Really Bad noise - very bummed....

[Scott S]

I was in NY all week, left my 08 RTS at the airport the entire time. When I returned the weather was far better than when I left, so I set the interior temp at 70 and hit "auto". It sounded like the a/c compressor was going to fall out on the ground!!!! I turned it off and tried it again... perfect - just a very slight engage felt. This afternoon, the same deal. Car has sat since Friday. Hopped in and hit auto and again *BAM*. I am really bummed. My wife and her family have always had Hondas. Noises like this are why I did not replace my Silverado with another one (look up "silverado slip yoke" or "piston slap" and see what I mean).

Has anyone else had this issue? I am not even at 2000 miles yet. I am pretty peaved. Who makes a good reliable vehicle anymore?

*Sigh...*

[zjennings]

Originally Posted by Scott S

I was in NY all week, left my 08 RTS at the airport the entire time. When I returned the weather was far better than when I left, so I set the interior temp at 70 and hit "auto". It sounded like the a/c compressor was going to fall out on the ground!!!! I turned it off and tried it again... perfect - just a very slight engage felt. This afternoon, the same deal. Car has sat since Friday. Hopped in and hit auto and again *BAM*. I am really bummed. My wife and her family have always had Hondas. Noises like this are why I did not replace my Silverado with another one (look up "silverado slip yoke" or "piston slap" and see what I mean).

Has anyone else had this issue? I am not even at 2000 miles yet. I am pretty peaved. Who makes a good reliable vehicle anymore?

*Sigh...*

Don't jump to the conclusion that it's something severe. *something* may have gotten into your air system and is probably hitting the blower fan. Next time it happens, jump out of the car, and see if it's louder under the hood. If not, probably something hitting the blower fan blades. Not sure how the cabin filter works on the RL, but on my Toyota Echo and Prius the filter is right above the blower. I had this happen to my Echo. Turns out it was just a leaf hitting the blower blade.

Zach

[HondaTech]

Perhaps I am misunderstanding.... does the air conditioning work? Is there an actual system problem? It is somewhat normal for the a/c compressor to make a clunk when it first engages. Additionally, if the weather is humid surface rust can form on the A/C compressor clutch area. On the initial application there can be a little bit of noise. Functionality, however, remains unaffected.



HT

[arteegee]

Originally Posted by Scott S

It sounded like the a/c compressor was going to fall out on the ground!!!! I turned it off and tried it again... perfect - just a very slight engage felt. This afternoon, the same deal. Car has sat since Friday. Hopped in and hit auto and again *BAM*.

Has anyone else had this issue? I am not even at 2000 miles yet. I am pretty peaved. Who makes a good reliable vehicle anymore?

If this is much ado about nothing ie the clunk please get another Slivercloddo.

[Scott S]

Originally Posted by arteegee

If this is much ado about nothing ie the clunk please get another Slivercloddo.

Funny... you would fit in well on their forum...


Honda Tech - yep, seems to work just fine. We have a 2006 CRV, my inlaws have three 2001 or newer accords. As was initially the case with my RL, they all have a small engagement noise when the compressor kicks in - as is the case with any car. My Audi TT engages no matter if you are using heat or a/c. Even though we have very low humidity in Colorado (and zero rain this year), your humidity theory makes sense, as the sound is like freeing somthing that is frozen - really frozen.

Back to the dealer it goes...

[wagonator]

Scott S: mine does that same "BAM" every other day, it has 30,000 miles on and has never had problem besides the ugly noise. first i thought something was broke, but i guess that is the way this works. the bad thing is that it makes it randomly so its hard to get to the dealer and show them how it happens.