asking for a friend.
On a 450 mile road trip through West Texas (read: 105 degrees F), the A/C in my Civic stopped working. I had noticed it was barely blowing any colder for a while, but when I started smelling burning rubber I turned it off. Now, if I hit the A/C button at idle, the belt instantly squeals. I'm pretty sure this means the compressor is locked up. I've looked around for prices, and found some on the website of a Houston dealership that has a compressor for $365...but when I called the local dealership (who wanted $490 for said compressor), they said you have to replace the compressor, clutches ($130) and coils ($60), plus a new belt ($15).

Now...are they just milking me for money, or do I really need to drop over $500 just for parts? I was considering having the dealer do the install as well, but when they charge $70/hr, and with the cost of parts, that's out of the question. Speaking of questions...Has anyone else had to deal with this? Is there a cheaper place for parts? Should I look for parts at a junkyard, or is that not worth the risk?

I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty, I worked in a machine shop last summer. I just don't have anywhere to do it this summer.


Modified by si_bat at 10:11 PM 7/8/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by si_bat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Should I look for parts at a junkyard, or is that not worth the risk?
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We're talking about A/C here, if the parts go bad, nothing happens except what you're experiencing now. IMO, definitely go to the junkyard, $500 is crazy for what you need.

 

ttt.....

 

Hell, call napa or autozone. They would be cheaper then Honda.