Air-con leak - comments ?

It sounds like a small leak. By the description, it sounds that it is likely to be one of the pipe connections that is leaking slightly. As the system has been filled with a tracer die, then shining a UV light around all the air-con system components would soon highlight the leak, or at least the area off the leak. If there was a definite hole in the air-con system, this would off shown up while the garage was regassing the system.

And yes, 3yrs is a good length off time for the refrigerant gas to last. It is normally recommended to re-gas the system every 2 years, to keep it working at maximum effieincy.

I can comment on this particular model in fact.

Yes, you should never do that.

Refrigerant gas does not contain an odorant.

This is a case of justifying a visit to the main dealer, and perhaps having main dealer servicing in the first three years. There is in fact a known issue with these [1], and the connector to the bottom of the condensor corroding through, and of course allowing the gas to leak. It will need to have a new condensor, and possibly a pipe, to fix this.

Had you gone to your main dealer it may well have been dealt with under warranty, as these have three years cover. They also have a bulletin covering this issue.

In some cases Honda have offered to extent the cover on these for another year. This is a goodwill contribution though, and could be subject to a service history being provided.

In the first instance I would have a word with your local Honda dealer, and see if they can submit a goodwill claim for you. If that fails, you can then contact Honda Customer Relations, they will often over-ride the goodwill system on a case by case basis.

Bingo ;-)

I hadn't intended to leave any confusion, but the car has been fully main-dealer serviced since new. The 48K service was only a couple of weeks before the warranty expired, but (sod's law) the leak only manifested itself later. The a/c was not specifically checked during the service, but had to that point been working ok. If I had had any suspicion it was not, I would naturally have mentioned it at the time.

I use another garage for "consumable" items, on this occasion two new tyres and replacement front pads. What were presumably original pads had been irritating me for ages, fouling the alloys with dust after just a few miles of driving (the pattern replacements brake just as effectively without all the cleaning). It was just chance that the a/c died at that time and I asked them to take a look. A 3-year interval to the first re-gas didn't seem all that far off the mark, especially without any idea as to how the first owner had used it - the car has climate control so it is possible the a/c could have been left on a lot. Or it might never have been run for months on end - both possibilities sure to shorten its service life.

Andy, thanks very much for the information. I'll take it up with the local dealership and/or the servicing dealer (who's a little further away). I guess the first step is to have the problem definitely identified. As far as I can see, it virtually has to be re-gassed and then evacuated again before replacing any items. Groan. If it turns out to be a major component and I have to pay, it can wait until next summer. A condensor, re-gas and labour I would guess in the region of £500 and it's Christmas right now :-(

I work for a Honda dealer :-)

I see, I misinterpreted your text, I didn't mean to sound snappy, but I have to deal with too many comments about why you shouldn't use a main dealer!

Yes, that all sounds about right. FWIW, I have no idea why *no* manufacturer includes, or even mentions, a/c servicing. The manufacturers of these systems recommend a service every 2-3 years. It doesn't actually take much, and a decent dealer can actually do this very cheap - we charge about £58, but I know some of the a/c 'specialists' charge anything up to £100.

If they have a decent modern machine for the job, they hardly use any gas as well. All they do is plug it onto an fully automated machine that will evacuate the system, clean it, refill it with fresh oil and top up the gas. It takes a couple of keypresses and a cup of tea! The old gas is recycled.

If the dealer is good they should do a swift test without charge, especially if it does get covered by warranty. Don't leave it though, the longer you do, the lower your chances with the goodwill claim.

All the best,

Andy.

I worked that out ;-)

I wouldn't have contemplated going elsewhere during the warranty period (apart from things like tyres).

That is not too surprising.

I intend to take the car in to determine the root cause (if possible) asap. But if I have to sell one of the kids off to pay for subsequent work, that takes time. And the little buggers' Xmas pressies are already paid for ;-)

Thanks again - you've been most helpful. Now I guess I'm about to find out how helpful the dealer network might be. I'm not especially hopeful - the servicing dealer ran on about 2 hours late on a routine service when they knew I was killing time in town waiting for them to finish, and the more local dealer has been taken over by Arnold Clark... (I used the first dealer as they had supplied and serviced from new and printed me off a copy of the service history, something dealer no 2 said was not possible due to their being a separate organisation.)

Why? We consistantly beat prices from the major tyre centres.

LOL, you mean you couldn't find an alternative use for those pressies? ;-)

Yes, dealers can vary a lot regardless of franchise. If you're anywhere near the North East I might be able to help. Arnold Clark do not offer much confidence I'm afraid.

Oh, for heaven's sake, take your dealer hat off for 5 minutes ;-) I don't use major tyre centres, either. Please don't think I have a major downer on franchised garages, but I do honestly feel there is a real tendency to load up servicing costs (not the most competitive market sector) to compensate for discounted showroom ticket prices (far more competitive and price-sensitive).

It's a bit of a trek from Cheshire to the NE, but ta. Time to go book the car in, I think...

Depends on where you go of course. We do a lot of heavy discounting here. However, you're not wrong, but we don't have the margins you might think. Out of interest how much bottom line profit do you reckon we might make? (as a percentage).

Actually, finding a very good mechanic is what you need, he may work for a dealer, he may work on his own.

OK. :-)

Given the rate garages come and go, probably not a lot ;-) I would suggest the average dealer doesn't really need quite so many smartly-dressed suits and dollies however. They're not adding any value to my servicing needs (in the car sense !)

I am generally very pleased with my "usual" mechanics. It's been a long time since I owned a car which was new enough that warranties and franchises were an issue, though.

It's my opinion they're there for the delight of the average new car driver, who neither owns the car or pays for the servicing. I'd be happier talking to a service receptionist who actually understood mechanical things. Andy appears to be the exception here. ;-)

No it isn't, about 2% actually.

Nope, that's what I try to tell them, but they insist the customer wants smart suits and posh chairs to sit on. However, the manufacturer, in trying to raise standards, now have minimum standards that a dealer has to meet, and most of these are cosmetic (and expensive).

LOL, likewise.

This may not be so true of Hondas. I'm the wrong side of 40, greying rapidly and moan constantly about the state of the world, but am probably still a generation younger than the average driver(*) !

(*) Type-R excepted.

Nail-polishing is vaguely mechanical ;-)

Agreed, all to often the main dealers want to put in a pretty girlie to make the women drivers more comfortable, and perhaps offer some pleasure to the blokes too :-)

I did work with a girl for the first half of this year, and she actually wasn't at all bad at the job. As a rule though, I'd rather be working with somebody that knew the job.

We have a chap, must be in his sixties, and he's just bought a brand new Type R, and has had upgraded parts fitted already - like a supercharger and ECU remapping, and and uprated limited slip diff.

Never can tell eh? ;-)

Yes, there's friction and mechanical effort involved I guess!