Accord 'surges/jumps' when stopped in drive with air condition

[TXNJ]

Hello all. I feel like I've spent at least 4 hours of solid internet reading on this topic but I haven't found many solutions, or at least a consistent one. I see several people have had the same issue, but very few seem to have solved it, or didn't come back to the forums and explain the solution.

 

I have an '08 Accord EXL (4cyl). Just hit 75,000 miles. I took it to a local shop for an oil change and tire rotation (very simple stuff). As far as I know, everything went fine. The mechanic said they looked at all the fluids and topped off where necessary and had no other items to point out. Also suggested I think about transmission fluid change (seems reasonable on a car this old).

 

Drove the car home from the shop (about 1/2 a mile) and that was that. However, the next day, as I was sitting at a red light, I noticed a bump or surge or jump. I've seen it described several ways across the internet. It felt like someone tapped me from behind or the car wanted to take off. It's the kind of feeling that makes you push a bit harder on the brake because if you aren't expecting it, you think you are about to take off. The car doesn't actually move forward though. It is VERY noticeable and has NEVER happened before. So as I was driving around, I was very aware of it. It only happens in Drive and when the Air Conditioning is on, as far as I can tell. I drove to work this morning with the AC off and didn't notice it at all. I also noticed that when I was making a right on a red light, it happened just as I was trying to accelerate. Not sure if that was just bad timing (as in was going to happen anyway and that's just when I decided to accelerate).

 

I did watch the tach when it was happening and there was a drop in the RPMs. Also seems like something (I'm guessing the A/C compressor or a fan or something like that) is cycling a lot and this issue seems to be timed with that cycling, or perhaps I'm just associating it as such.

 

I've read a lot about this and there have been lots of theories from AC Clutch stuck, Bad AC Compressor, Too Much Refrigerant, Stuck Torque Converter, Bad Idle Control Valve, Bad Plugs, Bad Coils, Bad Ignition, etc.

 

What seems odd is that this problem literally started right after the servicing, yet as best I know, they should have only been changing the oil and rotating the tires and topping off fluids, but had they topped off refrigerant, seems like I would have been charged for that or it would have at least been mentioned.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.