Air Con problem

[Bristol_Crosstar]

If you switch the climate system on when it's hot outside then press Eco you'll notice the difference, the fan slows right down. If you have Eco on all the time and use the car most days not a problem but for various reasons I've not been able to use it much so having Eco on has made things worse.

[Jazzik]

If you switch the climate system on when it's hot outside then press Eco you'll notice the difference, the fan slows right down. If you have Eco on all the time and use the car most days not a problem but for various reasons I've not been able to use it much so having Eco on has made things worse.

Indeed... the fan slows down... The amount of cold air from the vents decreases somewhat, but the aircon is still working albeit at a lower level.

This is what the manual says on page 233: "When ECON mode is active, the climate control system may have reduced cooling performance."

Reduced cooling performance does NOT mean that it does not cool at all. It does! At a lower level, but it works.
An air conditioner really doesn't have to work at full power to stay "healthy", working at a lower level is really enough. As long as the refrigerant moves through the system it's working.

So it seems to me very unlikely that the Econ mode caused the problem here...

[DougL]

I looked at an August 2020 EX with 40000 miles on the clock for £18299 locally. The car was in good condition but two things put me off. It had rubbish budget tyres all round and the alloys were scuffed. It had been serviced on the dot but not by Honda (it was a local Seat dealer - the owner apparently worked there).

The air con did not work at all. Just standard ambient temperature air. Apparently the latest gas R1234YF is more prone to leaking past seals, so much so that it can be considered a service item. It is also much pricier. A regas from ATS costs £62 for R134a but £125 for the newer gas. Keep those seals lubricated.

[Bristol_Crosstar]

An update on this, I had my car serviced today with the a/c issue being looked at. It turns out to be a leaking condenser which will need replacing, fortunately my car is (just) still under warranty so it should be covered (subject to Honda approval), otherwise it will cost around £900 to fix.

The dealership had another Mk4 (2 years old) in the week before with the same problem, so they're beginning to think there might have been a dodgy batch of condensers with a manufacturing fault. My car has only done 9,000 miles so it shouldn't have happened. They said it was not caused by the system being under-used, so if you get similar issues make sure you get the car checked before the warranty expires.

[plasma]

...I use the car pretty much every day and never switch the 'aircon' off.

I usually have it on auto so the car decides whether Aircon is required, often in winter it's not.

yes thats what I do.

plasma

[Lord Voltermore]

I walked past a car wash the other day.  Staff were blasting straight into the grill area  a car with a power washer, a sure fire way of flattening the delicate cooling fins on a car radiator or  a/c condenser.  It wouldnt necessarily leak, but would certainly reduce efficiency.

 Damage caused in this way wouldnt be covered by warranty.

If it happens to you,and you have no one to claim against ,  it may be possible to painstakingly straighten out the fins manually with a pair of tweezers or something similar.   I have done it in the past over small areas of damage.  Depends if you are time rich or cash rich. 

[Kremmen]

From what I've read, the 10G Civic condenser isn't protected very well from front stone damage and quite a few have failed.

Maybe that might cause a leak.

[Bristol_Crosstar]

The dealer said people with gravel drives often have problems with the condenser being damaged from flying stones but they checked mine and said it wasn't that kind of damage, looked more like a fault with the unit

[Cobb2]

At my first service with a 2020 Crosstar, two years ago, the garage picked up a small leak in the air con condenser which I had not been aware about. The air con was working fine but they noticed some staining in the condenser - not caused from stone damage but from a manufacturing fault. They had not at that time had the problem with this model Jazz before but said there had been some similar problems with Civics in the past.
They naturally changed it under warranty. It is probably worth people with the current Jazz having theirs checked at service - however, perhaps it was a problem just with with an early batch.

[csp]

The Aircon condenser on my 2020 Jazz SR was also replaced under warranty at just over 5000 just before the 3 year warranty ran out.

[Worthingmike]

I always have air-conditioning on and eco on.today we were out in the car and the car was cooled down to 21C. It did switch to recycle for a while.

[nubley]

The aircon in my four-year-old Jazz Crosstar has stopped working. I took it to the dealer for its annual service and they said the condenser pipe had leaked and needed replacing at a cost of nearly a grand.
After I had come around from the shock, they conceded my vehicle hadn’t been the first to have this problem and said they would ask Honda if they could authorise a “goodwill repair” since my warranty had expired.
I received a call today from the garage and was told that Honda had now extended its vehicle warranties to cover this fault, so it sounds like there is indeed a problem with this part.
Hugely relieved!

[Worthingmike]

I have had mine set to eco and auto from the start when i got the car. 4 year's it is still working. I may having recharged this service ascit replaces the oil in the gas. 27k miles and still geting 66.7 mpg. Very happy.

[Nicksey]

The aircon in my four-year-old Jazz Crosstar has stopped working. I took it to the dealer for its annual service and they said the condenser pipe had leaked and needed replacing at a cost of nearly a grand.
After I had come around from the shock, they conceded my vehicle hadn’t been the first to have this problem and said they would ask Honda if they could authorise a “goodwill repair” since my warranty had expired.
I received a call today from the garage and was told that Honda had now extended its vehicle warranties to cover this fault, so it sounds like there is indeed a problem with this part.
Hugely relieved!

Another one to watch 

[CtrlAltDel]

My leaking condenser was spotted during the brake servo recall fix . It’s going back next week to be fixed, replaced under warranty.