1994 Accord LX, 4-cyl.

A reputable shop diagnosed my A/C for leaks. They charged it with refrigerant with dye ... the A/C blew really cold for 3-5 weeks before losing cold air.

I brought it back to the shop for them to find the leak.

They said they cannot find any sign of dye on the lines. They said because the evaporator commonly has gone bad on this generation accord, they suspect it is the evaporator, but can not confirm until they can get to it, which is behind the dash.

If it is the evaporator, the cost is $600+ in repair. But when I asked, he said that if it is not the evaporator, I would half of the labor, which ends up being no more than $100 (that I would pay).

Anyway ... I'm considering doing the work myself, if it doesn't require any special tools. I would still get a service manual, though, so I have to ask if anyone's done it before and if it's do'able by your typical DIY'er. The most extensive job I've ever done is replacing broken CV joints.

Even if I was able to replace the evaporator myself, I know at some point I'll have to find someone to charge it up for me. This same shop charge me $130 for charging it up the last time (with the dye). Is that ok price for refrigerant charge up? Are there laws that would prevent them from doing it for me outside normal diagnostic process?

Lastly, it's a 14 year old car. How many of you have had other problems with the A/C? I'm wondering if something else would break later on ... like the compressor. Although I have to say ... from being this old, it sure still blows really cold air when the system is charged. What other potential A/C problems could I have later on that's common in this generation accord?

Thanks.


Modified by dbbyleo at 8:36 PM 9/2/2008

 

Since it's newer than a 93 it should have R134A. You can buy cans of this for like $22 at the autoparts store with a gauge to fill it up. I think a can of dye I got was $8 or something and $15 for a kit with a uv pin light and yellow glasses.

I think you would be better off to read up on it and try to charge it up yourself instead of paying next time.

I'm in the process of doing the evap, compressor, orfice tube, and drier, and maybe the heater core on my Dodge Ram and while it's not super easy it hasn't been hard so far either. I've been having a guy on here help me through it and found instructions on a Dodge site on how to do the evap so those together have really helped me out. You will probably need A/C gauges and a vacuum pump to get it ready to refill. I bought those. Napa had a set of gauges for $120 and a Vacuum pump onsale for $130 or something.

If you get the Gauges from Harbor Frieght you can get a cheaper set.

 

Thanks theaterman. I read somewhere else that in the accord, if you see water leaking and if it smells of mildew in the car ... and fogging ... you;ve definitely got an evaporator issue. I seen/felt ice cold water drip on my foot before ... I do have a mildew/wet smell ... and my car fogs up badly during cold/wet days. Anyway ... that and the shop telling me they suspect the evaporator is what makes me think this is the problem.

Are there any things I need to know when I change out the evaporator ... like ... "if you're going to do that ... you might as well change out the ... so forth and so on". Like changing a timing belt ... you usually change out the water pump too while you're down there.

The accord is an extra car ... so I suppose I could take my time with it. So I might just give a shot.

 

i have never seen someone sucessfully charge their own a/c with a set of cheap gauges and some freon from autozone. when you charge an a/c system you need to pull a vacuum first so it gets everything out of the line. 130 is about right for an evac and recharge. and no there is no law stating how much a shop can charge. their labor rates can be what ever they want.

 

Dohc... thanks, I think I probably will have to take it somewhere for evac and charge. About the law thing, I as told by a VW dealership that they had to evac my system because they knew that it had a leak and they said that the law requires them to do so. So I was wondering if a shop would charge up my system if they didn't actually work on it. Anyway ... that was a terrible VW shop, so I suppose they could have been making that up.

Anyway... would really like to know wnyone whose changed out their evaporator before. I just read somewhere that the expansion valve is located in the evaporator, which may suggest it should also be changed out while I'm in there.

Any feedbacks would be greatly appreciated.

 

Others have told me they are allowed by law to charge up an AC system if it's leaking but I don't know for sure. On my truck you should change the heater core while you are in there too but I have no idea if the Honda's are the same and if the heater core is in that box with the evaporator. You can buy a vacuum pump for $130 or so at Napa as they are onsale or there was an old post saying some Autozones rented them then you can pull a vacuum first before you charge it.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1665946&page=1

There is a really good writeup I found when reading about it to work on mine. Infact I'm getting ready to head back to work on mine some more.

 

Thanks for that link ... that's seems like a really awesome thread (I haven't quite finished readiont through it all, but the first post seems great).

 

Before you try to fix anything, check to see if it's the heater control valve. On many 94's the heater control valve wouldn't close all the way, so if you got it re-charged and they said they couldn't find any leaks, it's possible that you had the a/c on for a while then you used the heater one day, then when you went to turn it back to cold, it doesn't go all the way to cold so it just blows cool air, not cold like it should be. Read this https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/2379730

 

Thanks for the tip... but my hot/cold control actually broke a long time ago ... and I actually have to go into the engine compartment to switch it. Anyway ... I haven't switched it to hot since the A/C was blowing cold, so I know it's not the that valve.

 

Easy to do, should change the expansion valve while your in there. Both are easy on that body style accord. I had the same problem with my 94, couldnt find dye anywhere. I replaced evaporator/expansion valve/valve stems/and one of the lines coming off the compressor. There seemed to be a slight build up of gunk/grease on the line so I replaced cause nothing else was working....ended up being the problem.

 

Which service manual have you used to this job? I stil lneed to buy for this car and I know there's probably no way for me to do this job without one. I know there's Haynes out there, which for me has been the easiest to get, but I don't know how "good" it compares to other servive manuals, like Chilton, since those aren't as easy to get for me.

But thanks for post Walker ... gives me some hope I can actually tackle this job.