Circuit Board Repair - 2001 Honda Accord Climate Control Issue

If you have an issue with your climate control in a 1998-2002 Honda Accord. Button lights and A/C may go on and off intermittently. Or not work at all. Or only work when it is cold outside. The problem is the solder joints for some of the components on the circuit board. You need to re-solder them to correct the issue.
I re-soldered all the capacitors: C20, C21, C5, C1, C3
Also re-soldered: R5, ZD1LE4, and soldered jumper wire from D3 to R12

[@normanking1248]

This guy is a mechanical wizard. Also my #1 son.

[@charlesguinn4316]

I re-soldered the 5 big caps and added a wire from R12 to D3 and it worked for me as well.😎👍

[@rvaadventures2244]

Great! Good to hear it's working for you!

[@thatunknownguy2680]

I had a 2001 come in for a timing job. After the job was done, I noticed the AC controls weren't working, so I got on KZbin and found this video. It fixed the problem. It was the big solder points on the right side of the board that had cracked and wasn't making contact. It was the last joints I reflowed. Lol just my luck.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Glad to hear you were able to fix it

[@marioleiva5007]

Man you rock, I was able to fix my 98 Accord, AC is working now, thanks a lot

[@jerrysimeone]

Tha is a million, I soldered the caps and the resistors you recommended and soldered a jumper wire and it fired up. Thanks for your detail. I was skeptical but I did it anyway and all the lights came on as well as AC control.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Great to hear that it worked for you! 👍

[@isaacanderson8115]

Thank you so very much, i soldered every point you said in the video took me 5 mins tops and i plugged it back in and everything works!!!!

[@rvaadventures2244]

Glad to hear it!

[@scottgrizzell8210]

Hey man thank you so much for posting this, I fought my climate control in my 2000 Honda Accord all summer and this finally worked to fix the issue! Thank you so much!

[@Ockhamcool]

Thanks to RVA Adventures for the video. My post provides additional electronic details for the electronically minded, and may help some people who are trying to figure out WHAT is causing the failure and WHY they are doing what they are doing form these instructions. First of all, I do not think the poster of this video is always correctly associating the exact component and the necessary reflow solder points, so use caution. Don't just blindly reflow R5 and ZD1. In my case, I did a review of all the connections under a 15x stereo zoom microscope and saw no undue issues at these components. R5 is a resistor. ZD1 is a Zener Diode which is a kind of voltage reference diode. Units marked C are capacitors, and you should know that there are numerous surface mount capacitors on the back side of the board besides the five electrolytic capacitors he mentions. Personally, I would REPLACE the five electrolytic caps. Common values that will work are 220uf 100V for the big one, 1uf 50V for two more, and 3.3. uf 50V radial for two more. They are commonly available parts, and easy to replace. Make sure to observe polarity. These are electrolytic polarized capacitors. Note that the "repair wire" jumper RVA and others are recommending is basically a replacement for the power supply trace of the 5V regulator - which is a 3 pin 78DL05AS. The "mystery jumper wire" is a simply a replacement for the circuit board power trace and most importantly the through board "via" which is where the problem most likely originates on a lot of boards. Without power, the 5V regulator goes dead, which means all the LED and 5V supplied switching transistors go dark as well. These via are prone to heat/expansion intermittent failures. The jumper wire provides a new route for power from a convenient unregulated 12V location to the input pin of the 78DL05AS, which comes back to life and starts working normally. For electronically minded types, you can easily see this by examining the board, even without a schematic. Pin 1 of the regulator is the input. Note too that ZD1 he mentioned "resoldering" is a type of voltage reference diode, which is a device that is very sensitive to heat damage from soldering. Again, I do NOT recommend resoldering this point until you have tried the jumper wires, and capacitor replacements and/or reflows. It is not likely that the Zener diode or R5 was actually problematic. In general it is better to use a hot air resoldering gun to reflow the surface mount devices, but for this repair a fine point conventional iron is acceptable for anyone who is reasonably careful. My board was ROHS lead free, but conventional 67/32/2 silver solder flowed just fine. I am not sure why he mentions R5 in this video, but as I mentioned at the beginnign of my post, I think the poster may be referring to a pin on a capacitor mount which is near the R5 label on the back of the board... NOT actually R5 as a component. Finally, I am fairly confident based on other experience with circuit boards that the problem in most cases is the via for power from the front of the board to the back of the board - which will be fixed most certainly by the jumper. Reflowing the caps is not going to hurt, and replacing them is not a bad idea either. Hope these details help someone. Thanks again to RV adventures for the video.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Thank you for providing this information. My knowledge of circuit boards is only very basic.

[@user-bt1kc8ls9w]

Hey, just wanted to mention that as i was looking at my bad board and checking components, I noticed that ZD1LE4 (zener diode just to the right of R5 (resistor) was a little crooked. Had to use a magnifier to see two of the three solder legs were not soldered. It was a royal pain to straighten the diode and reflow those. The board still fails intermittently, but I just wanted to mention the finding.

[@charlesguinn4316]

R=resistor ZD=zener diode D=diode C=capacitor

[@sarantarnoi3732]

Thanks a lot. I will try it out this weekend.

[@dianasmith430]

I just wanted to say thank you! This worked! I am so happy I did not have to buy a climate control! You saved me some money! Keep up the awesome videos!

[@rvaadventures2244]

I'm glad it worked for you, thanks for watching

[@boeskii]

Thanks this helped me out a lot🤙🏽

[@Olowo...]

Thanks so much for this. This worked

[@fivalxerex6437]

Solder may crack from heating up and cooling down, while under vibrations produced by the car/engine. A few years ago, my Honda would not start anymore if outside got hot during the summer. In the morning it would start without any issue. I was able to find some info and the culprit was the starting relay. I looked at the solder under high magnification lens and found cracks. I resoldered all connections and I no longer had start up issues.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Nice detective work! 👍

[@lissettelopez8331]

In another video someone did a delete on the Diode 47X what you pointed at 1:52 timestamp. once he removed it his worked completely just fine without having to resoldering the compacters.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Good to know thanks

[@user-bt1kc8ls9w]

​@@rvaadventures2244 I found that "47x" diode had unsoldered two of it's three joints. I did manage to reflow those, but still has a problem. I may just remove it to see if deleting it might work.

[@osbaldoa.castro488]

Thank you for the video, was very helpful! 😇🤩🚙👍🏽🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@garyeckel1656]

This one works till it goes over 99 deg outside, I was thinking the big capacitor needs replaced I cleaned the board with contact cleaner and re soldered a few weak spots but its still not up to speed. I ordered another board with a 90 day guarantee. Ive fixed guitar amps with just capacitor upgrades, honestly the solder joints look fine Im thinking that big cap took a hike.

[@ahmadtbaileh]

Thanks for your video. I did the wire from D3 to R12 a few years ago when the panel stopped working and that fixed the problem. A few days ago, the lights on the panel started flickering and the buttons won’t respond. I re-soldered all the pins you recommended, and in the process of soldering zd1 it looks like I have damaged the contact in the board. Do you have any suggestion where does it connect in the board so I can add a wire?

[@rvaadventures2244]

Depending on how badly damaged the board is, you may need to just buy a used climate control on eBay. They run about 60-70 bucks. Just make sure the seller confirms that they tested it, or could end up with another dud climate control.

[@carolyndupuy6312]

HELP. What kind or size wire do i use for the jump?

[@Daniel-fp6ow]

Does anyone know what size the surface mount leds are for recirculation/ac/vent controls?

[@franciscorivero4561]

Al hacer ese puente el aire hara su ciclo normalmente, no congelará?

[@jandzluvly]

Is the D3 solder actually at D3, or is it at the capacitor close to D3? cuz that’s what it looks like in the video. I reflowed all those solders, and it didn’t work.

[@CalebYoung]

Man are you rolling around in a 2001 Honda? That’s the year I graduated high school 😳. I once drove a Volkswagen around for 2 years with no heat. Let’s get together and collaborate dude 🤙

[@rvaadventures2244]

Yep it's an old one, still running good knock on wood

[@mjo2303]

Does this soldering job work for the DX Model Accord? Basically it’s the climate control unit that doesn’t have a AC button in the middle …. Wondering if the points at which you solder would be the same …? Thanks

[@rvaadventures2244]

I'm not sure. The only ones I've worked on are the ones that are "manual" control which I show in the video. It sounds like you are talking about an "automatic" control which has a different button layout. I'm not sure how different the two are. You try the soldering fix and see if it works. Not really anything to lose.

[@mjo2303]

@@rvaadventures2244 Thanks for responding, no it’s actually identical to the control you have , only difference is it doesn’t have a button for AC in the lower middle part of the face … there is a slot for it, but it’s blank… gonna give it a shot anyways ..I’ll update if it worked .

[@dhonnoll78]

I believe those other items you mentioned are transistors.

[@JessicaNavas5713]

For resoldering did you just touch the soldering iron to melt and let the joints cool, or did you wick the old solder off and place new solder? How did you solder the "chips" at R5? Did you just grab the "chip"with pliers, replace solder, and then place the chip on top? Thanks for the great video.

[@rvaadventures2244]

I just let the soldering iron melt the solder. I added a little bit of new solder but not much

[@JessicaNavas5713]

@@rvaadventures2244 THANK YOU SO MUCH for the response, were there any stumbling blocks getting the actual a/c assembly off?

[@rvaadventures2244]

@@JessicaNavas5713 I don't remember, I did it so long ago

[@jordantherubio]

my 2000 accord just had issues with led light not working when i set it to first two left settings and in side the car settings but still worked fine just lights stop working.

[@alflstine]

hi , I did the jumper and all the light is on don't tern off and still not working :(

[@rvaadventures2244]

Did you try resoldering R5 and ZD1LE4 on the board? That may help

[@dhonnoll78]

If I were to send you 2 of these Climate Control boards what would you charge me to do this? I don't have a soldering iron and the few times I have tried using one I am not very handy with one.

[@bayoolugbode1340]

It works perfectly fine. i have done it to one of my honda car. The other problem am having with the other car is that the lights on the climate control board are always on even without ignition. How do i resolve this problem. Thanks a lot.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Glad to hear it worked in one car. Not sure how to fix the issue in the other car? I wonder if some fuse or relay going to the board is the problem, and is supplying power even when the car is off?

[@rvaadventures2244]

See this link it looks like someone was having a similar problem to yours and was able to resolve www.driveaccord.net/threads/recirculation-indicator-light-stays-on-fixed.277170/

[@ManuelVE]

Hi, where do you get a jumper wire - does it have to be a specific size or type?

[@rvaadventures2244]

Not sure about the size. You can get some copper wire at Walmart or a hardware store. And then cut it to size.

[@ManuelVE]

@@rvaadventures2244 got it, thank you

[@ManuelVE]

Do you think if the wiring is done right, will it cause a short circuit in the future?

[@rvaadventures2244]

@@ManuelVE not that I'm aware of. The jumper wire didn't fix the issue for me. But it has worked for some people though. It's worth a try.

[@ManuelVE]

@@rvaadventures2244thanks, I'll give it a try and I'll let you know if it works

[@coosasnare34]

Man I did this on my 98 accord and it turned the white button lights back on but no ac light😢

[@rvaadventures2244]

Well that sucks, trying finding a replacement board on ebay

[@joeystingray]

If the solder looks solid and as it would look when first manufactured why would you attempt to unsolder and then resolder?

[@Ockhamcool]

Cold solder joints and microfractures are common ailments of flow soldered boards. Unless the board is examined microscopically, such failures are not always evident. I've seen it many times in my work in electronics. Reflowing solder is a common way to address suspect areas. It harms nothing if done properly, and will often fix phantom problems on devices that act up on occasion.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Excellent response 👍

[@johnwhitaker545]

My odometer was barely readable. I reflowed the joints and fixed it. I used the. Camera on my phone zoomed in and could see the cracked joints.

[@BT-ws4jl]

RVA Adventures, What doe "soldered jumper wire from D3 to R12" do? do you have the schematic to share? I have the same exact problem, I just re touch the 5 caps pins. Although their solder pins still looks good. I also retouch the connector pins. This trick works for me.

[@rvaadventures2244]

Not sure I'm not an electronic engineer just a backyard grease monkey. I guess the jumper wire bypasses something that prevents it from turning on.

[@jamalhanna8598]

CAN THIS PART BE REPLACED

[@rvaadventures2244]

Yes go on eBay, they have replacement ones

[@underthetornado]

I beat on mine

[@simonramirez243]

Wondering if I can just send you mine so you can do it for me lol I’ll pay!!

[@yonder404]

😂 I decided to work on my accord

[@rvaadventures2244]

Is it having the same problem?

[@yonder404]

@@rvaadventures2244 same problem

[@rvaadventures2244]

@@yonder404 first try re-soldering R5 and zd1 and see if that resolves the issue. If not then try re-soldering the capacitors and also soldering a jumper wire from r12 to D3

[@yonder404]

@@rvaadventures2244 just got my soldering kit. Couldn’t find one yesterday. I will try that out

[@rvaadventures2244]

@@yonder404 nice let me know how it goes

[@sambaker734]

I pronounce it solder

[@rvaadventures2244]

From a text book perspective, "soul-der" is correct pronunciation I believe. But southern people in America like me say "Saw-dur".

[@jbautista7839]

@@rvaadventures2244 Sod Er (Like someone laying grass sod) is the correct pronunciation for those in the electronics field.