Well, my A/C saga continues..

So this time, my condenser got punctured by a rock.

So I'm getting it replaced with the drier on wednesday. A handsome bill of 700$.

I'll shortly remove the bumper to install black aluminum mesh grille behind. Not that I want to, but it might be a good way to protect the condenser.

 

You really do have bad luck with anything to do with your A/C.

Good thinking on the mesh. If you don't want to do aluminum, you might be able to get away with some window screen material. It should be almost invisible when it's installed, assuming you can get it tight enough.

 

Actually... a black mesh wire material that runs diagonally both ways may not look so bad. When i had a 540, several of the M5 members of the board i was on had installed a black wire meshlike material in the hole in the bumper to protect components.

 

Geez.... 700 bucks. Sorry to hear it saucey.

 

I send my condolence...

 

sauceman, how did you get 170k kms on a 04 tsx??????? Live in Montreal, work in Toronto??

 

@ 170K

 

Care to explain the , dom(n)??

 

I just find it funny that he has that many km's.

 

I've been wondering how many other TSX owners this has happened to; I guess Sauceman's message creates a good opportunity to try to find out. I got my TSX in late October of 2003 and the condenser was KO'd by a foreign object -- probably a rock -- during the winter that followed. I didn't realize that the AC was dead until the first warm day last spring. When I had my local dealer, Clair Acura in Walpole, Mass., check to determine the problem, I was told that the condenser had taken a hit severe enough to cause all of the refrigerant to leak out. The service adviser said the warranty wasn't applicable because the damage was done by an "outside force." When he took me out into the service department's work area to show me the puncture, I noticed for the first time just how vulnerable the condenser is, given where it's positioned and how little there is in front of it to block an incoming rock. To make a long story a bit shorter, I phoned Acura client relations and explained the situation, hoping they would bend the rules and replace the condenser under warranty. After a few days, I got the anticipated "we're sorry, but..." response. Very fortunately -- and quite surprisingly -- Clair Acura's service department called me not long afterward and said the service manager had decided to do the replacement under warranty as a "good will gesture."
It's been about a year since the new condenser went in, and I've been worried that whole time that another "outside force" is going to nail condenser #2. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm certainly not going to be surprised if it does.
The idea of attaching screening, gutter guard or something else to the bumper to protect the condenser occurred to me after I saw what happened to condenser #1, but I still haven't done it -- partially because of concern about reducing air flow to the condenser, partially because of aesthetic considerations, and partially because of laziness. I suspect that if condenser #2 is KO'd, Clair Acura won't come through with another "good will gesture," so I guess I'll have to do something like what Sauceman described.
During the past year, I've seen at least a few other forum members post messages about condenser punctures, but I'd like to get a better count. So, how many others has this happened to?

 

ic... you are just easily amuzed then
I just find it very amazing tht he's got that much milage on it... Honda/Acura should give him a or something

 

Nope, never had that happened to me on any car I've owned, not only the TSX. Now I'll touch wood and keep my

 

Your post count is another great source of amusement

 

I am glad you find it that way yeah, it amuzes me too... it's steadily climbing and the daily average is a great source of amusement to me as well. It's so hard to keep the average around 10 a day without doing too much PW-ing

 

:in-before-anyone-else-coming-in-shooting-me-down:
OK, I'll admit it... it's hard for me to keep the average count up w/o much PW-ing because I am really a with virtually no useful info/tips/wisdom to share

EDIT: ok... my 3 days exile in LONG business meetings in Seattle last week has really messed me up good this time!!! Nothing against the place I was at (I go there plenty much), just the damn LONG meetings and the damn damn LONG drive back up North on the Friday afternoon before the long weekend suck!!!

 

I must be jinxed or something.

Honestly, I doubt screen is gonna hold up if debris was able to puncture an aluminum part, even if it's pretty thin.

dom, I've actually almost become used to it.. NOT.

Calgary TSX, you're almost right. just that I work on the road. I need to travel to visit my customers.

 

Anyone have a pic or can explain where exactly the condenser is?

 

sauceman, the samething happened to me about 7 months ago. =(

 

It's located right in front of the radiator.

 

Yeah, I remember that. I think you claimed it on your insurance right?

 

no, i ended up paying out of my own pocket.