Hello All,

I may not be the best user of this forum, so my apologies. Searching air conditioning terms for threads resulted in no hits.

Here's my issue. My '08 Honda Fit (GD3868EW) sport A/C just went out. Im at 142,000 miles. No maintenance what so ever to the AC in ten years. AC went out after driving 20 + miles with cold AC. Then made a stop, shut of the car and no AC on start up.

I'm going to explore the simplest and obvious first. Recharge the freon. Is there a special connection to purchase before I head to Wal-Mart and get a recharge bottle(kit)?

Can i purchase my own leak detection kit? Do I need to be under the car at all?

Thanks in advance.

Ben

 

Visually inspect condenser for damage (look into the holes under bumper); if rock hits it the gas will go out)if no damage is seen, rent a manifold kit or gage to verify that there is a gs in the system(should be about 80 psi with engine off, measured at low side port.
Sometimes a fan control (not the actual fan) fuse blows (7.5 Amp, IIRC) located under dash; this kills a/c and cooling fans , so it needed to be checked right away.

 

Before you go trying to add refrigerant or anything like that, can you confirm the compressor isn't kicking on at all? Run the car with hood open and see if you see the AC compressor start spinning when you have the AC turned on. If it's spinning and you're just getting warm air, you've got a leak. If it's not spinning at all, you could have a seized bearing/clutch (and no problem with refrigerant) OR little to no refrigerant.

 

OK. So i finally went to get this looked at. AutoZone guy hooked up AC gauges and they showed over-pressure. What does this mean?

Ben

 

did he check the pressure with engine off/ac off?

 

He checked with engine on and ac on.

Ben

 

if both pressures are high the system is likely overcharged or has an air in it
If low side is high and high side is low, the compressor has a cross leak (cannot pump)
if high side is too high and low side is vacuum, the expansion valve is stuck closed

 

What were the pressure readings? Was the engine running and the compressor engaged? If the engine wasn't running, the low side will be high since the compressor needs to be turning in order to drop the pressure reading down.

If the compressor is not engaging the air gap between the clutch plate and pulley might be great enough that the magnetic coil isn't strong enough to pull the clutch plate into the pulley. A rookie mistake is adding refrigerant to a system just because the system isn't cooling. Do a search on some of my previous posts regarding AC repairs.

 

<if both pressures are high the system is likely overcharged or has an air in it
If low side is high and high side is low, the compressor has a cross leak (cannot pump)
if high side is too high and low side is vacuum, the expansion valve is stuck closed>

Does this equal new compressor?



<What were the pressure readings? Was the engine running and the compressor engaged? If the engine wasn't running, the low side will be high since the compressor needs to be turning in order to drop the pressure reading down.

If the compressor is not engaging the air gap between the clutch plate and pulley might be great enough that the magnetic coil isn't strong enough to pull the clutch plate into the pulley. A rookie mistake is adding refrigerant to a system just because the system isn't cooling. Do a search on some of my previous posts regarding AC repairs.>

Does this equal new compressor?