Step 1, item 6, check air gap.


You can try to measure it with feelers or a dial indicator.......... or just eyeball it....watch as it engages, does it LOOK like it's moving a millimeter or more when it engages?


Most mechanics that aren't intimately familiar with our brand of cars don't realize the clutch parts can be purchased separate from the compressor through Honda.
Aftermarket usually doesn't offer anything but a complete compressor.
Some mechanics prefer selling you a compressor because profit. Or warranty and liability. Or they can't diagnose a problem. Or are scared. Or won't ever buy factory parts. Or only shop at DangerZone. Who knows?

I prefer to keep an original compressor working as long as it can. They have been pretty reliable IMO as long as nobody screwed up the system oil charge during its lifetime.

 

I have a similar problem in that the AC works fine around town, but on long drives after about and hour and a half, it starts blowing warm air and even if I turn the fan to high, only seems to be blowing at about half it's normal speed. Next day it works normal around town, but the next long drive, it does the same thing like something is getting over heated or hot.

 

After it is blowing warm: you need to get out, open the hood, and see whether or not the compressor clutch is still engaged....or not.

 

is there a sound or visual for us to see? It sounds like its humming but nothing is happening

i was thinking or purchasing a refurbished compressor from ebay, any experience with those?

 

You look to see if the compressor clutch hub (the outermost plate on the pulley end of the compressor) is spinning.

Painful video on a Civic Si:



IMO many of the aftermarket reman compressors are of dubious quality. Cheap won't save money if it grenades and contaminates the entire system with debris.

If you want a decent reman, Honda dealers can sell one for 07-08, and 2012 Fits (should fit 11-13 even though they are not listed). Not sure why the entire series isn't in the reman program, but that's what is in their catalog for Fits.

If the car has an original compressor that works (worked) and is not noisy, my preference is to repair whatever external parts it needs and keep the original in service. (These compressors have been pretty dang reliable internally, most compressor related failures I see are due to wear of the clutch and pulley.)

If I find a clutch problem has caused it to quit working, I ask the driver if the air was blowing nice and cold up to the point it quit working. If they say yes, I know it's probably safe to go ahead with my first plan. If they say no, then the system status is not known and I need to do more investigation.




Most independent shops will want to sell you a whole compressor because the aftermarket doesn't normally offer individual parts for these, and most are not aware that Honda sells the pulley and clutch set and the field coil parts separately from the compressor, and many shops (dealers included) want to sell the whole compressor no matter what the failure is---- plus some more parts that traditionally go with a compressor replacement job (also not always necessary). More profit this way, I'm sure.

 

^^ yeah im hoping when i have a chance I will be able to pull the wheel off and just visually see the compressor as its hard to see from the top down to see if the plate is engaging or not.

I do enjoy that first 5 mins of a/c before it stops though... although I do still hear the compressor humming even when the cold air stops blowing, until I hit the a/c switch and say "forget it!" cold moment is over

any idea how much a clutch pack from honda would cost? although it seems the trick in this thread is to RE and RE without needing to replace any parts!

 

This only works if there is a shim that can be taken out, which results in changing the air gap closer to a workable range.
https://torontohondaparts.com/

 

wow awesome site ezone thanks! Toronto Honda Parts - Parts List

holy cow 330$ cad plus tax for a brand new clutch set! hmmm im sure the labor guide for one of these is not as intense as changing the compressor as I assume one doesn't need to discharge and recharge the a/c system which I'm sure costs a lot more labor than it should be.

choices choices... thanks again ezone for the link

 

I can usually find a way to change the compressor clutch and coil without taking the compressor all the way out of the car. Some designs are much easier than others of course.

Depending on the situation and car model/engine combo, sometimes I have to unbolt it from the engine to gain some working room, but I try to do so without discharging nor disconnecting hoses. It's real rare I have to take one all the way out of the car to get this job done.

 

say if I were to diagnose the problem and had the same issue with the air gap like the original thread maker here, would the whole clutch assembly be my caveat or was there something else in the parts list that could fix the problem?


i also realized that the compressor itself and the clutch pack are being discontinued by honda Canada doh... i think my last option is to check the salvage parts places for a cheap discount.

Again ezone thanks for the hastey reply! I assume you do this stuff for a living I only did first year mechanics so A/C wasn't in the curriculum!

 

If gap is too large, just pull the outer hub off and see if there's a shim that can be removed.
FREEBIE !


If there are no shims that can be removed--or this has already been done-- you're stuck with replacing parts.

Really? I want to see that.
What year is your car?

It's part of my states prison deferment early-release community service program.

 

on that web site you just gave me it said that 2007 honda fits the compressor & the compressor clutch kit combo is going to be discontinued so availability may be scarce or so they say.

Wow ironically there is a chance I could serve some time too... I don't want to derail this thread but love to have a chat with you sometime!

Going to have to get my hands dirty in a couple of days and go for broke!

 

Interesting. My USA catalog does not mention this.
Clutch and coil part numbers look the same (Can. vs. US) but compressor number is a little different and doesn't come up in a search. Likely still exactly the same though.

Maybe they want you to purchase a complete reman compressor (not listed on the site, but probably available if you call)?

Maybe you can get someone to ship you parts from the USA if need be?
2007 Honda Fit 5 Door SPORT KA 5AT a/c compressor - HondaPartsNow.com


Getting caught would only add a little time to your sentence, I'm sure.


Seems like sometimes I have to wait for 'Fit-only' type parts to be shipped from California.

 

interesting didn't realize MT and AT variants had different parts for the compressor, I'm planning to call a few salvage places to see if they have the parts in stock, just so I can compare pricing

 

I didn't notice that, and I don't know what the differences could possibly be.

The USA catalog shows only one choice for all versions of 07-08 Fit.
Base and sport, manual or automatic all take the same compressor # here.