Big_Al

I bought a certified used honda accord coupe 2.5 months back and they did the 121 point inspection or whatever it is.
About a month later when it finally warmed up outside and I needed A/C I began using it but noticed there was condensation/dry ice type **** coming out of the vents. At my first oil change mid june I mentioned my a/c was sucking **** and blow icey **** in my face and they concluded after looking at it that my condenser was leaking. They told me they'd have to look into warranty. A couple weeks passed (**** time is flying) and I decided to call them back. Told me that warranty won't cover it, because it's only a power train warranty, which I figured.

Anyways needless to say I'm pretty pissed because, yes it could have been me who caused the leak/general wear and tear. But it's more likely that it was always ****ed and they didn't pick up on it when they did their inspection.

I guess what I'm wondering is what are my odds of fighting for free replacement, given the above facts and the weight I may have behind me that my mom will likely be replacing her accord with another honda product within the next 4-5 months.

BLKFLSH

If you do enough moaning, you might get them to lower the price of the condenser repair. But IMO, you should have checked the A/C (and everything else) out before you signed on the dotted line. Even though it was not hot enough to need the A/C, you should have tested it. With a used car, without bumper to bumper warrany, you have to.

Big_Al

on my test drive I did run the A/C for a period of time. It seemed to be working fine. Since the blowing of condensation only happens every now and again I didn't pick up on that when I bought it.

fcm

It is not your condensor that is leaking it is your evaporator or possibly, [if your lucky] the "O" rings between the expansion valve and the evaporator, the "dry ice" is refrigerant, if it is intermittent, [after A/C is on for a bit] it's a good bet it is the "O" rings, they leak when head pressure goes up.

Make sure the condensor fan turns on, [within about a minute] when the compressor is on, no condensor fan would result in very high head pressure, [300 PSI and up], normal is under 200 PSI, condenser fan should kick in at 150 - 200 PSI, or about a minute or so.
Either way you will need to pull the evaporator and find the leak, even if the problem is the condensor fan and the leak is at the "O" rings between the expansion valve and the evaporator, the "O" rings will need to be replaced, if the evaporator is leaking it will need to be replaced.

My guess is you can bitch and whine all you want and the place you got the car from will not replace anything that is not part of the drive-train.

Find your local Cooling Depot retailer and buy it directly from them, 1/3 the price of the stock Honda one. 94

Targa250R

If you couldn't pick it up on your test drive, then how could you expect them to have picked it up during their car inspection?

Big_Al

they're the ones looking under the hood and going over everything with a magnifying glass. I only had it on for a minute or so, long enough to find that it was cold, not long enough for **** to blow in my face.

Big_Al

cool. Also another thing to note is the a/c doesn't work anymore at all.. could this be because the refrigerant has been all leaked out?

Targa250R

The technician doesn't drive the car for hours on end in April/May waiting for things to fly out of the vents, nor does he disassemble the dashboard to see if the evaporator is leaking. Nothing under the hood is going to indicate a problem like this.

If you press the button to turn on the A/C, the compressor kicks on, the air coming from the vents gets cold, and there are no unusual noises, then the system check is done.

I'm not defending any shop's work, but you need to put yourself in someone else's shoes for a moment, and also understand that you're buying a used car.

Yes. If the system pressure is too low, the compressor clutch will not engage.

fcm

All the refrigerant does not have to leak out for the system not to work, just enough so the pressure is below the pressure switch lower limit, although if there is a leak in the evaporator at some point it will all leak out, if it is the "O" rings it may only leak when head pressure is high enough, if A/C will not turn on head pressure can not go up so whatever refrigerant is still left will probably not leak out, it will have to be recovered before you pull the evaporator. 94