When I step on the gas hard I get pretty hot air flowing almost immediately. I most notice it when I just get going, when I guess the vents are still a zillion degrees so any uncooled air flowing through them warms up fast.

 

I have a two month old 2012 Fit Sport and it also does the same thing cycling on and off. I consider the air conditioning in my Fit to be weak.

 

It's crazy, but I noticed it most in FL. Now that I am back it just does regular cycling. Seems to be about a 30 second cycle. Can't say exactly how long the compressor runs in that time. My temp ranges from cold to cool without and of those warm blasts. Really have not felt one in about almost a month now. It's been plenty hot here also.

 

Did you ever take the car in to have it checked out?

 

Mine used to get really cold then warm. I took it in to the dealer and now its a constant kind of cold air. I need to take it back in and see what the deal it.

 

I notice it more on my fit when idling or doing stop and go driving. When I am doing highway driving, it feels like I am getting constant cool air.

 

Being as it's not an emergency and I have bumper to bumper for a long time, combined with the dealer being far away, I decided to wait til the next oil change. That should be coming up in a month or two. If it doesn't come up while the weather is still hot, I'm sure I'll have one come up next summer.

 

My A/C was not that good and I was unsure if it was that I live in AZ and it was 108 out side or what. I got a new in cabin A/C filter for 16 bucks online and changed it out in 3 mins. helped a little with air speed but not temp.

So I thought a recharge could not hurt any thing so i went to walmart and bought a can with a guage and also a frige themometer.

My 08 fit sport was blowing 67-70 degrees out of the vent. I checked the low side pressure and compaired it to the chart on the side of the bottle with the ambient air at 106 degrees out side the can called for the psi to be between 50-55 mine was at 43ish.

I filled it according to the directions shaking it and turning it up side down untill it was in the recomened zone 50-55psi. At idle my vents blew at 55-57 degrees. victory i think not.

when i took it on a drive around town it was cycling on and off and making a quite pop noise every time it would shut off. So my a/c would not preform under very gentel acceleration. my compressor would shut off 2-3 time a minute and car was hot 85-95 inside.

I went home poped the hood and checked the pressure at idle and it was 50-55 and would cycle alot and when the compressor was on as soon as you gave it some throtle it would shut off.

Now i just wanted my car back to the way it was i went home and let out some of the psi out of the low side and got it back to 45psi at idle now my car would blow 59-63 degrees at ideal and would not cycle on off as much when driving but at hwy speeds 65mph at 2500-3000rpms it started to do that cycling agin and and car temp became 80-90.

So back at home i said screw the bottle recomendations and kept letting out the psi on the low end untill the compressor would stay on even when i varied the throtle between idle and 2700-3000 rpms the guage read 35psi at idle with the compressor on. the vents blew at 50-55degrees.

I then test drove it and most shifts when driving the car happens at 2500-3000 rpms and my compressor did not shut off frequently at all( maybe once every 10-15 mins was not noticeable) and the vents blew out at 50-53degrees which feels good.

I now am under the impression that in hot weather the psi would rise and the compressor would cycle to often and it would not blow that cool and or consistant due to to much psi/over charged. it seemed the lower the psi the more rpms you could hit with out the compressor shuting off.

Its working great now and colder than befor by far so i think the recomended psi is wrong.

I would like to hear what others think I am no expert but have been around cars a little.


I allways let out the really hot air then run the A/C till vehicle cools then switch to recirculate for max cooling. I also sprayed off the condessor with a power washer to remove bugs and dirt and will put on a mesh guard.

 

yeah my a/c sucks too lol blows hot n cold lol owell the way i see it hey its a FIT lol even tho my 92 eg blows cold as shit but owell it is what it is all i knw when im on the highway or constantly moving it stays cold but stop and go ohh no : /

 

I would rate my a/c now as pretty good and defenitly equal with most cars but i sure the back seat passengers might say different there is alot of volume to cool and if the vents not hiting you its ok a best.

 

So basically your system has less freon than it did as a new vehicle. Interesting concept...

 

Looks right. This is for an 09, but should be the same. 35psi on the suction side at 1,500 rpm with an ambient temp greater than 75F is right. The vent temperature varies a lot according to the ambient temp, but 50-53 degrees for anything above 90F seems in spec. Read the first page for test conditions.

 

thank you for the info this would of saved me a huge headache and backs my findings.

 

For those of you who are complaining about the A/C in your cars, here in Saskatchewan we have frequent temperatures in the 90's. The hottest day this summer, with humidity it felt like over 100*F. My car, once it cooled off, felt pretty comfortable to me.

So, how do I manage that, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked. When I got my first car with A/C, I'd read somewhere (forget where) that on Recirculate (Ford calls this Max A/c) on their domestic inspred cars (Taurus, etc), but has Recirc on the Focus), the A/C runs more efficiently, and does not impact fuel economy as much. So, I turn the A/C on in late spring, flip from fresh to recirc, and leave it there all summer, unless I'm having issues with the windows fogging up. Last summer I was noticing that while on other cars I'd had, I could select Floor/Panel, and then turn the fan down to 1 once the car cooled off, on the fit I can't do that. I have to keep it on Panel, I can turn the fan down to 2, depending on outside temp.

My A/C seems to be fine. I don't notice a drastic temperature change when the compressor cuts out, but, then again, I'm recirculating pre-cooled air.

So, put it on recirculate, full panel, and keep the fan speed at a minimum of 2, and you should be able to keep the car nice and cool. Should solve the problem. If not, by all means take it in.

 

You are right on with your conclusions. The problem you have is with the set up you were using. You could not see the high side pressure.

Most AC systems monitor both the high and low side pressures. If you put too much R-134 in the system, the high side pressure gets too high and the system shuts off the compressor. (the cycling you were seeing) Also as the outside temperature gets higher so does the high side pressure. So when you need the AC the most is when the compressor starts cycling more.

I fought a similar situation on a Colorado for months and finally found that the high side was exceeding 400 PSI when it got 90+ outside. Bleeding off a little R-134 finally resolved the problem.

These AC systems are funny on the amount of R-134 charge. As you reduce the amount of charge, the system runs colder until you finally get to a point where it fails to cool at all. Some systems have a freeze up detector the senses when it gets too cold. On those systems if the temp at the evaporator goes too cold the compressor will also shut off. This is to prevent ice from accumulating on the evaporator. My Colorado runs this way so I modified the detector to shut off at 38 degrees. It came set at 44 degrees F. Other systems do not detect evaporator temperature. My Blazer does not detect the evaporator temperature. I just returned from a 5000 mile trip in the Blazer out to Montana and back at temps that occasionally exceeded 100 degrees. Every day was at least in the in the 90's The Blazer froze me out, BUT.. it iced up occasionally and air flow was greatly reduced. This reduced air flow is telling me that the R-134 charge is slightly low. I haven't fixed it yet as it is simple to shut off the AC a few minutes while I'm driving with the fan still blowing air across the ice. After 4 or 5 minutes the air will start to get warm meaning the ice is all gone and I can turn on the AC again.

I do not know exactly what system Honda uses on the FIT (I have never had to work on one) but by understanding the above concepts you ought to be able to modify the R-134 charge in yours to get the AC performance that you want.

I find that a low side pressure at engine idle of 40 to 45 PSI and 80 degrees OAT is usually about right on most systems. Over charging will definitely make it run warmer and will also trip the over pressure sensor on the high side.

 

I wish there were a way to lessen the power of the AC compressor, like a hybrid on Econ setting or something. My 2012 the AC is cold in 100 deg temps, but the cycling throws of my shifting sometimes and I could make do with a lower power setting.... I just hit the AC button most of the time in the city, hope the switch holds up and it's ok for the car.

 

Here is how I manage outside air vs. recirculated (MAX on some cars), when you first get into a hot parked car, leave a window or two slightly open and the A/C on outside air until the cabin is down to outside air temp or below, then close the windows and put it on recirc. This cools down the car faster, yet maintains it easier for the rest of your trip.

I think someone else already mentioned it, A Fit has a large interior volume and glass area compared to a sedan, so the A/C is going to work harder than a Civic, for instance.

 

Just a thought... My wife and I were in her 1990 Taurus wagon, the other night, using the AC. I can actually hear the compressor cut in and out on that car, and, yes, it does cycle. Somebody above noted that all cars except early GM did this, by the way. Just confirms that on our fits, this cycling is normal.

 

Just to update my post from about a month ago... finally got my AC condenser and compressor replaced under Hondacare. Supposedly the system meets specs now, but with temps in the high 60s when I picked up the car today, I couldn't tell :-/.

I think the system cycles less, but I'll have to wait for a hotter day (if there are any left this year...) to be 100% sure.