Stones Damage Air Conditioning Condenser?

[RetroCVCC]

According to my service guy, the condensor has a pinhole leak, most likely from flying stones/rocks on the freeways. This is pretty surprising as I only have 4600 miles on the car. Also, I have been going out of my way to avoid being behind gravel trucks, or any sort of truck that looks like it might drop some of its load because I'd read comments on this site about how easily the paint chips on the cars.

That being said, I can't believe that Honda would engineer a car that is so vulnerable in that regard. Granted, I understand anticipating every problem a car might encounter is mighty hard work, but flying debris has been part of driving since the first horse raised his tail on a dirt road!

Since the car is still at the dealership, I can't eyeball the issue first hand. Does anyone have a photo that might show the position of the air conditioning condenser?

Thanks

[mkaresh]

No photo, but I've heard of this happening on other cars. Over at RX-8club.com people discuss retrofitting a mesh shield to better protect the condensor.

[RetroCVCC]

I believe a shield is going to be cheap insurance to protect it. I will crawl under there this coming weekend to see how I can get to the area of concern. The condenser is right behind the plastic grill in the "smile". If you don't know what it is, look for a large item which looks like a radiator. I will work in coming up on a suitable screen which won't compromise airflow. I think people on this board could all use such a screen as the condenser is a very expensive piece of hardware. I can't believe Honda hasn't engineered one themselves. I am a engineer with the qualifications to design such a screen, so if there is any interest, I can investigate getting a short production run of these. I would engineer it to attach to factory hardware points, have it powder coated black, and look as OEM as possible

Any interest??

Thanks

Retro

[caeaves]

yes. mine was hit recently too. either the material is too weak or the weak points are very vulnerable, either way it's a problem.

[FITrunner]

Common road hazard. Stupid rocks unfortunately don't care how many miles are on your car. This has happened to me on my NSX. Also had it happen to my friends Boxster. Just have to go with the flow.

[mahout]

No car is safe from flying stones. The worst is the series 3 RX-7's that had their oil cooler fins closed up by 'heavy dust'.
When you are going just 60 mph rocks thrown into your grill are 'goung' at least 88 feet per second and even when ricoheting around the radiator they can easily crack a condenser. It only takes a quarter-inch rock to do it. The only defense is driving very slowly in rocky areas.
In your case only the extended warrantymight but probvably not cover such loss. Condensers aren't tires.

[claymore]

Look below the smile at the large opening in the bottom half of the front end. That radiator looking thing is your A/C condenser. It is very easy to get bumped by flying road debris. Look into installing some screening there. leonine has a nice thread about doing that.

[cavie187]

Just bent an intercooler fin on a "Road Boulder". Luckily I was able to fix it in 5min for free.

I would say as long as it is covered under warranty I wouldn't raise too much commotion over it, but i would look into some sort of skid plate for the area if i owned a Fit. Good Idea!