2007 Honda Odyssey Baffles 2 mechanics

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Mid- july I had the compressor rebuilt when the A/C suddenly started blowing warm air one week prior to a 1200 mile road trip.

Two weeks later the car wouldn’t start. The battery (still under warranty) checked out as “good” was charged up and started the car fine. It needed an oil change before we headed home and the lube shop said that the coolant was low. I mentioned that I thought this was strange since I just had the compressor fixed and the guy and the quick lube just shrugged and I paid to top off the coolant. The next morning we set out towards home- 1200 more miles.

About 100 miles into the trip I noticed the A/C didn’t seem to be blowing very cold. It was cool. Not cold. It was better after we stopped the car for lunch and that lasted for about 5 miles. When we stopped, our car was leaking copious amounts of fluids from both the engine and the passenger rear side of the car. By about 300 miles into the trip, the rear AC wasn’t blowing at all. By 500 miles in NOTHING WAS BLOWING. Still leaking tons of fluids. Seemingly water.

We drove through the night with complaints of heat from the kids. Parked the car in the driveway. I moved the car into the garage… and I turned on the A/c to see if it was now working. The engine started to scream and smoke was rising from the hood. This didn’t stop when I turned off the A/C.

The next morning, the battery was dead again. I had it towed to our mechanic. Other than the battery he could find nothing wrong. No noises. no smoke. A/C blowing AND it’s blowing cold. Possible leak from the compressor (which I told him was under warranty from the guys who put it in and asked him not to touch it). They charged the battery.

I drove it to the A/C guys (A/C is blowing fine). They admit the A/C isn’t as cool as one might hope. They drive it. Seems fine. Possible Coolant leak, but it’s raining and they can’t find the leak. They keep the car overnight. The Battery is dead the next morning. They replace the battery with a loaner. I’m desperate for my car. I pick it up and agree to bring it back in a few days to have them check the coolant levels and the battery.

NOW… Car starts, but it seems sluggish. The car revs like a formula 1 race car from 1st gear through 4th (maybe). The A/C is blowing cold (What the?? Blowing and cold?). Still leaking a lot of fluids (condensation?). Why? AND the check engine light has never gone on. What is wrong with my car???

2

Unfortunately, I think the first step is to find another shop

I recommend that you NEVER go back to these guys, unless it’s for a refund

“Possible Coolant leak, but it’s raining and they can’t find the leak”

That’s a pathetic excuse. Perhaps it didn’t occur to these guys to drive the car into the shop and use a pressure tester . . .

“They keep the car overnight. The battery is dead the next morning.”

If the battery is going dead that fast, and they can’t find the problem, or won’t even try (?), that is also pathetic

3

Sounds like you have several unrelated problems:

  1. Car seems sluggish and revs high: Odysseys are notorious for having bad transmissions, and that’s what these symptoms suggest. Have the transmission checked out by the local Honda dealer and be prepared for bad news. If you’re lucky it may just need servicing. If you’re not lucky, you’ll need an expensive transmission repair.

  2. Dead battery: you didn’t say how old the battery is. It could be near the end of its life even if still under warranty. Or it could simply be defective. Have the battery tested. If it’s still good, then have a mechanic check the charging system.

  3. AC: I’m not an AC expert, so I’ll leave that to others. But the copious leaking of fluids sounds like the AC evaporator coils may be freezing intermittently, then thawing and releasing the frozen condensate as water. (That’s just a guess based on what refrigerators sometimes do). In any case, the AC system is not performing as designed and you should get the shop that did the work to diagnose it and make it right.

4

When you use the term “coolant”, do you mean the stuff used to charge the car’s AC system? Or do you mean the engine coolant, the green or yellow anti-freeze in other words? When you say it was leaking tons of fluid, what do you mean exactly? How much fluid was leaking, over what time? A quart in a minute? A quart in an hour? And what was it that was leaking? What color was the fluid that was leaking? Did it have an odor? When you noticed it was leaking, was the car parked, the engine off, after a drive? Or does it leak when waiting for a stoplight, with the engine running?

I’m just guessing now, but you may have two separate problems. First off, I’m guessing the reason the AC wasn’t working at first was that the AC refridgerant was low. When it was recharged, something may have gone wrong, either they used the wrong refridgerant, or overcharged it. Overcharging can easily damage the compressor. Or maybe the AC pump was on the fritz all along. Or there’s a refridge leak somewhere. In which case you may need a shop with AC experience to test for leaks and test to see if you need a new AC compressor.

Second, you may have an engine cooling problem. If so, the engine may be seriously damaged You need a shop to test for this, and if indeed your engine overheated, you may need a replacement engine. Any good inde shop can give you an answer to this without ambiguity, yes, or no.

5

Thanks for your responses.

New Battery dead this morning. Something else must be draining it over night. All 4 times- all dead over night.

6

Some bad diagnosis likely that wasted money on an unecesary compressor rebuild and battery.

The problem is most likely a $7 AC clutch relay that either sticks on or off.

It this sticks it release freon in the blow off valve when its running finally as system pressure gets too great. Normally the engine wants to cycle the AC compressor on and off with this relay. Sticking overnight will eventually drain a battery.

This is a 5 minute DIY job by replacing a relay in your fuse box under the hood. You need to bring it back after to make sure charge is proper for AC.

7

It needed an oil change before we headed home and the lube shop said that the coolant was low. I mentioned that I thought this was strange since I just had the compressor fixed and the guy and the quick lube just shrugged and I paid to top off the coolant.

He shrugged likely because you are confusing two separate systems; the coolant is for the engine, compressor and refridgerant are for the A/C system.

When we stopped, our car was leaking copious amounts of fluids from both the engine and the passenger rear side of the car. By about 300 miles into the trip, the rear AC wasn’t blowing at all…Still leaking tons of fluids. Seemingly water

Another indication of the confusion. That fluid was engine coolant, leaking from the front and rear heater lines more than likely. If the A/C refridgerant leaked, it would dissipate as gaseous clouds, not leak onto the ground in “copious amounts”.

The engine started to scream and smoke was rising from the hood.

Could be a locked up A/C compressor or an engine that has been run without coolant and is in the process of seizing up.

The next morning, the battery was dead again. I had it towed to our mechanic. Other than the battery he could find nothing wrong. No noises. no smoke

Did you tell him about the fluid loss?? Seems impossible to miss such a gross failure, especially if someone says it leaked so much fluid onto the ground. Perhaps you could elaborate of what kind of “mechanic” you took it to. Were they an A/C shop or general auto repair?

What is wrong with my car???

I’ll venture a wild stab- the A/C isn’t working because the car is overheating due a large coolant leak. The engine radiator is so hot, the A/C system can’t dissipate it’s heat. The temperature gauge is not warning you because so much fluid has leaked out, the sensor is no longer in the fluid but sitting in an air pocket.

Your battery is dying due to either a large parasitic drain or lack of charging from the alternator. Two easily diagnosed failure modes.

I’d suggest going somewhere else for your servicing needs in the future if everything you described is full and accurate.

8

Well here is my view of the troubles you are having. First, I assume there are A/C units in the front and rear side of the van and the liquid you saw leaking on the ground is just water condensation from the evaporators. This could be a could sign that the AC system is working ok except for one issue. You stated the AC seemed to work ok for a little while after the vehicle was shut down for a bit. This leads me to think that the system may be overcharged when they added the new refrigerant. The system may be having a problem when things get heated up. Testing the pressures at temperature will show if that is true or not.

It is hard to say what caused the screaming noise and smoke you describe but my best guess is it happened because the AC compressor was locked up and the belt was slipping on the pulley.

The current draw problem should be pretty easy to find and fix for any good shop. It doesn’t seem there is a big mystery with that issue. If there is a sticking relay causing the trouble it would be very easy to replace it. Since the screaming and smoke happened when you turned the AC on it could be another indication there is a sticking relay used for the clutch. A good tech will have no trouble finding what is causing the issue and should be able to pin it down fairly quick if it is a constant problem. If it is intermittent then it might take some time to find it.

9

Our 2003 Honda Accord was smoking when the compresser went out. Metal scrapnel got dislogged into the system. The car had a rebuilt Honda unit in it so Honda replaced it for free. The issue with these rebuilds or factory units is that the entire system needs to be replaced when the compressor goes or else the system will be “contaminated.” Honda replaced the system, $3600 worth of equipment and labor for free and we have not had any trouble. I would suggest a Honda dealer when replacing the system. The rebuild units on Hondas have a 36 month warranty on hondas built before 2011.

10

@0708Honda

ANY car that has a compressor let go should have several things done

Replace compressor
Replace accumulator/dryer
Replace expansion valve/orifice tube
replace condenser (because they can’t always be successfully flushed)
flush entire system
install suction screen in the ac manifold hose assembly
evacuate for at least 30 minutes