I am looking for some advice. I have a 2009 Honda Fit and over the winter I had a little high speed off-road non-linear excursion where the passenger side corner of my frame got a little bent. I had to get a new rim and when the mechanic was putting that on he also took a sledge hammer to the frame to get it “straightened out”. All seemed to be well until the first day of Colorado summer when I tried to turn on the AC only to find it not functioning.
After having a look around I discovered that when the frame bent it pinched a group of wires up against the compressor clutch. One of the wires was completely severed and 2 others had exposed copper but were still intact. It just so happens that these are the 3 wires that go to the AC compressor. I cut, soldered, and shrink-wrapped all 3 so now I “think” there are no more severed wires. But alas the AC clutch still does not engage.
I thought perhaps I was out of refrigerant and there was a leak caused by the impact, but the system does not take refrigerant when I try to add more from a can. I checked the AC fuse. It looks good. I also tried to find the compressor clutch relay to check it and I cannot for the life of me find any documentation that says what relay is the clutch relay. So I checked to see that all the relays clicked when 12V was applied and they do although this does not mean they are not blown.
My job today is to see if the AC clutch is getting signal to open and close when I turn on the AC. But I am hoping someone will have some advice about what else might be wrong. I turned the compressor over by hand and it appears to turn smooth and I can hear the refrigerant sloshing. A compressor replacement is not really in my budgetary means, so I want to exhaust all other options before I give up.