Honda CR-V Maintenance and Repair

kyfdx

Look here...

Honda CR-V FAQ

mrhonda

Thank you! I'll print this and take it to my dealer when I see him next week.

epm1

The air conditioning compressor blew apart in my English built 02 Honda CRV and the SRS OPDS sensor failed. It appears that there are an unusual number of failures in these two systems- Are these failures confined to the English built CRV's? or is it a problem with Japanese CR-V also?

epm1

Is this an environmental problem? When the compressor blew apart pieces of the compressor apparently went into the road since the side of the compressor is missing- and there was the sudden release of all of the refrigerant and oil in the system into the environment. Even a week after the event while I await Honda's inspection I left a puddle of oil this morning in the church parking lot. If a number of units are failing in this manner that is a lot of oil and refrigerant being released into the atmosphere and little chunks of compressors bouncing around on the roads.

mikefm58

" It appears that there are an unusual number of failures in these two systems "

Where did you hear that? This is the first I've heard anything like that.

bonnie9

Happened to me too. at 42,000.. Costs about $81 plus tax and labor to fix.. bummer, huh. It is the Rear Differential.

Have any problems with the Transmission? I had slipping at 3,000 miles. :mad:

ebml

Hello. I have a honda crv 2003 with 54,000 mi and for the second time in 7 months the air conditioner has stopped blowing cool air.

Let me tell you about the first time it broke: I ldodged the repair costs because it broke right after I was in a wreck caused by a drunk driver. My car had like 8,000 dollars worth of damage that the guy who hit me had to pay for with his insurance. It was the day after I got my car back from all of the repairs that the air conditioner broke for the first time. The insurance company assumed this was caused by the wreck and they covered the repair. I can't remember, but I think that the shop said that it was a broken compressor. I had no idea that it was a commom problem with CRVs until today.

Anyhow my airconditioner is blowing only hot air again--7 months later-- and the heat index is 110 here in South Louisiana. However, the repairs were warranted for life by the shop that fixed my car after the wreck. Would it be dishonest to have them refix it since it may not have been caused by the wreck originally.

I'm so aggrivated. I mean we got a Honda because Honda's are supposed to be good cars. I've done all it's maintenance and everything. There is no such thing as quality anymore. We just had to get rid of my husbands AudiA6 because of this crazy continous oil leak that after 6 trips to the dealership was still not fixed. We got a Mazda to replace it, since they have a reputation like Honda--good cars. Hmmmm we'll wait and see only to be disappointed I'm guessing.

Anyhow, I don't know where to bring my car to be fixed. I'll have to pay at Honda and we live paycheck to paycheck on one income since I'm a stay at home mom. (The Audi was given to my husband by his parents when he was in college) But I will feel sinful by bringing it to Abendroth, the local shop who made the repairs after the wreck. It's not their fault that it broke so they should not have to pay, but it's not my fault either. Maybe they could get the insurance company from the wreck to pay?? I don't know what to do. How much does a new compressor cost anyhow?

Any input would be much appreciated.
Bridget

blueiedgod

Hello. I have a honda crv 2003 with 54,000 mi and for the second time in 7 months the air conditioner has stopped blowing cool air.

Let me tell you about the first time it broke: I ldodged the repair costs because it broke right after I was in a wreck caused by a drunk driver. My car had like 8,000 dollars worth of damage that the guy who hit me had to pay for with his insurance. It was the day after I got my car back from all of the repairs that the air conditioner broke for the first time. The insurance company assumed this was caused by the wreck and they covered the repair. I can't remember, but I think that the shop said that it was a broken compressor. I had no idea that it was a commom problem with CRVs until today.

Anyhow my airconditioner is blowing only hot air again--7 months later-- and the heat index is 110 here in South Louisiana. However, the repairs were warranted for life by the shop that fixed my car after the wreck. Would it be dishonest to have them refix it since it may not have been caused by the wreck originally.

I'm so aggrivated. I mean we got a Honda because Honda's are supposed to be good cars. I've done all it's maintenance and everything. There is no such thing as quality anymore. We just had to get rid of my husbands AudiA6 because of this crazy continous oil leak that after 6 trips to the dealership was still not fixed. We got a Mazda to replace it, since they have a reputation like Honda--good cars. Hmmmm we'll wait and see only to be disappointed I'm guessing.

Anyhow, I don't know where to bring my car to be fixed. I'll have to pay at Honda and we live paycheck to paycheck on one income since I'm a stay at home mom. (The Audi was given to my husband by his parents when he was in college) But I will feel sinful by bringing it to Abendroth, the local shop who made the repairs after the wreck. It's not their fault that it broke so they should not have to pay, but it's not my fault either. Maybe they could get the insurance company from the wreck to pay?? I don't know what to do. How much does a new compressor cost anyhow?

Any input would be much appreciated.
Bridget

Mazda never had the reliability status of Honda nor Toyota. And nowdays Mazdas are Fords.

As far as your A/c failure, since it is covered by the shops warranty, I don't think you should feel guilty about taking it there. You had just repaired your A/c one day before the accident and then it failed after the accident. You have all the rights to the shop's warranty coverage. They probably used subpar parts to fix it in the first place. The shop is not going to lose money, don't worry about that. They would not offer lifetime warranty if they were losing money on repairs. The part will go back to where the bought it from, and the only thing they will lose is labor, since they can not charge you for labor this time. Chances are, when A/c failed after the accident (day after you just had it replaced) they just replaced the pump and no the rest of th system. The metal shavings probably got in the system, and caused the recent failure.

You definatley can't call Honda corporate this time, not because you are out of warranty, but because it probably has an aftermarket compressor. So far, Honda has covered everyone else's A/C failures regradless of warranty status, after a phone call to Honda corporate.

kyfdx

...that the compressor is OEM...

There seems to be a rash of compressor complaints lately...

I agree.. go back to the shop.. they got paid for replacing the compressor.. so, it doesn't really matter why it was replaced the first time..

regards,
kyfdx

mikefm58

But how do you know the compressor wasn't damaged in the accident? Since it's covered under warranty, I'd just go get it fixed again.

midwesttrader

"And nowdays Mazdas are Fords."

Where did you come up with that one? The last time I checked Ford owned about 25% of Mazda. Seems like quite a stretch to say they are one in the same.

speed5

I just got my crv last month. Love it, but was wondering how you would tell if the 4wd is working?

carr5

Have a 2002 CR-V with 42,900 miles and the compressor just locked up. From the posts I've been reading, Honda has a problem with this particular unit.

blueiedgod

I just got my crv last month. Love it, but was wondering how you would tell if the 4wd is working?

Wait until it snows, take it to an empty parking lot, turn the wheels full lock, disable the VSC, stomp on the gas pedal. You will see that the RWD works.

stevedebi

"I just got my crv last month. Love it, but was wondering how you would tell if the 4wd is working?"

The serious answer is that there is no indicator light. You will know when it kicks in, because you will feel the front wheel slip, and then the rear wheels kick in and the CR-V just moves on out. It's not noisy or anything.

speed5

Thanks, now I can't wait till it snows!

markmn1

We have a Japanese built 2002 CRV. At 31K Miles (right after the warrentee ran out, the compressor of our CRV locked up to a tune of over $600 to fix. Our dealership denied any problems with the CRV AC compressor. We had an independant shop repair our vehicle using parts purchased from a local Honda dealership.
Less than 2 months later, the SRS sensor failed. This also cost us more than $500 to get our dealership to fix it. Again, the service center denied any problems with the part. They did agree to cover the cost of the actual part this time, but the labor cost was still over $500.
Last week, less than one year after the A/C was repaired, our A/C unit started to make a funny ticking noise when running, then the system failed completely. The dealer once again denied that the CRV A/C was problematic. This time, they said that metal filings got into the system, and it would cost over $3K to replace the entire system.
They stated that the problem was probably caused by our local maintenance shop when they replaced the last compressor, but they "graciously" offered to fix our car for just the cost of labor ($850).
We've diligently brought our car back to the dealer for every scheduled maintenance, paying their rediculous prices to do nothing more than the local Rapid Oil Change would do.
I'm fed up with Honda at this point. This is our third, and last Honda, I will ever buy. :mad:

barbinkc

You will love the way your CRV handles in the snow and ice! I've never felt safer or had more control until I owned this vehicle, without the gas bill!

barbinkc

I have a 1998 CRV with 76,000 miles on it. Recently I was having problems with the transmission slipping between 2nd and 3rd gears. I had an extended warranty on this car (I bought it used) so I just kept taking it back to the dealer, who told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it. However, because I keep a record of all my car maintenance, they could not dispute that the car had been taken care of. The 5th time I took it back, I left it there for 11 days while I was out of town, and they went ahead and put in a remanufactured transmission at no charge to me. The car runs beautifully now, but the problem is, my original warranty expires Sept. 1 of this year (in about a month). They will not warranty the replaced transmission any longer than my original warranty, so basically they're telling me they only guarantee this transmission for 1 month! Anyone else have this problem, and if so, what did you do? I'm thinking about writing a letter to let them know I think the warranty on this stinks (what happened to standing behind your product?) but I'm not sure who to contact. Anyone have any suggestions?

stevedebi

"We have a Japanese built 2002 CRV. At 31K Miles (right after the warrentee ran out,"

I gather you went over the three years? I bought a 100K warranty for mine, though I don't expect to use it. I have 33K on it right now.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Of course, 2002 was the first year of the model...

blueiedgod

You should have called Honda corporate the first time A/c failed, so far Honda USA covered everyones A/c repairs, even if they were out of warranty.

While I am not saying that Honda are without fault, the dealer is not going to do your legwork. They get paid better rate if you pay the labor rather than Honda corporate paying it. One phone call away could have saved you the added expense.

jfore

Our AC in our 2002 Honda CRV (that we bought 2 years ago) has gone out for the third summer in a row. How do we go about contacting Honda Corporate?

tntitan

FWIW.......after 66,000 miles the air still blows cold and my wife runs the A/C 100% of the time about 9 months a year.

kyfdx

Against my better judgement, I bought the Hondacare 7yr/100K warranty.. The main reason was to keep me driving this car for nearly 7 years.. I am a serial car trader, so I thought I would easily save the $1000 by just keeping the car a couple of years longer..

But, now that we are hearing of this rash of A/C compressor failures, and the extremely high cost of replacement... I don't feel so bad about spending the money...

However... 51K miles on my '02, and still haven't used the warranty or had A/C problems..

regards,
kyfdx

bob05

Here's a new one:

I took the CRV into the dealer for its first service interval (which of course is nothing but oil change and rotate). Just to double-check, I showed the guy the manual and said "nothing else to do at 10,000, right?"

And here is what he said: "For service purposes, we define all of New England as "severe driving conditions", so you should follow that schedule. Here's a list of things we do for $129.99". :confuse:

To be fair, he did not say it until I asked a dumb question. And they did the oil change and rotation for $63. Still, it's a pretty egregious bit of skullduggery.

Before, I scare anybody, I should note that NONE of the severe driving conditions listed on p. 173 of the 05 manual apply to New England.

kyfdx

My Honda service department does good work... But, they still recommend oil changes every 3K miles... And, they've never switched any of the computer systems over to recognize the change to 10K service intervals from 7500.... Even though, most of the Hondas sold now have this interval...

Hey.. they are in the business of making money.. They want to sell you everything they can...

I don't like it, but there you go...

barbinkc

They told me the same thing when I took my CRV in for tranny problems. Thing is, I have my oil changed every 3,000-3,500 miles anyway, regardless of what the manual says, so they couldn't use that as an excuse. And I got the same line here - "You should be using the schedule for extreme conditions." The manual says "if you are occasionally under these conditions, use the normal wear schedule". Well, I'm in the midwest, and we are occasionally in weather above 90 degrees and below 0 degrees, but not all the time. They have gotten very sneaky about how they handle repair problems. I used to think of myself as a loyal Honda person, I'm having to rethink my loyalty here lately. They are no longer willing to stand behind their product. And excuse me, unless you're abusing the vehicle, compressors and transmissions should NOT be going out before 100,000 miles if the vehicle is built well - period. However, I still love my CRV and will probably drive it into the ground (assuming this new tranny holds up)!

mikefm58

" They have gotten very sneaky about how they handle repair problems. I used to think of myself as a loyal Honda person, I'm having to rethink my loyalty here lately."

Sounds like the Honda dealer's trying to push as much service as possible. I always follow my owner's manual to the letter. You've interpreted the owner's manual of normal vs. severe conditions exactly how I would have.

I can't imagine a dealer telling me about oil change intervals if I brought it in for tranny problems.

epm1

Honda Customer Service(?) 1 800 999-1009 they will take a report- you need your serial number -then in a day or two someone will call you back- tell you the car is out of warranty -and ask you what to you want? like when you go into the showroom and they ask you how much you want to pay. Then they say No- it is out of warranty not covered, etc- but persist- talk to a supervisor if you have to- folks have reported everything from being paid 50 to 100%. I guess the better you haggle the more you get. It is a sad that customer service has sunk to this level.

bob05

Well, to be fair to Honda, this is not at all unique. I once took a Toyota in for the first oil change, and they set the service light at 3,000 rather than 5000. When I asked my "gold team service adviser" to please set the light at 5000, she looked at me with a straight face and said "These cars are made for the California market and should have the oil changed at 3,000 miles because that's how they do it out there."

And to be further fair. In addition to the oil change, my dealer quite cheerfully performed the TSB for drift to the right (mine didn't really pull, but it did drift pretty strongly, and the TSB says "drift or pull to the right" including re-alignment). Also, when I said that the weatherstripping on the rear passenger door was coming loose and would he re-glue it, he said. "No such thing. This thing is brand new --lets order a new one."

He was also kind enough to point out that the boil I thought saw in the clearcoat was actually tree sap. Sure enough :P

Too soon to give evaluation on drift to right after TSB, but I'll post once I've evaluated.

aquaticexplore

never had a problem on either old or 02 CRV with this, pulling to right, or AC compressor.

Our 02 CRV has 105000km on it. We changed right rear wheel bearing 3 months ago, and an ABS sensor module that blew just before the warrenty expired. sometimes right blinker won't turn off automatically after a turn. dealer couldnt reproduce. Need to change rear diff fluid as it makes noise when turning sharp and fast. Replaced original Goodrich tires when worn with Costco Michelin brand. Much quieter. Overall a very dependable car but not as ttrouble free as 1st generation which had 0 problems at 60K miles..

blueiedgod

Our AC in our 2002 Honda CRV (that we bought 2 years ago) has gone out for the third summer in a row. How do we go about contacting Honda Corporate?

Your OWNER'S MANUAL has all the customer service numbers. The warranty booklet has the same numbers as well.

oath

I have a 2002 CRV-EX with 61,265 miles in it and I just found out my compressor is bad. I thought it was due to a very minor accident in November that was fixed by my insurance in December. The body shop called me back and informed me I needed a new compressor so they sent the car to Sport Honda in Silver Spring MD for second opinion. It's going to cost me about $750.00 to fix it. I didn't know there were so many problems with the compressor.

I have called Honda Corp to complain and they informed me someone would call me in 2 days regarding this problem. I have bought 3 Honda's since 1986 and I've never experienced such problems.

We have 100 degree weather here and I'm ready to scream when I'm driving since you can't breathe with this heat.

dianne4

In the same way, every other problem that is listed on the site is "overblown" unless you are experiencing it yourself. After purchasing a 2005 CRV, I have experienced the pull to the right and the torque steer. My1993 Nissan Sentra was more enjoyable to ride, I did not feel that I must constantly pull the vehicle back. Any easing up with the left hand will result in the care automatically moving to the right. In fact, I have observed other 2005' s on the road and some are hugging the right . The dealership, Honda Canada keep telling me that the pull to the right on acceleration is normal and that the PTTR is simply the road, I have been driving 30 years and have never had to work so hard keeping a car where it is supposed to be going, let alone a car this price.

jillstar

That is what I was planning on doing and now will definitely do. Thanks for the advise.

stevedebi

"Our 02 CRV has 105000km on it. "

Do you have to change the timing chain on that thing?

blueiedgod

"Our 02 CRV has 105000km on it. "

Do you have to change the timing chain on that thing?

Does the Canadian (I asusme you are in Canada because of the metric) OWNER'S MANUAL tell you to change it? My US OWNER'S MANUAL does not tell me to change it at any mileage.

isellhondas

Timing chains aren't normally replaced.

barbinkc

I have a 1998 CRV, my owner's manual says to change the timing chain at 105,000 miles or 7 years, whichever comes first. I've never heard of a vehicle that does NOT require the timing chain (or belt) to be replaced at some point and I've owned both foreign and domestic cars over the past 30 years ...

kyfdx

You have a timing belt... The new CR-V has a chain...

Timing chains aren't changed like belts... they are supposed to last the life of the engine..

regards,
kyfdx

mikefm58

" I've never heard of a vehicle that does NOT require the timing chain (or belt) to be replaced at some point and I've owned both foreign and domestic cars over the past 30 years ... "

Ditto what kyfdx just stated. Timing BELTS need to be changed per the maintenance guide in your owner's manual. Timing CHAINS do not, or at least I've never heard of it.

barbinkc

Oh, okay, thanks for the clarification. Guess I've never owned a car that used a chain instead of a belt.

blueiedgod

VW VR6 specifies timing chain replacement at or after 100,000 miles. Timing chainr replacement on a VR6 requires tranny removal.

kyfdx

There is always an exception that proves the rule....

laurie_lu

Earlier this week, I applied the emergency brake before getting out of my CRV(05 automatic) and when I returned to my it, I drove about a block before I realized the emergency brake was still on. I forgot to take it off when I got back in. I am now worried I may have caused some damage. In fact, while the brake was applied, it drove normal as if it wasn't on.

laurie_lu

quimbyts

Just bought a CR-V SE on July 16. There is one small (hopefully) problem. There is a small knock which seems to come form the steering column which is most audible when the car comes to a stop, although I can hear it to a lesser degree when the car starts moving. It almost sounds as if something has come loose. As far as I can tell there is no effect on performance. I have an appointment with the dealer this week.
Anybody else ever have this problem?

kyfdx

You probably didn't do any damage.. At worst, you may have caused some premature wear on your parking brake...

If it drives fine, and the parking brake holds... then carry on...

regards,
kyfdx

epm1

If you believe your Honda CRV has a defect you should report it to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- Office of Defect Investigation. If you don't report your defect ODI has no way of tracking defects. It probably won't help resolve your defect but may help others in the future- simple process-need your serial number. http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ or go to www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Apparently becomes part of a data base so trends can be tracked.

fussycrvowner

Hello: Last weekend I got stuck in the mud with my '02 CRV EX. I had good traction with the left wheels but the right ones could not pull out and just sat there spinning. I always thought that AWD should turn all 4 wheels as needed in that sort of a situation. I was in reverse if that makes a difference? Anyways, I ended up moving forward to pull past the mudhole and was able to work myself out. Any thoughts as to when all four wheels engage with this system?

blueiedgod

Hello: Last weekend I got stuck in the mud with my '02 CRV EX. I had good traction with the left wheels but the right ones could not pull out and just sat there spinning. I always thought that AWD should turn all 4 wheels as needed in that sort of a situation. I was in reverse if that makes a difference? Anyways, I ended up moving forward to pull past the mudhole and was able to work myself out. Any thoughts as to when all four wheels engage with this system?

Like you said the left wheels were spinning, which meant that AWD worked, but since we have open differential all the power went to the wheels with the least resistance. A trick in this situation is to apply brakes as you apply power. This will lock up the differentials.