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Old 28th April 2012, 12:10   #3286
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

Quote:
Originally Posted by sandeep108 View Post
If you have never got any AC work done, I strongly recommend you get a complete service done. Otherwise if the lubricant in the gas goes, you will be looking at compressor replacement, which will really hurt your wallet.

On all my cars I get AC servicing done every 3 - 4 years.
Thanks Sandeep.

You sugggest me to get the AC service done asap or I can take it easy and get it done with my next service which is due after 2000 kms /20 days.

BTW, if we reduce the temperature to minimum, the air is icy cold.
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Old 28th April 2012, 12:40   #3287
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

If it is still cooling, I guess you can wait.
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Old 28th April 2012, 19:02   #3288
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

@mukeshgoel; I was one of the first in Kanpur to put an AC in my car (1980 when I installed one in my Padmini myself). Whatever the chaps may say, unless you lose the refrigerant, you do not need to replace the oil. I have kept AC cars in excess of eight years on the trot and have never had compressor failures.
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Old 28th April 2012, 19:22   #3289
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk
you do not need to replace the oil.
Thank you so much, I am going out of town with family in Civic on Monday and was slightly worried about AC. Your reply certainly made me happy.

Any suggestions for the problem mentioned, I think the thermostat is giving wrong information to ACC. What is your opinion?

Last edited by mukeshgoel : 28th April 2012 at 19:24.
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Old 28th April 2012, 19:31   #3290
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

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Originally Posted by mukeshgoel View Post
My Civic's AC has some problem.

Earlier I used to keep it on 25-26 depending on requirement. Now, I get the same effect if I keep it on 23-24. What could be the problem ?

BTW, My car will be 6 years old in August and it has been driven 68000 kms. Never got any AC related work done in the car.
I suspect the air delivery is a bit clogged (natural at 68,000k), so you are getting less air flow. Also, the comfortable setting also depends on the environment. For example a couple of days ago, when driving back in the night (no alcohol so that is ruled out) I found my normal 25-26C to be warm and had to reduce it to 23. The next day it was back to the 25-26! You may save a lot of money by going to an AC specialist for servicing the evaporator box. Remember it does involve some dismantling of the dash. Maybe you get in touch with vigsom for more advice. He has had quite an adventure with his Corolla AC.

Incidentally,as per an ET report more than 30% of Civics are now sold with an AT.

Last edited by sgiitk : 28th April 2012 at 19:35.
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Old 28th April 2012, 19:38   #3291
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OK. So all the doubts will be cleared with 650 kms round trip I am planning from Monday to Wednesday.

Will get the appropriate service / repair done after that.

Hopefully AC doesn't disappoint me in between. Fingers crossed.
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Old 29th April 2012, 02:04   #3292
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

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Originally Posted by mukeshgoel View Post
OK. So all the doubts will be cleared with 650 kms round trip I am planning from Monday to Wednesday.
Sir, since your AC is cooling to satisfactory levels, I dont think there is a need for urgent action. However, I would suggest, you go to any cash wash joint or ASC and ask them to properly clean the condenser with pressure washer. That should make things better. But be careful with the car wash people and ask them to clean the condenser with apt water pressure. High pressure can damage the condenser. This should not take over 10 mins from either car wash or from ASC.

After that, you can get a proper AC service done at next service, which should cost you some Rs.4k. The service will including ripping apart the dashboard and cleaning the cooling coil (evaporator coil) and blower and installing fresh AC gas.

Last edited by gaurav_chopra04 : 29th April 2012 at 02:06.
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Old 29th April 2012, 09:24   #3293
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

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I would suggest, you go to any cash wash joint or ASC and ask them to properly clean the condenser with pressure washer.
Thanks Gaurav, will get the condenser cleaned with not so high pressure wash. I think it is done running engine and AC switched ON. Right ?

Quote:
After that, you can get a proper AC service done at next service, which should cost you some Rs.4k. The service will including ripping apart the dashboard and cleaning the cooling coil (evaporator coil) and blower and installing fresh AC gas.
Any idea, how much time they take? Will they be able to give the car same day after routine 65k service+AC service? Else, I can get the AC service (only) done next weekend.
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Old 29th April 2012, 09:54   #3294
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

@gaurav & @mukesh; I suspect the evaporator may also be getting a bit choked after 68k. That is what takes effort. Also, this choking happens gradually and you do not notice. The condenser gets washed at every service. In fact the issue may be with the radiator since that is shielded to some extent by the condenser.
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Old 29th April 2012, 11:55   #3295
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk View Post
@gaurav & @mukesh; I suspect the evaporator may also be getting a bit choked after 68k. That is what takes effort. Also, this choking happens gradually and you do not notice. The condenser gets washed at every service. In fact the issue may be with the radiator since that is shielded to some extent by the condenser.
Very true, I hope they clean the evaporator rightly when I get the AC serviced.

I don't know if it is related but 99.5% of those 68000 kms, the car has been driven with windows fully rolled up.
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Old 30th April 2012, 09:03   #3296
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

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Originally Posted by mukeshgoel View Post
Very true, I hope they clean the evaporator rightly when I get the AC serviced.

I don't know if it is related but 99.5% of those 68000 kms, the car has been driven with windows fully rolled up.
Dust is always there. In servicing the Evaporator they may actually take it out. This will also involve recovering (hope they do not vent) the refrigerant and then dong a thorough job. Take a look at some threads where there are pics of the evaporator.

I understand that Honda have a filter on the input to the evaporator box (at least after some date). This will reduce the clogging to a very large degree.
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Old 30th April 2012, 09:34   #3297
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

Quote:
Originally Posted by mukeshgoel View Post
Thanks Gaurav, will get the condenser cleaned with not so high pressure wash. I think it is done running engine and AC switched ON.
Thats absolutely right sir.

Quote:
Any idea, how much time they take? Will they be able to give the car same day after routine 65k service+AC service? Else, I can get the AC service (only) done next weekend.
They do take atleast 4-5 hours for the job. I think you can get the car in a day if you drop it to the ASC early in the morning.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk View Post
@gaurav & @mukesh; I suspect the evaporator may also be getting a bit choked after 68k.
Sure, at 68k, the coil would definitely need cleaning. Just that getting the condenser cleaned is not a big job and does return good results.

And if radiator is a problem the dots in gauge that shows engine temperature will go up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mukeshgoel View Post
Very true, I hope they clean the evaporator rightly when I get the AC serviced.
In complete service that is what they are supposed to do. If they wont clean it, why would they make all the efforts to get the dashboard off. You may choose to visit the ASC once they get the dashboard off and get the coil cleaned in front of you.

Quote:
I don't know if it is related but 99.5% of those 68000 kms, the car has been driven with windows fully rolled up.
The dust in the Evaporator coil is sucked from the vents you see near the wiper area. The ones where the wind screen ends. If you keep the car on recirculation mode, less dust will enter through the vents as the ducts are closed. If you keep the AC on fresh air mode, more dust is sucked through the vents and the dust chowks the evaporator coil.

As Sgiitk sir said, you may choose to install an AC filter once you get the evaporator coil cleaned. You may find one at the ASC and if not you will definitely get one from Internet. I got one for my cedia last october and it works .

Last edited by gaurav_chopra04 : 30th April 2012 at 09:37.
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Old 30th April 2012, 10:55   #3298
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

Quote:
Originally Posted by sgiitk View Post
@mukeshgoel; I was one of the first in Kanpur to put an AC in my car (1980 when I installed one in my Padmini myself). Whatever the chaps may say, unless you lose the refrigerant, you do not need to replace the oil. I have kept AC cars in excess of eight years on the trot and have never had compressor failures.
My experience has proved otherwise. I did not bother to get any servicing done on my old Zen and OHC for years since AC was working fine. Suddenly when cooling stopped, in both cases (and I took second opinions also) was that compressor is gone. I remember even for the Zen, the estimate for new compressor was very high and OHC was through the roof, because alongwith it, A.S.S. wanted to change condensor, receiver, etc. Finally got compressors repaired at local decent AC chap, but cost still high and then AC never the same again. The km driven were also not very much.

After that, in all my cars I get AC service done once every 3-4 years.
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Old 30th April 2012, 10:59   #3299
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

@sgiitk

Isn't there a servicing schedule for AC?

Dust in northern and western parts of the country is omnipresent. I hope that Japs have done some tweaking to their cars to suit our conditions.

AC in my Civic works perfectly fine. I am curious and want to clean it's evaporator and radiator just as DIY to maintain the health of the system.
But some wise person has said "Don't fix that ain't broken".
You may say "Fix it before it's broken". So contemplating .....
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Old 30th April 2012, 11:13   #3300
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re: Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

@HighFlyer; There is probably none. AC usage depends a lot on the place and the person. I will tend to agree with you - do not fix it till required. However, if you find the aire discharge dropping then it is time to get the evaporator attended to. Also, in some cars (M for one) the collector (called the bottle) has a clear sight glass. That should be clear or at most have the occasional bubble to indicate that you have a full charge. Others like Hyundai do not have this so a pressure gauge has to be connected to find the state of the charge. One thing I have noticed is that the Honda connector for gas charging appears to be different from others. I am sure the boffins have the right adapter for it.
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