I have a 2002 Honda Odyssey. I recently had the air conditioning compressor replaced. Now, when the A/C is on and I accelerate from a stop; the engine “whines” through the first 3 gears or so. Also, when the A/C starts up initially from a cold start there is an audible groan and light drop in RPMs. Also, if I turn the A/C off while accelerating the noise immediately disappears.
Any ideas?
The AC compressor was probably rebuilt as that is the norm. If you got a rebuild with a problem this wouldn’t surprise anyone as lots of rebuilds are not very good. So have you taken it back to where the compressor was installed?
No, I haven’t yet. I just recently (within the last 2 days) had to turn the A/C on and noticed the problem. The unit was installed by the dealership, so I would hope it wasn’t a rebuild.
Any thoughts on it possibly being a bad bearing in the A/C clutch? This was my first thought, but I can’t seem to really get at the unit to diagnose it (it’s totally buried under the hood).
I don’t know why you’d take a van this old to a dealer. They don’t have any special magic. They generally just charge more and try to sell you more. They also operate pretty much like any other shop would and I’d be surprised if you got a brand new compressor.
The bearing is in the pulley and would probably make noise whether the AC was engaged or not.
You could elaborate some more on the noise. You just said the “engine” whines - though I guess that’s not a precise statement in your mind. There are also lots of different kinds of whining.
If it is truly something that goes away once the transmission hits 4th then it might not be directly related to the A/C system, but instead to the load the compressor puts on the engine. Acceleration whine often comes from the transmission. But now we’re into needing a lot more info about the van. Has the transmission been replaced yet?
You have a 1yr/12,000 warranty on labor/parts for dealer repairs(if Honda). Go back…