$1700 for a/c repair

When I ran repair shops in Austin, (15 years ago) I clearly recall a Honda Civic being about $1300 to install a standard "kit" which includes compressor, accumulator, expansion, a bottle of PAG, and some o-rings.   I could get the kit wholesale for about $250-300, so $350 retail.

Lots of labor, plenty of cost in R134, should do a belt if it's showing any signs of wear

Appleseed said:

In reply to Toyman01 + Sized and :

I'll bet it's a bit more than several.  I'll guarantee it's a flat bastard.  

I'm not familiar with the Fit. I paid my son $500 to rebuild the A/C on my wife's Suburban a couple of weeks ago. I supplied the compressor, receiver, condenser, orifice tube, and TXV valve at the rear evaporator. Including flushing all the lines, it took about 4 hours. 

06HHR (Forum Supporter) said:

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I paid $1700 for a full system replacement for my 04 Ralliart wagon this year. 
 

I've got parts for a complete Sanden conversion on order from Classic Industries for the GMT400. AC isn't cheap,  I also don't consider it optional here in FL. There's times when you need it if you except to be able to see out of the windshield. 

I was about to order that conversion, but instead opted for the scroll-type R4 compressor for my 91 Silverado.  It's basically a Sanden-type compressor in an R4 case.  No complaints so far and it was a reasonable price from RA.  Working AC in a car is a necessity here in FL.  Both my 30 year old beaters have working AC. 

Cool, I didn't know that was a possibility. Wish I could have known two weeks ago. The parts for the system is over $800 and I haven't paid for labor. Talk about spending more than the value of the vehicle. 

How does she know the compressor is bad? Did they perform a leak check? Or, did the bearings go bad?  Mine sounded like a bucket of nails in the dryer when the compressor bearings failed.  If it's a slow leak she can always try to top it off w/a refill can of R134 (if the compressor is still kicking on).

I did the whole AC system on my EP3 (2005 Civic Si) a few years back. I spent a lot of time upside-down underneath the dashboard.  I'm guessing a skilled tech can do it in under 3 hours if they're similar.  I took it to the dealer to evac and refill the system after I replaced all the parts.  If the compressor fails metal can contaminate the whole system, so it's best to replace the receiver-dryer and evaporator.  I lucked out and only paid $300 for all the parts.  The AC evac & refill was somewhere around $150 or so if I remember correctly.

BTW, I asked our service manager to cobble an estimate.  We came to $1550 with new compressor, condensor, flush, service, etc.  No serpentine belt, which might add another $50-70.

Andy Neuman said:

I think the warranty work on my mustang ac would have been around 2500 out of pocket. They "replaced" everything according to the service order. 

The compressor in my Mustang blew up about a year after I bought it.  Like in Andy’s case the service writer told me $2,600 all day.   I had bought a Ford extended warranty which more than paid for itself.  They replaced everything but the evaporator in my car.  

JUST AN ASIDE.  I have never personally seen a Fit eat a compressor, although that doesn't mean it can't happen.

I have seen a LOT of Fits of that era have a sticking A/C compressor clutch relay.  This will cause the A/C to remain engaged with the condensor fan off, which causes high side pressure to exceed the 450psi (IIRC) safety blowoff on the top/rear of the compressor.  This will blow all the refrigerant out, and leave dye all over the compressor, engine, everything in the vicinity.

It looks like an exploded compressor, it's just a $60ish relay.  (Why so expensive? Because Honda) And of course an evac and recharge, and half a case of carb cleaner to clean the dye mess, since degreasers don't seem to touch it.

the funny is that other cars with excessive high side pressure issues with larger engines, like Escapes and Foresters, will actually stall the engine at idle before the pressure gets that high.  Honda has a righteously powerful idle control strategy on that 1.5!

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Wow, I wish I was closer so I could try it. I'm pretty sure their mechanic is already working on it though.