I've got an 07 Fit Sport and I haven't had any major issues with this car until now.

Last weekend a friend of mine drove my car and returned it to me complaining of the AC not working and blowing hot air. I calmly mentioned that the AC worked just fine prior to her driving it and that maybe she was mistaken. Well... much to my dismay she was right my AC was indeed blowing hot air.

I took it to my mechanic and he did all the normal tests, i.e, checking the refrigerant, checking that power was flowering properly to the compressor and everywhere else, and checking all fuses, and everything was/is running fine but still blowing hot air. He then says to me that I will need to replace the compressor and clutch. After pulling my hair out trying to find these parts under 800 dollars I finally found some on ebay with compressor and clutch for under 500. Unfortunately I am in the process of driving across country, moving, and will have to get the part sent to a buddy en route across country.

I am looking for any and all input on this issue and if any of you have experienced this and is there any slight possibility that it is not the clutch or compressor? Short of banging on the thing we/I've done everything they tell you to check. Is there some little trick to this? Please tell me there is and that maybe a rock got lodged somewhere? I don't want to be close to 700 dollars in the hole to find out it's something really simple.

I simply don't understand how EVERYTHING is running fine yet I'm not getting cold air. Grrrrrrr!

 

A rock bouncing up from the roadway and punching a tiny hole in your A/C condenser would cause exactly the same symptoms, and it would happen in a few seconds. I don't know the standing of your mechanic as far as quality and reliability ratings, but he could charge you more on flat rate for the procedures that he quoted than for replacing the condenser and refrigerant. A/C condensers are very affordable on eBaymotors.com and don't take a genius to install. Cans of A/C refrigerant are cheap at auto parts stores, and on eBay.

Sorry to hear that this is happening to you ahead of a road trip and all of your other hassles. You can check the presence or absence of refrigerant for around $10.00 by buying a can of it. They have pressure gauges on the can. Once you connect the can's hose to your A/C system, it will show you if the refrigerant is gone, or at low pressure, and they come with instructions.

 

Get a cheap AC gauge and check the low side with the engine running and with the AC and fan on full cold. It should read in the 35 to 45 PSI range with the compressor running. If the compressor will not run, check the pressure anyway. If the initial pressure is too low then the compressor will not start. You could possibly have a bad compressor but I sure would check out the pressures or get a second opinion before I spent that kind of money.

What did he say was wrong with the compressor?

BTW, AC compressors from Rock Auto cost $198 to $330

RockAuto Parts Catalog

 

dont buy a compressor and also dont believe your mechanic when he needs a clutch aswell. any AC compressor will include the clutch assembly


Make sure the compressor still has its wire harness plugged in. Pop the hood, its a 2-3 wire connector.

does the green LED light up in the button when pressed? If not, the AC isnt even getting turned on.

Try setting the air vent to recirculate instead of fresh air.

 

I have the same feeling that some mechanic is taking advantage of him. While I can't positively say his compressor is not bad. I strongly suspect that that compressor (and clutch) are OK. We just need more information from him to prove it.

 

Our Fit's A/C switch malfunctioned, it was fixed under warranty.

 

The switch is working fine. Went out to buy a gauge today and hooked it up, it read zero. I don't know if the gauge was faulty or if there really is zero pressure running through the AC. With that in mind I bought some stuff to recharge it and , maybe it was me, but it seemed that nothing was flowing into the low pressure tube.

I'm at a loss, maybe it really is a faulty compressor. Either way I have one on order that will show up in NC at my buddies house. I'm going to take it to his local mechanic and see what he says. I simply can't figure it out.

It says to listen for the clutch to engage but as some of you already know it can be loud underneath that hood when you turn on the air full blast as well as the AC.

It may be the Condenser which is a much cheaper part, but I'm not sure how to check that.

On another note I'm about to hook up a small 4x8 uhaul trailer. Any suggestions? I've read some of the other posts and it seems like others have done this successfully. Although all of the other posts I read were driving automatics, I'm driving a standard.

 

Okay, further update.

It appears the the gauge is actually reading WAY to high. Which is indicative of the compressor not engaging? Mind you it was reading too high before I tried any of this as well. I likely made issues worse by trying to add refrigerant.

My mechanic said it was likely the compressor because everything seemed to be in good working order. Ugh! well. I'll keep ya'll posted thanks for the replies ahead of time.

 

What was the way too high reading? Was it 70 to 95 PSI without the compressor running.

If you were successful in adding additional refrigerant the can would have turned cold as it was charging and it would have taken about 5 minutes to fully empty the can.

You can tell when it is completely empty as the can will warmup again. Did you tighten the can on the installation tool / fitting far enough to puncture the top of the can to let the refrigerant flow?

If you have enough static pressure without the compressor running, you could unplug the compressor clutch and put 12 volts across the 2 pins on the clutch to see if the clutch engages and runs the compressor. If it runs when jumpered, then look at the pressures again.

Note: The compressor not engaging is not a compressor problem as you previously stated. It is a refrigerant charge or control problem.