A/C doesn't seem cold
#1
A/C doesn't seem cold
So, was up around 90 today and the car never got cool inside. Had the recirculation turned on but didn't help at all. My 96 civic coupe that I just gave up was slow to cool but would get cold inside where today my new fit was just not performing.
Anyone else run into issues?
Anyone else run into issues?
#2
I don't have a fit yet but that doesn't matter, if you had your a/c cranking and your car did not get cold you have a problem and need to take it to the dealer. It's pretty simple, either the car gets cold or not, if not then you have a problem.
#4
The A/C system on all Fits are undersized.
I live in Florida, and when I bought my 08, on hot and bright summer days, it never really got cool enough inside to suit me.
Window tinting really helped, as it does cut the thermal load into the passenger cabin.
The Fit does have a very large window area to interior volume ratio.
Since getting the windows tinted, I'm OK with the cooling capacity of the A/C system, but I wish it was a bit larger.
Even after getting the window tinting, it still does take awhile to cool the cabin down, if the car has been sitting out in the sun for any amount of time.
I was hoping that Honda would have gotten the message by now, and placed a bit larger system into its Gen 3 Fit, but that appears not to have happened.
Gregg
I live in Florida, and when I bought my 08, on hot and bright summer days, it never really got cool enough inside to suit me.
Window tinting really helped, as it does cut the thermal load into the passenger cabin.
The Fit does have a very large window area to interior volume ratio.
Since getting the windows tinted, I'm OK with the cooling capacity of the A/C system, but I wish it was a bit larger.
Even after getting the window tinting, it still does take awhile to cool the cabin down, if the car has been sitting out in the sun for any amount of time.
I was hoping that Honda would have gotten the message by now, and placed a bit larger system into its Gen 3 Fit, but that appears not to have happened.
Gregg
#5
EDIT Car info: Aegean Blue, windows tinted with whatever the dealer put on.
Last edited by amy_wilhelmina; 07-14-2014 at 02:27 PM.
#6
Ups my bad OP, Vancouver, Wa. it is!!!
BTW, just saw your pic on another thread. That tint looks great on your Fit!!!
Last edited by ROTTBOY; 07-13-2014 at 09:08 PM.
#8
Black interior with tinting, outside temp is between 91, and 93 and my air is cool to me, but no where near "ICE COLD" as xStitchx says his Fit is. Of course ice cold could have a different meaning to him over what I think ice cold is. Ice Cold to me means I would need a jacket inside the car...
Cool for my car is just that, cool, and needs a bit of time to get to that feeling when sitting outside in the Sun, but not really cool or anywhere near cold.
Cool for my car is just that, cool, and needs a bit of time to get to that feeling when sitting outside in the Sun, but not really cool or anywhere near cold.
#10
I'm a she , but "ice cold" to me means I've got chill bumps from the cold air blowing on me. At that point, I either have to turn the temp gauge up a bit or shut/redirect a vent.
It's also how my passenger described my hands when I touched his arm after he asked me to turn it down, too. It can be subjective, sure. No worries!
It's also how my passenger described my hands when I touched his arm after he asked me to turn it down, too. It can be subjective, sure. No worries!
#14
So, was up around 90 today and the car never got cool inside. Had the recirculation turned on but didn't help at all. My 96 civic coupe that I just gave up was slow to cool but would get cold inside where today my new fit was just not performing.
Anyone else run into issues?
Anyone else run into issues?
Easy remedies are tint, front window shades when parked, opening the windows for a minute or two at the start of your drive WHILE the A/C is on to "push" the hot air out.
#15
I live in NYC, it's been hot here and I've been pretty underwhelmed with the AC. It's good enough but definitely not freezing, and a passenger in the back seat was whining that it wasn't cool enough. Don't have a garage so the car is outside in the sun all day.
#16
Fit's A/C has always been marginal to poor. The only way to offset it, to a degree, is with high quality ceramic tint and a correct charge of refrigerant. Honda loves to save a few ounzes of 134 because it adds up $, and helps insure they won't have a compressor warranty claim within the warranty period.
I really liked my '09, but the poor A/C, lawn mower battery, and abysmal front tire wear, and non-adjustable rear axle really did detract from the car. I'm sure the Mexican made CVT's are a first class build. Hail Honda.
Maybe with the new NSX they can build a car with soul, once again. Too bad it's not within the reach of most people who could really appreciate the car.
I really liked my '09, but the poor A/C, lawn mower battery, and abysmal front tire wear, and non-adjustable rear axle really did detract from the car. I'm sure the Mexican made CVT's are a first class build. Hail Honda.
Maybe with the new NSX they can build a car with soul, once again. Too bad it's not within the reach of most people who could really appreciate the car.
#17
So, was up around 90 today and the car never got cool inside. Had the recirculation turned on but didn't help at all. My 96 civic coupe that I just gave up was slow to cool but would get cold inside where today my new fit was just not performing.
Anyone else run into issues?
Anyone else run into issues?
You better get it checked out. 94 degrees when I left work today...I actually had to dial the ac back on the way home. I had it on recirculate and had plenty of cold air...no issues here. The dial was set on mid-cool.
FWIW...
#18
Awesometown? What dealer did you buy from?
tmasazo:
With the car in the shade between 25C and 35C (77F to 95F) outside air temperature, put thermometers in the inlet grille and outlet vent. Select the fresh air setting, temp knob full cold, blower on high, face outlets selected, door open, engine at idle, system stabilized.
You should see at 20-25C (36-45F) temperature difference between inlet and outlet temperatures at 30% humidity, a 16-21C (29-38F) temp difference at 50% humidity, and a 12-18C (22-32F) difference at 70% humidity. The temperature drop varies because in high humidity the evaporator has to condense water out of the air as it is cooled.
This procedure and numbers are pulled from an AC book. Honda's numbers might be slightly different.
If you're not seeing this level of performance in your car record your inlet and outlet temperatures and take it to the dealer. If they disagree with the specs you used have them show you Honda's specifications in the service manual. It should be at the front of the AC/heating section.
AC problems are hard to deal with because the problem is a matter of degree and dealers are loathe to share the factory specifications unless you press them to do so. They don't want to do warranty work so they are likely to try to say that your AC is "within factory specifications" if it cools the air at all. If they claim this and you've already found otherwise with your own test tell them that you want to actually witness them doing their test. If they refuse then you can tell Honda Corporate that they refused to do so as you escalate your warranty claim. The fact that you are on top of this may prompt the dealer to treat you better.
The Fit is a world car and there is no excuse for weak AC.
tmasazo:
With the car in the shade between 25C and 35C (77F to 95F) outside air temperature, put thermometers in the inlet grille and outlet vent. Select the fresh air setting, temp knob full cold, blower on high, face outlets selected, door open, engine at idle, system stabilized.
You should see at 20-25C (36-45F) temperature difference between inlet and outlet temperatures at 30% humidity, a 16-21C (29-38F) temp difference at 50% humidity, and a 12-18C (22-32F) difference at 70% humidity. The temperature drop varies because in high humidity the evaporator has to condense water out of the air as it is cooled.
This procedure and numbers are pulled from an AC book. Honda's numbers might be slightly different.
If you're not seeing this level of performance in your car record your inlet and outlet temperatures and take it to the dealer. If they disagree with the specs you used have them show you Honda's specifications in the service manual. It should be at the front of the AC/heating section.
AC problems are hard to deal with because the problem is a matter of degree and dealers are loathe to share the factory specifications unless you press them to do so. They don't want to do warranty work so they are likely to try to say that your AC is "within factory specifications" if it cools the air at all. If they claim this and you've already found otherwise with your own test tell them that you want to actually witness them doing their test. If they refuse then you can tell Honda Corporate that they refused to do so as you escalate your warranty claim. The fact that you are on top of this may prompt the dealer to treat you better.
The Fit is a world car and there is no excuse for weak AC.
Last edited by GeorgeL; 07-14-2014 at 07:24 PM.
#20
Well lucky for me I worked at the Honda I bought my car from and all have friends in service, I just didn't want to take it in for a null reason. I'm going to test the inlet and outlet this weekend with George's instructions