so i've been without A/C for about 1.5 years now. about a year ago i took it to an A/C specialist who put some UV liquid mixed with freon to locate the leak. the freon lasted like 3 weeks (estimate). So now that summer is back i wanted A/C so i took it back to the same A/C specialist again about 2-3 weeks ago. He had to fill it up again with the UV mixed with Freon since it was a year ago and could not find where it was leaking from. It lasted less than 2 weeks and now blowing hot again. I took it back to him the same day it was blowing hot so it could be located right away. He started looking everywhere for the UV with the special UV glasses and could not find it. He then looks at the front of the condensor and says to start there and see if that fixes it and if not then we have to dig deeper to find the problem. He showed me some orange spots on the condensor (mostly on the upper portion) and says those are signs that the condensor needs to be replaced. While i do believe he is not lying to me as he is a friend of a family friend who we've known for 30+ years i just want to get some advice as perhaps other suggestions because if it's not the condensor i then have to spend more money to hunt for the problem even further. I'm looking at about $250-$300 for the condensor replacement (including labor, etc..) it all depends on which condensor brand i choose (i want honda oem) but maybe u guys know a similar cheaper replacement for the Honda OEM part that works good. the labor is $85 and freon refill is $65 so $150 plus the part. Only reason i would choose for him to refill freon is for warranty and if he needs to keep refilling afterwords if it's worth it. otherwise i would do it myself. he told me the compressor and the hoses appear to be ok and not broken or anything.

Any advice and help is gladly appreciated as always

My car is a 2001 Civic EX Coupe

Also the Honda OEM Condensor is about $150 (before shipping charges) from majestic honda anyone found it cheaper? part # is 80110-S5A-003

 

Install an OEM condenser.