2004 Honda CRV Air Con. Re-gas or something more?

2004 Honda CRV Air Con. Re-gas or something more?

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Progressive

Original Poster:

1,288 posts

188 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
quotequote all
Hello all,

Looking to purchase a 2004 (2nd generation) Honda CRV (2.4l, petrol, manual) in the next couple of days from a used car dealer. Fits my requirements and is within budget. It drove well and was absent of the known 'shudder' and 'knocking on full lock' issues. It seems a bargain against other dealers and even private offerings. It was very tidy for the age and I was really sold on taking it.

The dealer was quick to tell me about an issue with the air conditioning, which would be 'fixed before you drove away'. Air con light comes on and fans were blowing warm air out, even when set to the coldest setting. They wrote 'air con re-gassed' onto the sales contract as a condition which I thought was fair enough. I have taken the contract away to consider. After a bit of google diagnosis I am now unsure whether this is a re-gas issue or perhaps something more serious. Google suggests a big bill if it is the known issue of the air con compressor / clutch. I can afford the car, but not really a large bill straight away.

The car is to be used as a runabout and weekend away car. I live in a warm climate (Western Australia) so living without air con will be impossible, even during the cooler months.

Any experience or advice is much appreciated! Should I be less suspicious or turn and walk away?


Thanks, P.



Edited by Progressive on Saturday 7th March 09:33


Edited by Progressive on Saturday 7th March 09:42

Glosphil

4,337 posts

233 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
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My 2005 Civic (same air-con unit?) required re-gassing every 2 years to keep its efficiency.

grumpyscot

1,277 posts

191 months

Tuesday 10th March 2015
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I think it only applied to the Mk3 (mine is a 57 reg) where air-con failures are common. Mine, at a mere 44,000, cost £1600 to repair (of which Honda contributed half). Seems the clutch mechanism goes duff and you end up needing a new compressor.

Sheepshanks

32,517 posts

118 months

Tuesday 10th March 2015
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I suppose it depends whether "fixed" means "re-gassed"?

You would think if it was a simple fix he'd get it done first, although in the UK garages often don't do stuff in case the car doesn't sell and ends up being auctioned. Apart from clutch/compressor faults, the obvious other thing is a hole in the condenser. How long has it been up for sale? It strikes me as unlikely that someone in a hot place would live with no a/c if it was a simple fix.

How strong is the consumer law there? In the UK, if they said it was working, you could insist they make it work. But enforcing that isn't easy, especially on an 11yr old car.

Willy Nilly

12,511 posts

166 months

Saturday 14th March 2015
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If it is loosing gas there is a problem with the system. I'm not an air conditioning technician, but do know you are supposed to do a vacuum check and at least put some dye in with the gas so any leaks will show up.

MAX1233

14 posts

108 months

Sunday 15th March 2015
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Great