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2008 Fit AC Problem

Old Jun 7, 2021 | 07:50 PM
  #41  
07FitSprt's Avatar
Member
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 49
From: Nj
5 Year Member
My A/C symptoms were as follows:
When it worked it was ice cold. When sitting in the sun or heavy stop and go traffic it would work for about an hour then crap out. If it was parked and worked was ice cold and wouldnt cut out.

Refrigerant pressures were normal.
my condenser was damaged from rocks so I replaced it to help efficiency but no difference.

I was going to install a test harness to determine if it was a pressure issue or thermal switch issue. When I was testing the compressor harness to see which were the thermal switch connections I found an intermittent continuity. I traced it to the mounting tab that held down the harness. I have attached pics of the thermal switch and the harness.

Now one thing to take into consideration. When the pressure switch or thermal switch opens, meaning low pressure, high pressure or comp. temp over 250deg the condenser fan will shut off.
I confirmed this by pulling off the pressure switch connector. If you have cooling fans when the A/C switch is on then that circuit is operating properly.

You can see a clean break in both thermal switch wires where they were clamped in the bracket. Vibration fatigued them like a paper clip that gets bent over and over. It was under the braided loom and the wire insulation was intact. I pulled on the wires and they broke. The insulation must have maintained continuity when cold and under heat the insulation expanded and broke the circuit.

I will update when I get things working 100%.




 

Last edited by 07FitSprt; Jun 9, 2021 at 07:03 AM.
Old Jun 8, 2021 | 10:42 AM
  #42  
doctor J's Avatar
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,604
From: Orange, CA, USA
5 Year Member
Great finding!
Thanks!
Mods should put it into stickies
 
Old Jun 9, 2021 | 07:00 AM
  #43  
07FitSprt's Avatar
Member
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 49
From: Nj
5 Year Member
Final update:

I connected a wire to the compressor clutch wire. It was easy to do since its a bullet connector. I ran the wire into the car and connected it to a power probe. The power probe beeps steady when it senses 12V and beeps intermittent when it senses ground. I went for a drive and when I felt the A/C die the power probe was still sensing 12v. I pulled over and checked the clutch and it had not pulled in. It wouldn't do anything. Not even move. I hit it with a screwdriver and it clicked and pulled in. On the next cycle it released and again wouldn't pull in. Once it cooled off it went back to working normally.

Since I read above that other members said the clutch can be re-shimmed, I decided to give it a try. Once you pull off the fender liner, its a 10 minute job. Just jack up the car and turn the wheel. I tried to measure the gap with a feeler gauge but the clutch is so worn with grooves that I couldn't get it to slide in and measure accurately. With an impact gun the nut comes right off. I pulled off the clutch center and the shim was stuck to the compressor bearing. I measured my shim to be 0.025 in. I decided to just make a shim half the thickness of what was in there. I had read that gap is usually about 0.030-0.060 so I figured pulling out 0.012 wouldn't be a big deal since it was so worn.
Success!!! The A/C worked on my 1 hour trip into work today. Hopefully it works until I get a new clutch.

Thanks guys and I hope that helps anyone else with similar issues. Good luck.
 
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