I took my '01 Honda Civic LX into a Honda dealership to get an oil change and to have them see why my SRS light was on (bad seat belt sensor) and they told me that my A/C unit is going to die soon and I need it replaced. When I turn it on it makes a noise, but still works. What exactly would be going bad in the A/C unit and would I have to replace the whole thing or are there different parts I should be looking at? I have the manual and I was looking through it last night and the A/C unit entails multiple parts...is there a way I can find out what is going bad on it?? Any suggestions I would appreciate and anywhere I could find a replacement unit as well would be appreciated

 

welcome to the forum. Majority of the time the compressor goes bad, lots of moving parts in the compressor, everthing else just holds the freon under pressure. If the compressor is going bad, there may be metal parts that are also left in the system.
if you can find a stethoscope (sp) what doctors use to listen to your heart, Mechs have one to listen to any noise on the car, you can put it on the compressor, have someone turn it on and you will hear all the noise you don't want to hear.
you can get a rebuilt one, but make sure its from a reputable shop and get it changed but flush the system out first if there is any metal, then service it.

 

Thanx for the advice..it is defiantly the compressor thats dying. It has gotten a lot worse now. SO it is looking like a $900 fix..although I love my car so I guess its worth it

 

where ever you decide to get the compressor replaced, make sure they give you a 1 yr warranty min. I know of 3 diffrent friends that had their compressors replaced and within 9 mos they failed. all paid approx 1000-1200 originally to have them replaced, and done again the second time. 3 diffenrent shops, don't know if they were rebuilt or brand new.