Car has just shy of 100k miles on it....system seems to be running fine, no apparent leaks, just that the air is not very cold anymore. Wife's car and she is really noticing it today (90 degrees)

Possibly just need a recharge or something else? I don't use ac that much so no idea how long it supposed to last. It isn't blowing warm air....just not very cold.....would think it would last longer on a 3 year old car though


Possible $$ on a recharge?

 

My girlfriend's 2010 Fit has always had a less than impressive AC from the beginning. The AC in my 8th gen Accord and TSX Sport Wagon are also less than impressive. lol I don't know what it is, but from my experience, Japanese cars tend to have underpowered AC units; whenever I ride in an American car, their AC blows super cold!

 

Honda will probably charge $180 to service it. Check an independent. It probably does just need topping off with refrigerant (a possible DIY with a trip to the local autozone).

Honda doesn't oversize the A/Cs and seems to moderate their operation on the economy side. Toyota's I've had (have) don't have this issue.

 

Could be the expansion valve. I mediocre A/C temp and that did the trick. Part# 80213-TF0-G01 $92.98

 

go outside and look at the AC condenser, its the radiators cousin but much thinner and uses hardlines bolted on.

Make sure its clean and all the fins are straight and not smashed up.

If most of the fins are crushed/smashed/bent grab a plastic knife and VERY carefully start straightening them.

My camry is over 20 years old, and this improved the AC system a bit. Its the original condenser I think, and before unbending lots of fins it would only blow cold on the highway
No, it wont make a hhuge difference. But even 5 degrees cooler in the car can be felt!

 

I had the same issue with my 09 fit, it would make a click sound. Turns out it was a ac temp sensor. It cost around $50 bucks.

 

This ^^^^^^

 

Same here....at a dead stop its nearly hot. I want to try topping off...guess ill be looking into a diy. Also if it goes completely dead sometimes its just the relay. Im gonna be replacing a second one here soon. GRR

 

Switch to recirculate if you're stopping frequently or for long periods. Switch back to outside air, especially before leaving the car (helps keep the evaporator fresh smelling).

Too much refrigerant will reduce cooling efficiency too, so it's not cut and dried. Best to have someone with a set of gauges check low/high pressure and see if it's in spec.

 

It probably would have lasted longer if you had used the A/C more frequently. Worst enemy for A/C systems to sit unused for long periods of time. Lubricant for the seals is carried in the refrigerant. Lack of circulation (use) can mean the seals dry out letting refrigerant leak out some. You said you don't use it that much so that might be the case.

This is why A/C repairman usually get bombarbed with service calls the first hot day of the year when A/C is needed after sitting dormant for the entire winter.

_

 

Today I drove my 2012 fit sport for the first time on a round trip to Vegas and back from California and if I would have known the A/C performance was this crappy I would have never purchased this car. My god! I was miserable on the way back, the A/C was at the highest level and recirculating, it just felt like a swamp cooler, not conditioned air. The fit only has 10K miles. Im an A/C technician and found nothing wrong with the unit. Everything works great from the engine part but inside the car its just not cold enough I believe that honda engineers designed the fit with a small evaporator coil and a regular size blower, it would be the only reason why its not cold enough. I've test drove three different honda fits and they are similar. A/C is not cool enough on hot days, it only works well on luke warm days.

 

My 2013 did great today in texas. over 90 and kinda humid

Takes the car about 10 minutes to really be comfortable after sitting (cooking really) in the sun.

Are you sure its actually adjusting the flap between fresh air and recirculating? Possible that door isnt working

I think its mechanical. Possible something popped off.

My window tint is 40% id guess. Whatever the dealership saw fit to put on it

 

I've got the limo tint for the hatch and the back doors, no tint on front windows. It's a California thing, they love to hand out chicken sh*t tickets for that. For the first hour drive it was comfortable inside, but soon there after it just felt humid and I felt my skin sticky. Is it possible that the condensation that is suppose to drain out is somehow recirculating thru the venting system. well I hope this is not the deciding factor for me to trade this car in because I love it, but with California desert weather reaching 120F. I may just have to buy American

 

i find that when i have the ac set to circulate both to your face and feet is rather weak. however when i set it to only the face, the damn output is so strong.

 

I'm not an A/C tech (but my dad was an HVAC engineer and I worship the god Carrier living in the South and all). Checking Vegas temps it was over 100F. The Fit's A/C is biased towards economy, but at those ambient temps it should have been working at peak performance. Last summer when we had record breaking heat (100F and high humidity) it was up to the task. It worked better at those temps than it does at 80F. Here are the Honda performance tests (it really sounds like yours isn't working right).

 

Sounds like the heartbreak of icing evaporator. Something's not right.

 

In my 2015 Fit, if the ambient temperature is 90 deg F or above, and cloudy, the AC will keep the cabin comfortable. 90 deg and sunny? No go. Those windows produce a greenhosue effect. And the windshield in very big, and light passing through it heats up the large expanse of black plastic underneath it. It gets painfully hot if its sunny out, and is not hot if it's not sunny. So I'm not sure how much it will help to tint the windows, unless the windshiled is included.

 

Static pressure is just that (static) .Meaning it is the pressure on both sides (High and low) when the system is NOT running. meaning the compressor has been off for a while. It varies considerably based on the ambient temperature of the R-134 under the hood, in the evaporator, and the condenser (the entire system). 12 PSI static is very, very low for a static pressure unless you are very cold, like below zero I did not look up the real temperature number for 12 PSI.

When the charge is that low on the system is designed to NOT to turn on the compressor. So start adding R-134 to the system until the static number is high enough to trip the sensor to allow the compressor to start.

DO NOT turn the can upside down when charging it because that will disperse liquid rather than a gas. When the compressor does try to start, the liquid can, and probably will, lockup the compressor due to the liquid on the intake (low) side..

Once the static charge reaches 40 to 70 PSI and the engine is running, the compressor should start to cycle off and on. Then you can finish your recharge based on the gauge on the low side and the air vent temperature readings.

The big question for you is: Why is the pressure so low?. You have a leak somewhere. The good mews is it did not all leak out so you do not need to vacuum the system to remove any air and moisture that might have entered the system,

Good Luck

 

I can say that the 2nd gen Fit AC is better than the first, however our 1st Gen had no AC problems.

The 2nd Gen is prone to blown blower motors, bad blower motor resistors, smoked AC clutches, and they have a condenser susceptible to rock damage.

That said, people have some good tips to keep it working acceptably.

• Use recirculation when starting out or when at a long stop.
• Use outdoor air when moving.
• If the AC doesn't feel cold enough use the top vents only.
• The AC system works most efficiently at the coldest AC setting and lowest fan setting that results in adequate performance.

On hot, muggy days it is barely adequate. I recently got a recharge kit after fixing a blown blower resistor and a bad AC clutch. It didn't feel like it was working as well as it was and the compressor itself sounded noisier than it used to, so I got a recharge kit. The gauge on the recharge kit showed low normal which the kit instructions suggested to leave as is. I filled it to the middle of the normal range and it is noticeably better and the compressor sounds happier.

On very hot, muggy days if the car has been baking in the sun, it takes getting moving before it works as one would expect. Otherwise it works well enough.