Air Conditioner stopped working

[RustyH]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

Well Rusty, I respectfully disagree. If thousands of people reported a problem, then Honda should address it. 4 people? You gotta be kidding me.

America's roads are in the worst condition since WWII. Sooner or later that is going to catch up with you.

Check any modern vehicle. The A/C condenser is right up front in the airstream.

As my pastor father always said, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. And we don't know that this hasn't happened to thousands, since thousands of Ridgeline owners, unfortunately, are unaware of this venue. As in all things, time will tell.

[smroycro]

Originally Posted by HondaTech

It does occur with every vehicle made. It has just gotten more and more widespread in the last, say, 5 years. As metal prices go up, the companies that manufacture condensers, radiators, etc (knows as heat exchangers) are using thinner tubing and fins to reduce weight and cost. Unfortunately sometimes it costs the customer more in the end.



HT

That response supports the design flaw suggestion above.

[ChrisM]

Originally Posted by chaz

The service manager told me that I was the third Ridgeline is the past week to come in with the same problem. She said that there were also several Odysseys with the same issue.

I've gotta find something to protect the area.

2007 RTL with NAVI.

This is one of the reasons I put in my billet grille. It protects the condensor from flying rocks and debris. My billet grille has been bombarded with little rocks. I know this because they show up as rock chips. I have to touch it up about 3 times a year.

IMHO the OEM grille is way too open. IMHO it's butt ugly too. That is the second reason why I ditched it.

The RTX grille may be the hot ticket for those who want more protection but don't want the risk of running something aftermarket.

Some of the aftermarket grilles may impede that important airflow that HondaTech was talking about.

[HondaTech]

Originally Posted by smroycro

That response supports the design flaw suggestion above.

Your tires will lose air if you drive over a nail. Every tire will. Is that a design flaw?

The designers make the parts work as best as they can. You cannot protect from every variable on the road. The condenser is first in line and takes the brunt of the damage. Better no A/C than the radiator becoming damaged and leaving you stranded. Thats why the condenser is first in line, with the radiator second.



HT

[smroycro]

Originally Posted by HondaTech

Your tires will lose air if you drive over a nail. Every tire will. Is that a design flaw?

The designers make the parts work as best as they can. You cannot protect from every variable on the road. The condenser is first in line and takes the brunt of the damage. Better no A/C than the radiator becoming damaged and leaving you stranded. Thats why the condenser is first in line, with the radiator second.



HT

People don't reasonably expect that tires will keep air if driving over a nail.

When desigining a system, you cannot protect from every variable, but you do design the system to operate in it's intended environment. Any tradeoffs which are taken into account have to balance with reliability (amongst other components, but we are in fact effectively discussing reliability). Making a tradeoff of "weaker" parts to save money at the expense of reliability to the point of early failure is a design flaw.

[BillB]

Making a tradeoff of "weaker" parts to save money at the expense of reliability to the point of early failure is a design flaw.

While Honda may make millions of vehicles, they have only made a limited production run of Ridgelines. I would guess that the R and D costs per vehicle sold are extremely high for the Ridgeline in comparison to say the Accord, and the budget to "bury" better parts in the accord production run are likely higher than in the Ridgeline. Bottom line is we are paying for the penny pinching necessary to put the Ridgeline in the marketplace with the hope that it would catch on and then more effort to be placed in the redesign generation. Unfortunately I thing the Honda strategy is backfiring and the lack of perceived quality for a somewhat expensive vehicle is going to backfire and keep the Ridgeline as a "unique" and "special" use vehicle that will never make it a profit for Honda.

[meanmachine19]

It would take some more research, but a suggestion I got from ROC and ODY member Vertrkr is something I've done on one of my two Hondas (dropped the ball on the RL, but did it with my wife's Ody....

I used a mesh wire similar to one that is used for eaves on a house. You can get it at any hardware store.

I painted it black, used ties and it works just fine. It leaves ample air flow. The Ody has a 'lower' ground clearance and I was more concerned about that vehicle since I live on dirt/gravel roads. I did this three years ago and it looks like it may have taken a hit or two but no penetration, and no affect on the A/C or vehicle performance.

My wife has her Ody at work, so I can't grab a pic now, and I don't think I took pics of it.

I could not find Vertrkr's post on OdyClub.com -- The Honda Odyssey Online Community but perhaps an email to him might yield some pics. He's still a member here and logs on so perhaps he can help out.

If I find a pic, I'll let you know, or post a link if I find is thread on that site.

[schwejo]

exactly what meanmachine19... said Ive done the same

I just don’t think there is a lot of incentive to improve the durability. Might be lots of affected folks, but statistically not a huge number. Of course if it affects you than who cars about the odds of it actually happening. A Ford site I occasionally visit is discussing the same thing. The condenser on most recent cars is susceptible to the same puncture from road debris. The 1999-2007 Odyssey certainly suffers from this, possibly not more than any other vehicle, but it’s was seen as an issue when we had the 99 Ody, so its been a source of discussion for a somewhat longer than the Ridge has been around. I haven’t looked for myself, but I did read on an Ody forum that the lower grill on the 08 Ody was changed to help limit stone damage. Of course, that’s more than hearsay, but I can see that on our 07 Ody that the condenser is lower to the ground than on the Ridge and there is nothing in front of it that would deflect anything. It “appears” to be more susceptible to stone damage than the Ridge. It wouldn’t be rocket science to substantially improve the situation.

[meanmachine19]

This is the thread I was looking for that Vertrkr posted on the other website (I hope you don't mind, Vertrkr). Scroll down and he has pics of his install.

Hope this helps.

Now if I can find the spare gutter guard, I can put some on my RL....

[k757]

Originally Posted by meanmachine19

This is the thread I was looking for that Vertrkr posted on the other website (I hope you don't mind, Vertrkr). Scroll down and he has pics of his install.

Grrr... to view those images, you have to be a member there. oh well