So my AC in my 2004 TSX finally went out right before the Labor Day weekend. I dropped it off on Wednesday after Labor Day and they looked it over and ran the diagnostics and said that I had a bad AC compressor and coil. Now I have had my TSX since April of '03 and it only has 56,000 miles on it and I don't feel that the AC unit should go out that quickly in a car, much less an Acura.

Anyway, the guy at Acura said that since I am just outside of warranty they would pay for the parts ($1200) if I paid for the labor ($400). Well here in GA it's hot as Hell and I can't live without the AC so I told them to go ahead and do it. So they ordered the parts and on Friday morning it was ready. I went to pick it up and drove it to work and the AC seemed nice and cold. So I went to lunch on Friday and it started blowing hot again. I took it back on Friday afternoon and they said that they wouldn't be able to look at it until Monday morning so I had a TL loaner.

So Monday goes by and the guy finally calls me in the evening and says that a relay went bad that was not causing the compressor to kick on. Also, they found some freon leaks as well. So they are going to "take care of it" for me (which they should) but they have to order another part. Today went by and I have not heard from them yet, so who knows what is going on with my TSX now.

The funny thing is, I took my TSX in before the air went completely out for them to look at because the AC would just stop working sometimes and then start working again. They could never find the problem with it though, and I think it was the relay all along and that they replaced the whole AC system for nothing.

I'll let you know what happens when the guy finally calls me back, but just sending out a warning to you.

 

Ah...something another problem to look forward to.

Hope they at least gave you a loaner.

 

Wiz, thanks for the heads up. I'll remember to have all the electrical/relays looked at if presented with the same problem(s). Don't feel too bad. All things considered and all that...

 

I have 58K and my AC just stopped working too. I believe it actually happened when I heard a fairly loud grinding noise as I was driving it home Friday night.

Took it to DCH Acura today and at the end of the day, the service advisor said it looks like the compressor blew a hole from the inside (as opposed to a foreign object poking a hole in it).

I rescued the TSX from the used car lot at Saturn of Riverside back in December and I purchased their extended warranty to 100K, so we'll see if it was worth the price now. Glad to at least have a loaner car... work requires me to drive, and renting a car indefinitely doesn't appeal to me as the way I'd like to spend my money.

 

Exactly. Hope all turns out well for you, goodluck!

 

Wow!!! One of the originals. I'm at 60k and I have a feeling if anything like this would happen to me, I'd be up shyt's creek. Glad you posted though b/c now I can research a cheaper solution first.

 

Wiz, a few years ago my AC went down on my TSX as well and I too was out of a warranty, and they did the same: they covered the parts and I paid for labor. To me, that sounded like a fair deal.

 

Thanks all for your responses. I personally think that if they could have figured out that the relay was the problem to begin with then that might have saved the compressor/coil. Of course we will never know now, but I can only assume. Yes I do have a new 2006 TL loaner though from Acura Carland here in north Atlanta. They are being very fair about it, but I just hate having major things like this go wrong on a car that's still fairly new.

I'll let you all know if the relay being replaced actually fixes it for good.

 

this really worries me. I am out of warranty now (took delivery in April 04) and it seems like little things seem to be breaking (door light shorting, cup holder, seat shifting AGAIN, window crunching on the way down) and have been too minor for me to complain/go to another dealer after being denied for warranty work from the dealer closest to me.

Like moda, i have a feeling that if this happens or the lights out problem I am going to be majorly screwed.

 

Add me to the club of F'up A/C.

 

How much did you end up paying, if you don't mind my asking?

 

The $950 Acura 7 yr/100K warranty is looking like a sure bet now. I am at 68xxx miles and have not had to use it yet.

 

About $1,800.

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33350

 

Sorry to hear about this PACman. You should have definitely complained how you were just out of warranty and if you had gotten regular maintenance that is another thing that you could have thrown in their face that they didn't catch it during that maintenance. Anyway, I had the same thing happen but without the clunk. It looks like I got lucky with it just being the compressor and coil. The dealers around here are pretty good at taking care of you and just making you pay for the labor.

My wife has a 2002 Accord and her Transmission just went out on it earlier this summer. Since the car has 65000 miles it was outside of warranty. I bitched and complained to them and they said that they would pick up the cost of the parts if I paid for the labor (about $1000). I agreed because that was better than paying the $3500 for everything.

I would keep writing and complaining to them and see if they can't pick up the tab for at least the parts. Good luck.

 

Holy fawk!

 

What is the best way to run your AC to help it last longer? It's been a hot summer and I run my AC everyday but I'm afraid that it will break down or I'm going to use all my freon. I'm at 40K miles and though I'm still under warranty I wouldn't want it to break right after my warranty!

 

Well, I asked my service advisor that very same question, except I didn't want it to break down again.
He kind of stuck his foot in his mouth by replying that these cars are so well engineered that it's a puzzle why the A/C would bust so early. He went on to say that the compressor typically lasts 90-110k miles before it gets replaced. How true are these statements I don't know. I was thinking I was 1 or 2 out of tens of thousands with a TSX with premature breakdown of the A/C, but perhaps other Zine members with an '04 could experience what I and the other few have.

I'll just say get regular maintenence check ups and have the A/C system checked annually. I regret not getting an extended warrantee (thinking at the time of purchase that Honda's are bullet proof).

Sorry...I'm not trying to hi-jack this thread.

 

I have an 04 TSX with 51,000 miles. I recently posted a thread about intermittent AC problems, where it would start blowing hot air. I took my car in to the dealership, where they let it sit running for 8 hours and said they couldn't find the problem.

Recently I've started thinking its a switch-type problem. When it starts blowing hot air I've noticed that the engine doesn't seem as bogged down from the a/c compressor. If I turn the a/c on and off a few times, eventually I'll feel the compressor kick on and it will start blowing super-cold air again.

Do you know what the part/install price was on just the relay?

 

same thing happened to my 04 but I was still under warranty. I had less than 20k miles!
Hopefully my 06 doesn't run into the same problem

 

Scary thought. I did the 30K matinence on my own, but I guess i'll bring it in for some matinence before my warranty is gone. Thanks for the heads up.

 

I have the printout that they gave me after they did the relay in my car. I am not sure exactly what it was, but I can be sure to get it out of the car and post the information from it on here. I'll probably just take a picture of it and post that as it might be the easiest thing to do. It'll probably be later tonight or tomorrow.

Also, I saw the same symptoms as you saw for about 3 weeks prior to my AC just totally going out. I think if the relay was fixed that might have solved the problem without replacing the whole AC unit, IMHO.

 

Thanks wiz. Mine has been going on for a few months. Here's to hoping it doesn't fail . If the part is cheap/easy enough to replace, I may do it myself.

 

'04 TSX, compressor went out around 12k miles. As I live in Houston and it was early sept., not good.

Took 2 weeks to get the part in, but got a TSX loaner for whole time and warranty covered the $$$.

 

I had intermittent problems with the A/C in my old Nissan Pathfinder. The dealer couldn't figure out what the problem was. It was definitelly an electrical problem. I even tried to troubleshoot myself with no success.

I finally fixed the problem by trading-in the Pathy for my '04 TXS. The pathfinder was 10 years old and had 150 k miles when this happened. I had never had to add freon or mess with the AC before that.

I should have bought the extended warranty on the TSX... Thought this car was going to be as good if not better than the Pathfinder.

 

Posting a follow-up for anyone else who might have the same problem. I was finally able to reproduce the problem I was having for the dealership. It was a bad relay in the fuse box under the hood. Pohanka Acura fixed it for me right there in the little car drop-off bay while I stood there. They did it free of charge since the car was still under warranty when I first brought it to them.

 

Ad me to this list. "04 TSX 65K miles AT. It started with a crumbling noise followed by a loud bang and a hiss. I'm in the panhandle of FL, where the heat index has been in the 100's all week. This is my wife's car, she is 8.5 months pregnant. So this couldn't of come at a better time. She went to the dealer this AM, and told her it would be $3K to fix. $3K on a 3 year old "premium Honda" product!!! They are going to "try" and get Acura to cover the parts, and we'll have to cover the labor of $1K! Plus they have no loaner to give my wife who is due in 2 weeks....unbelievable! I've been a loyal and have owned Honda's all my life an have never had any A/C issues or issues in general. Now I upgrade and buy a brand new Acura only to have the AC go out, the center console go out, and two tire blow outs. I am relieved to see I am not alone with this issue. I'll keep you posted on how our dealing with the dealer here go.

 

Same here dude, just had mine fixed last week. Mine was only the relay, though, and it was covered under warranty. I had the center console thing go out in June as well.

I, too, think it's unbelievable that these cars are having such issues, and expensive ones nonetheless. This is my first Honda product, and I wasn't expecting to have these problems. I never had problems with my previous American cars, so I am disappointed to say the least. However, I still love the car and would buy another, just not a first year model again. And I will be trading this one in when the warranty is up, because I know I can't sink thousands of dollars into repairs only to have it possibly happen again. I'd rather put that kind of money towards a down payment on a new car.

 

It's funny you would think with all the people having this issue, people would be complaining to Honda like they did with the center console/radio lights issue. Maybe if enough of people complain to them we can get lucky, and have them extend the warranty on the a/c to 7 y/ 100k.

Cause I just hit 49,000 and starting to get worried mine is going to fail next.

 

3 grand...are you kidding? If you don't mind, post a listing of each part and price. My parts were less than a thousand before tax. That pricing sounds wack. BTW, be sure and read the other A/C compressor problem post. It is more lengthy and contains some 'happy ending' stories. Good luck!

 

A bit of an update. They agreed to cover the parts, if I cover the labor. Pretty much the same as I'm seeing on this board. My cost will be $890.00. I still think this is steep for a 3 year old "Luxury" vehicle. Especially when the AC compressor has nothing to do with mileage of the car. Of all the cars I've owned in the past, the bulk of them being Honda's with well over 100K miles, this is the worst car I've ever owned. I'm extremely disappointed with Honda on this. Acura is still getting a letter from me about this. Hopefully, other people that this WILL happen to get a better break. If it wasn't for this forum (I printed it out and gave to the dealer) I don't think they would have covered the parts. The crazy thing is now if you Google "major ac problem" this thread is #2. I'm grateful for that. They also managed to find us a loaner, a 2007 TSX. That thing has so many rattles in it, it's embarrassing.

 

$890 for labor? Damn! Mine was $485 and the work was done by an Acura Master Mechanic.

 

Now going on over 2 weeks and still no car. The expansion valves are on back order. Hmmmm, "were not aware of any AC issues with the TSX", yet the parts are on backorder? Got a response from Acura since I sent them a letter. Very nice guy on the phone, was very apologetic about the dealer's $890 labor fee. He offered to call the dealer on my behalf to see what could be done about it, but wouldn't guarantee anything. About the backorder, come to find out the same AC system is on the CRV and they are failing also.

BTW, the '07 loaner has some serious rattle issues especially around the glove box. And we found out the other day the heated seats don't even work.
While at the dealer we looked at the TL and MDX. I really like the TL, but the MDX's interior has taken a step back. The Nav lookes like it was taken from KIT (Knight Rider's car). And the 'third row' seat was a joke. I went on the TL forums and I'm glad I did. Looks like the TL has more issues than the TS(u)X.
I think I'm officially done with Acura. Me and my wife have decided to sell this POS once we get it back. We are looking hard at the Mazda CX9. I would never thought I'd buy a Mazda, but I was real impressed with the quality of the interior. Also the CX9 is 12K cheaper then the MDX. Plus the CX9 forums are full of satisfied customers. Ironically most customers considered the MDX before the CX9.
Anyone in the market for a charcoal gray/ebony interior '04 Acura TSX 5AT non NAV, hopefully COLD A/C w/65000K miles?

Hasta La Vista, Acura.

 

So is the a/c problem only happening in the 04 TSX?

 

why Mazda? my folks had a really bad 93 Mazda MPV that was a lemon and my uncle had a lemon Miata. Also, I've heard of bad problems with the RX-8. i dunno i would stay away from Ford, errr I mean Mazda even if i did consider the CX-7.

i looked at the interior of the CX-7, gosh it was butt ugly and cheap.

i do agree, i'm going to get rid of this TSX in the next few months and i'm never going to buy a honda/acura product again.

have you looked at either Toyota/Lexus or Nissan/Infiniti?

 

Sounds like 04 was a bad year for the AC system (among other things). You guys are much more persistent than I would ever be (how do you say "new car"?)(and it wouldn't be an Acura/Honda).

 

Yes we looked at the Lexus/Infiniti. Specifically the new Infiniti EX and the Lexus RX450h. The problem I have is the nearest dealership is close to 2 hours away. Toyota to me seems to be geared for older folks, just not that sporty. Plus there are some tranny issues with the Camry. The Highlander was dissappointing also. I bought my first Toyota 2 years ago, '05 Tacoma double cab, I felt like a traitor. But the Ridgeline's exterior and useless bed length made me stray. I've got to tell you after 40K miles and 2 years, ZERO issues. Just change the oil and put gas in it. I don't think I've looked under the hood more than 5 times since I've owned it.

After being on the Mazda forums for about a week, Mazda is in the middle of a overhaul. They are trying to break from Ford, and the CX9 is the first to do so. The CX7 is based on the Ford Edge, and the CX9 is based on the Japanese MPV. The CX9 is completely Japanese made. Surely you can't compare a '08 CX9 to a '93 MPV, plus the RX8 is a rotary engine....they've got their own cult following.I came across Mazda on the Edmunds website. The CX9 was an editors choice, so I checked it out. There is a Mazda dealer down the road from Acura so we just popped in and test drove it. We test drove the Grand Touring, it was completely tricked out. Leather, Nav, rear camera, heated seats, power everything, very ample 3rd row, etc all for $38K! I was blown away at the quaility. I would've never even considered a Mazda or any other brand had it not been for this TSX fiasco.

2 weeks and counting...........still no car.

 

Went to the dealer this weekend to personally check on my car...part still on backorder, and they won't give me a promise date. It's on backorder indefinitely. It will be 3 weeks tomorrow. Still have the loaner, though.

I found this site regarding the Honda CRV, which apparently uses the same AC system. The kicker is some of these people were complaining in 1999, 5 years before the TSX came out. Check this site out....

http://www.topix.net/forum/autos/hon...F5ULF5EJR4M48E

 

wow. I have an 06 tsx and I hope honda did not use the Same a/c Compressor on it. First the transmission fiasco, now the a/c. The AC in my 1884 Toyota pickup lasted 18 years.

The compressors on the 05 Rl's are failing too. Maybe should all sign a petition and give it to honda about this situation?

 

What about a Pilot? Sounds like you have had a lot of success with previous Honda vehicles. IMO you are giving up on the Honda name a little too soon. You are taking one bad experience - basically a first year model issue - and letting it outweigh all of your pleasant Honda experiences.

Is your dealership going to reduce the labor costs due to Acura's request? At least they gave you the loaner indefinitely. Why would you have a use for the heated seats now?!?

 

This may be a repost. We did look at the Pilot, the wife says it too boxy. You're absolutely right about giving up on Honda too soon. We went in to the dealer to personally check on our TSX. They said the part in still on backorder indefinitely. The MDX's on the lot had "SALE" all over them, and I remember reading on a CX9 forum that Acura was unloading the'07 MDX's. Sooooo, with our "situation" the dealer gave us an awesome deal on an MDX, so we took it. We are very happy with our new SUV. The dealer would only give us $12K for the TSX, whatever, I said fix it, and I'll sell it myself, and Oh, BTW we are keeping the loaner. The CX9 is a very nice CUV, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $38K on a Mazda with a 3/36K warranty. Plus the service dept at our Acura dealer is awesome.

No word on the reduced labor....I'm not holding my breath.

The heated seat thing is a game me and my wife play while driving. We try to burn each others asses in the blistering summer heat. We were driving one day and she asked me if my butt was burning because the heated seat was on for about 10 min. I said no and tried hers, no heat!