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Honda CR-V AC Compressor Problems

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Comments

  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729

    So to all of the CRV owners, and apologists for the car industry and dealerships, here are the facts that I've been able to confirm from my own personal experience, and research:

    1) 2nd generation CRV's have much higher than normal AC compressor failure rates for modern cars. I'm talking 35-45,000 miles or less is super common for 1st AC failure!!! Apologists are gonna make excuses, but at the end of the day, my 17 year old Accord still has the original AC compressor, nearly 300K miles, and is still blowing ice cold air. I've never so much as serviced the AC in the vehicle.

    2) Despite all your talk about people not changing out every part of the refrigerant circuit as the reason for the failures, they still fail even if all possible lines, condenser, dryer, etc. are replaced. I know, I've experienced this issue three different times before I finally sold my CRV in frustration. Black death is real, and nearly complete replacement of AC system is necessary to properly ensure no contaminants still exist inside.

    3) Honda of America eventually came around and started doing good will repairs in certain situations, but clearly not for every situation. I should know, they initially denied any help, then finally made a ridiculous offer to me to split the parts and labor (@ 43K on odometer), though they still continued to deny that there was a problem. Their "split" appeared to be against an artificial priceline, as with the split I was offered, I was still looking at $2300-2800.00 for my "half".

    4) It was only after I became friends with a Honda mechanic at the local Honda dealer that I found out the real straight scoop on this issue, which is is that Honda has known about this issue, continued to try to bury it for years, before a looming class action lawsuit forced them to finally start covering some level of repairs. My new friend told me they literally couldn't keep enough CRV AC compressors in stock at this dealership because of this issue, and they had multiple full-replacement repairs scheduled every single week he worked there.

    5) Honda mechanic friend acknowledged that Honda has known for some time that the reason these units suffer premature failure is because of the compressor orientation in 2nd gen CRVs, which makes it hydro-lock when first starting up. AC compressors aren't designed to function as hydraulic pumps, so premature failures in 2nd gen CRVs occur regardless of whether compressor is OEM, or aftermarket. OEM unit does in some cases tend to last a little longer.

    6) Honda came up with a "fix" for this issue, which involved reflashing the ECU. After the ECU was reflashed, the compressor would "pulse" for a few seconds on start up, which effectively pushes the oil safely out of the of the unit, without the compressor being forced to function as a hydraulic pump. If you go to Honda and ask to have the ECU reflash, and you cite because of AC issues, Honda will deny that any such ECU fix exists for AC issues. If you have another issue for which the ECU flash is a fix, they will do the reflash. This is once again right in line with how Honda has tried to suppress, confuse, and obfuscate this issue to mitigate their liability with consumers.

    7) I'm still amazed to this day that it is almost impossible to find good, accurate information about this issue without all of the apologists diluting the discussions around this with their gaslighting. Honda has done an amazing job for years suppressing information on this particular issue, which in the age of the Internet, is no small feat.

    8) After owning two brand new Hondas and being treated like a leper by both my local dealer, and American Honda, when I had premature AC compressor failure issues, I'm happy to report that I'll never own another Honda again. My next new vehicle purchase was a Toyota, which still has it's AC ice cold at 100K, and six years in.

    9) I'm sorry, but Honda finally accepting some level of responsibility for replacing these units doesn't make them amazing, it makes them barely tolerable. My belief and faith in Honda is why I used to buy their vehicles; I'll never make this mistake again. They had to get caught with their pants down, and their finger in the cookie jar before they started paying anything to anyone for replacements outside of warranty.

    a lot of whine, but the truth is Chrysler was using my higher failure prone AC's in the 90's.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • Mikey321Mikey321 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2015 Honda CRV EXL and have had constant problems with the A/C. Sometimes cools, sometimes not. Cool air on the passenger side, but not on the driver's side. Hardly works at all if car has sat out in the sun for awhile. Any idea what's going on????
  • Thot5Hondas4LifeThot5Hondas4Life Member Posts: 2
    Our son drove his 2010 Honda CRV home from the Air Force Base in MA where he is presently stationed. He noticed that his A/C worked some of the time and not at other times. (We are a family of Honda drivers. I drive an Accord.) I looked on line for a Recall. I read that there had been an Extended Warranty given. I called the Honda Corporation about this warranty and was assigned a Case Manager on June 17th. The local Dealership
    put his CRV on an analyzer and determined that it was his Compressor and Clutch. The Dealership and I called the Corporation 3 times inorder to determine if they would cover any of the repairs. We were told the Case Manager would get back to us all 3 times!!! Our sons Military Leave was passing. (He had to be back at the Hanscome AF Base July 1st.) Our son finally told the local Honda Dealership to repair the A/C w/o Corp. help.

    I was very disappointed when the Honda Corp Case Manager finally called 16 days after we reached out to them to reimburse some or better yet ALL of the A/C repair cost, $798.41 for a young American Serviceman!!! He said my son should have waited for his consent to have the repair done. Consequently, they would cover none of the bill.
    Had they done so I would now be giving them the LARGEST, COMPLIMENTARY SHOUT-OUT a Honda owner could give. I believe satisfied, Honda Owners are the strongest, cheapest, Advertising a Corporation could hope for. I will be thinking long and hard about buying another Honda myself when I purchase my next car.
  • Thot5Hondas4LifeThot5Hondas4Life Member Posts: 2
    When I buy a CRV, it will be a Subaru Forester, because they have the highest rating from Consumer Reports!!!
    That is how I learned about Honda's.....but with my recent experiences with the Corporation, I will be looking elsewhere.
  • berriberri Member Posts: 10,165
    Nice too see Honda understands a military member's situation - NOT! :@
  • MtMan_86MtMan_86 Member Posts: 1
    My 2003 CRV EX started making a noise when I used the A/C. It was hot outside but the noise stopped when I turned A/C off. So I turned it off and everything seemed fine. Next day I drove the car I tried using the A/C again. This time the noise was worse- sounding like a grinding noise. I turned it off again and noticed the sound didn't go away. This a.m. I started the car up and it makes the noise immediately upon starting it- even without the AC on. I checked engine compartment with flashlight and can see what looks like small metal flakes under the drive belt. I had my belt replaced about 6 months ago and couldn't see any defects in it.

    Does it sound like my AC compressor blew up? I had it replaced last summer with a new one. I've also been advised to replace my engine mounts but an independent dealer says he checked them and could see no cracking or flaws in them. Any help appreciated!
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,200
    MtMan_86 said:

    My 2003 CRV EX started making a noise when I used the A/C. It was hot outside but the noise stopped when I turned A/C off. So I turned it off and everything seemed fine. Next day I drove the car I tried using the A/C again. This time the noise was worse- sounding like a grinding noise. I turned it off again and noticed the sound didn't go away. This a.m. I started the car up and it makes the noise immediately upon starting it- even without the AC on. I checked engine compartment with flashlight and can see what looks like small metal flakes under the drive belt. I had my belt replaced about 6 months ago and couldn't see any defects in it.

    Does it sound like my AC compressor blew up? I had it replaced last summer with a new one. I've also been advised to replace my engine mounts but an independent dealer says he checked them and could see no cracking or flaws in them. Any help appreciated!

    Not a mechanic, but your description matches what others have described when the A/C fails.

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  • Brett_HoldenBrett_Holden Member Posts: 1
    I apologize if this questions has already been answered, but I'll have to read the 44 pages some other time...
    I recently purchased a used 2004 CR-V. After having read about the multiple AC compressor fails, and (foolishly?) discounting that possibility, I am having second thoughts (although at this time I am having no problems with the car except for the cruise control not working).
    But I am planning to re-locate from NC to NV in the coming weeks, and would be in dire straits if something went wrong. So, I am wondering, would my chances for an in-route AC compressor blow-out be minimized if I were to simply NOT run the air conditioning? That is a viable option, especially now that the summer heat spell has broken, at least for the foreseeable future.
  • drbackdrback Member Posts: 1
    crkyolfrt said:

    You didn't mention that they replaced the evaporator, which also is the most difficult component to re and re because of its location up under the dash. Usually with these A/C failures in the CRV, it contaminates the entire system and if any one component that carries freon which has the metal debris in it, isn't replaced, then the old part will re contaminate the rest of the system. Flushing attempts rarely work, so even the hoses usually get replaced too. A Honda repair shop knows this, and if you used a Honda dealer shop, then I would insist they screwed up and redo your A/C and this time replace the entire system and you will pay the extra for the evaporator.

    There is some consensus out there that if you live where you must affix a front license plate, that its location is poor in that it restricts some of the much needed air to get thru the condenser, which causes the system to have to work harder than necessary. I suspect that people who spend more time in city stop and go as opposed to highway running, probably have a greater incidence of failures, but a poll like that is hard to get stats on. Too many variables.

    I will say that the temperature of the air in my CRV is the coldest of any car I have ever owned in the past.

    Hondas.. as a rule, are very reliable and do give good expected service life. It is unfortunate that A/C not only happens to be a weak spot with them even in later generations than the majority here posting, but when they do fail, it takes out the entire system. It is the compressor design that is the culprit because it is the component responsible for first creating debris, and then of course circulating that debris throughout the system.

    Using the compressor for a few minutes in the off season is a good idea. Further, if you anticipate a high rpm situation, like an aggressive pass on a two lane, I click my compressor off so that it does not endure revs above 4000 or so rpm. Not sure if that helps or not but makes sense to me.

    I am really appalled with Honda and greatly disappointed. I worked as a dealer tech and they always stood behind their products. Over the years they replaced rusted fenders and piston rings. Once known for quality and reliability, now they are aware of models with excessive oil consumption and air conditioner compressor issues and in my opinion don't do enough to satisfy their customers. We have eight family members that own CR-V's. My brother is on his third ac compressor, my 2000 CR-V compressor has failed, and now my 2013 CR-V's compressor has failed and the suggested repair ranges from replacing the compressor, condenser and expansion valve to replacing the entire system.

    Add to this, the dealer price on the compressor is over $700 and this is without the clutch or the needed engagement coil. Add all three of these items and it's close to $1,000 just for parts. There are aftermarket replacement compressors for $300.

    With all of Honda's engineering they cannot resolve this? We own a Toyota that is nearly 20 years old and the ac is ice cold. I retrofitted a 1992 Honda Accord and the ac was incredibly cold, and worked well at the time we sold it. Reading about those who have had multiple failures sure doesn't inspire me to purchase another Honda.
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