yiplong

I have been having problems with the AC since the car's first summer. At the beginning of every summer, I would find that the AC is no longer producing cool air. Brought it back to the dealer every year to be fixed, and every following year I got only warm air out of the AC again. There is probably a leak somewhere in the AC system, but the dealer maintained that they could not find it. They simply refilled it with freon and once refilled, AC is good for the rest of the summer. Does anyone else have this problem? If yes, have you found a permanent solution? It cost $100 every year to refill, not a huge issue, I am just wondering if this can be fixed.


I have not done any maintenance on this car since bring it home in 2004, except changing oil (twice a year), air filter, replacing brake pad and a tranny fluid flush a year ago. I put new tires on the car probably 2 years ago, but have not done anything to them since. I asked my mechanic about changing brake fluid, he said brake fluid never needs to be changed (but the manual says every 30k miles). The car now has about 80k miles. What maintenance should I do?

I just move to the NYC suburb of Westchester county. I don't know if car mechanics here are trustworthy. Do you have any suggestions in Westchester? Should I bring it to a Honda dealership for 80k check-up/maintenance?

mikey1

you are past the 7 year service recommendation for the timing belt, that should be your number one priority ASAP, if it snaps you are looking at very expensive and severe engine damage,

when they refill the A/C the can put a dye/coloring in it, this helps detect where the leak is coming from, ask them to do that

yiplong

I will get the timing belt checked out in the next 2 weeks. I am new to this area, so I don't know any reliable mechanics. Do you suggest I bring it to a Honda dealership or do you think any shop should be able to handle the inspection?

I already tried the dye, they still can't find the leak with it. Maybe I waited too long (1 yr) to go back.

ezone

You do not "inspect" a timing belt.
You decide it needs to be done, and you get it done.

It is to be replaced periodically based on time and/or mileage, whichever comes up first. Your book will probably state 7 years or 105,000 miles, whichever comes first. (Or whatever Kms up North LOL)



There is a leak. It should be found and fixed. It may be tough to locate the source of leak.
If you go there for regular service, mention the issue toward the end of summer while any dye evidence might still be somewhat fresh.


You said they have loaded it with UV dye, so you could snoop around with a blacklight yourself in your dark garage if you wanted to.

mikey1

it does not need to be inspected, it needs to be replaced, you are way past the 7 year recommendation and that belt is currently a ticking time bomb that will blow up your entire engine if it snaps,

personally i do the timing belt myself, however its not really a job for your average home mechanic, its a very advanced and important procedure,

if you cant do it yourself i would take it to honda, i have heard too many horror stories about independant shops botching the timing belt job, pay a bit more money and you can be sure the job is done right

yiplong

Thanks for your advice. I will take the car to a Honda shop next week to replace timing belt. I will probably also get the coolant changed.

How about the brake fluid? My mechanic back home told me brake fluid doesn't need to be changed. Is that right? It seems the manual says otherwise. I am inclined to trust the manual, but it seems there are other independent mechanics out there disagreeing with manual:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2971662

mikey1

personally, the only time i touch the brake fluid is if i need to bleed the system, which is not that often if ever, only when a brake line is disconnected or replaced, but thats just my opinion,

yiplong

Thanks. So I guess jury is still out on the brake fluid even though the manual suggests every 30k miles? I am glad the mechanic wasn't greedy, some places would pressure you into doing all kinds of maintenance to run up the bill.

After doing some research on timing belt replacement, it seems people often replace water pump and tensioner pulley with it. I will probably replace at least the belt + pump and leave it up to the mechanic to see if pulley needs replacing.

Some people also suggest replacing the following with timing belt:

- cam seal
- crank seal
- thermostat
- power steering belt
- AC compressor belt
- alternator belt
- gaskets

Are any of these necessary or economical to do concurrently with timing belt?

mikey1

im giving this advice assuming your mileage is around 100k miles or lower....

water pump and timing belt tensioner should be fine till the next timing belt change, i would leave them, replace the timing belt tensioner spring as its cheap and easy, i would leave the thermostat as they rarely ever fail,

have the cam and crank seals inspected, they should be okay till next timing belt change also, only replace them if they are leaking,

i would just replace the timing belt, tensioner spring, 2 accessory belts, and coolant if it has never been changed before

yiplong

Sounds good. Thanks. The car is from 04, but has less than 80k miles on it. I only use it for weekend trips, shopping etc. I commute by train.

ezone

My opinion is that it will need the timing belt, 2 accessory belts, and inspect the water pump at this time. If the pump shows signs of leaking, it needs replaced.

I quite often see evidence of seepage around the edges of the water pump (rubber O ring seal) once the timing covers are off.

Big question is: Will those items last another 10+ years if you don't replace them now?

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OE tensioner has been reliable enough for me to wait until the 2nd or 3rd timing belt job to replace. (150k+ before recommending it here.)
A factory tensioner set should include the spring.
I would throw away any aftermarket tensioner without hesitation.

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Brake fluid absorbs moisture (hygroscopic) so it should be flushed periodically to avoid internal corrosion of brake parts. Every 3 years is recommended in the book, IIRC.
Easy DIY IMO.


If you have ABS, I'm sure you do not want to have to replace a leaking ABS pump $$$$.$$
(I used to see this on a different brand of Asian car too often. Convinced me.)

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HTH