AC only works good while driving fast
 

So my AC has only been working while driving at higher speeds. Does not work when sitting idle, or at a red light. sometimes, I will hear a clicking sound every 30 seconds or so, until i start driving, and the AC works again.
Ive done some basic trouble shooting, and these are some details - maybe someone can help me?

When looking at the car, I am assuming that the passenger side fan is the condenser fan, and the drivers side fan is the radiator fan? please correct me if I am wrong in assuming this.

When I start the car, no AC will come out the vents.
However:

• If I reach inside engine passenger side, and give the fan blade a push - the fan starts spinning. (but does not appear to be very fast). A little cold air will come out the vents, but not as much as driving full speed(when I assume the wind is forcing the fan to spin more and blow harder). This lead me to believe that the AC fan assembly, or the condenser fan motor, was bad.
• **but then I made another strange observation - When I turned the car on, the radiator fan did not seem to spin - until i turned on the AC unit from inside.( I have not however, trouble shoot this side yet) - maybe i just needed to wait longer for the thermostat to hit the right temp to engage the radiator fan, but the AC condenser turning on automatically engages the radiator fan by default - possibly not a part of the problem and just distracting me.

does this appear to be a bad condenser fan motor? only working when wind is forcing it to spin, (and during times of idling, only spinning if a fan blade is manually pushed to start it)?


thanks
Sean

Both fan are doing the same function, they are connected in parallel. The different names came from GD1 model which had narrow radiator and narrow condenser mounted side by side (not one behind other) and each had separate fan.
When engine is cold or warm and a/c is off , the fans will not spin (and this is normal) when A/c is on, both fans should spin. Several members reported that the "condenser" ("the flat fan") failure causes bad cooling or no cooling at all, so most likely the fan is defective or dying and needs replacement
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-...enser-fan.html

that is very helpful doc, thanks.

one more question..because i was checking out junk yards.. and had the option of buying a fan assembly, OR the condenser motor.
any idea which one I should replace? is there a way to trouble shoot that ?

nevermind actually. i can just buy the whole thing on amazon as a complete package. thanks for the help!

I had a similar issue
 

Idk if this helps, but I had a similar issue a while back where the AC compressor would click off an on at stops. Turned out the system was overfilled. The compressor couldn't stay on because the pressure was maxing out and it was shutting off as a safety measure. I just had to remove enough gas from the ac system to get it back to appropriate levels.
If not you I hope this helps someone.

Over charging is far dangerous than undercharging, therefore I'm looking for about 1/4 full [California] refrigerant can

One easy thing you can try if an AC fan is dead is to tap the motor with a metal object to see if the contacts will make better contact. If it still doesn't work, before replacing the fan or the motor try this trick. With the engine turned off, give a generous squirt of WD40 for a few seconds into the AC fan motor drain hole drain which points towards the ground. You will need to put the WD40 long spray nozzle into the drain hole under the fan to spray upward. Use a cloth or tissue to catch the excess oil that runs out. Then try turning the fan blades manually. That may be all it needs to help it spring into life. When a fan spins very slowly it could be a bad capacitor or a lubrication problem*. I hope this information can help someone in the future.

Kind regards
Chris

* I would expect that fan motor bearings are lubricated with grease and not a light oil like WD40. But WD 40 will help clean the electrical contacts. Will WD40 shorten the life of the motor bearings? Maybe I don't know. But the bearings may well be dry anyway and any kind lubrication will help. Once the fan is working properly you can choose to spray grease from a can into the drain hole. I did that with my AC condenser fan which had dry bearings which made a rough sound and now its working fine. WD40 may revive the fan and give you some more years before it needs to be replaced.

be aware that the AC will be more efficient with more air going through the grill in general. I have noticed that while my AC gets cool the moment I turn it on, it gets cooler once I start driving.

Sean, when you turn on the AC then both fans should start working and spin fast. With the AC off, the fans (both I think) will also turn on when the radiator high temperature sensor switch turns on. If you turn the AC on and both fans don't start, then it could be due to a bad fan or an electrical fault like a blown fuse or a broken wire. With my right hand drive Fit, the AC condenser fan is on the driver's side on the right and the radiator fan is on the passenger side on the left. If you read my previous post, with the engine turned off, sometimes you can revive a bad fan by squirting WD 40 into the downward pointing drain hole underneath the fan and turning the blades manually to clean the electrical contacts. Please let us know how you get on.

Kind regards
Chris