I used to own a Honda CRV. Before buying it, I had found an owners' forum and noted the common problems to keep an eye out for. One was failure of the air conditioning control unit, which had a firmware bug that after around three years use resulted in the air conditioning failing - the On button would just flash green doing nothing.
Several owners had been charged £500 for a new unit, plus labour, until someone posted the reset sequence for the air conditioning. This involved turning the heating dials to set positions while holding down a button and turning on the ignition. The system would then run through a self-diagnostic lasting less than a minute, after which a 'failed' unit would start working again or stay failed (but usually working). This resulted in many supportive posts from owners who hadn't bothered to stomp up the best part of £700 to fix their aircon but found that this fix worked.
Three years in, my aircon failed and the fix worked for me (the aircon was still working two years later when I sold it). When I took the CRV in for a service a few months later, I overheard the service manager talking to another CRV owner on the phone about investigating failed aircon. Off the phone, I chattily explained the fix I had found online and how easy it was to do only to find the service manager was looky distinctly uncomfortable and unwilling to discuss it. At this point I realised that I should really change to another dealer!
[edit] In case someone googles and gets this post, the instructions are (for a pre 2006 model CRV):
How to Retrieve a DTC. The Heater Control Panel has a self-diagnosis function.
Running the Self-diagnosis Function
Turn the ignition switch OFF.
Turn the fan switch OFF, the temperature control dial on Max Cool and the mode control dial on Vent.
Turn the ignition switch ON (II), then press and hold the recirculation control switch. Within 10 seconds while holding the switch down, press the rear window defogger switch five times. The recirculation indicator blinks two times, then the self-diagnosis will begin. If there is any problem in the system after self-diagnosis is finished, the recirculation indicator will blink the Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) 7 through 13 when problems in the evaporator temperature sensor circuit are detected (codes 14 and 15), the A/C indicator will blink the DTC. If no DTC's are found, the indicator will not blink.
Several owners had been charged £500 for a new unit, plus labour, until someone posted the reset sequence for the air conditioning. This involved turning the heating dials to set positions while holding down a button and turning on the ignition. The system would then run through a self-diagnostic lasting less than a minute, after which a 'failed' unit would start working again or stay failed (but usually working). This resulted in many supportive posts from owners who hadn't bothered to stomp up the best part of £700 to fix their aircon but found that this fix worked.
Three years in, my aircon failed and the fix worked for me (the aircon was still working two years later when I sold it). When I took the CRV in for a service a few months later, I overheard the service manager talking to another CRV owner on the phone about investigating failed aircon. Off the phone, I chattily explained the fix I had found online and how easy it was to do only to find the service manager was looky distinctly uncomfortable and unwilling to discuss it. At this point I realised that I should really change to another dealer!
[edit] In case someone googles and gets this post, the instructions are (for a pre 2006 model CRV):
How to Retrieve a DTC. The Heater Control Panel has a self-diagnosis function.
Running the Self-diagnosis Function
Turn the ignition switch OFF.
Turn the fan switch OFF, the temperature control dial on Max Cool and the mode control dial on Vent.
Turn the ignition switch ON (II), then press and hold the recirculation control switch. Within 10 seconds while holding the switch down, press the rear window defogger switch five times. The recirculation indicator blinks two times, then the self-diagnosis will begin. If there is any problem in the system after self-diagnosis is finished, the recirculation indicator will blink the Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) 7 through 13 when problems in the evaporator temperature sensor circuit are detected (codes 14 and 15), the A/C indicator will blink the DTC. If no DTC's are found, the indicator will not blink.
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