- #96 of 105
-
Re: Weak A/C? [bobw3]
by rudy33
-
Oct 01, 2009 (9:48 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: bobw3 (Oct 01, 2009 9:04 am)
I find it to be a huge problem living in the Central Valley where temperatures can remain above 100 degrees for weeks averaging plus 95 daily. It is totally unacceptable to have the AC shut off at any point in time. Honda should have disclosed their "cutting edge technology" to new potential buyers of the car instead of having consumers find out after they bought the car and further find out that Honda can not and will not fix it. It is one thing to disclose new technology to the consumer before the purchase is made and quite another thing not to disclose new technology to the customer before the purchase and not fix their design flaw after the fact. I find it very curious that if this is such great technology, why did Honda not put it in any of their other models? It's a design flaw simply because they went too far in their attempt to produce a greener vehicle.
|
- #97 of 105
-
Re: Weak A/C? [rudy33]
by stephen987
-
Oct 01, 2009 (10:13 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: rudy33 (Oct 01, 2009 9:48 am)
It would be great if they could have an "eco" mode that cycles and a "max" mode that doesn't. That way, the driver could decide.
Honda sometimes tries to outsmart drivers. For example, the compressor automatically runs when you set the airflow to "defog." Even when you press the A/C button to turn it off, the car overrides your intention and keeps the compressor on.
I prefer to have more choices, rather than have the car decide for me.
|
- #98 of 105
-
Re: Weak A/C? [stephen987]
by rudy33
-
Oct 01, 2009 (10:50 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: stephen987 (Oct 01, 2009 10:13 am)
I wish Honda would admit their design flaw and fix it and stop playing semantics. They have most of their service people hiding behind the phrase "it is performing as designed". Everyone agrees with that, but it is a design flaw. Take it one step further, Honda sells a model with no engine, the unsuspecting customer complains because the car does not have an engine. The dealership tells him the car is "performing as designed". I assumed the AC in the Honda Fit would perform like every other vehicle. When you press the AC button it blows cold air on you (constantly). That is what I have come to expect of any car with AC. That is what I expect when I buy any future car with AC. Honda is attempting to cover their design flaw by passing off this defect or very poor design idea as new technology. When any new car blows hot air on the occupants when the AC is on, that is not new technology but rather plain and simple poor technology and a design flaw. It would be nice to have Honda step up to the plate and fix their poor design/ design flaw.
|
- #99 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [stuartsinger]
by cdcooker
-
Oct 01, 2009 (12:17 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: stuartsinger (Sep 29, 2008 8:35 pm)
I test drove 3 Honda Fits at three different Honda dealers in August in Austin, TX. Triple digits temperature almost every day in this summer. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that the A/C of Fit is indeed very week. Me and my wife, plus the salesman sitting inside. We turned the fan knob to max, me and my wife still didn't feel cold after 5 minutes of driving, and stay the same the whole ride. Not to mention the fan noise at max position. We didn't believe ourselves, so we went to two other Honda dealers on two different dates to test drive Fit again. Our conclusion is that Fit is not fit for Texas summer.
|
- #100 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [cdcooker]
by rudy33
-
Oct 01, 2009 (4:44 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: cdcooker (Oct 01, 2009 12:17 pm)
The engine in the Honda Fit is too small to support the load the AC compressor puts on it from a stop. That is why Honda designed the AC compressor to shut off when a load is put on the engine from a stop (being more than 20% throttle) and designed the compressor to kick back on either when a certain RPM is reached or 20% throttle is reduced. This great idea Honda designed which is a flaw blows hot air on the occupants of the vehicle every time the compressor is shut offs. Why didn't Honda just put a large enough engine into the Honda Fit which is large enough to support any and all loads put on it? They have a unacceptable design in their Honda Fit which so far they are unwilling to fix or come up with any remedy for that matter. It's called a "CRAMDOWN". This is so pathetic from a company like Honda. It's really nice when you have your elderly parents in the car on a hot summer day with the AC on and the car is blowing hot air on them.
|
- #101 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [rudy33]
by bobw3
-
Oct 02, 2009 (7:58 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: rudy33 (Oct 01, 2009 4:44 pm)
Have you tinted your windows? I did that last spring and made a huge difference this summer. I have to admit that the AC on my Fit isn't as powerful as in my other and previous cars, but the tinting really helped. The '07 & 08 models weren't designed for the USA's California desert heat. I wonder if the 09's have the same AC cut-off feature?
I'm actually surprised anyone would actually buy a car with an AC that didn't satisfy them. If I lived in really hot places that would be the first thing I tried out in a test drive. It would be pretty obvious right from the start that the compressor shuts off under high RPMs. At least with the good resale value you can get a pretty good price for selling your Fit if it's really that bad.
|
- #102 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [bobw3]
by mickllogon
-
Oct 06, 2009 (1:07 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: bobw3 (Oct 02, 2009 7:58 am)
I don't think I should have to tint my windows to fix a AC flaw Honda is too cheap to fix, hence the cramdown. Maybe you use you AC in Fall throughout the winter but I don't hence it was not "pretty obvious". When a car manufacturer deviates so far from what is the "accepted norm" of what AC is and what it does they should be required to give the public a disclosure claiming the drastic change they took compared to every other vehicle in the United States.
|
- #103 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [mickllogon]
by bobw3
-
Oct 12, 2009 (6:03 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: mickllogon (Oct 06, 2009 1:07 pm)
At least the Fit's resale value is pretty high (I guess because there are thousands of folks who don't feel that that the AC is that poor), so maybe the best thing would have been to cut your losses, sell it and buy another small car (in the summer!)  Of course now it's fall. For me, the $200 spent on tinting would be better than being uncomfortable...but that's only me. I think the only one who thinks the Fit's AC operation is a "drastic change" is you. I've never read any professional review, even Consumer Reports, who bring up this "drastic" AC issue. Again, I agreee that the Fit's AC isn't the most powerful one out there, but I think that's only part of the problem for the extra "heat" in your car
|
- #104 of 105
-
Re: Concerned about A/C in 2009 Fit [bobw3]
by stephen987
-
Oct 12, 2009 (10:43 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: bobw3 (Oct 12, 2009 6:03 am)
I live in central Georgia--not quite south Texas but a place with six months of summer and six minutes of winter--and my Fit (bought August 1, in 98F weather) cools pretty well, certainly better than the '99 Civic it replaced, despite the fact that the Fit has a lot more glass area. It's not up to the A/C of the '94 Sonoma my dad used to have, but it's adequate.
I've found that letting the windows down for 30 seconds gives the A/C all the headstart it needs to cool the car off, on even the hottest (100-105F) days. Have you checked outlet temps with an A/C thermometer? With the recirc on, you should be able to get a deltaT (outside temp minus outlet temp) of at least 40 degrees--if it's not, then the system is not "functioning as designed."
One thing that's been noted ad nauseam on fitfreak.net is that the condenser on these cars hangs unprotected behind the open lower section of the bumper, where it can easily be damaged by road debris. A brief visual inspection should make such damage obvious, though.
|
- #105 of 105
-
Maximizing the FIT AC Performace
by xcentrick
-
Oct 16, 2009 (10:47 pm)
-
|
FIT AC Solution
I have a 2007 Honda FIT 75K miles and live and work in Riverside County, Ca (Inland Empire). It really gets hot here in the summer but no humidity. At about 70K miles it started blowing hot air when I would come to a stop. Here’s how I fixed this. First, we all know Hondas have weak AC’s compared to domestic vehicles. I have owned four, all have had weak ACs. BUT, here's an important way to improve the FIT and probably all other car’s AC performance. The AC condenser on the FIT is unprotected and sets very low to the ground. It picks up all the rocks and junk off the roads, especially freeways. This severely clogs/blocks the condenser channels and bends the fins of the condenser. Then, air is restricted and does not remove the heat off the condenser. So, if you have any miles at all on your FIT check your condenser. You'll notice the damage already. Your AC performance is being adversally affected by this. Spend several hours straightening out the fins as best you can and cleaning out all the small rocks, etc from the condenser channels using a thin firm wire or wiper blade steel strip. Then, spray water thru the condenser to remove all particles.
Next measure the condenser, cut a piece of aluminum window screen to the measurements and paint it black. Do not use the fiberglass type screen. The aluminum type is firmer and will stop stones B4 they get to the condenser. Make sure you fasten the screen down, especially the bottom.
Next, put a high grade heat reflecting limo tint on the rear window and rear door glasses. I have had a lighter tint on my front door windows for 2 years. So far the cops have not bothered me. Finally, put the same high grade limo tint from the rear on to the TOP of your windshield on the inside. Some state laws allow 12" but check your state laws for legality. In all cases, I think a certain amount is legal.
Always place a fold out type sun blocker up aginst the insie of the windshield when parked.
When 1st starting out, crack the rear windows to exhaust the hot air rapidally.
I did all these things to my FIT and it really helped improve the AC efficiency. It is now very confortable, even when the temp iis >100 degrees. This should for you as well. Good luck.
rr
|
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Hatchbacks 
