexpensive part (less than $100) and doesn't weigh much. I doubt they cut corners on this part. They sell more than 300,000 Civics each year so I doubt they want to be inundated with failures of the part.

The car is quite low to the ground. The bottom edge of the condenser is only 9 inches above the road.

Occasionally one is unlucky and an object hits the condenser. If anything more significant than a bug hits it you may experience a puncture.
 


Micah

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Put steel screen in front of condenser ?

Capture d’écran 2018-05-15 à 07.57.34.png
I've done that for FMIC before, it certainly works, but it also reduces airflow.
 

Swordfish

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We have the a 2016 EX with the same issue - about the same mileage. I see a lot of issues with AC on here and other places on the net - i think a lot more of them are due to leaks. I was shocked when they suggested that its from puncture. They showed me where they said it was leaking from and the fins are bent and loose. The plastic grill in front is still perfect - no damage to it etc - it looks like the condenser is just an inferior component. It the intake grill is wide open offering no protection to the internal components - its almost like this is an area they want to make a profit on. I can have it replaced but its just going to get damaged again. 20180514_191858_resized.jpg 20180514_191909_resized.jpg
Is that's a white plastic coffee lid in your grill ?
 


charleswrivers

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$1000!? I had a compressor, condensor and new lines fabricated that weren't made anymore for my Z32 installed for nearly the same cost. $1200 as I recall. That seems unreasonably high...
 

charleswrivers

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Yeah and apparently no one really has the A/C machine to do it yet since it requires a different setup then r134a. So until alot of these cars start needing A/C work , few independent shops will have the machine and we are stuck with the dealer...
 

charleswrivers

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Yeah and apparently no one really has the A/C machine to do it yet since it requires a different setup then r134a. So until alot of these cars start needing A/C work , few independent shops will have the machine and we are stuck with the dealer...
Cute. You can convert them back to R-134 and fill and they'll work just fine but it's technically illegal. Probably along the same lines and messing with any of your emissions equipment. All I saw was flammability concerns... I'm not sure what other improvements exist. I know some freons burn and make deadly fumes. All are heavy and will displace oxygen and kill you if you're lower areas of a sealed enviroment (submarines once... submarines twice...). Still... I'm not seeing the upside.

I learned as a kid in the 80s R12 went up and up and up into the ozone layer and made a big perfect hole to kill me from skin cancer and increase the greenhouse effect so that, by the time I had grandchildren... the Earth would be hotter than Venus. I guess they didn't get it right the second time around with R-134 and are doing a do-over. Again.

I think the earliest refridgerators we're ammonia. Maybe we should just go back to ammonia as our refridgerant. You'd definitely know if you had a leak with one of them...
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