Went on a trip over the weekend from Tampa to Orlando, the drive is just under 2 hours each way. A/C worked great on the way there, but on the return trip the next day the A/C seemed to stop blowing cold air, also the airflow coming out of the vent wasn't as strong as it normally is, and the sound of the air coming from the vents seemed different (hard to describe). A/C was set to #3, vent only, recirculate). Tried turning the A/C off and back on, checked cabin filter, etc and didn't find anything obviously wrong. However, the next morning the A/C started blowing cold again. Does this sound like the evaporator iced up? If so, does this likely mean something is wrong with the A/C system? Car only has 22,000 miles but is out of warranty.

 

iced-up evaporator. It's beginning to seem like a common problem for Fits. It's not normal. Take it in... It may have been short of refrigerant from the factory (this is the most likely cause of icing up).

 

Had the car for 3 years and this is the first it's done this, is it still likely it would be short refrigerant from the factory and only now had this issue? I plan to check the refrigerant pressure, but I need to buy a gauge first. What else would cause an evaporator to ice up besides low refrigerant?

 

It could have been low and didn't hit the point of icing up until now. The other possible causes are faulty expansion valve or the evaporator temperature sensor (cycles the compressor on and off).

Here's the factory manual for testing an 09. link

 

Thanks - very informative!

 

You should be able to borrow or rent the guages from autozone or anywhere like that that loans out tools.