AC Whistle Noise - 2000-2700 rpm - The Answer ?

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SCOPESYS

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Dealer replaced condenser and recharged AC no longer have any noises at all!
That's good to hear ..
The noise has gone because now the system is fully charged.

The question is, was the condenser really bad ?

In any case, it would seem that the condenser fitted to most 2018/2019 cars is now "DISCONTINUED" .. when you go look it up at most of the Online Honda Dealer websites.
However, there is no listed replacement.

So you have to be asking yourself, did you get an updated condenser, or just another one like the one that was originally fitted, (and failed ?)

You might want to check your Invoice, and if it lists a Condenser Part number, see if it end is A01 , or is later version, that probably will end in A02.

Please let the forum know what the Dealer fitted ..
 

Dimitron84

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That's good to hear ..
The noise has gone because now the system is fully charged.

The question is, was the condenser really bad ?

In any case, it would seem that the condenser fitted to most 2018/2019 cars is now "DISCONTINUED" .. when you go look it up at most of the Online Honda Dealer websites.
However, there is no listed replacement.

So you have to be asking yourself, did you get an updated condenser, or just another one like the one that was originally fitted, (and failed ?)

You might want to check your Invoice, and if it lists a Condenser Part number, see if it end is A01 , or is later version, that probably will end in A02.

Please let the forum know what the Dealer fitted ..
The part that was on backorder and took a week to get in was 80100-TBC-A01 w/ condenser assembly and then they also listed a 80873-SN7-003 O Ring 8mm.
 

Moopy62

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AC Whistle harmonic. The story so far
The volume of the sounds SEEMS to be more pronounced during certain conditions (warmer, humidity/moisture). The weird thing is I cannot pinpoint exactly when and what effects the levels of the noise.
here is a link. The sound is so loud that they can be heard over the stereo. Just took a 200 mile round-trip with a passenger and he was like WTF is that noise?

Although it is always there, sometimes it much louder than at other times, so much so that it can can be heard over a loud stereo volume. Its at the point where I hate to turn on the AC and passengers complain.

I have been working with a lead mechanic and the regional Honda engineer. At first take they checked the Freon and said it was overcharged. They purged and refilled. The sound actually became more prominent. The compressor was looked at with them thinking a possible bearing issue but they eliminated that.after locating the source of the sound seemly within the lines.

I provided the information that forum members have contributed. The bulletin that was suggested was from Europe (I told them this up front) but they said it has no bearing on the issue as the parts are different. I pointed out that my car (2018 Sport 6MT) is assembled in the UK. Same answer - different parts. I have to take his word on it.

Took the car back for further diagnoses. The local Honda Engineer was brought in on the case. The disappointment being that after them spending a significant amount of time diagnosing the engineer deemed this is "within normal operational parameters".
Here is a video link...


My thought was to hand him the keys and say "you try driving this for a week". Afterward I provided the info on the suction hose as a potential source the lead mech is going to try to get the Engineer to approve a warranty repair - the caveat being that if it doesn't work that I agree the warranty issue is closed. I think that's a pretty bogus option since this has literally become such an issue that if it is not fixed I will sell the car (yes its that bad).
 
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Dimitron84

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And this is the exact reason why I hopefully will be parting with my SI in 2020, just doesn’t seem this car is as reliable as I once thought, fun to drive but can’t handle any extra power whatsoever and I have had more issues with this car than my 2014 Avenger which has never even seen the inside of a shop!
 


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AC Whistle harmonic. The story so far....

tried attaching a video that demonstrates the sound - often louder than what is in the video (tough to capture the sound effectively) . No luck - tried several compressions/file types. If anyone know whats up with that would appreciate an FAQ.
The volume of the sounds SEEMS to be more pronounced during certain conditions (warmer, humidity/moisture). The weird thing is I cannot pinpoint exactly when and what effects the levels of the noise. Although it is always there, sometimes it much louder than at other times, so much so that it can can be heard over a loud stereo volume. Its at the point where I hate to turn on the AC and passengers complain.

I have been working with a lead mechanic and the regional Honda engineer. At first take they checked the Freon and said it was overcharged. They purged and refilled. The sound actually became more prominent. The compressor was looked at with them thinking a possible bearing issue but they eliminated that.after locating the source of the sound seemly within the lines.

I provided the information that forum members have contributed. The bulletin that was suggested was from Europe (I told them this up front) but they said it has no bearing on the issue as the parts are different. I pointed out that my car (2018 Sport 6MT) is assembled in the UK. Same answer - different parts. I have to take his word on it.

Took the car back for further diagnoses. The local Honda Engineer was brought in on the case. The disappointment being that after them spending a significant amount of time diagnosing the engineer deemed this is "within normal operational parameters". My thought was to hand him the keys and say "you try driving this for a week". Afterward I provided the info on the suction hose as a potential source the lead mech is going to try to get the Engineer to approve a warranty repair - the caveat being that if it doesn't work that I agree the warranty issue is closed. I think that's a pretty bogus option since this has literally become such an issue that if it is not fixed I will sell the car (yes its that bad).
FYI, there is an official TSB put out now from Honda America to address this + extending the warranty on the AC. I received the notice a few months ago but never took it in since I'm heavily modded. I'll try to find the notice when I get home.

Edit - Here's the notice. It talks about condenser leaks which seems like it is correlated with the whining sound from other's reports.

Honda Civic 10th gen AC Whistle Noise -  2000-2700 rpm - The Answer ? Honda AC
 
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frontlinegeek

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Afterward I provided the info on the suction hose as a potential source the lead mech is going to try to get the Engineer to approve a warranty repair - the caveat being that if it doesn't work that I agree the warranty issue is closed. I think that's a pretty bogus option since this has literally become such an issue that if it is not fixed I will sell the car (yes its that bad).
Here is the thing... The design issue for that sound is present in BOTH powertrains and the parts are different bigtime between them. That suction hose is a major failure of design and quality control on Honda's part. I am now 9 months since mine was replaced on my K20A3 powertrain and it has NEVER come back. I would get pretty insistent that this work be done and no risk to you be at play. This issue is very widely documented all over the planet by this point in the GenX build of the Civics...

Short story, Honda had better get their crap together on the little details because there is really starting to be some inspiration to look at a Ford for my next vehicle to replace the 2010 CRV...
 

Mando2324

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Hi everybody. Thanks for all the info.

I bought a new Hatchback Sport 2019 Sport a month ago. It was manufactured on the United Kingdom on 1/2019

I live in Puerto Rico and I've been having the same issue described on the TSB. I've taken the car 3 times to dealer where I bought it and they continue to refuse to fix the problem. Yesterday a warranty inspector was supposed to examine the car and instead I got to ride the car with the master technician to see if we could duplicate the whistling sound. Once I sat on the car with him and saw the condescending way he started the conversation I knew I was about to have a difficult time. He started lecturing me on what a TSB was (since I showed him the TSB posted here) and told me that if he wasn't able to duplicate it he wouldn't be able to fix it; which is fair. After riding on the car for a few minutes I was able to hear it (I've been dreading the sound since the first day and we kind of grown friends. not good ones at that). I told him to pull over and park the car so we can rev the car to where I know the sounds comes up and surely enough there it was. He stated that it was normal for the car to do that and it was the engine applying additional burden to de HVAC system. He then proceeded to give a weak analogy of my backpack and additional weight.

The car was never inspected by a technician. In all 3 visits to the dealer they game different answers. First they said it was normal and it was a turbine gathering air. Then they said they could not replicate the noise (when I looked at the invoice, they tried to replicate the sound with a different set of conditions ("speed above 30 mph" I have no idea where they got that scenario to replicate) and lastly they did hear the sound but said that it was normal. I did notice that in all services documentation they are reluctant to write in the actual complaint "AC whistle Noise 1000 - 3000 rpm" which is what I said 3 times!
I later called customer service to let them know that the comments on the invoice don't reflect my concern. They said on the call they had modified the comments. I called later again and got another representative which told me there were not adjustments on the comment! That's just plan deceiving and dishonest.

On yesterday's visit he took a picture of the TSB posted here and said it was not an official bulletin. He looked it up on his system and never came up. I have some questions that if answered here might help me further my case with them before I take legal action.

1. Are TSB issued by region. I notice that the number sequence from the TSB is not the same as the one he showed me. I've seen a lot comments here from Canada (Hi Canada!). i asked him if TSB are international and he said they were. He seemed to be improvising. "
2. Where can I get the actual TSB? I saw a post with actual links to the TSB but they had been updated only until March 2017


What else would you guys suggest. My car has barely 1k miles on it and I feel like they are going to win this one.

I appreciate any help or advise you can share. Take care people!
 

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1. Are TSB issued by region. I notice that the number sequence from the TSB is not the same as the one he showed me. I've seen a lot comments here from Canada (Hi Canada!). i asked him if TSB are international and he said they were. He seemed to be improvising. "
I was always with the understanding that they were regional or national due to there being some legitimate differences between the cars sold in the different countries or regions (Example: DRL has been on cars in Canada for a long time but still not in the US so Canadian cars that had DRL and American ones that don't but are otherwise identical, won't have the TSB if there was a DRL recall)

But even with that, what drives me around the bend is that there is a very large # of shared parts in a whole lot of cars from a lot of companies. Especially so for cars like the Civics. TSBs are a sneaky way of getting out of having to do a recall, as far as I am concerned.

2. Where can I get the actual TSB? I saw a post with actual links to the TSB but they had been updated only until March 2017
This is the hard part. Sometimes they are easy to get to, sometimes not. Worse still, there is no guarantee that the service staff will even know about them even if there is a TSB posted.

What else would you guys suggest. My car has barely 1k miles on it and I feel like they are going to win this one.
If the dealership won't play ball, I would open a complaint with Honda. Point them at the fact that there are indeed dealerships who have willingly and successfully dealt with this issue. I can still state that I am soon coming up on a year from when they replaced my condenser and the siphon hose and the sound has never come back.

I've seen a lot comments here from Canada (Hi Canada!).
Hi right back at ya!

I wish you all the best luck dealing with this. Being where it is always at least warm, that would be an annoying noise to deal with all year round...
 

Mando2324

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Hi right back at ya!

I wish you all the best luck dealing with this. Being where it is always at least warm, that would be an annoying noise to deal with all year round...
Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the help.

Well, I just opened a complaint with Honda America. Wish me luck!
 


Mando2324

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Hi guys-

Had no luck with Honda America either. It really sucks. Guess I ran out of options. :(
 

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Dealership isnt budging so I contacted via tweet Honda America. They replied “try another dealer!?” WTF!?
 

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I went to my local dealer (Wooster, OH) with the front page of the TSB ST-09-002-01 posted here. Dealer could not find it either. Does anyone have the full document? Looks like this is a European TSB, and the part numbers on it are not the same as the parts on my 18 sport hatch 6mt. The dealer service guy will contact someone from Honda America service to find out how they can fix the issue. Fingers crossed.
 

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I’ve been going round and round with us. Took it to the dealership who picked it up to the Honda regional engineer. They said it was normal operating parameters. They refused the warranty claim. Noise is so bad it could be heard over the stereo. When talking to the Honda America rap about the European STB and all the complaints on the form she said I shouldn’t be self diagnosing and that forms are just a place to complain so they hold no weight. Now I have to decide whether to just get rid of the car and lose thousands of dollars
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