“Why isn’t my air conditioner working?”
While most of us wanted the warm weather to arrive, not everyone is happy about it. Especially if you’re one of the many that has a problem with their Air Conditioner not working in their car. This week we saw a long time customer concerned that there was No cold air coming from the vents of her Honda Civic. This Honda Repair was a pretty funny situation because naturally the customer assumed the worst but the repair was pretty simple and inexpensive.
Honda AC not working
The customer called in a bit of a panic because she had just taken her car out of storage so she could enjoy it for the summer and was planning a long road trip. The problem was that when she went to get gas before the trip she found that the air coming through her vents seemed to just trickle out and it was hot. She was incredibly worried about what the repair was going to cost because she had been reading through some online forums on the issue and was lead to believe that the Honda AC Compressor needed to be replaced. One thing I can tell you is that reading online forums about issues with your car is like going to WebMD when you have a headache. The self diagnosis will always scare you.
When she brought it in one of our Master Technicians quickly verified the concern. We also noticed a loud humming noise when the fan was turned on. The first step we decided to take was removing the blower fan that actually creates the air flow moving through the vents. This way we would be able to see if there was a restriction in the vents or a problem with the motor for the fan.
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When we removed the fan we were able to quickly spot the problem. When the vehicle was left in storage some mice had found their way into her car, chewed up a blanket she had in her trunk, and made a little nest inside her dash. When she got in the car for the first time in a few months and turned on her Air Conditioner the fan spun all of the blanket pieces creating a blockage that
wouldn’t allow air to pass through. So even though the fan was moving, it was completely clogged.
Honda AC Repair
Since the fan was already out in the open we just cleaned it out. There was really nothing wrong with it at all. After we cleaned it, we vacuumed out all of the vents to remove any remaining blanket pieces (and mouse “debris”). After cleaning everything out we simply put everything back together and verified that the AC is operating properly. Problem solved!
This is the time of year when we see a lot of rodent related repairs. The reason being is that when cars sit during the winter it gives the rodent a nice warm place to live. This can happen whether you drive the vehicle daily or store it. The pests will chew insulation, wiring, interior, and anything else they can make a nest from.
Wondering “How can I keep mice out of my car?”
There are several ways to make this happen for you. While I haven’t tried all of them myself, these are the ones we know about;
Mothballs
I can say from experience that they stink up the vehicle. I’ve found the smell lingering for months while some people never notice it…
Traps
This can be messy depending on which type of trap you use
Dryer Sheets
This is actually what I use. It just deters the rodents from entering rather than killing them. I blanket any large areas with them and the mice seem to hate the smell. While I happen to really enjoy the smell when I get around to taking it out of storage.
Steel wool
This method is helpful for blocking up large areas or spaces such as exhaust and air intake pipes
D-Con
We have a customer that has a large garage with 35 classic cars in it. Some of the cars are upwards of $200,000. He swears by this stuff. It’s available at most home improvement stores.
Have a problem with your AC? Don’t stress yourself out trying to research the problem on a forum. Give us a call or schedule online today. We generally pinpoint the issue in under an hour and most repairs are pretty simple allowing you to drive your vehicle home the same day.
These guys are the best. They could have easily replaced all of the expensive stuff and I most likely would have paid. It’s tough to find good quality work these days and it’s even harder to find honesty. I keep coming back because I find both at Precision Auto. Thanks for taking care of my car once again and thanks for the advice.
Claudia C.
Westfield, MA