Please read! Verified A/C issue with 1.5L

[mokylim]

Thank you very much. Set up Auto mode at 65F and left the car out 40 mins about 100F outside. Start driving in the city with auto mode. Tested recirculation mode following your instruction. It works fine. It's 92F after 15mins driving inside the cabin. I will test it this weekend when driving longer distance. Thank you again and have a wonderful holiday!

hey there fellow bay area LX-P owner.

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[xXxHondaCivicxXx]

Hey guys.

I just wanted to let you know, if you are having problems with your A/C with the symptoms of cold A/C during moderate temperature days (Below 85-90F) but warm A/C on hot days, you do infact have an issue.

The symptoms are cold A/C while moving such as freeway driving. City driving, idle, or stop/go is the prime occurance when you will start to get ambient temp A/C, warm A/C, mugginess, or possible odor.

The probable cause of this is most likely the condensor unit, or switch placement (switch becomes wet, or covered in grease/grime, location of switch is front of the engine bay, passenger side all the way down by the plastic scrape plate, marked with a blue dot on mine). Honda switched to a new refrigerant called 1234YF for EPA reasons leaving the old 134 behind, new refrigerants require new compressor designs, and new designs have the potential to fail alot.

As of yet, there is NO official fix. Your car will be leak tested, and an attempt to recharge your unit will be preformed (another symptom is LOW freon result returning during the leak test). The best solution now is to visit your dealership of choice, and have them attempt to solve the issue. At the very least get it logged and noted you have the 1.5L A/C issue so Honda must pay attention to it and we can get a real fix sooner.

I will update this thread with more information as I get it.

Hello everyone!

I am new to posting on the forums, but have been reading them ever since I got my 2016 Civic EX last year. The problem you have describe is almost exactly the same problem I have with my 2016 Civic EX (2.0L). I wasn't going to say anything at first, but after a while of dealing with this ridiculous problem in a barely 1 year-old car, I decided to share what I have gone through (with my dealer) in hopes that other people have experienced the same issue and how they had fixed it.

First, I will provide a little context on how I noticed this problem and what I have done so far. I apologize for the large essay, but please bear with me

Many times when I walk back to my car after letting it sit outside in the sun for a few hours (around 105 degree weather), the AC would take nearly 20-30 min before it got "cold" (maybe 70 degrees cold). I would start the car, turn the AC on to Auto, lower the temp to "Lo", and lower the windows thinking it would make the AC cold quicker, but found that it did nothing.

One day it was 110 degrees outside (people who live in CA will know what I am talking about), and with the sun facing me, it was very clear that the Civic's AC couldn't cool the car despite already have driven for 15 min.

I had decided to contact my local Honda dealership and they were more than willing to help me out with the issue. They even admitted that the Civic's have been having problems with their air conditioning so they thought they knew what the issue was. They thought the issue was a relay that broke based on the fact that a few Civic's that came in with the same symptoms of the AC not cooling properly. They replaced it, but it broke again, so they called and told me that something else had caused the relay to break (the compressor clutch field coil). Since, it had been late in the evening at the time, they would replace the part the next day.

After a few weeks passed, I noticed the AC still wasn't cold, but I disregarded it thinking that I was just being picky and the car was acting normal. But after another hot day in California, I quickly noticed the car's AC had problems. I took it back to the dealership and told them about the issue, the service advisor called me at 5pm and gave me an update, the technicians found the car was overcharged the last time I brought it in. He called me back a few min later and said the AC compressor needed to be replaced after retesting the AC when they finished adding the refrigerant. The problem is that the AC compressor is on backorder for the 2.0L without an ETA.

That pretty much sums everything up to today.

I am now just worried that the AC compressor will not fix the problem. Has anyone had their AC compressor replaced some other part replaced that successfully fixed the issue with the AC?

Luckily, my local dealership have been helpful and understanding so far. Now, I have to wait for the part.

 

[lprofit]

After waiting 2 weeks for the part, my car is finally getting fixed. My service rep called to set up the appointment. Because I work 2 jobs, I told him that I was unable to wait the 5 hours they said it would take. He suggested I come in right when they open at 7 before I go to work and then come back at the same time the next day to pick it up. He suggested that I go to the Enterprise across the street for a rental. I was like, ummmm... you guys are comping that right...? He was like, well, I'd have to ask my manager. In short, when I got to the dealer this morning, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to go through the whole "let me talk to the manager" shtick. Turns out he did the right thing from a service standpoint and had a loaner car ready for me when I got there. He charged the bill to Honda.

 

[Silverocket]

After waiting 2 weeks for the part, my car is finally getting fixed. My service rep called to set up the appointment. Because I work 2 jobs, I told him that I was unable to wait the 5 hours they said it would take. He suggested I come in right when they open at 7 before I go to work and then come back at the same time the next day to pick it up. He suggested that I go to the Enterprise across the street for a rental. I was like, ummmm... you guys are comping that right...? He was like, well, I'd have to ask my manager. In short, when I got to the dealer this morning, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to go through the whole "let me talk to the manager" shtick. Turns out he did the right thing from a service standpoint and had a loaner car ready for me when I got there. He charged the bill to Honda.

how did the fix go?

 

[Imagination04]

Hey guys.

I just wanted to let you know, if you are having problems with your A/C with the symptoms of cold A/C during moderate temperature days (Below 85-90F) but warm A/C on hot days, you do infact have an issue.

The symptoms are cold A/C while moving such as freeway driving. City driving, idle, or stop/go is the prime occurance when you will start to get ambient temp A/C, warm A/C, mugginess, or possible odor.

The probable cause of this is most likely the condensor unit, or switch placement (switch becomes wet, or covered in grease/grime, location of switch is front of the engine bay, passenger side all the way down by the plastic scrape plate, marked with a blue dot on mine). Honda switched to a new refrigerant called 1234YF for EPA reasons leaving the old 134 behind, new refrigerants require new compressor designs, and new designs have the potential to fail alot.

As of yet, there is NO official fix. Your car will be leak tested, and an attempt to recharge your unit will be preformed (another symptom is LOW freon result returning during the leak test). The best solution now is to visit your dealership of choice, and have them attempt to solve the issue. At the very least get it logged and noted you have the 1.5L A/C issue so Honda must pay attention to it and we can get a real fix sooner.

I will update this thread with more information as I get it.

I had this exact issue occur last month with my 2016 EX-T coupe while stuck in southern Illinois traffic after the Total Solar Eclipse. I guess I'll have to make an appointment with me dealer and see what happens. I've perused the thread, thanks for all the info.

 

[shadowspar]

Going through a similar situation right now. Picked up my 2017 LX hatch last Thursday. As soon as I drove it off the lot, I realized the A/C didn't seem to be blowing cold. Sure enough, even after running for 30+ minutes, it couldn't manage any better than "lukewarm" to "barely cool".

Thankfully my dealer has been super cooperative. Brought the car in today; turns out the condenser and one of the high-pressure lines both have a slow leak. Waiting on parts now, which I'm told should only take a couple of days.

 

[tacthecat]

Poor PDI - best to ask to see the PDI checklist for what else they didn't check.

 

[zroger73]

Poor PDI - best to ask to see the PDI checklist for what else they didn't check.

Unfortunately, it's been my experience that PDI checklists are frequently populated with check marks for items that they didn't actually check.

 

[dallasjhawk]

Unfortunately, it's been my experience that PDI checklists are frequently populated with check marks for items that they didn't actually check.

This is so true. ONE time out of all the Hondas Ive bought did a dealer actually pull the car in the bay, do a walk around and go through the PDI checklist with me to show me everything was checked and how everything worked in the car.

 

[tacthecat]

See, there really are some good dealerships!

 

[dc2turbo]

so how cold is it suppose to blow if its working normally ?

my a/c is cold but not freezing cold like some other cars

 

[zroger73]

so how cold is it suppose to blow if its working normally ?

my a/c is cold but not freezing cold like some other cars

There is no single temperature reading that indicates normal operation. Outlet temperature varies with intake temperature, humidity, and model. The performance test procedure specified by Honda involves:

1. Moving the vehicle out of direct sunlight until it cools to ambient temperature (they even say to wash it to cool it off if necessary).
2. Set the A/C to ON, MAX COOL, VENT, RECIRCULATE, and the highest fan speed.
3. While parked, open the hood and front doors and hold the engine at 1,500 RPM for 10 minutes with no occupants in the vehicle.
4. Read the center outlet temperature, the intake temperature from near the blower unit, and the low and high side pressures from the manifold gauges. Compare these readings to ensure they fall within shaded areas on vehicle-specific graphs. If the temperature and pressures fall within the shaded areas, the system is considered to be operating normally.

For example, the normal outlet temperature for a 2016 Honda Pilot using this procedure varies from as low as 42°F at 30% humidity and 68°F ambient to as high as 78°F at 80% humidity and 108°F ambient.

Very generally, the outlet temperature will be between 20-30°F cooler than the intake temperature. Under some conditions, you could get 40°F air, but if it's 120° inside on a hot, sunny day, the air is only going to blow about 80-90° initially then fall as the cabin cools down which causes the intake temperature to decrease. 80° air coming out of your vents will actually feel pretty cool when the inside of the car is 120°F.

 

[dallasjhawk]

so how cold is it suppose to blow if its working normally ?

my a/c is cold but not freezing cold like some other cars

mine with an infrared thermometer will measure around 44-48 degrees inside the vent after I had a new compressor put on

 

[dallasjhawk]

Vent temperature varies with ambient temperature and humidity and is determined using a specific test procedure. An A/C performance is located in the service information which is only available by subscription starting at $10 per day from techinfo.honda.com.

basically all that gibberish means when you take it to Honda they tell you to pound sand because its 104 out and your AC system is to spec.

 

[dc2turbo]

mine with an infrared thermometer will measure around 44-48 degrees inside the vent after I had a new compressor put on

Guess my is within spec in 90f weather

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