04 Civic Air Conditioner Not So Good

1 post

I have a Honda Civic 04 Manual Transmission. It has ALWAYS had a problem with the air conditioning. The car is great, except in Texas summers. When it gets over 100 degrees outside, I just assume I'm going to sweat the whole way to wherever I'm going.

I've had Honda look into the issue a few times, but they just tell me that there's nothing wrong and look surprised that a civic would have a/c problems. Of course, everyone probably complains about it and the dealership is probably trying to shirk the issue.

I always assumed that it was simply a matter of a 4-cylinder engine trying to pump out cold air. However, I am not certain how other 4-cylinder engine a/c's perform. Anyone have experience with a Toyota Corolla or Nissan Sentra's a/c? I always assumed the more powerful the engine, the better an a/c unit will perform on a car.

I noticed that the a/c performs well only when I am in gear and moving. It probably needs the extra energy from the engine to cool the car down and have the a/c running properly. If I am on the highway the whole time, the a/c cools decently. However, when I am not in gear, it blows hot air. As you can imagine, driving local roads and constantly being in and out of gear keeps the car hot.

Movement is key to trying to get your honda civic a/c to work semi-decently. As long as the car is in gear and moving, the a/c should work a little better.

Other tips: Park under shade. Leave the windows rolled down a little bit. Use a sunshade. When first starting the car, do not recycle air as the interior will be very hot. Move to a/c recycle once the interior has "cooled down" (not really cool, but simply cooler).

I agree. The honda civic A/C sucks. It is a price you simply pay for having good gas mileage and reliability. I just hope I don't pass out while driving in this hot Texas weather. I've even considered rigging a window a/c unit with a generator nailed down to the trunk .

I really like my civic 9 months out of the year. The other 3 months, I curse it.

I'm wondering if the new generation of civics have better a/c systems.

1 post

I had the same problem with my 2004 Accord in 2006. It turned out to be a defective seal in the compressor in the A/C system. I was over the mileage limit on the warranty, but barely, and after a 'discussion' with the dealership they replaced it at no cost. It would have cost over $1500. I told them, "I haven't been driving the air conditioner!" Shortly after that, I discovered that almost all Hondas from that year have inaccurate odometers anyway. The actual mileage is aproximately 10% less than is shown on the instrument. Now I am having MORE problems with my A/C. Sometimes it won't come on when I first turn my car on, then after 5 to 15 minutes, it decides to come on. Then it does not blow cold for the first few minutes. The dealership charged me $735.00 to fix it, and when I got it back nothing was different. I got my money back, but my A/C is still messed up. This car is only 5 years old!! I have never had so many problems with a Honda before, but I am going to try a Toyota next time. I know how hot it is in Arizona, but it is really hot in Texas too, and it only cools off about 5 degrees at night. The heat seems to make it malfunction more frequently.

2 posts

Obviously, the same as my dealer. Funny how suddenly there was no stone damage suddenly. Would they have told you if you had paid to change the condenser and they found no damage? I think i can guess the answer.

1 post

I also recently had problems with my air con.My car is a 2004 civic 1.7ctdi.Took car to honda and told the condenser had been stone damaged and would cost £495 to renew.While looking for a cheaper part on the internet i came across colinwd18 report on his honda,so i returned to honda and asked if my car was covered and after looking at the condenser and not finding stone damage they replaced it free of charge.

2 posts

I recently had problems with my air con, then it failed. Took it to the dealer, who "fixed" the leak and regassed for £75. Failed again a week later, they then said it was the condenser and that would cost £493 to replace! I wrote to Honda (i have a 2004 Civic 1.7CTDI) who say there is a problem with the aircon system on some Civics, and that mine is one of them. It's gone up to a 95000mile/6 year warranty on the original part. I've booked it in with the garage tomorrow, and also told them i would like to speak to the head of servicing. I want my original £75 back, and want to know why they were prepared to charge me for a condenser when there is a service bulletin on my model saying they are defective and should be replaced. I had the same problem when my turbo failed, they tried to charge me for that, until i contacted Honda and found there was a service bulletin on that as well!I'm glad i've always contacted Honda directly when the dealer tries to get money out of me.

From New Orleans, 1 post

I have owned a 2001 Honda civic ex since 2003 and never had any air conditioning problems until the car hit around 100,000 miles and my warranty was up. Apparently it wouldn't do me any good anyway if I still had my warranty. I am having the same problems every one else is having where it is warm for around 10 to 20 minutes and then cools down. It also gets warm on acceleration. Around a month ago I had more freon put in and it cooled it down a little bit then but is really warm again. After the freon was put in, it still wasn't 100%. Has anyone found a solution to this problem?

From Iowa, 1 post

I'm having the same problem with my 2005 Honda Vp. I bought it brand new in late 05 and it has been to the shop 3 times. The first time they refilled my freon with a dye and freon to try and find a leak. Next time they found the part and replaced it (I don't recall what it was), and this last time I had taken it in it was cycling but no cool air. Or it would have cool air and then would lose the cool but keep cycling. They said it was the thermocoupler and it cost 41 bucks and after that it was good for a while. Now it is starting again. It's hot and humid here in Iowa and from what I understand this problem is quite common.

From London, England. U.K., 1 post

I have a Honda Civic 02 1.4L Auto & A/C
Last September I had an A/C Service, the Garage said it works fine, I tried it reciently, no cold air out of vents, just warm air, but It does demist the windows, when it rains, we have a similar problem, who to go to to get it working properly, without wasting loads of money?

From Houston, Texas, 2 posts

Originally posted by Juless44 on 21 Jul 2006 7:05 PM
As an FYI, I have had the same problem with a 95 Honda Civic Coupe EX here in Phoenix. When I go to work in the morning, after the car has been garaged all night, the AC works 100% of the time. If I leave work after dark and the car has had time to cool, then it works 100% of the time. If I attempt to drive it after it has been in the sun for just an hour, the AC will not work at all... 100% of the time. There must be some sort of heat sensor preventing it from working... As with the others, I've taken it in and their solution is to charge the freon. Then they have me drive it after it has been parked in the garage for hours.









It is a 95 and onits last legs, but I am considering another Honda and need to be certain that this is not a problem with all Hondas.









This thread's topic deals with a design defect unique to the 7th generation of Civics (model years 2001-2005). You might want to start a new thread to deal with your issue. Our cars suffer from a design defect involving every car for which no fix is known. I am so glad I found this forum. I have had Toyotas for 12 years and have never had a problem with air conditioning. I buy a brand new Honda Civic Ex in April of 2006 and the air sucks! I am used to cold cold air coming out immediately and staying that way. I now with this humid weather in Baltimore, have the air on the coldest it can go and only cool air comes out. When I go around a corner, warm air blows out of the vent. What's the deal?! Looks like the problem has not been fixed on the 2006 model years either! I am taking my car in this Friday to the dealership to look at the problem. I am also having a problem with slow response on my rear defroster and poor radio reception. Not sure if all are connected somehow, but come on! This is a brand new car and these things should not be happening. Anyone else have problems with their radio reception and with the rear defroster as well? I am going to bring these reviews into the dealership so that they know I am not crazy AND that the air conditioner problem is not unique to my car only. It is definitely a Honda problem. I'll keep you posted on what happens.





Any luck with getting this fixed. I have a 2006 with all the issues.


Quote: null Well wouldn't you know the service guy said there is nothing wrong with the air cond, the radio reception or the rear defroster. Bull! He gave me a report that shows the specifications on checking the air conditioner. Apparently, the vents should be blowing out 41 degrees under 89 degrees and over that 50 degrees. What?! They evacuated and recharged air conditioner, which has not helped at all. I even told them I followed the suggestions that I saw on-line that said to place your air on max ac. So, I drove 40 minutes with the air on the coldest setting, the air on max ac and turned upn all the way. When I arrived at the dealership I showed them how my shirt was all wet on my back because I was sweating so much. They didn't care one bit! I don't care what the "Honda specifications" are I just want it to blow out cold air. I spoke with 2 of my co-workers who have 2006 Civics and they have the same problem. If Honda has had this problem for years (from what I see here from all the complaints posted) then WHY aren't they fixing it? As for the radio reception they found nothing wrong with it (I think they think I'm nuts!). I told them that a radio station should not be staticing and going in and out. I really should have taken them on a test drive. I think it does have something to do with the window anntenna. It still sucks! No fix. Rear defroster he told me there is no problem. All the connector wires, etc are fine. So, it looks like I'm stuck with all these problems, which to me are major problems. The service guy said he would look into any recalls etc... Whatever! I loved Toyota but was swayed to Honda because of "the bargain" the Civic was. I will contact Honda Customer Care with my unhappiness, but according to what I've seen on this site, Honda does not care. Let me know if you were able to get anywhere with your complaints.



We match each other on this 3 point issue. The greatest concern in Texas is the Air. Radio is okay if not a distant station and defroster in rear is very slow to clear window but it does not ice here. I had mine recharged also and they kept it twice and I took back again. It seems this will always be an issue. I have a Toyota 4Runner with > 175,000 and that the air (all original equip) chills me to the bone. I don't want to trade or sell the Civic because of the first-year use depreciation. Big $$$ loss and I want the gas mileage it gets. I am going to get the windows tinted tomorrow to help. I have driven many many cars in Texas for > 30 years and this is the worse air. I have had 2 other hondas that worked fine.

From Charlotte, NC, 1 post

Originally posted by sbaylor on 21 Jul 2005 3:51 PM
Hi, I live in Charlotte < NC and seems like summer gets hotter and hotter every year. Now im not a big fan of useing AC and you can call me crazy, but i believe that it simply kills your engine. I love my 99civic and i wish it stayed new forever... but since it got so God Da$% hot i started to use it more and more often, until i ran into the same problem you guys have and its starts to freak me out. At first I thought i need more anti freeze, so i went to Target and got myself one of these cans with tha gauge to read the pressure and comes to find out it's charged, but the air blows freaking hot as hell. I didn't go to the dealer and i can tell you this...dealer won't help me, instead they will try to reep me off, by charging and not doing a thing, so i am going to go to my friend's shop for help and i will try to find a problem and will definetly let you know what's wrong with the ACs in our hondas.