So for my 2000 Honda accord my AC stopped working at least 6 months ago probably longer. Not only did it not work but warm air would come out of the vents even if I turned the AC all the way off. Not much but it would leak out a little.
I decided to just deal with it and make it to winter when I wouldn’t need cold AC anyways. Well, a couple weeks ago, when it started getting cold, the AC started to be cold. The heating doesn’t work now. I’m sure it has something to do with the weather but that’s all I know because I’m not a car guy at all. One weird thing is that now when I turn the AC all the way off it actually turns all the way off.
Does anyone have any recommendations or have an idea how much it would be to fix this?
From what you’re describing, it sounds like the ac compressor clutch isn’t engaging
It will definitely cost several hundred . . . possibly thousands . . . dollars to fix, considering the labor rates for good shops are probably around $200/hr in your area
But it’s impossible to even make a good guess, because we don’t know if your problem is due to a leak or something even worse
If your ac compressor has “let go” and shot metal all throughout the system, it’ll get very expensive, because parts of the system will need to be flushed and the condenser should also be replaced, among other things.
Ironic no ac in summer but plenty of heat, now in winter ac works perfectly, but no heat … lol …
The colder ambient temp could explain why the AC is now working. To produce cold air the AC has to dissipate heat to the outside air via the AC condenser near the radiator. Colder outside air makes it easier. An AC specialist shop should be able to easily figure out what’s causing that problem. My guess, either the compressor or the refrigerant charge.
I can’t think of a reason colder outside temps would prevent the heater from working. I suspect it hasn’t been working all summer, but you had no reason to try it until now. Are the engine compartment hoses that feed the heater core both warm when you get no heat? If so, my guess, an hvac door is stuck.
Well the AC was always warm in the summer. Like hot, so I don’t know. I appreciate the response though. Just very odd, hopefully I can figure it out though!
Something I should have mentioned: the controls for the air on my dashboard don’t seem to be working either (sorry again I’m not a car person so I don’t know that correct terminology) but basically when I push something like defrost or have the air push more in your legs usually there’s an orange light that lights up in that button but that’s hasn’t been the case lately either. It also doesn’t seem like those are changing when I push a new button.
I posted a similar comment in reply to another but another thing is that the AC controls like defrost and so on don’t seem to be working either and the orange light doesn’t come up like usual
Would it also make sense then that it’s only cold now? Also like my replies to other comments the AC controls on my dashboard don’t seem to be working either unfortunately for some reason if that could be related
This is something that you need a pro to look at, expect to pay for a diagnostic, then once you know the problem, then you can decide if this is a DIY project or a pro shop to do the repairs…
But a HVAC system is not for someone that knows nothing about cars, leave this for the pros…
To be honest I have a guy who I’m friends with but kinda iffy if I can trust him but he’d be way cheaper than an actual shop (unless he fixes the wrong thing or makes something else worse somehow) so that’s kind of why I’m trying to see if I can pinpoint the issue before I have to make that decision.
Wow that’s crazy. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. To be fair to my guy, he has done some work on my car in the past and told me he’d do it for free as long as I’d pay the parts, which I trust he will honor. My only concern is that he replaces a part that doesn’t need replaced because he knows a lot about cars but isn’t an actual mechanic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but there’s definitely better experts I could go to.
I’ve been a long time car-repair diy’er, but even I wouldn’t try to fix an A/C problem myself until an experienced AC specialist had a look at the situation, made a proper diagnosis. At that point I might replace parts the specialist said needing replacing myself. For the A/C part of your problem, suggest to take that approach, get a pro diagnosis as the first step. For the heating component, a knowledgeable diy’er with the written procedures that applied to the vehicle would have a reasonable chance of fixing that I think. If the heating problem is traced to the control panel electronics module , suggest to post back for advice before asking friend to attempt a fix.
