My 2012 Fit, which has been fine til now, is having a problem. The AC runs good for several minutes, then seems to shut down for several seconds and I get warm air, then it starts again. It does this in rather regular cycles. Anyone else experience this? I talked to a guy who I deliver parts to that knows about everything you would want to know about a Ford, and he said it is either a sensor falsely thinking I'm close to freeze up and shutting down the compressor, or it is really getting close to freezing up and behaving as it should in that case.

I plan to call the dealer later this week, but was curious as to whether others have had this problem.

 

Is this at idle and/or accelerating? The Fit is aggressively tuned for economy and as such the A/C compressor cycles more than other cars. At idle the exit vent air can become warm on a warm day. During moderate to hard acceleration the ECU cuts out the compressor for extra power to the road.

A solution is to switch to recycle when not cruising. If the temp does not remain cool/cold on recirculate at idle then there is probably something wrong (acceleration will may cut the compressor long enough for the air to become warm even on recirculate).

Once you are at constant speeds with engine RPMs over 2k, it should cool outside air adequately. Even at this time you may find yourself using recirculate especially if the outside temps are over 95.

 

It does it at cruise and during acceleration. It does it when using recirculate and when using fresh. The interruptions cause the total time for it to make the car sufficiently cool longer though. There is nothing efficient about that. I really think something is wrong here. It is plenty hot here, but that shouldn't matter when I am using the recirc, should it? I mean, after a while the air coming in has to be in the 75-80 range when it is recirculating so that isn't too warm.

 

75-85F outlet temp on recirc is not normal. Take it in.