So out of the blue my 2011 Fit AC stopped working. It has been fine for the 2+ years I have owned the car.

The cooling fans and compressor do not engage but he switch light turns on OK.

However the fans do engage (cycle on and off) when the car is idling for a few minutes at normal temperature.....so I know the fuses and relays and fans are good.

I tried jumping the AC pressure switch (connecting the two pins on the wire with a paperclip) and that did not do anything. Still no go.

I checked the magnetic clutch relay, and tried replacing the relay with a new one but no go., I then did the magnetic clutch relay jump/bypass with a wire and the compressor engages OK. It blows cold air and I am getting about 25 pressure on the low side and 180 on the high side (I have a gauge set). So I have refrigerant and the clutch/compressor works --- even though it may be a little low on refrigerant. So I know the mag clutch works OK and the relay is not the issue (I tried new one) and the fuse for the mag clutch is OK too.

I then suspected the thermal protector (thermal fuse) on the outside of the compressor based on YouTube videos of the same issue. I ordered a new one and manually closed the circuit (cut the wires, strip the ends and wire nut the two wires together). Still no go from the AC switch. Same issue with no fans and no compressor but the light on the switch goes on.

Any other ideas? It's really odd that none of the above worked....based on what I have seen/read online.

Thanks

Any ideas what else it might be?

 

25/180 is low. I'd add more refrigerant and then continue form there if the problem persists. IIRC 32-40 low side and 240-250 high side is more appropriate. Check specs just to make sure.

 

I have precisely the same issue with my 2010 Fit and already changed the relay, temperature sensor, and fuse with no success.

 

Just for clarity's sake, are you saying the system worked when you jumped/bypassed the mag clutch relay, but a new relay does not work, you just know the issue isn't said relay because it's brand new?
If I'm correct here, you may want to try squeezing a little bit of folded over sandpaper into each female terminal that the mag clutch relay pops into and try to remove any corrosion, then blow it out and re-test. If possible, go one terminal at a time and retest, (as you likely know) doing so could help get to the root of the matter!
​​​​​​just spitballing, but maybe low refrigerant caused increased wear/resistance in a specific circuit (like browning,) but your jumper avoided or bypassed it being a different shape than the relay's male tabs?

Also, awesome work running through diagnostics for this!

 

Hi,
Heres my AC story with my 2011

AC stopped working one day. Clutch not engaging. Bypassing the clutch relay and it engages, blows cold air. Swapped relays around, no change. Fans not turning on. Cleaned relay tabs, no change. Tested all underhood relays with 12v, heard a clicks, so I ruled out relays. Assumed I needed a top up of freon. Proceeded to over charged system, oops. Removed freon till it got to ~25lbs lowside with clutch engaged. Watched the gauge on the low side bounce up and down, decided to let it run for 30 min with clutch relay bypassed. Reinstalled relay after the 30 minutes. AC worked, clutch was engaging, but next time I started the car, not working any more. Days later, I messed with it again. It was a hotter day, clutch was not engaging, but fans turned on when pressing the AC button. HMMMM. Put the hose with gauge back on the lowside. It was still at 25 lbs when relay bypassed to get clutch to engage, on a 75 degree day. I thought to myself "lets just experiment". I put the clutch relay back in, turned the AC on, and little by little I removed freon. Eventually the clutch engaged, and the low side pressure read as ~12 psi. AC is still blowing cold in spite of the "low" reading.

SO, is my cheap hose/gauge not to be trusted? probably.

I even ordered a new pressure sensor thinking that was decent place to start if I needed to start throwing parts at this problem (p/n 80440-SS0-901 Pressure Switch). I might still install the new part. Perhaps this part is activating at an out of spec pressure, making the relay not engage the clutch at higher but correct pressures??? who knows.....

 

Quite possible your expansion valve is going bad.