orville99

Ok, hopefully we get some good technical responses. My a/c stopped working and I took it to my local a/c guy and he said the evaporator core has a leak. I did some more research and apparently these 5 gens are notorious for all kinds of a/c failures and problems. The conventional wisdom is that you should get rid of your 5 gen because the cost of repairs will outweigh the value of the car. Problem is that this is my project car and I have already put a lot of time and money into it and I plan on keeping it for many years to come. So my big question(s) to the honda-tech universe is...

A. Is there an effective way to overhaul the a/c system in a way that will be more reliable perhaps with upgraded parts from a 6 gen?

B. Is there a shop in southern California (greater LA or Ventura County)
that might specialize in this sort of thing?

Thank you in advance for your responses

Aradin

I have never heard of 5th gens being notorious for A/C related failures and I've owned one or more at any given time since 2006. Sometimes A/C systems have failures. It happens. I have seen many 5th gens at 300k+ that have never needed a major A/C system repair. Sure, some may leak a little but that's to be expected with any vehicle that has age and miles on it.

A.) Not that I know of. Swapping around parts from other models is just going to add complexity and make it harder to service. Replacing the evaporator core is not a difficult job. Pull the glovebox out and it's easily accessible. Buy a new drier and o-ring set along with it to make sure the system operates properly once filled. Don't install the new drier until you're on your way out the door to a shop to have the system evacuated and charged. Otherwise you will ruin it.

B.)Check local yelp reviews or otherwise. It's not a difficult system to work on and any half-competent mechanic should be able to do the job.

hondamark35

These cars were still thick on the ground when I was working in a small indie shop years ago. I have seen and worked on many. I don't think the A/C systems are flawed fundamentally, but they are very particular when it comes to charge amount and lubrication. In other words, they are not very forgiving, but they work great when things are done by the book.

other than the evac and recharge of the system, most at-home wrenching/DIY guys can handle the overhaul on one of these cars over a long weekend. My personal car had a trashed compressor when I bought it. IIRC, a new after-market compressor (Four Seasons brand), new exp. valve, filter/dryer and seal/O-ring kit cost less than $300 altogether. it would have cost an extra $1k to pay someone to do all of that work so i can see how that would to be worth it when the car may only be worth $2k. anyway, after cleaning and reassembling per the instructions included with the new compressor, I got it charged professionally, not with the cans from the parts store. really didn't cost that much more and their machine can put the exact amount in after vacuuming down to check for leaks. still works great 7 years later even in triple digit ambient.