Audioserf

That stinks. What's your current mileage?

jeastburn

67,700 miles on it. The fact that it is 8 years old makes me doubtful that Acura Customer Relations will do anything, but it sounds like some others had 6- or 7-year old TSXs that were partially reimbursed. I'll keep you posted.

PACman

Eight years and only 67,700 miles?! Is the TSX your week-end car?

jeastburn

I just talked with Acura Client Relations and unfortunately, I will have to have another diagnosis performed at an Acura dealer. Since my Acura dealer is 45 minutes away, I took mine to a nearby Honda dealer where they charged me $90. So it looks like I'll have to pay at least another $90 to have it checked at Acura, at which time I can open a case and request assistance from Acura.

This is going to be fun

jeastburn

I used to drive it every day for work, but now I work from home so yes, I guess it sort of is a weekend car now. Other than a busted A/C compressor, you wouldn't think it was 8 years old. . .

jeastburn

My TSX has A/C once again!
In my previous posts, I mentioned that I was considering taking my car to the Acura dealer in hopes of having them cover some of the repair cost as goodwill. From what I read, the best I could hope for was for them to cover the cost of the parts and I would be responsible for the labor.
After asking around though, I ended up just getting it repaired on my own at a local Honda/Acura repair shop. (Compact Car Service in Charlotte, NC). While my local Honda dealer quoted me $2100 for the repair, Compact Car Service did the whole job for about $950. After I got their quote, I decided it wasn't worth paying a lot more at Acura and then just HOPING they would cover part of it as goodwill.
Compact Car was really easy to work with--I recommend them for anyone in the Charlotte area.

I also came across a class-action lawsuit related to the TSX A/C compressor:
https://alinlitigation.com/

Unfortunately, I was dragging my feet on getting the repair done due to the cost and I missed the 8-year window for reimbursement by 2 weeks.
For anyone that has had repairs done, you need to fill out the forms on that web site and submit it with a postmark no later than AUGUST 16, 2012 (that's this week). Hurry!

Josh

bsabbot

new to the forums, but I see the a/c is an issue on the 04 tsx. Wondering if this thread ever did any good for Acura to recall or help w/costs, etc. I guess I'll shell out the $1600+ for the new compressor, coil, clutch, relay and receiver. Boo. I have gotten 92k miles out of it, but I sure expected a lot more before any major failures like that. In my estimate, which took about 25 mins, so I know they probably didnt get too much taken apart, they said the compressor seized up and might have put broken metal into the lines, obviously, they'd heard of this before, or they wouldn't have mentioned that part.

yungwunn911

has anyone tried to replace the a/c parts with ebay parts?

netsx04

Did you fix your AC system?

yungwunn911

Not yet. However, I'm starting to look into options to have it fix as we speak.

I hope others can chime in.

gogozy

just how bad is ths A/C thing? I have a 04 TSX with 75000km on it. I am so afraid to turn on the AC now!! is the AC compressor a root cause of this issue? thanks.

jsharper

Well, an A/C that you are afraid to (and therefore don't) use is just about as bad as one that doesn't work So, unless you are just trying to preserve it to sell soon, you might as well just use it when you want and deal with any failures when they happen...

I have 125k miles (~201km) on mine and the compressor has only died once, at about 89k miles (~143km). And actually it didn't fully die. A dealer mechanic just happened to notice signs that it was about to die and suggested I don't use it until I replace it since it generally takes other parts with it when it actually "explodes."

Then again, my auto transmission died too at 109k miles (~175km)...

gogozy

thanks, i am wondering if i shall have the compressor replaced, to save $$$ if my compressor explode and then i will have to spend more $$ to replace everything. i did some search and found the L4 accord was using Denso compressor, while TSX, CRV and element were using Keihin compressor. there are lots of complain on CRV. Denso sells compressor that fits Accords, but I can't find Keihin..

TexasHonda

I've purchased used parts on ebay and car-part.com w/ excellent results. I purchased a used Subaru scroll compressor when mine locked up (internal hub split!). It was still running several years later when I sold the Forester.

good luck

zombiebaby

First time my compressor died on me at the end of June in 2012, approx. 119,000 miles. Driving at 60mph the engine made a horrible metal grinding/breaking noise which after less than 30 seconds abruptly stopped and hot air started coming out of the vents.

Took it to the dealer and was told the compressor had exploded sending metal shrapnel and debris through the whole system which after they replaced the compressor and flushed and dried all the lines ran nearly $1,700.

In mid-August 2013 (approx. 136,000 miles at the time) I noticed a strange ticking sound while my car idled with the AC on. It went away when I turned off the AC. A week later I noticed a much louder grinding type noise which again stopped when I turned off the AC. Looking back I think the first sound was the compressor clutch starting to break.

Well lo and behold, took it to the dealer yesterday to find out that the aftermarket compressor they installed July 6th, 2012 had exploded just like the original manufacturer one had done. I rarely even used my AC because I am a strange individual who enjoys heat but I run the AC whenever my daughter is in the car to spare her. To make it better I was 2 months out of the 12-month/12,000 mile warranty. Of those 12 months, Oct - May I hadn't needed the AC since the weather was cold/mild. They want another $1,800 to replace the compressor and flush the debris out of all the lines again.

Just found out about all the compressor issues and class action settlement with the 2004 TSX's and considering the '04 and '05 use identical compressors I'm not sure why the '05 was not included. I have found countless cases of this same issue with other peoples' 2005's. I plan to bring this up at the dealer and fight them on having to pay these repair fees again. It's just unethical to charge me to replace a compressor that exploded after it was used for, MAX, 6 of the 12-month 'warranty' period.

I will update with the results. Wish me luck.

tnt.glenn

a couple of years ago my 04 tsx had a clunking in the engine bay-then the car stalled. restart -quick stop then no restart - after towing the diagnosis was the compressor had blown up-hole punched in casing and engine wouldn't run since a single serpentine belt for AC and engine. $3500 CDN to replace whole system (at recommendation of HONDA dealer to clean out ALL the metal shavings) even with cheaper aftermarket parts and going to HONDA dealer.

gogozy

what is your mileage when compressor failed? and did you have it fixed? thanks..

Petrol 73

Add me to the list of '04 TSX A/C compressor failures.

Happened last summer at 117,000 miles. A/C (which is always on in Arizona during the summer) started to intermittently blow warm air. Sometimes it would get cold again, sometimes not. Eventually it was always blowing warm. Looked under the hood to see if clutch was engaging and saw a 2" x 1/2" hole in compressor!

Local Acura dealer said entire system required replacement due to debris in coned sir and hoses. They quoted some crazy price, then said they would give parts at cost. $1438 in parts, $990 labor. I wish I had been aware of the class-action suit.

Petrol 73

Condenser and hoses, rather.

vollum

Parts at cost is a way better deal than the terms of the class action suit... I believe the terms of the suit would give you nothing because of the age and mileage of your TSX... Maybe I am wrong... If so, someone can correct me.

Petrol 73

I looked up that class action suit. Had I known about it at the time, I'd have been eligible for only 15% off the repairs.

vollum

When I read it, I thought the failure had to be within 8 years and/or 96,000 miles to receive anything. My memory or my reading comprehension must be failing. At any rate, parts at cost is a pretty responsible deal from the dealership.

dms123

Hope its OK to resurrect a thread that's 2 years old by now, but just wanted to chime in with my recent AC failure.

2004 TSX Navi, 90,000 miles. Low miles for its age since we lived in downtown Washington DC for 8 years and took metro to work, so it did not get driven a lot.

A couple of months ago AC made violent noise while driving and after that, would only blow warm air. Read this forum to learn about the issue.

Took it to local Acura dealership in Honolulu, HI (where we live now) and was quoted price $4200, was told that was discounted from normal price of $5600. I was told that the explosion sent metal shavings through all the other parts and hoses and every part of the entire system needed to be replaced.

While all mechanics on the island of Oahu are a little extra expensive (like everything else here) this dealership has pretty much sky high prices on parts and labor, possibly because they are literally the only acura dealership on the island.

Called customer relations to see if they would help anyway, made sure to be polite, pointed them to this widespread issue reported here, class action suit, etc. They were pilots and respectful but basically said nothing they could do, at 11 years of ownership they felt I got my money's worth and it was way too late to be helping with anything like that.

I pointed out that a) this seemed to be a design defect that should have had a recall good for the life of the car and b) I saw reports here of others getting at least partial assistance with cars almost as old/high mileage. This did not do any good, nor did posting polite feedback on their Facebook and twitter feeds, nor emailing and talking to the head supervisor.

Since I wasn't getting any help from them, I instead had it repaired at a local automative AC repair specialist with an excellent reputation and yelp ratings. They independently confirmed all of the findings of the acura dealer and their total price was lower ($2800) but to me, still super expensive. We only went for it since we really do want to keep using the car for a while longer and a lot of newer cars have not spoken to me in the same way as this one, interior materials quality has seem to have gone downhill since back then, etc. Still not sure if it was the right move but it's done now.

One thing I noticed is that an awful lot of people seem hot ave gotten away with more $1899-$2000 for the repair even with a total system replacement, but maybe I am mistaken about that.

Overall very disappointed in Honda that they did not issue a lifetime recall for this issue. It's one thing to have a design defect, it happens, but when you don't stand behind your mistakes, it's just not right. I went from being a huge fan of the Acura brand and recommending it to many, to being super turned off that they would let customers bear the cost of their mistake like this.

Thanks!