[Mobilcams]

Having the same issue now on mine.. last night my ac worked, it's been slowly getting worse (since last summer) but tonight it gave up.. I am not certain if I was included in the extended warranty.. I THINK I had notice about it, but I cannot for the life of me find anything in my saved documents folder in my filing cabinet. I am scared this is going to be an expensive repair (165k and 50 percent highway miles).

 

[pasei]

Today is 90F and the left vent was shooting plain warm air for 20 min... It started chilling after that but I was already home. It's kind of annoying because it's clearly not working as it should but it's also not clearly broken so not sure if its worth spending xK to fix it.

 

[Lavash]

Today is 90F and the left vent was shooting plain warm air for 20 min... It started chilling after that but I was already home. It's kind of annoying because it's clearly not working as it should but it's also not clearly broken so not sure if its worth spending xK to fix it.

What is the approximate cost to recharge the air conditioner? (Pump out the remaining refrigerant-freon, vacuum the system, and pump in the required volume of refrigerant-freon.)

 

[pasei]

OK, update, I ran more tests today because it's 90F out.

CAR OFF: Low side pressure = 80psi

CAR ON with AC ON MAX: Low side pressure = 52psi and then drifted to 55psi. Looking at this chart, for 90F and r1234yf, the range is 49 to 58 psi, so it appears to be normal.

However, I turned the AC OFF, and the pressure stayed the same!

After 10 minutes, I saw no puddle under the car.

So what could it be? Clogged AC drain? Do I have any other option that bringing her to Honda and being ripped off?

 

[Scott18]

So what could it be? Clogged AC drain? Do I have any other option that bringing her to Honda and being ripped off?

How about taking it to a trusted independent mechanic?

 

[Mobilcams]

OK, update, I ran more tests today because it's 90F out.

CAR OFF: Low side pressure = 80psi

CAR ON with AC ON MAX: Low side pressure = 52psi and then drifted to 55psi. Looking at this chart, for 90F and r1234yf, the range is 49 to 58 psi, so it appears to be normal.

However, I turned the AC OFF, and the pressure stayed the same!

After 10 minutes, I saw no puddle under the car.

So what could it be? Clogged AC drain? Do I have any other option that bringing her to Honda and being ripped off?

You need to take to someone trained on this ac sytem.. this isn't your typical ac system by any means.. You can short the whole system out putting anything in there that goes into a conventional system. I JUST had my system fixed under the condenser warranty and had the same symptoms you did. Hopefully you have not damaged the system and yours is under warranty still (there is an extended 10 year warranty on the condensor)..

 

[pasei]

You need to take to someone trained on this ac sytem.. this isn't your typical ac system by any means.. You can short the whole system out putting anything in there that goes into a conventional system. I JUST had my system fixed under the condenser warranty and had the same symptoms you did. Hopefully you have not damaged the system and yours is under warranty still (there is an extended 10 year warranty on the condensor)..

Had you checked the refrigerant pressure before they fixed it?

I'm pretty sure I'm not affected because I never received a letter and I also went to Honda last month and they checked for recalls (I know it's not a recall per se). But I"ll call them.

 

[Mobilcams]

Had you checked the refrigerant pressure before they fixed it?

I'm pretty sure I'm not affected because I never received a letter and I also went to Honda last month and they checked for recalls (I know it's not a recall per se). But I"ll call them.

All were affected, go in saying you received something as it could have been lost in the mail. Mine is a 2019 as well. I am sure as cheap as they went on these condensers that yours was affected as well.

 

[BorrowedTool]

So i went ahead and recharged the system and it must have\had a leak because it was low. Now its blowing cold on both sides. Yay.

 

[18212103x]

Im having the same problem on my '19 insight EX trim

HERES THE REAL KICKER: My car doesnt even have dual temperature zones!

SO WHY WOULD THE DRIVER SIDE BE 20 DEGREES WARMER THAN THE PASSENGER SIDE?!!!

I'm going to try recharging the whole system and see if despite the difference it will hopefully be colder all around.

Low side pressure really isn't a useful diagnostic tool unless the refrigerant is really low, sometimes not even then. I strongly advise you to go to a professional who has experience with these systems. Recharging a r1234yf system is a REALLY bad idea. Not only is it illegal to refill a knowingly leaking system (who cares), but you risk overfilling it. Also, if r1234yf mixes with air in the refrigerant system, it will produce acids, and depending on the severity of it, can trash not only the evaporator and condenser, but the compressor and refrigerant lines. Having cold on the passenger side strongly indicates you are low on refrigerant. Don't try fixing this yourself.

 

[18212103x]

So i went ahead and recharged the system and it must have\had a leak because it was low. Now its blowing cold on both sides. Yay.

You really should take your car in to a car shop. It would take decades for any significant amount of refrigerant to permeate the lines without a leak. If I had to guess it would be your condenser but whatever it is, refilling the system is only masking the issue.

 

[andrew28]

Had you checked the refrigerant pressure before they fixed it?

I'm pretty sure I'm not affected because I never received a letter and I also went to Honda last month and they checked for recalls (I know it's not a recall per se). But I"ll call them.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10199347-0001.pdf <--Copy of Letter

If you bring your Insight to the Everett, MA Honda dealership, they have a coupon for June where they'll do an AC inspection for free. So it wouldn't cost you anything for them to check if it's warranty related.

 

[pasei]

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10199347-0001.pdf <--Copy of Letter

If you bring your Insight to the Everett, MA Honda dealership, they have a coupon for June where they'll do an AC inspection for free. So it wouldn't cost you anything for them to check if it's warranty related.
View attachment 8299

That's awesome thank you som much!

 

[pasei]

Can you guys let me know if this is the AC drain line? It is left/bottom of the glove box, I had to remove the passenger battery cover.

I just want to tried cleaning it if it's clogged before bringing it to the dealer. I actually just changed my cabin air filter, and it was full of debris actually, even though I rarely drive outside the city.

If it is that, it seems pretty tight. Do I use a heat gun to loosen it?

 

[andrew28]

Edit: Check this post from @WorldThatHeSees

https://www.gen3insight.com/posts/42694/

 

[pasei]

Update: I discovered something pretty cool! I don't think it solved the problem but there you go. Also, just so y'all know, I have two toddlers home and it's really complicated for me to go to the dealer so I'm really trying to do everything I can myself home before arranging a visit.

HOW TO DIAGNOSE THE AC/HEATING ON THE HONDA INSIGHT (and probably many other Hondas models)

• press twice the START button without the foot on the brake to turn the car ON (not the engine)
• turn on the AC to AUTO mode to 68 degrees (not sure if necessary)
• turn off the SYNC if you have it (not sure if necessary)
• turn the driver side temperature to LO (if you don't have dual zone, I assume you just set the temp to LO for everyone)
• hold on the OFF button and press the REAR DEFROST 5 times
• start the car

---> Everything resets, the LCD displays lights up all LCD, in particular it shows an 88 for temperature. Then a few things turn on and off. Then I think this is when you see an error code. In my case, it showed "no:".

source

 

[pasei]

more tests to be made here: https://www.driveaccord.net/threads/hybrid-ac-not-working-relay-location.568367/

 

[Lavash]

Perhaps my experience will be useful.
There was noise when the air conditioner was turned on. The noise was reminiscent of a hissing sound for the first 2-4 seconds after switching on, and during operation thereafter an occasional quiet sound of “leaves rustling” was heard.
I realized that there was not enough freon.
There was a temperature difference in the vents. The air on the passenger side was colder than on the driver's side.
I’ll note right away that if you turn off the ECON mode when testing the temperature in the ventilation holes, the difference decreases. Take this into account when measuring.
I realized that there was not enough freon.
The problem is that no matter where I turned, they wanted to completely refill the system and, accordingly, it was expensive.
I found a good private technician in my city (in Ukraine) who was ready to refill the system with R-1234y freon.
He was in charge with a manual station using pressure gauges, monitoring the pressure in the lines (low and high pressure) and the outlet temperature.
The master has 30 years of experience working with various refrigeration units. He works very carefully, vacuuming the hoses, first wiping all connecting nuts of dirt, and so on.
Freon was added in small batches to the low-pressure line in a vapor state with constant monitoring of pressure in both circuits. (low and high pressure.). The air conditioner worked the entire time freon was added.
As a result, we topped up 125 grams from the bottle and everything was ok!
The sound is gone, the temperature has leveled off, the interior is cooling normally.

 

[pasei]

Perhaps my experience will be useful.
There was noise when the air conditioner was turned on. The noise was reminiscent of a hissing sound for the first 2-4 seconds after switching on, and during operation thereafter an occasional quiet sound of “leaves rustling” was heard.
I realized that there was not enough freon.
There was a temperature difference in the vents. The air on the passenger side was colder than on the driver's side.
I’ll note right away that if you turn off the ECON mode when testing the temperature in the ventilation holes, the difference decreases. Take this into account when measuring.
I realized that there was not enough freon.
The problem is that no matter where I turned, they wanted to completely refill the system and, accordingly, it was expensive.
I found a good private technician in my city (in Ukraine) who was ready to refill the system with R-1234y freon.
I refueled with a manual station using pressure gauges, monitoring the pressure in the lines (low and high pressure) and the outlet temperature.
The master has 30 years of experience working with various refrigeration units. He works very carefully, vacuuming the hoses, first wiping all connecting nuts of dirt, and so on.
Freon was added in small batches to the low-pressure line in a vapor state with constant monitoring of pressure in both circuits. (low and high pressure.). The air conditioner worked the entire time freon was added.
As a result, we topped up 125 grams from the bottle and everything was ok!
The sound is gone, the temperature has leveled off, the interior is cooling normally.

Thank you. I do have that hissing sound too, but I thought it was normal. Do you know what is the r123y pressure for our Insight? For me it's already too high according to the gauge I have, but maybe the pressure is specific to the car.

 

[Lavash]

Thank you. I do have that hissing sound too, but I thought it was normal. Do you know what is the r123y pressure for our Insight? For me it's already too high according to the gauge I have, but maybe the pressure is specific to the car.

See the document