Category: Tech

Tech Trouble Quiz

I’m still, can you believe it, pulling stuff from my old tower PC onto my new mini-tower PC. We’ve been having lots of thunderstorms lately, so I’ve been good about turning off my computer before leaving the house or going to bed, because the battery in my uninterruptable power supply is just about played out.

Tonight I couldn’t start my PC. Dead battery in UPS, but that’s OK because I paid only $12 for the thing (thanks, tastewar, how long ago was that?), and it’s worked well until recently. The UPS wouldn’t turn back on, so I moved the PC plug over to the surge protector side of the unit.

I powered up the PC and logged onto my account. Within moments the computer shut itself down. Huh. Did it again and it powered itself off again. Ah. Of course. I powered it up again but got into safe mode. I ran a Windows utility program and changed something. Then I restarted Windows, logged onto my account and it was fine.

What did I change to fix the problem? tastewar will know the answer, I’m sure.

2002 Honda CRV A/C Black Death Compromise

A compromise has been reached with Honda. My position is that I can understand the compressor going on a car with 95,000 miles on it. But this Black Death thing, where the A/C is completely destroyed to the tune of $4000, indicates a product defect. I have agreed to pay $1300 for a compressor replacement job, and they will replace the entire system. The car goes into the shop on Thursday.

2002 Honda CR-V A/C Talk

Honda of America called, and we discussed a compromise for “out of warranty” work on replacing the air conditioner. Without stating a dollar amount, I told him in what way I’m willing to be flexible. He’s contacting the dealership, and I might have a decision before the end of the day.

2002 Honda CR-V A/C: $4000 est.

Take a look at this estimate from Bernardi Honda of Natick, MA, for a completely new air conditioning system for a 2002 Honda CRV: $4000

Estimate for 2002 CRV A/C

“Compressor Damaged Internally” doesn’t sound like normal wear to me. I’m looking for some honesty and flexibility from Honda of America, and I’d better get it. For starters, I’m already out $108 for the estimate.

I also had the dealer check the driver’s seat. It locks into position, but it feels like a rocking chair when stopping and starting. A couple of loose bolts? Nah. Try a whole new base for over $500. I wonder if the seat as is would be safe in a crash?

What happened, Honda?? These sorts of problems didn’t used to happen.

2002 Honda CRV A/C Black Death

Honda of America — 800-999-1009 — had no record of the dealer calling about the diagnosis of the 2002 CRV air conditioner failure, which has been termed “Black Death.” Honda of America now says they want only the customer contacting them. Very strange. Bernardi Honda of Natick, Massachusetts is a Honda dealer, and you’d think they would have a better communication path than me calling the 800 number. Obviously, this is all done to discourage consumers from trying to get satisfaction. Anyway, the case supposedly has been forwarded to a regional manager, who will contact me in the next day or two, to discuss the situation.

I sure hope Honda comes up with a reasonable response, because A/C Black Death is a common complaint with second generation CRV’s. As the good guys say in Star Wars when dealing with the Empire, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” But I should point out that there are FOUR of these CRV’s on our street alone, and I would hope Honda of America is savvy enough to have a database, and check it, before they leave me high and dry.