NEW AC CONDENSER LEAKING TSB 19-091

Wow Im having issues with my 2017 HB at 13k. Warm air on driver's side but cold on passengers. I have an appointment tomorrow. Will update the thread after.

samuellms said:

Well I just came back from the dealership.. They said they can't find the problem of the A/C, and only did a recharge of the system. They didn't charge me anything, but is that total BS?
They just fix my A/C a month ago, why the freon is low if there is no leak?!

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Good question,

It either has a leak
or
The tech that first re-charged it, did not recharge it to the correct pressures
or
If it is still not working, the pressures may not still be correct.

The A/c is either Blowing the specified cold air temperature or not,
If it is not, there is a reason, that should be diagnose-able, assuming the Tech trying to diagnose it knows what they are doing.


Well then they seem to have determined the pressure was low, and recharged a know leaking system .. (That's another whole thing !!)

At any time did they add any UV dye, so that leaks are more readily found.
(The electronic leak detector has it's limitations)

If it was "CORRECTLY" charged a month ago, and is now low on refrigerant, it''s a major leak .. should be easy enough to find !!

I think you already know it's "TOTAL BS"

dallasjhawk said:

Well my AC crapped the bed at 20k, they replaced the compressor, Im now at 75k miles and no AC issues since.

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That's the problem,. the Compressor "Crapped", or the Compressor "BLEW", or the compressor "is broken" -- but never a specific diagnosis of what the compressor is doing wrong....

Yes, "GUESS: - change the compressor, re-charge the system, and if it was low on refrigerant, chance are it will work fine .. for an unknown length of time.

SCOPESYS said:

That's the problem,. the Compressor "Crapped", or the Compressor "BLEW", or the compressor "is broken" -- but never a specific diagnosis of what the compressor is doing wrong....

Yes, "GUESS: - change the compressor, re-charge the system, and if it was low on refrigerant, chance are it will work fine .. for an unknown length of time.

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Actually it went like this. "We hooked the charge system up to see if it was low on 1234yf, and as soon as we turned the system on it was leaking out of the compressor so we replaced the compressor and attaching parts." I going to try to find my dealer notes on the invoice.

kalvin126 said:

Wow Im having issues with my 2017 HB at 13k. Warm air on driver's side but cold on passengers. I have an appointment tomorrow. Will update the thread after.

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We have 2 Honda/Acura cars in the household. I have a 2011 Acura TSX which around 2017 started to blow warm. Lasted a whole 2 years on a charge until it "blew warm" again. Turned out the compressor was leaking. Tell tale sign for me was the driver's vents were warmer than passenger (the compressor is located closer to passenger side of vehicle). I won't be surprised if your compressor is bad.

Anyways, we also have a '16 Civic Touring and a few months ago I couldn't tell a difference between 75 and 65 degrees, just all felt the same. Ended up being the compressor was bad at 29K.

Sooo yeah. Both compressors and condensers in these cars are absolute shit. Good thing they're extending the warranty for condensers, but compressor warranty should also be extended it seems.

SCOPESYS said:

Good question,

It either has a leak
or
The tech that first re-charged it, did not recharge it to the correct pressures
or
If it is still not working, the pressures may not still be correct.

The A/c is either Blowing the specified cold air temperature or not,
If it is not, there is a reason, that should be diagnose-able, assuming the Tech trying to diagnose it knows what they are doing.

They said they can't find the problem of the A/C, and only did a recharge of the system.​

Well then they seem to have determined the pressure was low, and recharged a know leaking system .. (That's another whole thing !!)

At any time did they add any UV dye, so that leaks are more readily found.
(The electronic leak detector has it's limitations)

If it was "CORRECTLY" charged a month ago, and is now low on refrigerant, it''s a major leak .. should be easy enough to find !!

I think you already know it's "TOTAL BS"

Click to expand...

Yes I think they can't find the leak, and on the receipt the note did say they added UV dye. Let's see how long my AC will work this time...
But anyways, looking at the past class action lawsuits towards Honda, they have the same claims that the condensers are leaking due to Road debris, and the settlement is just paying back the out of pocket expense... Maybe I should actually sell this car asap..

samuellms said:

Yes I think they can't find the leak, and on the receipt the note did say they added UV dye. Let's see how long my AC will work this time...
But anyways, looking at the past class action lawsuits towards Honda, they have the same claims that the condensers are leaking due to Road debris, and the settlement is just paying back the out of pocket expense... Maybe I should actually sell this car asap..

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OK, then "assuming" they did add UV dye, YOU should be able to look, and maybe see where it is leaking after some time . All you need is a small UV light (about $10 harbor Freight).
Helps if you search at night (in the dark)

87elco said:

That's a honda extended warranty?

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Best $2grand I’ve spent
Have had almost 3grand in work so far

But just noting since release Honda has had a big issue with the a/c if you dig into it.
Most are warranty or people freaking at Honda when out of warranty causing the a/c failure to be TSB

Well, I took my out of warranty Civic in for AC repairs after having the compressor replaced and paid out of pocket just a few months ago. The dealership called me back and explained the issue was with the condenser. this time they didn't charge me a penny and explained the issue was covered under warranty, even though the bumper to bumper warranty was expired. Didn't try to poke and argue or bring up this TSB but it seems like Honda is finally acknowledging an issue and doing something about it.

My 2016 is out of warranty by five months. The A/C issue happened six weeks after and so I took it not to the dealership but to a local garage that everyone on my Nextdoor raves about and is way closer to my home. They couldn't find a leak but recharged the refrigerant and charged me $400(!!!). They added dye in case the issue came up again. Of course it did, I took it to the dealership this time, and I needed a new condenser. It was to be a goodwill repair due to the just out of warranty status and also low mileage and I was going to pay $50. That was in late July and they were out of parts. Parts just came in and I was told about the warranty extension and that it will be all taken care of. That's, of course, great, and saves me $50 but now I am SO mad I took it to the local garage for the original issue. Not only did it turn out the dealership only charges $170 for a recharge, but I'm wondering if I could have gotten that refunded now that the warranty has been extended. So $400 down the drain, grr.

Welp. turns out I had no damage, issue verified, no leaks. They just evacuated the system, refilled it with new fluid, and put dye. The issue is fixed for now, but if it happens again, I'd have to bring it in.

I just checked in with dealer about the bulletin and I have to pay $500 out of pocket for an evacuation recharge just to check for a leak and the service advisor said it was a recall. I have a ‘16 EX with 41500 miles.

raphymulyadi said:

I just checked in with dealer about the bulletin and I have to pay $500 out of pocket for an evacuation recharge just to check for a leak and the service advisor said it was a recall. I have a ‘16 EX with 41500 miles.

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2 things, try another dealer or contact corporate. The most they should charge is the $130 diagnostic fee that you would get back if its warranty.

i say find another dealership that is a rip off

raphymulyadi said:

I just checked in with dealer about the bulletin and I have to pay $500 out of pocket for an evacuation recharge just to check for a leak and the service advisor said it was a recall. I have a ‘16 EX with 41500 miles.

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dallasjhawk said:

2 things, try another dealer or contact corporate. The most they should charge is the $130 diagnostic fee that you would get back if its warranty.

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I am in another dealership and it is $145 to check the condenser. I am in the waiting room right now. I also overheard another civic owner has a/c problems as well. I’ll post an update when I’ll get more info.