Hi all; I'll apologize in advance for what will be a long post!

My '05 Accord has 76,000 miles, and in the last year has had some odd issues that each person has a different opinion about. I'm hoping someone here can help so that I can finally get to the bottom of it.

The car has always been well-maintained and until today, always via a dealer's service center.

Last summer I noticed that the automatic locks would, on occasion, not function through the switch on the driver's side door or key. Over the winter, a similar problem developed with the automatic window (and once down for a drive through coffee in < 10 degree weather, refused to go back up but later did).

I took it to the dealer I always used and was told that it needed a new driver's side window regulator to the tune of $500 (not including labor). When I questioned him on how that would help my wonky locks, he wouldn't give me any other info, so I declined, and the problem continued.

A few months ago I noticed that in addition to the wonky window and locks, on occasion when I'd turn the headlights on during a very cloudy day, the normally dim dash lights would periodically flash bright. More wonkiness!

Over this past month, the a/c stopped getting cold, so I took it to a different dealer (especially after seeing that the $500 window regulator would be under $100 elsewhere), and told this new dealer's service center about all of the issues.

Of course, the window switch worked fine when he pressed it.

This second dealer said that I needed a new master switch for the window/lock issue ($290) and that the freon in the car wasn't low at all, but the a/c compressor was "stuck" so I needed to have that replaced (compressor, stator) to the tune of $1300. My gut said this might not be on the up and up, mostly because the consultant seemed very hesitant that these would actually fix everything.

Today I took it to a highly-recommended local mechanic's shop, and he told me that it was low on freon, so he flushed it, added dye to check for a possible leak, and added more. I didn't tell him anything about dealer's 1 and 2 other than I wasn't happy with them.

Sadly, that didn't do the trick for the a/c at all, and after I mentioned the wonky windows/locks/lights issue, they dug more and said that the engine control module was the culprit. The owner and mechanic said that the power wire was fine but the ground was not; the compressor wasn't "stuck" as dealer #2 stated, it plain wasn't getting any juice. He showed me a site he uses that listed a bunch of people with 2004 or 2005 Accords with similar issues fixed by an ECM repair.

He then recommended a 3rd dealer, but that dealer can't take me until Tuesday, and will charge a diagnostic for the a/c and then another for the window/lock/lights issue.

Three different people telling me three different things about one car, and it's still not anywhere close to being fixed. I do NOT want to shell out more money than I make in a month only to find that the repair wasn't correct in the first place.

Have any of you dealt with similar issues, and if so, what worked? Do you have advice or opinions? My gut says it's all related and that dealers 1 and 2 weren't necessarily giving me the best advice. It doesn't help that they continually send me letters that they want to buy my car for their used lot...

Also, if you've had a similar repair, how much did it run you? By the way, I'm moving to Florida this summer, so going without a/c would NOT be fun!

 

I don't know if you want to do DIY work. When unrelated electrical problems start popping up, I would look for a common ground between them.

If you want to do some DIY stuff, I highly recommend that you buy the 05 service manual. I got a pdf on Ebay from automanualsource for around $20. It is well worth the investment for DIY work. I would clean all grounds that are associated with these components.