2012 Honda Pilot A/C noise

felderc

I purchased our Pilot used and have noticed that whenever the A/C runs - it's loud. Seems to be a fan that goes on and off - when the fan turns on - it is very audible. Is this normal? Not sure if all of the Pilots (ours is a 2012) do the same thing or if it's something I should mention when taking it in.

Mr_Shiftright

If you mean a kind of chattering sound, that's a bad compressor clutch. If you mean a snapping on and off, on and off, that might indicate low refrigerant levels. If you mean a high pitched whine, like a distant siren, that could be a compressor bearing or idler pulley bearing. Certainly worth mentioning.

thecardoc3

The engine cooling fans are computer controlled and when the AC high side pressure gets too high the fans turn on increasing the airflow across the condenser which brings the high side pressure back down. You don't specify if the noise is only when stopped or not, the fans would not need to run once the car is moving so they would make more noise at idle intermittently when needed. This would need investigated to know for sure but at this point it does sound like it may be normal operation.