This is probably a known issue, but I'm just terrible at searches. Please throw me to an existing thread if there is one.

Anywho, It's only done it a couple times...but my A/C will intermittently stop working. It'll blow warm air no matter what temperature I set it to or what manual setting I set it to. If I turn the climate control off and turn it back on, it works!

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Thanks!

 

I had a similar issue with my heater, problem was the thermostat. Try the HVAC diagnostic mode by holding the Auto and Dual keys down when starting the car. This is from the easter egg post by moda_way:

1 - In-car Temperature in Celsius
2 - Ambient Temperature in Celsius
3 - Solar Radiation sensor value: Dark = 00, Flashlight = 04, Cloudy = 10, Sunny = 65 (in Kcal/m2-h)
4 - Engine coolant temperature in Celsius
5 - Evaporature Outlet Temperature in Celsius
6 - Driver's Air Mix Opening (Low value indicates cooler air distribution, higher value indicates warmer air distribution) in % of opening
7 - Passenger's Air Mix Opening (Low value indicates cooler air distribution, higher value indicates warmer air distribution) in % of opening
8 - Vehicle Speed in km/h
9 - Vent Temperature Air Out (a.k.a TAO) in Celsius

I tracked these numbers for about two weeks to gather enough data for the dealer to do something under warranty.

 

This problem has been reported to be a bad Compressor relay. This is reported to be the fix for awhile, but the 04's are having compressor problems. It will eventually go bad if it has not already. Hope you are under warranty as this is expensive.

 

Hmm. Thanks for the info. It's starting to do it more frequently. I'm almost due for my 90k service, so I'll bring it up then.

I have an extended warranty, but it's not through Acura. It's through Hendrick Autogard Inc. I'll have to call them and see how it works.

Thanks again!

 

I called them and apparently all I need to do is let the dealer know that I have a service contract through them and for the dealer to call them before they do any work. Hopefully it is as simple as it sounds!

 

It doesn't have to be. If it's just the relay, then it's a $4 part. I had this replaced last summer on my 04 due to intermittent A/C. OTOH, if you have to replace the compressor, then yes, it is VERY expensive.

 

Well, hopefully the compressor goes out before 100k.

 

Yeah, I hope mine goes before the warranty is up, too.

 

I forgot to post back...

It finally got to a point to where the A/C would blow warm every 5 minutes or so. Soo...I broke down and took the car to the dealer. Since I was there, I also had them do the 90k service (was at 89,4xx at the time).

Apparently, the schrader valve on the high side of the A/C system was leaking thus leading to low freon. So, they replaced the valve and recharged the system (all covered by my extended warranty...yay). Problem was fixed....so I thought.

Last Saturday, I went to an Acurazine Stockton meet. It was fun! On my way home, my A/C would blow warm every 20-30 minutes. I was worried about the dealer being able to find a problem when the symptoms are so far apart (I'd hate for them to be driving my car for hours on end), but the service advisor encouraged me to bring it in and that they shouldn't have too much trouble finding the problem.

Being in IT, I totally understand the nightmare of troubheshooting intermittencies. In any case, my TSX is back at the dealer to be checkd out. I might as well take advantage of my extended warranty while it lasts!

I'll post back with updates as I get them.

 

^ Good luck. Hopefully it's just the relay.

 

^ That was it. I should have the car back tomorrow.

 

Well...heck!

It stopped working again yesterday when I was heading back to my house from Mountain View. I got the joy of driving on highway 85 and 280 in 100 degree weather with no A/C. Yay! This time the symptoms were accompanied by a click/clunk and an idle that wasn't as steady as I thought it should be. So, I'm guessing the A/C compressor is on it's way out.

I took my car to the dealer this morning. The strange thing is that it blew ice cold the entire drive there (15 minutes or so)!

Ugh! Los Gatos Acura treats me well, so I've got a loaner and they're going to try to get to the bottom of this...again!

I'm very glad I bought an extended warranty!

 

Ouch....well that didn't take long.

 

I know! But...I'm glad that it's happening now than after my extended warranty is up!

I guess that's the positive of the situation. :-D

 

Update...

So, the A/C compressor was indeed failing. Apparently it was coming apart internally an the debris was plugging up other components of the system. So, that means I get a new everything A/C related (minus parts that couldn't be contaminated, of course).

*kisses extended warranty card*

If this happened 10k miles later...I would've said "keep the car!" lol

 

I don't think this would have anything to do with it but I have 70K miles on my 2005 and fuse #9 blew and caused the AC to stop working aka not turn on.

Replaced the fuse and it's working fine again.

 

Cool that your problem was an easy fix, although it's weird that you had a fuse blow...did you do any electrical related mods? They typically don't pop for no reason. Weird. I wish my problem was that easy to fix, but the dealer is taking care of it so at least I don't have to worry about it (too much! lol

My problem was a bit different. I would get ice cold air, then warm air no matter what the temperature was set to (turned it down to Lo and it still would blow warm). It used to be intermittent, but became more and more constant. Three trips to the dealer and bam, I get a complete overhaul of the A/C system because debris from the failing compressor contaminated everything.

The dealer is supposed to call me tomorrow to tell me whether or not the repair is covered under my extended service contract. If for any reason they say it is not (and I don't see why it wouldn't be), what should I do?

 

Well technically you were under the warranty period when you made the first service visit so it should be covered since it wasn't properly fixed. If you get too much push from the dealer talk to the service manager and get a call together with your warranty company to discuss how to resolve this issue. The warranty company has the right to not cover since you are technically out of warranty now. This is a misdiagnosis on the dealer’s part so if you are going to throw any blame, throw it on them.

 

The dealer is getting the runaround on making the claim for this repair. My service advisor called me today to say that he called the extended warranty people and they're not sure why he hasn't received a call back...so they're going to research it and call him back.

My service advisor didn't sound too happy about that.

I think everything will be fine. If for some reason parts come up that they don't want to cover, I'll definitely complain.

I just want my car back! Every day it's in the shop I fear that they're abusing it. I've read other horror stories about where dealers have done wrong and bought time to fix it one way or another...and a part of me worries about that. When my car is not in my posession I always worry about it, lol. I just have to keep telling myself my experience so far with this dealer has been awesome (brought my car there for it's last 3 services), so everything will be fine!

 

Does anyone know part numbers for any of the parts you are talking about? Please let me know! Thanks guys!

 

Welp, my car is finally fixed, except now it has another problem! The idle isn't consistent. Sometimes, when sitting idling (in gear or out of gear) the idle will alternate 100-200 RPMs in a very consistent pattern. Like in 1 second intervals...up...down...up...down...and while it's doing this, you can feel the engine roughen up more when RPMs drop. I know they disconnected the battery when they worked on my car because all the presets and other settings in my head unit were re-set. So, I wonder if it has anything to do with the computer re-learning engine conditions and whanot?

I want my car to be perfect. :-(

If it's still doing it by next weekend, I'll bring it back to the dealer.

 

My TSX has the same symptoms - right before they replaced the AC condensor. It would idle rough and then sometimes smooth. It also had a raspy sound during acceleration. I have no idea why - but once they replaced the A/C, all these problems went away.