A friend of mine brings in her off warranty 03 CRV to Honda as the A/C Failed. They give her a bill of 1,100$ for changing everything but the a/c compressor which was at fault. So they changed the cooler/lines etc and labor which was 1,100$ and she just left the dealer after a mile the car ran out of a/c again.

They are blaming the compressor. Now the problem, they want 1,800 for a compressor lol. When you diagnose an A/C system and put strain on the compressor would you not see perfectly fine that the compressor is at fault? Exactly what did they diagnose when they were changing the coolant lines, exchanger etc...

I'm an ASE tech and I know they are stealerships but you have to be a dumbass not to be able to put strain on the compressor or check it out for voltage drops etc...

I told her to call Honda Canada and bitch them out till they warranty the job. She is a lawyer and will pursue legal action if needed.

Obviously the 1,100$ bill for fixing nothing is not refundable lol and they have no problem asking for another 1,800$ for the compressor which is already 500% markup on compressor compared to US price lmao. (a/c compressor oem honda msrp us 398.85$, canadian honda dealer 1,800$...UM YA LOLLL)

Updates: Technicians diagnosing the car said the car was in a front vehicle impact resulting in the a/c compressor breaking (yet it doesn't leak) and the car has never been in an accident or had bumpers replaced... I can't wait to see what Honda Canada has to say about this lol he better get fired.

 

There would be no reason to replace A/C lines unless they leaked, easily found with a nitrogen pressure test, it does not sound like they did the pressure test after replacing the parts if the refrigerant only lasted 1 mile, they obviously did not do a leak test after charging the system either.
Your right, it is a "stealership" and she should go after them.

To find A/C problems should not take more then .25-.5hr on most cars, we do it everyday...
Car come in, we "identify", [test to see what is in the system] it takes 30sec. if it comes up clean, [100% R134a] we will install as set of gauges and fire up the system to see what is happening, 5min., in most cases you can tell what is wrong at that point, if gauges indicate a low charge, we will recover what is left in the system, 10-15min. and pressurise the system with 250PSI of nitrogen, 2min., a little soapy water in a squirt bottle should find a leak in a few min.

There is no way to tell if comp. is good or bad until the system has a proper charge, assuming no leak is found after 15min. of 250PSI of nitrogen, we would want the car for a few hr. to put it under vacuum, 1hr, then a 10min vacuum leak test, if it holds vacuum we would charge system and do a full function test including a refrigerant leak test, all but the most tiniest leak, [PPB] would show up.
If at that point we found either a leak, a compressor that was not working or something else we would do a recovery, [A/C refrigerant is 100% recyclable] contact customer and explain what is wrong, how much to repair and how long we need the car, if customer did not want to do the repairs they would be into us for 1hr diagnostic labour, [$80], not charged if repairs are donne. 94

http://airwolfeautoair.com/

 

there may have been a leak in the system where the oil has leaked out of the system and damaged the compressor. once they replaced the "leaking" parts they should have tested the system and checked for proper pressures to ensure the compressor was good. sounds like they did a poor job diagnosing the initial problem.

im a tech also.....a/c work is annoying to work on especially in my shop. they don't pay very well to diagnose and the equipment is crap. but when it comes down to a $1000+ repair bill i try my best to make sure i'm diagnosing the correct parts.

sounds like they gave the car to the shop dumbass (there is one or two in every shop even the dealers) to repair that car.

 

She should call the service manager and discuss with him/her before getting head office involved. Don't play the lawyer card until the absolutely necessary. Also ask for a copy of the hard copy of the work order with the tech's notes and what he found on their first diagnosis.

There could very well be more than 1 issue. For instance hole in the evaporator and a bum compressor.

 

i've been with honda for about 4yrs now and noticed a common thing on these years CRV. what usually happens is the a/c compressor burns internally and will contaminant the whole system which requires you to replace everything pretty much. the techs there love that type of work

 

^^^Yep what he just said.
But its NOT a recall, so dont think that.
They just figured out what was causing the compressors to fail after replacement.
You have to replace everything in the ac system

 

If they stated the vehicle was in an accident but there is no proof, such as a body shop with your VIN number having been to their shop, then you have him right there, also, where are the old parts, you paid for them, they need to come back to you.

A voltage drop test wont show a weak compressor, it takes an Amp test to show a weak Clutch Coil. A temperature test of the compressor housing will show a bad compressor but it takes a lot of experience to know whats ok and whats not.

The dealer should have taken it for a road trip, not sure if that is part of their testing or not, liability you know, I always drive an AC Job.

If a hose has a muffler built in, then that hose cannot be flushed, it sounds like they dont flush, they just replace, was the evap and TXV replaced also? It sounds like replacing a bunch of parts would be due to contamination due to a granaded compressor, was the customer called with an explanation of the estimate and a reason why for the estimate.

I can see already that the technician is not an AC man of great experience.

 

Well the retard diagnosing the car said the car was in a front end collision causing the a/c compressor to leak...which makes no sense because they didn't even change the compressor and the car is a 1 owner car she has owned it from new and the car has never ever been in a fender bender or accident...The customer was told your a/c compressor is not damaged and it will take 1,100 to fix after diagnosing the car lol which obviously was never done because they would have seen the compressor is at fault if they actually put effort into it and the technicians diagnosis contradicts everything they said on the phone

I do not understand the part where I have them if I can prove the car was never in a accident according to the VIN/DMV etc?

This is awesome well here's the update. She calls Honda of Canada equivalent to Honda US, they say it's a dealer issue and nothing can be done on their end... Can't you file formal complaints with Honda against their dealerships?

After bitching the dealer is willing to refund the 1,100 dollars job and put back the original parts with the failing compressor or no refund + 1,800$ for compressor/clutch kit with a possibly working a/c. We obviously know which route she is using she is getting a refund and taking her money elsewhere.

Is it not just me I know a/c work is a bitch on almost any car but 1,800 for a compressor and clutch kit only the parts are worth 580~ lol Honda Canada is such a markup scam.

 

Honda dealers are no different then any other dealer, mark up on parts is insane.

I see no reason to replace everything just because a compressor has "grenaded", [if it did] a new compressor, filter/dryer, maybe an expansion valve, a flush of the evaporator, condenser and lines, [if "chunks" are found past the filter/dryer] is all that is needed.

You have made the correct choice, have them replace what they removed and get your money back, mark the compressor so they can't install some piece of junk they have laying around then find an A/C shop and have them look at it.

Where exactly is CA Canada?

 

take a chance and put in a ~400 dollar aftermarket compressor. don't forget to replace the receiver dryer at the same time.

i just finished installing a NEW a/c compressor on 2009 toyota corolla....1800 bucks for your crv compressor is a deal...the toyota part was $2800 plus 1.4hr labor according to the manual. good thing it was under warranty or else the customer would have had a heart attack.

the cost of some of these new OEM parts is getting out of hand...and it's not always the dealer/parts department markup.

 

Don't think there are any aftermarket swashplate type A/C compressors like the late model Toyota stuff available yet. Once the aftermarket catches up the OEM will drop the price to be competitive.

To the OP:
There are plenty of independent mechanics that would be able to source you some used parts/wrecker parts with a 30 day warranty on repairs.

 

I can get an oem compressor from Honda USA for 384,23 I just find it ridiculous the conversion applied from Honda Usa prices to Honda Canada prices. When the RBC Si 06+ intake manifold came out Honda USA had them marked at 148shipped within North America, I walked into a local honda dealer applied my 20% garage discount and the part was still 688$ lol 600% markup for crossing over a border lol. There should be consumer laws in place but there aren't cuz canadians can't sue anyone

The dealershp is a GTA dealership in Toronto i'm not positive which one exactly but that is the area.

 

Can you not import your own OEM Compressor from the US. Does Canada not keep a database of cars that visit dealers and bodyshops, any shop that belongs to any type of club, ASA and many others, has to turn in their records and in your case those records could be found and used as proof of a repair, or lack there of.

 

Yes I can import my own oem compressor from the US which is what is going to be done after the ridiculously overpriced Honda Canada price. I'm not sure if Canada has a database like that honestly, I would figure that would need one by law but who knows there really is no consumer protection. Honda USA gives Honda Canada a price the Honda Canada marks it up at least 500% it's retarded.

Either way what you would it change? If the car was never in an accident it's their word against hers wether she has proof showing the it's a clean vin car with no accidents on top of that Honda Canada is doing **** all about it and could care less. So they have the dealership on their side and the whole ****ing Honda corporate side as well... I don't know how much good that would do fighting with them.

I was in the NJ last year and dealt with a honda dealer who pulled me around through some crap the second I placed a call to Honda USA and they spoke with the dealer the issue was immediately resolved. There doesn't seem to be any of that from Honda Canada they just seem useless and could care less about what their dealers are doing which is the completely opposite of what it is stateside. Then again like I said you guys can sue where we can't.

 

all i can say is MISDIAGNOSIS. the shop should be responsible for replacing that compressor.

 

Make sure whoever puts the compressor on uses a torque wrench and use at least two steps to arrive at the final torque for the mounting bolts. Just throwing a compressor on and hammering it in with an air ratchet will twist the housing a little and possibly cause a future housing gasket leak.

It may not come with the proper oil or with any oil, so make sure oil is added or replaced with the proper type and quantity. Ask the place that you buy it from if it has the proper type oil and quantity before you buy it, their oil may be required for warantee purposes.

 

Gas tank straps for my civic are $13 each from bill kay honda, $15 US list price, the suggested retail here in Canada is $98 each, its scary. The even scarier part is that the Canadian dealerships pay more for the parts than the US dealerships sell them for at full retail.

As far as the A/C stuff goes, if a tech is on flat rate (and chances are whoever looked at this CR-V is) they don't screw around, if they even think something might be bad when doing a job like this, they'll replace it whether its bad or not, the reason being if a job comes back the tech has to fix it for free.

 

This is true, but you and I know how a younger lesser experienced tech, God loves em for trying, cannot actually diagnose an AC system with cooling problems due to contamination, partial blockage, a weak TXV or poorly operating compressor. He will be luck to know if it even has a variable displacement compressor, then look out. I learned to diagnose with my bare hand, that takes a lot of experience and a lot of burn cream. Customers dont like it when you **** on their compressor to see if it freakin hot or not.

 

Tell me about it I don't know why anyone would bother buying from honda canada lol. Ordered a oem honda compressor/clutch kit, got it installed by honda master tech all for under 650$ lmao.

A corner garage can figure it out yet a dealership who sells the vehicle/warranty/pdi can't figure it out with what 20-25 techs and how is that legal exactly lol? Id sue the **** out of the dealer if I was stateside.

 

Being a flatrate tech is no excuse for poor diags. I've been a flaterater my whole career and it was hell when I startred out because I knew i wanted to be a diag tech. 10 years later and I can diagnose practicly any no start, drivability, or electrical problem in less than an hour. On any Domestic or Asian car and light truck I get paid good for doing it too. I love AC work. Its cake. Quality tools and expierence are all thats required.Dealerships are a bear to deal with. I was a honda tech for 3 years and got tired of that bull. Its even worse on customers...