Hey guys,
My fit is giving me a/c issues such that it sometimes blows cold air and at other times it doesn't.
For example: on some days when I turn "on" the a/c, it blows cold air for about 30 mins but then stops blowing cold air. After it stops blowing cold air, if I turn it "off" for ~5min then turn it "on" again it sometimes could blow cold air which lasts only ~5mins-10mins OR doesn't work at all.
And on other days, when I turn "on" the a/c, it doesn't blow any cold air at all.
I'm planning on taking it in to the dealer but don't really want to pay alot for something that I could easily fix myself. Could it be issues with my a/c relay or something? Any IDEAS/ SUGGESTIONS?

 

When you turn the A/C "on" do you mean that you are running the cool air and then you hit the A/C button? Or do you leave the blower off with the A/C button depressed and then turn the blower to 1 or 2, etc? Your A/C system could just need a recharge with whatever refrigerant is used in the system.

 

yes, as reported here before, your charge is either too high or too low. As I recall, there are two numbers associated with the pressure test. I'm guessing your numbers are out of range and is causing the condenser to freeze up. The car compensates by trying to heat the condenser line/components to free it of frost, which is why you have the on and off heat in the system. Search on the internet for this issue and the word fitfreak, and the posts should come up. If not, someone smarter than me will be along to clarify if I've misstated something.

 

Before turning the a/c "on", I usually have the blower to 2 or 3. Oh ok, so it could be that my refrigerant is low then? I could've sworn the dealership recharged it the last time I went in (march) after they replaced my radiator fan. I appreciate the info DWils

 

Thank you for info BurntZ, I had no idea how the system works but what u say makes sense and explains the conditions I'm experiencing. I'm going to look into it.

If theres any other suggestions out there please share! thanks guys

 

1. From your description, It sounds like it is freezing up. This what happens when you are slightly low on refrigerant. If it is freezing you can leave the fan speed alone and only turn off the AC. This will allow the AC coils to warm up a bit and melt off some or all of the accumulated ice. This should take around 5 minutes. If it is indeed freezing up you should feel cool air coming out of the vents as the ice melts off.

You can slow down the accumulation of ice by running the AC on recirculate. There is only so much water in the amount of air inside the car can hold so there is much less available to be extracted on recirculate than there is using continuous new outside air. If this is not a accurate description of what is happening then you do not have the freeze up condition I mentioned.

The next possibility is too much refrigerant. When there is too much refrigerant the system will shut down do to over pressurization. This happens more often as the outside air and/or under hood temperatures rise. When you start out in the morning the refrigerant cool and as you drive or the outside temperature rises the refrigerant will expand and you will trip the high pressure limit. Then the AC compressor will shut down until you below the limit. So when you want the cooling the most is when the compressor shuts down or cycles.

A third possibility is the compressor relay intermittently failing as it warms up. It is up front behind the driver's side headlight. I really doubt that this is your problem.

On item one and two above you can easily find the problem with a set of AC gages or an AC machine. If you are a "do it yourself" person, I'll post more info. If not, then take it to any shop that recharges AC systems.

Those are my guesses for today.

 

I have the same issues with my ac. Have read a slipping belt can also cause the problem.
"IF" it ever warms up to need it a will look into these things.

 

Thank you for the great examples/information n9cv! I'm hoping it is a/c low on refrigerent. Could this be a problem if I live in HAWAII???

 

Im currently at the dealership now and apparently my refrigerent is good and the relay is good as well. Any IDEAS? Could it be my clutch and coil on my compressor?

 

I seriously doubt it. Compressor clutch failures are rare and usually when they fail it is a bearing problem causing noise. I guess it coudl be a belt slipping due to a bag tensioner. or something spraying oil on it. Usually bad tensioners show up first as alternator voltage problems not AC problems.


I'm really guessing here now. If the car were in front of me I would throw a set of gages on it and stick a thermometer in the air vent, start it up and watch the clutch operation. Obviously I can not do that over the Internet.

Sometimes the condenser getting loaded up with bugs will cause cooling problems. You might want to blow out the radiator and condenser with compressed air to remove any dead bug obstructions.

I still think this is a refrigerant quantity problem. Does the dealership have any guesses? Do you trust that they know what they are doing?

 

Thanks for the info n9cv! (I think for my case i was one of the unlucky few to get a complicated ac issue)...Im going to hope that my ac is 100% fixed now after I just wanted to have my ac working again. I ended up getting it serviced for the "coil and clutch" on the compressor. My family friend that works there helped me out. At the current moment it seems my ac is back and running like new but we will see after I drive it around throughout this week.

 

I'll defer my diagnosis to the person that actually is seeing the coach. It is difficult to accurately (remotely) diagnose this problem. I hope they got it correct and that you will not have any more problems.

Sorry about the word coach. I was just on a motorhome forum and did not do a reset in my mind when I typed that. It should have been car.

 

Thanks again though n9cv. Ill let u know if somethings comes up which is always a possibility.