2004 Honda CRV AC compressor blew up

[MohawkHarry]

I was driving my family home from Six Flags St. Louis the other day and the car started shaking like a tire was blowing out.
My A/C started blowing warm air and I pulled over to check the tires. I could not find anything wrong with the car other than the A/C stopped working.
Took it into the Honda dealer this morning to find out what was up. The service dept. told me the A/C system blew up and that it would cost $3195 to repair it. That is almost half of what the car Bluebooks for and it only has 66,000 miles on it.
I still dont understand why the A/C unit blowing up would almost make the car wreck in heavy highway traffic.

[Selta]

AC is belt driven... much like most other accessories...

[Kawai-chang]

Ouch. Time to go aftermarket. a boneyard might have one as well.

[Execut1ve]

something similar happened to me once... the compressor locked up on my 2000 civic, causing the engine to stall while on a well-driven mtn road. I had to veer into the ditch quicklike to avoid being run down but yeah that stuff does suck. I'm not sure about the innards of your CRV, but if you can get by without AC, you can just remove the AC belt and the car should drive normally. as an added bonus you'll get boosted fuel economy without the compressor pulling on the engine

[Febs]

Do a Google search on CRV compressor failures and "courtesy warranty." This is a well-known issue with CRVs, and I've seen reports of people being able to get Honda to cover at least part of the repair cost.

[MohawkHarry]

Yeah I been doing some research, it sounds like the whole frontend of the car has to come off and the whole system be replaced. The design of the compressor when it blows up it sends metal fragments through the whole system.

[karrot-x]

For $3195 it's time for you to purchase a torque wrench, the service manual for your car, and the compressor and necessary parts.

[MohawkHarry]

$2300 of the $3195 is the parts.

[High Elbows]

Originally Posted by MohawkHarry

$2300 of the $3195 is the parts.

I work at a Honda dealership, and unfortunately, we do see some bad compressors on CRVs...

I don't know if you took it to a dealer, or an independent repair place, but the prices seem very high to me...

Honda's list price for the three major compressor components (compressor, clutch, and coil) and a new belt, come out to about $915. It usually isn't necessary to replace more than that, but it is possible.

The labor to do the job is roughly 4 hours. Depending on the labor rate you are paying, that should be around $400 or so.

Hopefully you are dealing with an honest and reputable place, and I hope this helps!

Edit: Sorry, you did say that you took it to a dealer.... just seems funny to me...

[MohawkHarry]

I took it to Honda of Illinois Springfield where I bought it. They said when the compressor goes it sends metal fragments through the whole system and it would all have to be replaced. The compressor, evap, everything. They did call today and offer to do some goodwill that would bring the repair down to $1900.
The other guys having problems with the CRV A/C say that the repair will probably need to be redone about every 30 to 60,000 miles.
I also fould a classaction pending on this issue, sucks I really liked my little Honda.

[Pilgrim]

BTDT. Here's how you fix it:

1) Take it to an independent AC shop and have them vacuum out the system to get all the little pieces out. Drive it home.

2) YOU remove and replace the compressor, drier and the orifice valve, AKA: little cone-shaped screen that hides somewhere in the system (it's there to catch the pieces). Replace the O-rings wherever possible as well. Leave the electrical connection to the compressor disconnected.

3) Drive it to the AC shop, have them connect the electrical control and charge the system.

My favorite source for reman compressors is Blendair in Dallas TX - do a web search and you'll find them.

You can do this for probably $700 total. I've done it on 3 cars. Not fun, but not a killer. If this car needs it done again in 30K miles, then either you did something wrong or Honda makes the suckiest AC systems in the universe. I've done this on two Chevy cars and an Audi, and never had ANY problem afterwards.

And YES, of course you need a factory service manual and a decent set of tools. No one should live without the tools to do this job.

[Mike N]

Here's how you fix it;

1) Roll down the windows.

[MohawkHarry]

Originally Posted by Mike N

Here's how you fix it;

1) Roll down the windows.

This would be my first choice but since my wife and 4 year old daughter use this car daily it's not a option. I also discovered the defrost wont work either unless I repair the compressor.
I'm really thinking about trading the thing off for a Ford Escape and saying goodbye to Honda.
I found a forum that has about 1700 pissed off CRV owners some that have there AC repaired three times with under 80,000miles on them.
It seems Honda don't want to admit there's a problem with the compressor design.

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

BTDT. Here's how you fix it:

1) Take it to an independent AC shop and have them vacuum out the system to get all the little pieces out. Drive it home.

2) YOU remove and replace the compressor, drier and the orifice valve, AKA: little cone-shaped screen that hides somewhere in the system (it's there to catch the pieces). Replace the O-rings wherever possible as well. Leave the electrical connection to the compressor disconnected.

3) Drive it to the AC shop, have them connect the electrical control and charge the system.

My favorite source for reman compressors is Blendair in Dallas TX - do a web search and you'll find them.

You can do this for probably $700 total. I've done it on 3 cars. Not fun, but not a killer. If this car needs it done again in 30K miles, then either you did something wrong or Honda makes the suckiest AC systems in the universe. I've done this on two Chevy cars and an Audi, and never had ANY problem afterwards.

And YES, of course you need a factory service manual and a decent set of tools. No one should live without the tools to do this job.

You're close, but the way to do this would be to remove the compressor, receiver and expansion valve and then flush the system. More than likely you're going to be replacing the condenser, since the chances of getting all the crud out of it are slim to none. Once you've flushed the system and replaced whatever components you're changing, then you'd vacuum the system for 30 minutes, and refill with 134a and oil. The vacuum will remove any moisture that's in the system from it being open.

You're right on in the $700 parts estimate, plus whatever labor charges. I can see this easily being a $1000 job, and that's assuming the owner does some of the work himself.

I still say roll down the window and tell Wifey to deal with it. Winter will be here before you know it, and you'll still get air out of the defrost whether the A/C works or not.

[MohawkHarry]

I read somewhere this is reffered to as the blackdeath, one part goes bad and takes out alot of expensive parts. I filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Because it effected the cars handling on the interstate and could of resulted in a accident had a elderly person or if my wife would have been driving.

[Pilgrim]

You know your cars, Mike N. I've done it without replacing the condenser, but then again I've never had a real grenade job to fix.

Instead of taking it to a shop and having them vacuum the system, if you pull the comperssor, etc how do flush the system with those parts out of place? Denatured alcohol and compressed air?

[Mike N]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

You know your cars, Mike N. I've done it without replacing the condenser, but then again I've never had a real grenade job to fix.

Instead of taking it to a shop and having them vacuum the system, if you pull the comperssor, etc how do flush the system with those parts out of place? Denatured alcohol and compressed air?

You can buy A/C flush, which is probably some sort of alcohol based solvent. Compressed air always helps too.

Gotta say I haven't cleaned out a grenade job in quite some time myself, most people elect to roll down the windows when the find out how much A/C repair is. With summer being rather short here in western NY I can't say I blame them- in fact the A/C just crapped out on my 93 Grand Cherokee, and I'm not going to spend the time and money replacing the evaporator, only to have another component likely take a dump in the near future.

[Infidelity]

Happened to us with my dad when we are going on a trip to Orlando.. 2003 Honda CRV too..