2000 Honda Civic

SHIRLT

MEMBER
2000 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
4WD
MANUAL
13,200 MILES

7 months ago I had a major tune up with all my belts changed including my timing belt. Later, I had a noise that would occur every now and again in which I later
determined would happen when I turned on my heat/air.A couple of weeks ago I had my oil changed
and I mentioned the noise to my mechanic and he stated that the noise was occurring becasue all my belts were loose and I reminded him that if all it was
their fault because they had cahnged the belts and
they are the only ones who work on my car. They changed my oil and tightened my belts and the next
week, I went out of town (a short trip) and when I stopped to get gas I heard an awful noise and noticed that my air was not cooling. When I returned I took my car back to my shop and they said
I needed a new compressor. My question is, can over tightening a belt damage my compressor in the span of a week or is it just a coincidence that the compressor is going out a little after the belts were tightened or is it just the life of the compressor (8 years, 132,000 miles) also the repair will be about $1000.00 is this a fair quote?

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

I would say that if the A/C belt was over tightened the idler pulley would Be the first thing to let go, A/C compressors are very robust items, and the large bearing used for the clutch ass would take quite a load in itself, I feel if the comp has failed it is just one of those things. As for the price of the repair, this will vary due to which comp is used so I would ring around first and get a few quotes, make sure that they change the receiver dryer as well, as this is often forgotten about.

Mark (mhpautos)