During a routine oil change and Multi-Point Inspection in my own garage, I discovered what appears to be dirt collecting to oil at the high and low pressure AC pipe connection at the evaporator where the pipes connect at the firewall. Can be seen when the hood is open. Shouldn't be seeing this AC leak this soon on a car with 28,000 miles on it and 3 1/2 years old. Will take to dealer before summer to have checked. Vehicle beyond 3 year bumper to bumper warranty.
Update from Jul 6, 2021: Leak suspected at firewall where AC pipes connect to expansion valve and evaporator; dust collecting to oil indicating a leak. AC system not cooling properly and smelled musty. Changing AC filters was not helping as there is another problem causing poor AC performance and musty smell from vents.
Took vehicle to the Honda Dealer, explained the musty smell, poor AC performance, and dirt collecting at AC pipe at firewall to evaporator.
The dealer checked Refrigerant and was low (.26kgs), not cooling to specification.
Dealer conducted test and confirmed leak from what appeared to be coming from the expansion valve seals at the firewall pipe connection to the evaporator.
System evacuated, seals to expansion valve pipes replaced, system vacuumed down to spec and leak seemed to have stopped; dealer recharged with R134a (.475kgs) with dye and system started cooling again, vent temps 41 degrees. The bill was $224.24.
Update from Feb 11, 2023: The AC system started smelling again and blowing warm air summer June 2021, diagnosed as AC condenser failure from rocks which I disagreed with because there was no dye at the condenser anywhere around rock dents.
Dealer stated, Honda will help, however you must pay to replace the faulty condenser (which the dealer would not allow me to visually see- I was skeptical of this...). Condenser replaced, AC recharged, returned to me and within 48 hours, the problem returned, AC started getting warmer and warmer, with a foul smell.
Continued to tell the service adviser, that the AC is leaking somewhere in the dash because the AC filter has yellow dye on it. Thats not from the condenser that sits in the front of the car. Suspect a defective evaporator.
Dealer replaced evaporator which they said Honda paid for.
I also wanted the AC condenser replaced again (2nd time) due to faulty diagnostics and reintroduction of moisture/contaminants into a new condenser from a leaky faulty evaporator. Also told dealer to repalce entire AC system to include hoses and compressor because when sludge develops in an AC system, especially R134a, your best bet for long term reliability is to change the system to get rid of contaminated parts. Solvent flushing rubber hoses eat the rubber hoses and will eventually cause premature deterioration and AC failure. You cant flush a condenser.
Entire AC system repalced, 100% all new parts, AC worked for a weekend very well, in fact so well that we were unable to control the temperature and for some reason the AC system started freezing and emitting excessive water dripping from the suction hose under the hood leaving massive water puddles from excessive condensation.
Returned to dealer, explained problem, explained that AC pipes identified under hood were not Honda parts, appeared aftermarket and appeared to be leaking with oil seepage around connections.
Dealer verified concern and re-ordered Original Equipment Honda AC pipe/hoses parts from E-bay due to COVID and lack of available OE parts from Honda supply chain and Honda dealer. Waited 2 weeks for parts.
Dealer finally received parts, installed factroy OE hoses and seals, re-evacuated the system, replaced receiver dryer again, re-charged systema nd the AC has been fine for the past 20 months.
SOO HAPPY to finally have a functional AC that is working correctly and I can say the AC system was faulty from the factory from the current performance. No smells, not mysty anymore, no excessive moisture, no uncontrollable temperature, no huge puddles of water in the driveway, no oil leaking at AC pipe connections, etc....
Its been 20 months and it still works great. I was out almost $3000 for an AC repair out of pocket that originated from the Honda factory during assembly. The evaporator was covered in black tar substance excessively and caused the evaporator to not breathe properly, corrosion, and leaky evaporator. Dealer would not let me have the old parts.
Moral of the story here: "I AM AFRAID TO PURCHASE ANOTHER HONDA VEHICLE" how did a customer know all along the problem was the evaporator without having all these fancy tools, fancy tests, and multiple trips to the dealer? Why wasn't this diagnosed properly the first time? Why did a customer have to spend all this time and multiple trips back and fourth to the dealer for AC repairs on a new car? Diagnosis fees and small repairs trying to figure it out with band aids?
BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ASSEMBLED CORRECTLY WITH QUALITY CONTROL AND NOT TESTED FOR LEAKS AT THE FACTORY, THAT IS THE ONLY REASON FOR THIS AC FAILURE. NOT TAKING THE TIME TO PROPERLY ENSURE THE AC SYTEM IS HOLDING A VACUUM AT THE FACTORY IS A MISTAKE AND EPA VIOLATION IN MY OPINION. R134a is not healthy for the air we breathe or the earth's climate. This cost me almost $3000 to ensure a solid repair and prevent future premature failure.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
During a routine oil change and Multi-Point Inspection in my own garage, I discovered what appears to be dirt collecting to oil at the high and low pressure AC pipe connection at the evaporator where the pipes connect at the firewall. Can be seen when the hood is open. Shouldn't be seeing this AC leak this soon on a car with 28,000 miles on it and 3 1/2 years old. Will take to dealer before summer to have checked. Vehicle beyond 3 year bumper to bumper warranty.
Update from Jul 6, 2021: Leak suspected at firewall where AC pipes connect to expansion valve and evaporator; dust collecting to oil indicating a leak. AC system not cooling properly and smelled musty. Changing AC filters was not helping as there is another problem causing poor AC performance and musty smell from vents.
Took vehicle to the Honda Dealer, explained the musty smell, poor AC performance, and dirt collecting at AC pipe at firewall to evaporator. The dealer checked Refrigerant and was low (.26kgs), not cooling to specification.
Dealer conducted test and confirmed leak from what appeared to be coming from the expansion valve seals at the firewall pipe connection to the evaporator.
System evacuated, seals to expansion valve pipes replaced, system vacuumed down to spec and leak seemed to have stopped; dealer recharged with R134a (.475kgs) with dye and system started cooling again, vent temps 41 degrees. The bill was $224.24.
Update from Feb 11, 2023: The AC system started smelling again and blowing warm air summer June 2021, diagnosed as AC condenser failure from rocks which I disagreed with because there was no dye at the condenser anywhere around rock dents. Dealer stated, Honda will help, however you must pay to replace the faulty condenser (which the dealer would not allow me to visually see- I was skeptical of this...). Condenser replaced, AC recharged, returned to me and within 48 hours, the problem returned, AC started getting warmer and warmer, with a foul smell.
Continued to tell the service adviser, that the AC is leaking somewhere in the dash because the AC filter has yellow dye on it. Thats not from the condenser that sits in the front of the car. Suspect a defective evaporator.
Dealer replaced evaporator which they said Honda paid for. I also wanted the AC condenser replaced again (2nd time) due to faulty diagnostics and reintroduction of moisture/contaminants into a new condenser from a leaky faulty evaporator. Also told dealer to repalce entire AC system to include hoses and compressor because when sludge develops in an AC system, especially R134a, your best bet for long term reliability is to change the system to get rid of contaminated parts. Solvent flushing rubber hoses eat the rubber hoses and will eventually cause premature deterioration and AC failure. You cant flush a condenser.
Entire AC system repalced, 100% all new parts, AC worked for a weekend very well, in fact so well that we were unable to control the temperature and for some reason the AC system started freezing and emitting excessive water dripping from the suction hose under the hood leaving massive water puddles from excessive condensation. Returned to dealer, explained problem, explained that AC pipes identified under hood were not Honda parts, appeared aftermarket and appeared to be leaking with oil seepage around connections.
Dealer verified concern and re-ordered Original Equipment Honda AC pipe/hoses parts from E-bay due to COVID and lack of available OE parts from Honda supply chain and Honda dealer. Waited 2 weeks for parts. Dealer finally received parts, installed factroy OE hoses and seals, re-evacuated the system, replaced receiver dryer again, re-charged systema nd the AC has been fine for the past 20 months.
SOO HAPPY to finally have a functional AC that is working correctly and I can say the AC system was faulty from the factory from the current performance. No smells, not mysty anymore, no excessive moisture, no uncontrollable temperature, no huge puddles of water in the driveway, no oil leaking at AC pipe connections, etc.... Its been 20 months and it still works great. I was out almost $3000 for an AC repair out of pocket that originated from the Honda factory during assembly. The evaporator was covered in black tar substance excessively and caused the evaporator to not breathe properly, corrosion, and leaky evaporator. Dealer would not let me have the old parts. Moral of the story here: "I AM AFRAID TO PURCHASE ANOTHER HONDA VEHICLE" how did a customer know all along the problem was the evaporator without having all these fancy tools, fancy tests, and multiple trips to the dealer? Why wasn't this diagnosed properly the first time? Why did a customer have to spend all this time and multiple trips back and fourth to the dealer for AC repairs on a new car? Diagnosis fees and small repairs trying to figure it out with band aids? BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS NOT ASSEMBLED CORRECTLY WITH QUALITY CONTROL AND NOT TESTED FOR LEAKS AT THE FACTORY, THAT IS THE ONLY REASON FOR THIS AC FAILURE. NOT TAKING THE TIME TO PROPERLY ENSURE THE AC SYTEM IS HOLDING A VACUUM AT THE FACTORY IS A MISTAKE AND EPA VIOLATION IN MY OPINION. R134a is not healthy for the air we breathe or the earth's climate. This cost me almost $3000 to ensure a solid repair and prevent future premature failure.
- monty4169rm, Phoenix, AZ, US