After reading here how important it is to put some kind of screening in front of the A/C condenser I decided to take a look at it. Well, it sure does seem very vulnerable to rocks being kicked up by vehicles in front of it.
Now, being a fairly handy guy with tool and such I know I can get some screening from say home depot and use plastic ties to hold it in place.
My question is.... How do I get at the condenser to protect it??
I have a 2012 Fit Sport. I would appreciate any help. Thanks

 

I'm a lazy man. I put my gutter guard in front of the lower bumper opening. Invisible, should provide decent (not top notch) protection, knock on wood ...

 

i should check where this thing is located over the weekend. ive not had any problem with my 09 (wife's the primary driver and while she doesn't tailgate, she tends to drive a lot closer to the car in front than me)... so never really considered putting anything.

 

I just did this last night. You take off the front bumper, which is held on with perhaps a dozen plastic pop fasteners, a half dozen screws, and a row of clips along the lower edge of the headlights (requiring a good yank to disengage). You will, of course, want a blanket or similar to avoid scratches to the bumper once it's off.

Once its off, it is a fairly simple matter to attach some screening or something to the intake part of the bumper with some sort of ties. I ended up using several black twist-ties since I had them on hand and they don't show against the black car. Many people use the nylon zip ties. There's not a whole lot else to mount a screen of some sort to without fabricating a fancy bracket of some sort.

The whole project probably took me two or three hours all told, working alone.

 

After reading about how vulnerable the AC condenser is to punctures from rocks and see all the bugs building up, I installed a homemade grill guard. A 6”x20’ roll of black plastic gutter guard was only $2.50 at a local hardware store. I removed the panel behind the grill and the grill itself. I cut a 38” strip and started out by attaching it to the two plastic posts on either side of the lower grill. The posts already have a small hole in the center. Four small screws and washers gets it secured. Next, I cut gutter guard just enough to slip over the four tabs on each side on the inside of the grill. I next used label zip ties to secure the gutter guard using three for each vertical slat. Pleased with how it fits and looks.

 

You have to take the bumper off? I don't know if I want to go that far. There is no way I can remove the plastic pieces on the top by the radiator? Anyone else know of a way to do this without removing the bumper?

 

No. Just pop up the retaining pins with a small screw driver. Pay attention to which pins came from which holes. The cover behind the grill and the gril can be removed for access to the area behind the bumper.

 

Like I said, I did it outside of the grille. Two thin strips, one on top, one below. Black gutter guard material. Held on by twist-ties ... getting those in, around, and then back out so you can tie them is by far the hardest thing.

But I haven't heard of anyone else do it this way :P

 

I made mine by removing the plastic panel at the top of the radiator that goes to the front of the car...that is above the real grill on the car. Once removed (easily, by carefully popping up the center of the clips that hold it, then pulling the clips out) you can look straight down past the horn to the opening you want to protect, at the bottom of the space in front of the AC radiator.

Since I was using flexable plastic to make my "lower grill", I could manhandle it into position then hold it in place with zip ties.

While you have the top piece off, you might consider a horn upgrade too.

And...two of the clips are larger/longer than the others, they go in the holes at the extreme right and left edges of the plastic piece.

Paul H
(No bumper removal needed.)

 

Any pics?

 

Perhaps this varies between the base and the sport model. On my 2012 base model, at least, the solid plastic cover above the upper grille (around the hood latch) can be removed from the top, but the upper grille itself is attached with screws and plastic retaining pins which are inserted up from the bumper underneath. It may be possible to extract and replace it without removing the whole bumper, but it wouldn't be convenient or easy. Removing the whole bumper cover wasn't very hard at all, and of course gives perfect access to the back side of the lower grille.

 

I too have a 2012 base model...to install a "grill" to fill the lower openings in my bumper there was no need for me to unscrew and remove the stock upper grill...I just reached down to the bottom of the space in front of the AC condensor once the "shelf" or cover at the top was taken off. While they not good pictures, here is one of the lower grill openings, through which the AC radiator can be seen looking down before I started, followed by a shot of the makeshift "grill" made of 1/2" square openings plastic fencing, before I relocated the zip ties to eliminate a "belly" in it from not being installed tightly enough. (Confession, it still has the belly...I'll tighten it up when I reopen to install an aux horn.)

Before:


After:


Paul H

 

My $2.50 gutter guard installation...

Fit250guttergardinstallation.jpg?t=1346452754

 

I like it! And as you can probably tell from my plastic fencing lower grill, I'm all in favor of "re-purposing" things in unusual ways to save some bucks.

Yours looks as good as the extruded metal screens expressly for the purpose of lower grill fabrications I've seen on eBay for over $40 for a 12" x 4' piece.

Good job!
Paul H

 

I don't want to go as far as removing the bumper. I will try one of the other ways like removing the plastic panel on the top and try that. The gutter guard is a great idea. Thanks you guys, great idea's all around.

 

Today was labor day, warm and sunny here so I decided to try my hand at protecting the condenser. I carefully removed the plastic piece that goes from the top of the radiator to the front of the car. Just took a small screwdriver and pried up the plastic fasteners.
I went to my local home store Lowe's and walked the isles looking for some suitable mesh or screen to put behind the front grill to protect the condenser. After a lot of looking I decided on using the same stuff (gutter guard) that poster Marklj used and it worked out great. It was $4 for a roll. You actually only need a couple of feet.
I didn't take the grill out only the plastic on top so I had to carefully reach down and attach this gutter guard mesh to the back of the grill with black plastic wire ties. It took a while but I got it done and you can't see it unless you are up very close and are looking for it. The gutter guard and the plastic ties are black like the grill. All told I spent about two hours on this project. I think I did good. Thanks to all who gave helpful advice.

 

Just put mine in today. See https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ml#post1128700 Came out pretty good, if I don't say so myself.

 

jonson01 : WHAT are you writing about? This thread isn't about an electrical condenser (aka a capacitor), it's about the AC condenser, sortof like a radiator, mounted in front of the engine coolent radiator...and protecting it from kicked up road debris.

 

ok... ive not done nothing yet.

 

Followed Rampo's DIY and got my Fit a condenser protector. Hell, we might have even gone to the same Home Depot for the part. Well done, sir!