Oscar7

I'm thinking to do an AC compressor replacement for a friend on a 2005 CRV, I'm very mechanical, but not familiar with this, if it's a need-a-lift/engine-moved/special-tools kind of job, or if it's just something like a radiator swap or brakes that can be done in a driveway if you have the time and tools...

Is it basically a bolt-on-and-bolt-off kind of job? Does anyone know for sure? A honda dealership quoted them 3.5 hours labor, but I assume that includes the decharge/recharge time as well, but it may not.

Before sending them to get it recharged, because aftermarket parts are cheap compared to shop-resale prices combined with labor, I was thinking to swap the condensor and compressor both while I had it.

Is anyone familiar with how complex a job it is, does it include motor shifting and disassembly of a lot of steps? I no longer have my Chilton's manuals, but that would have been where I would have looked.

Thanks in advance for your time!

jonshonda

Did it explode? Most times the compressor explodes and sends debris throughout the rest of the system. An A/C shop quoted $1k to have it fixed, said they had to drop the cross member to get the compressor out, and a fair amount of time should be spend flushing the system to remove debris. There was a class action lawsuit that honda lost because of the very high failure rate for the a/c system.

You could save them some labor by removing/installing compressor/condensor and anything else a a/c suggests you replace, but should have a good a/c shop flush the system and button everything up imho.

EJ8_Man

There are youtube vids of this proceedure try searching. It can be done with basic tools and time. But as mentioned if the compressor exploded then you will need to replace everything. There are kits you can buy online. I just finished looking into this myself premptively for when my 2006 blows up.