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SUVs Honda CR-V Honda CR-V AC Compressor Problems
1382 messages, Last post on Feb 27, 2010 at 7:32 AM
You are in the Honda CR-V Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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As the warmer weather finally arrived into Buffalo, I had to use the A/C, and noticed that it was not as "cold" as before. Temprature out of the "face" vent was about 45-50°F instead of 38°F, as per the shop manual. I checked the "low" side while the compressor was running, and it was at 18 psi. I added some PAG oil and R134 with dye up to 25 psi. The thermocouple now reads 38°F before compressor cycles off. The pressure gauge reads about 45 psi on the "low" side when compressor is off. It is possible that failures have been caused by the lack of lubrication, either from the owners not "excercising" their systems during winter, or because some of the oil has leaked out. Compressors don't just explode, there has to be an underlying cause. Lack of lubrication is my first suspect.
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Replying to: blueiedgod (May 27, 2009 11:25 am) Even your own data suggests that AC failures are elevated in the '02 to '05 CRV models made in Japan. Would you suggest that Honda managed to attract particularly negligent owners for just those years of just that model? Or was fate unkind to Honda and randomly distributed a greater percentage of bum owners to them right then? Your continuing effort to blame the owner is not supported by the data.
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This article may help if you think your AC may be about to go on the blink: Tom's Corner Garage: A/C Failure and How to Track Down the Cause (Edmunds Daily) 
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Replying to: bajones08 (May 26, 2009 2:35 pm) I've driven nothing but Hondas since 1985 (Accord, CR-X, Civic and CR-V). All but the CR-V have gone at least 125K miles with no A/C issues in any; The CR-V A/C failed at 78K miles. Now at home, so Monday I'll take it to my local dealer and see what they come up with. Whatever it is, I'll have to get it fixed: In my 70s and can't do desert driving as I need to without A/C with Summer coming. If the repair is too costly, I'll get it done and buy a Toyota or some other non-Honda as my next car. Phil |
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Replying to: jpettibone (May 27, 2009 1:03 pm) If the failures were as wide spread, then all of the compressors from 02-04 model years made in Japan would have failed. But, they have not. The big variable is the operator. Does a layman feel a difference in temprature between 38.6°F and 44°F. chances are they don't. They keep running their A/C, which never cycle off, because they never reach the 38.6°F threshold. That could be another contributing factor. Continuous compressor use, as opposed to cycling on and off. Unlike domestics, and other manufacturers, which use variable displacement compressors to moderate the A/C cooling, Honda uses simple On/Off design, which is less expensive and simple. If anyone with a failure can post whether they felt the compressor cycle on and off prior to failure, then it will blow my theory out of the water. But, chances are, they did not even notice that the compressor was cycling when it WAS fully functional. Let alone them asking "why hasn't the compressor cycled off today?" We don't have enough information to even conclude that 05-06 redesign is failure proof. I have an 05, and I lost some refrigerant. I have an 88 Prelude that is still on the original factory fill of R-12. It may also not be a function of miles, but time, and there has not been enough time to see if 05-06 or 07-09 designs are any better. Good luck. |
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Replying to: blueiedgod (May 29, 2009 8:52 am) "If the failures were as wide spread, then all of the compressors from 02-04 model years made in Japan would have failed. But, they have not. The big variable is the operator. " This is simply faulty reasoning. To expect that only a 100% failure rate would indicate a factory problem is excessive. I expect there is some luck involved here, since road damage seems to play a role. Most people are lucky enough to not incur the damage that leads to the catastrophic failure of the part. That the system is exposed to such damage in the first place is part of the problem. "Does a layman feel a difference in temprature between 38.6°F and 44°F. chances are they don't. They keep running their A/C, which never cycle off, because they never reach the 38.6°F threshold. That could be another contributing factor. Continuous compressor use, as opposed to cycling on and off. " Again, this is something that could happen to any make or model, and would lead to a similar failure rate in other cars. Unless you are suggesting that Honda AC compressors are worse at keeping temperature than others? If you are, that's not a user induced factor. Also, I'm pretty sure that after 5 years of service at the dealer, they would have told me if there was oil leaking from the compressor. They've never had a problem in the past pointing out things that I was unaware of. "If anyone with a failure can post whether they felt the compressor cycle on and off prior to failure, then it will blow my theory out of the water. But, chances are, they did not even notice that the compressor was cycling when it WAS fully functional. Let alone them asking "why hasn't the compressor cycled off today?" " Yes, with the CR/V, I could always feel the compressor cycle on and off. The engine power was just enough without AC, and took a decent hit with it on. It would struggle up hills with the AC on, so I would frequently turn it off in some places (blame a child of the 80's who grew up with chevettes). I felt mine cycle on and off earlier in the day that it died, and turned it off shortly afterwards. In all honesty, my wife claimed not to notice the difference, but she also thinks SD is just as good as HD.  "It may also not be a function of miles, but time, and there has not been enough time to see if 05-06 or 07-09 designs are any better. " I agree with this, to some extent. But there IS evidence that both the location and the part have changed for the AC compressor from 05 on- you can't deny that. The evidence that it has helped is right here on this board. There are few to no '06 or greater owners claiming problems, where you can see that with the previous model, there were many examples of compressor failure around 30 to 50k and within the first three years. I really don't think this is a wear issue- it's a luck issue, quite frankly, in that the engineering is just good enough to keep this from being a more widespread issue, but the tolerances are much smaller than are typical for Honda. "Whenever I am looking at incidents, my first suspect is the human. In most cases it is the only variable in the equation. " This is actually the root of your argument, that bad things don't happen to good people. This is possibly the most fundamentally flawed of all of them. It is for this reason that you are unlikely to accept any evidence to the contrary. I'm not claiming that people don't do stupid things to their belongings, and I'm not denying that human error is a major variable. But to say that in many cases it is the ONLY variable? Hondas are very reliable cars, in most cases. This is one (maybe the only) case in which it is not true. But you can't simply use "human error" and "hondas are reliable" as your argument, because it is circular.
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Replying to: bajones08 (May 26, 2009 2:35 pm) I called the dealer to get a second price and he quoted me $4,500 to $5,000 to fix it! He said flushing the system is not recommended because it blows the contaminates throughout the system. He said all hoses need to be replaced and of course new freon. He said if I went with the $,1400 fix that I would have to replace the compressor again. I will be driving the car without air. I am really dreading the rainy days when I cannot roll the windows down and it is in the 90's. I will follow this forum to see if anyone posts more info on replacing the compressor. I looked online and the compressor alone can be purchased for $285. I know labor is expensive but I cannot afford to have this fixed. |
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Replying to: jpettibone (May 30, 2009 8:52 pm) The system already has circuitry in place to do that for you. Just let the engine rev past 5000 RPM and the A/C will turn off, since the computer "understands" this as need for more power, alternator turns off too. The car is smarter than you give it credit.
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Replying to: blueiedgod (Jun 01, 2009 8:53 am) The car is smarter than you give it credit. I'm quite aware of that- I'd rather run lower RPMs than have to redline it to get the AC to turn off. I think the people posting with problems on this thread are smarter than you give them credit for. |
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Replying to: dee99 (May 31, 2009 5:33 am)
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