Clarity A/C problem (and warranty extension on pg 10)

Here's another data point. After 16,000 miles, the A/C Condenser went bad. Part is on back order (of course) so I will have to deal with hot weather the old fashioned way by putting the windows down until it arrives.
 
Have appointment with Honda dealer on Friday. I will have to pay to get diagnosis, approx $300. The condenser might be issue that Honda can help, but no guarantees. AC condenser also could be two weeks or more if needed.
At the moment I'm still working from home due to covid-19. Would not enjoy driving with the windows down for +60 km commute to work.
 
I don't have that problem but whenever I use the A/C, it smells like sh*t. This is same way it smelled when I first bought it and it never went away. Whenever I get service, I mention it but nothing seems to be wrong. Is this typical for Honda's?
 
Rav said:
I don't have that problem but whenever I use the A/C, it smells like sh*t. This is same way it smelled when I first bought it and it never went away. Whenever I get service, I mention it but nothing seems to be wrong. Is this typical for Honda's?
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This happened to a friend's car - a Chevy Volt. Had a horrible odor. Come to find out a dead rat was found in the vents. Had to take it to dealer. They dismantled the vent system and took a pic of the dead rodent. A few weeks later, she saw a rat entering a very small opening in her garage door and saw it climb up the front tire. Yikes! She banged on the car and the rat ran off and she killed it. She also plugged the opening in her garage door.
 
Gbuff said:
Have appointment with Honda dealer on Friday. I will have to pay to get diagnosis, approx $300. The condenser might be issue that Honda can help, but no guarantees. AC condenser also could be two weeks or more if needed.
At the moment I'm still working from home due to covid-19. Would not enjoy driving with the windows down for +60 km commute to work.
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Honda dealer checked and recharged my AC last Friday but couldn't find leak. Cost $200 which doesn't seem bad. They had me back to dealer today to check again, and now have confirmed AC condenser is leaking. Cost to replace condenser $1500. Going to have a few words with service manager about this.
 
Good luck. Hope your car is still under warranty. I'm still waiting for my evaporator core. It's been almost 2 months and the part "may" arrive by the end of July. That will be almost 3 months waiting for the part. Seems as though a large proportion of owners have AC problems. Is yours 2018? Curious if the 2019 models have the same issue.
 
I picked up my 2018 Clarity from dealer service which suggested I call Honda for help with my AC issue. They did confirm the condenser is backordered and didn't know how long to get.
Call to Honda Canada agent was encouraging, indicated good chance my claim could be accepted. The AC warranty would likely be doubled to cover my issue (6yrs./120k). Should get confirmation in a few business days. Will be great if this works out. Just hope the refrigerant charge they put in doesn't all leak out before new condenser is available.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
We had the same problem. The dealer claimed that the condenser was damaged so I asked to see it. I didn't see any damage but they charged me almost $1500 anyway for the repair/diagnostic because they said this is not covered by warranty. Was yours covered by warranty?
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If you have to, sue them in small claims court to cover the cost. I did it with GM and it was actually pretty easy.
 
I have a 2018 Clarity PHEV, hoping not to have A/C issue - but it is a concern. Wouldn't the A/C in this car be critical to the traction battery as it is used to cool it? And wouldn't charging/driving the car with a non-functioning A/C risk damage to the battery? As a prior owner of a LEAF in the hot Southeast, I am quite aware of how heat can degrade a battery rather rapidly.
The A/C compressor does run when charging the car, especially when it is hot. I'd think that the A/C system is a critical component, but I suspect the warranty is written to exclude it from the longer term battery/charging component warranty.
 
FYI, my Clarity just had an AC problem. As part of my research I read the comments in this thread. I decided to DIY it rather than go through the dealership. I used an AC manifold gauge to test system pressure, it was very low. I evacuated the refrigerant and held a vacuum to check for leaks (expecting to replace my condenser or evaporator as mentioned on this forum.)

Vacuum held, no leaks.

Consequently, I suspected the problem was the R-1234yf so I replaced it with R-134a (I could be wrong.) The AC works now but I don't know if I'm damaging my system by running the R-134a with the special Honda Clarity POE oil. They might be incompatible. I wrote a detailed post on how I did it and the tools I used on Clarity Forum dot com.

The Honda R-1234yf machines are supposed to identify leaks and prohibit a charge. So I'm a little suspicious of dealerships charging $300 to recover and refill then deciding they found a leak in a major component on the call back.
 
May or may not (still pending passage of time) shorten life of AC system, illegal, and harms the environment. I find this practice rather odd for someone buying an electric-ish car, many of whom do so in part to help lessen damage to the environment.

I'm not criticizing or choosing sides. And it doesn't bother me one bit that you did this, as I likewise didn't buy my car under the delusion that it helps save the world. But I do want to make sure all such info is put out there, for anyone considering whether they might want to follow this practice. Converting to the old refrigerant generally works fine, and it certainly does save money for the purchaser, and I respect that.

Good info in this article about this practice, which is illegal for shops to do but has become somewhat common among the DIY world: https://refrigeranthq.com/end-users-switching-r-1234yf-vehicles-r-134a/

You are 100% correct to be suspicious of dealerships charges. ALWAYS. If/when my A/C needs work, and it's coming out of my pocket, I may follow you down this rabbit hole and backwards convert to R134a. But if I don't, it's going to an independent shop for proper recharge/repairs...but never a stealership...
 
@BradClarity :
Well, keep us posted.
You were faced with 4 choices...

1. Go to the dealer (or an independent shop)... It was reported here that a dealer cost was $300 for a charge.
2. Get some of the correct refrigerant and charge it yourself (cost of refrigerant ~$80).
3. Use the incorrect refrigerant and charge it yourself (cost of refrigerant ~$7).
4. Of course, I think you were also covered under warranty. I do understand the reticence to interact with the dealer, but there is a limit to this.

Keep in mind that if you lost your refrigerant it is quite likely that you have a leak somewhere and will lose it again in pretty short order. I do not believe that the leak check you described (holding a vacuum) is sufficiently sensitive to truly confirm there are no leaks.

Given these choices, I would have opted for Option 4 (press for a warranty repair) because if there is a leak (or a leaky component) they should pick up the exorbitant cost albeit with a likely painful delay to get the part. My second choice would have been Option 2 ($80 is not too painful in the scheme of this, and it alleviates any worry about subtle incompatibilities causing damage).

I also want to thank you for the obvious research you did, and for posting the technical documentation related to A/C repair on clarityforum.com !
 
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I was just wondering if the AC issues reported are as a result of folks not running the AC on a regular basis? I am guilty of turning off the AC to maximize mileage. Having seen this thread, I make a point of running it for 30 mins each week.
 
Update. I took my car in on April 27 for AC issues....blowing warm air. A defective evaporator core. I was told the core should arrive mid July. It's now almost August and the part still hasn't arrived from Japan. Fortunately, they injected refrigerant a month ago and the AC is working flawlessly. I'm hesitant to bring it back in unless the core arrives and the AC goes bad again. "Leave well enough alone?" It's 108° here in Palm Springs. I'm beginning to really hate my car.
 
2018 Clarity Touring, A/C condenser went, leaky seam, July 4th. I am now told I can expect the condenser to arrive mid September, just in time for fall. Not very encouraging...Put in a case with Honda of America and was basically told I'm SOL and have to wait. I'm thinking of trading it in for something more reliable, which is something I didn't think I would have to say about a Honda....
 
Gbuff said:
I picked up my 2018 Clarity from dealer service which suggested I call Honda for help with my AC issue. They did confirm the condenser is backordered and didn't know how long to get.
Call to Honda Canada agent was encouraging, indicated good chance my claim could be accepted. The AC warranty would likely be doubled to cover my issue (6yrs./120k). Should get confirmation in a few business days. Will be great if this works out. Just hope the refrigerant charge they put in doesn't all leak out before new condenser is available.
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Update on my AC condenser failure issue.
It's 6 weeks since I contacted Honda for my AC problem. Several follow-up emails and calls to Honda Canada got no response and I was getting frustrated. The refrigerant recharge only lasted a couple of weeks and weather has been consistently hot. Fortunately haven't needed to drive much since mostly working from home due to covid-19.
I was quite surprised today, Honda finally contacted me and will pay cost of AC fix. Not sure how quickly it'll be done because the condenser was backordered last I heard. Hope can be repaired before summer ends.
 
Kupula said:
2018 Clarity Touring, A/C condenser went, leaky seam, July 4th. I am now told I can expect the condenser to arrive mid September, just in time for fall. Not very encouraging...Put in a case with Honda of America and was basically told I'm SOL and have to wait. I'm thinking of trading it in for something more reliable, which is something I didn't think I would have to say about a Honda....
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I'm lucky that my condenser was one of the first to go because the part was still in stock in the US. It's the only problem we've had with our Clarity (well, except for rusty brake discs). This A/C condenser failure appears to be the most common problem reported on this forum, which might explain the difficulty in obtaining a replacement. I don't think this single failure should cause you to consider your Clarity unacceptably unreliable, but if you have had many other problems, I can understand your reluctance to continue driving this unique automobile.
 
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