Question/help: Why is my A/C compressor making a loud noise?

[obie2102]

Yea, i've actually cut some rubber tubing and used longer bolts for the reservoir bracket to help out somewhat until Honda comes up with a fix. Who knows what they'll come up with.

[Huluobo]

obie2102, does the rubber tubing help reduce the noise at all? I tried this way by inserting rubber washers between the P/S reservoir bracket and the vehicle frame where the bracket is attached. It does not help much though. However, if I remove the P/S reservoir and hold it by hand without touching any hard part in that area, the hum goes away completely. Don't know why.

[Huluobo]

I think if the reservoir bracket were made a little thicker or heavier, the vibration passed from the reservoir may be reduced and the noise and that could help reduce the noise as well. I just have not yet figured out how to adjust the bracket. Anyone has any idea?

[mudbog]

If you just put rubber washers between the bracket and the vehicle frame, then the vibration can still transfer through the bolts to the frame. Add another set of washers between the top of the bolts and the bracket and that should help.

[Huluobo]

I did add another rubber washer between the top of the bolt and the bracket but the noise still transfers along to the frame. The good thing is the noise is reduced but not very much. There needs to be something between the reservoir and the bracket to absorb the vibration but that seems to be more difficult to build if not by Honda.

[mudbog]

OK -plan B. Try a piece of foam between the plastic reservoir and bracket. Hold it all in place with duct tape. It will be ugly but if it helps, it's worth it.

[mudbog]

If it ever warms up here in Ohio, I'll try that redneck fix as well. I never notice the AC noise until it gets hot in the summer.

[Huluobo]

If you use heater during colds days, don't you hear the noise as well? I always put the temperature at AUTO so in the morning the heater works and I still hear the noise.

[mudbog]

Nope -I only notice it on really hot summer days. And even then it's either not as bad as others describe or it doesn't bother me as much. It's difficult in forums understanding what load, noisy, etc. mean because it's very subjective.

[Huluobo]

I did try the Plan B you explained above. I used a piece of rubber wrapping a piece of foam inside and attached it to the bracket. Then secured the reservoir on the bracket so the vibration/noise can be absorbed a bit. Below pictures show what I have done today. The noise is still noticeable (more noticeable than my other Honda's). With all these done, the noise is lowered like 40 - 50% though. Except Honda comes up with a standard fix (re-design or anything), I think I have done all I can to reduce the noise. See if anyone here could have any better ideas.

[Huluobo]

Sorry, I guess the images are not working. Can you tell me how to post pictures here? Thanks.

[Huluobo]

Here is the images I was to post.

[scooterboy5]

Why are your images in doc files?

doc files can contain harmful macros - I don't open them from strangers.

How about attaching some plain old jpgs?

[Huluobo]

Ok, I compressed the images into jpg's now.

[Huluobo]

Ok, guys. I was able to further reduce the noise down to 80 -90% by adding additional foam into the place. The rest of the noise sounds very minimal and definitely tolerable. If you go in a little busy traffic, you won't even notice the noise any more. I attached a new image of my non-professional fix below. The zip tags secure the reservoir pretty well. Except for the bad-looking of this modification under the hood, the ride I just did was enjoyable. The temperature here in CA when I test drove today was 74F. If it were in last summer, the noise would have driven me crazy enough. With all that done, I still think a permanent fix on the power steering is needed from Honda as that is the root source for this terrible hum.