I had the compressor in my 2010 Accord replaced. Lots of cold air now - on the passenger’s side.
Yup, cold on the passenger’s side, weird on the driver’s.
I have repeatedly measured 60-ish degrees coming out of the driver-side center vent while 45 degree is coming out the passenger’s side. All temps Fahrenheit.
Sometimes, and I cannot find a pattern to this, the driver’s side gets equally cold, around 45 and even as low as 42 degrees.
The passenger’s side never seems to have trouble. But my side, miserable.
The fact that the passenger’s side is 42-45 degrees says the compressor is running fine. But how come the driver’s side is whacked out?
Do you have dual-zone climate control? You know, the type that allows you to drive at a comfortable 68 degrees but yet the “always cold” passenger MUST set it to 74 degrees?
Very likely the motor that directs air on the driver’s side is no longer working or has lost its position signal… so nothing commands the motor to move. Either way, replacement motor-actuator time.
Edit: Since your Accord is a 2010 I and saw that there is a gizmo (shown below) that is the drivers side HVAC door actuator. Likely this is the problem. And don’t blame a compressor replacement for this as it is far more likely a coincidental failure.
Its likely mounted under the dash inside the car. Check YouTube and you might find a video of someone changing it on your generation Accord, or close. Google how to replace it and you may find diagrams or pictures.
Funny though, that guy determined his problem, which was heating rather than cooling, wasn’t the actuator. It was the heater mixing valve under the hood. So, he replaced his blend door actuator for naught.
I;m going to lay down in the foot well on my driver’s side tomorrow and see what’s up on my blend door actuator.
While more complication can ultimately lead to more breakdowns, sure, the reliability of these kinds of options has gotten so much better over the last few decades. Admittedly, I’ve never replaced a manual window crank and I have replaced a power window motor (and another is on its way out) but this was on a vehicle with over 125,000 miles.
On the flip side, nothing more than a set of spark plugs and one evap valve has ever been replaced on the engine. Normal repairs on 60 and 70’s car would have at least been a water pump and timing chain and 2 or 3 exhaust systems.
And power windows have been so popular, it is not even worth designing hand-crank windows for cars anymore.
On the other hand, I once owned a Ford Falcon that broke hand cranks (for windows) whereas all my cars with powered windows had no problems in that area.
On the other hand, I had a 98 Jetta that had both (electric) door locks die within 2 days, and required a 50 mile tow to a dealer.
Cars have gotten a lot better over the years in regards to accessory reliability. We have 3 Accords 03 264,000 miles, 06 145,000 miles, and an 07 186,000 miles.and we’ve never had issues with power locks, windows, dual climate, etc. Compare to vehicles my family owned in the 70s, 80s, etc and I can see why crank windows, manual locks, etc would be best.
