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crap... i was driving on the highway and the noticed the vents were blowing HOT air with the air con. turned ON. So i quickly brought it in the next day... they disassembled the A/C unit and came to the conclusion that the condenser were struck by a rock causing a puncture... my civic is less than 2 months old!!! so they tell me that it's not under warranty because it is not a manufacturing defect, which means i have to dish out $550 (canadian funds) to get it fixed... i can't afford that right now (i'm a student) and it's freakin' hot lately...

so i was wondering if you guys have any ideas on what i could do? would insurance cover this type of situation? would it be cheaper to get it fixed elsewhere?

thanks... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

 
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Yo man, that's not right by Honda, you just bought that 2 months ago!!! You need to march back up in there and explain to them that your a loyal customer and expect to get treated like one!! Throw it in there face nicely that you'd hate to give there dealership a bad name. Something like that!!![IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG] I've always thought that my air conditioner really doesn't put out cool air like it should....Hmmm? Well, that's my advice and good luck!![IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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Are you sure the dealer isn't just trying to bend you over? Maybe you should take it to another dealer and get a second opinion. Another dealer may even fix it without any hassle. Also, insurance usually covers things like rocks cracking your windshield, so I don't see why your insurance wouldn't cover this.

 
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Honda is under no obigation to fix a system that was damaged by a "freak of nature" its like if someone "keyed" your car, its not your fault but Honda won't cover it.

Take it to another dealer for a second opinion, don't tell them you took it to the last dealer, and see what they say.

Dealers are normally more expensive than a local garage so you might want to get a estimate from them. Also you'll neeed to replace the Dryer along with the Condenser because the dryer could be contaminated now that the sytem is open to ambiant humid air.

I really feel for you since you've only had the car a couple of months, you might have to bite the bullet on this one if a rock caused the damage, unless you have a insurance policy that protects you from road hazzards.

Good Luck and let me know how it turns out.

 
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I would deffinatly call the insurance company. If your policy has damage covered then it should be no problem. If you only have bodily injury covered then you will have to pay to fix it.

 
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sorry, solar, i just private msged u about some problem i'm having with my A/C

 
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well.. i called the insurance company... the saleslady said she would call me tomorrow... but i'm just gonna call the headoffice cause this lady knows jacksh-t...
in the meantime, i covered the hole with an automotive epoxy and sealed it with temp. resistant silicone... a mechanic said that sealing the hole could do the trick, but the hole must be fully sealed... well, i tried my best...
so if worst comes to worst and i can't get the insurance company to budge, i'll recharge the A/C unit with freon and hope that the epoxy will work...

oh.. BTW.. the hole was about the size of a "flying fish egg", the orange stuff at sushi restaurants... or about 1.5mm in diameter... LOL that was the best example i could think of...
i'll let you guys know what happens... stay tuned!

oh.. and another BTW... all of this could of been avoided if they had put a screen right in front of the A/C condenser...!!! the condenser is the very first thing rocks will hit! welll guess what.. i went ghetto and got a screen from home depot.. only $5!!! haha.. and not to mention that it looks kinda good on the car..

 
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Well, I had a similar situation w/ my buddy's Altima, but not witha freak of nature, but of my own stupidity. I was taking out his one passenger side headlamp and this long hose connected to a radiator looking thing and the A/C condenser was in my way...so I started to unscrew it. All of a sudden it started hissing like crazy, like air was escaping. Did I do something really bad?? Or does it just need to be recharged??


2Hottie

 
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I really dought that you will be able to make a "plugged hole" not leak, but its worth a try. The pressure is pretty high though a condenser, good luck!!

 
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my a/c stopped working too, and in, what seems to be, the worst place possible; Myrtle Beach, SC, in the middle of the summer where the heat index bounces off of 110 everyday. WTF. The dealership told me that the a/c was "over-charged" and that it wasn't a "honda problem" so that means it's not nder warrenty. Again, WTF. So what they did was out of "good will" and they fixed the a/c for no charge, since the oil was beening changed as well. So the a/c cooled down to 41 degrees F for about 6 hours, but then it shut of and now when it's turned on, it nearly causes the engine to stall out. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG] i want to put my foot up honda's butt!!!!! and break it off at the ankle.


If anyone came advise me, please write back on this or e-mail me @ d17a2type7@hotmail.com

 
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How could the dealership say the system was over charged? Unless you had prior work done to your A/C thats total B S . I'm guessing you didn't; so I'd document everything that happened and take it back to your local Dealer and tell them what happened. There is no way a system could have been overcharged unless it was done at the factory, it doesn't just happen on its own. The stalling problem sounds like the compressor is locking up and stalling out your engine. The only thing I can think of is that the compressor had a obstruction and was causeing false readings, if the dealer pumped in more R-134a it might have cleared the obstruction for a while which would give you back cold air.

What did the dealer do to fix it? Have you had any work done on the A/C prior to this problem?
Let me know.

 
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there's this garage that does all the body work and major repairs for the dealership, they fixed my car last november when i sunk it in a ditch and dented my condencer. but here's the kicker, the condencer was replaced and the a/c worked fine without any problems until about a month ago. Novermber 2001 to August 2002. Why would it stop working now? maybe someone broke into my car one night while i was asleep and overcharged it then? I don't know.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG]

 
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by the way, what the dealership did to make my a/c work for those few short hours, i don't know, they didn't feel it to be important to tell me, except that it wasn't a "honda problem" and they did it out of "good will".

 
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Well it is possible the system was overcharged by the body shop, the A/C system in the Civic is very small. It only holds 1.1 to 1.2 lbs of r-134a, thats barely over one can, most shops don't know this. Even if the system was slightly overcharged it would still work well. Sounds as if you have a Compressor locking up, thats the only thing that could make the car stall like you discribe. If the bodyshop didn't take the right precautions when the system was opened up, it could have picked up dirt, or worse, moisture. It only takes 2 drops of water to bring a system to its knees, because the Dryer desicant gets statuated and begins to break up. The Dryer (or Accumulator) should be replaced everytime the system is "opened".

I'm basically guessing here, without seeing your car first hand I'm not really sure, you can PM me or keep posting here if you want more info.

 
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k, i'll get back to ya when i find out what the repair shop did, exactly. I'm sure the dealership would like to hear as well.