Finally figured out why my car's AC blew hot air after three summers of guessing

I spent way too long thinking it was a refrigerant leak or a bad compressor. Turns out it was just a 15 dollar relay switch in the fuse box under the hood. Took me about 4 hours of YouTube videos and testing stuff before I stumbled on a forum post about a 2012 Honda Civic with the same issue. Has anyone else chased a simple fix for months only to feel kinda dumb afterwards?

4 comments

4 Comments

morgan.rose1mo ago

Honestly I did the same thing with my old RAV4. Spent a whole summer thinking the blower motor was dying because the air would cut out on high fan speed. Ended up being a 20 cent resistor pack that took five minutes to swap. Definitely felt like a moron but now I always check electrical connections first before assuming the worst.

the_linda1mo ago

Wait is a blower motor resistor pack really that cheap? Feels like one of those things where the part costs pennies but the dealership would charge you $200 for labor.

paul_taylor211mo ago

Totally agree with @morgan.rose, I bet dealerships love people who don't try the 20 cent resistor first.

sandra_bennett591mo ago

Dealerships love a sucker with cash.