Civic air-con advice

Yes. A good chance.

Do you use the system all year around?

Couldnt tell you!

You do run this danger as the system will have been 'dry' for a time- not only the compressor shaft end seal but also the other o-rings in the system. It would be very wise to spend 15quid on replacing all the o-rings you can get at yourself, along with the condensor before attempting a recharge- with nitrogen and leak detector first.

Its your car!

Tim..

Thanks all for the comments so far. I made the fatal mistake of believing the aircon was working over the last few winter months when I had a need to turn it on occasionally to demist the windscreen. It's only with the milder weather we've had lately that it became apparent the aircon wasn't actually working at all. I believe the aircon was working last summer but may be a little bit below par.

Given the age of the car and my apparent oversight, I was thinking just repairing the condensor might just be money down the drain in the long run if other parts of the aircon start going wrong due to 'dry' seals etc. I'd rather put the money towards a newer car.

Ya. I use our system every week for at least one leg of my forty five minute commute. That keeps it working year in, year out...

Or a few weeks...

Apparently the air conditioning is known to be a weakness of the Civic* so replacing everything may not be too expensive, or buyers may well be expecting it to be non-functional.

Is it the same system as in a Rover 400 Mk II? A cowboy regassing outfit changed mine from working badly to not working at all last year and I'm worried about the expense of getting it fixed properly.

In the cars we have owned with aircon, we leave it running all the time.

The condensers on the later shape Civics (2002-2005) are prone to corrosion (from road salt). Honda have redesigned this and have extended the warranty on that component for an additional 3 years.

The earlier models (based on the Rovers), do not have any issues with the air/con.

that is fine on a climate control system, but the average system is just on or off, and everyone is very frightened about the idea of switching on the air con in this country. One of my customers noticed water dripping from his car, I told him it was just the condensate from the air con, he said that he had NEVER turned it on ! (this was after a hot summer, so I was amazed) I found out after a quick read of the book that his model turned the air con on automatically if you select windscreen only, but DOESN'T put the air con light on, I believe he now avoids using the screen only setting, so that the air con doesn't operate, ever !!

Sorry, but what a cretin!

Got you! I have no idea where I heard about it... just that I did... :)

I would but I'm far too tight... :)

There was a thread on this a while ago, before Honda had sorted a fix.

Isn't climate control just a thermostatic control that will switch the A/C or the heating on as required? Leaving the temp control high will therefore ensure that the A/c does not operate.......

John

No, it (climate control) also monitors humidity, so is often on when the heater is running.

mrcheerful

Nope. It reduces humidity and some operate to improve interior air quality too.

Switching "ECON" on will do this. When you use the air conditioning with the heater set above full cold, it first chills and dries the air, then heats it...

That could be it... ;)