RumblyXT

A new OEM Expansion Valve is at least $160, I'm definitely not getting a Chinese knock off unit for this. From what I've learned, the EV is not acting up at all, not getting stuck open or closed, seems to function just fine. In fact, I still get cold a/c in the car when I turn it on. The only reason why I'm going to this extent of cleaning all the lines in the system, etc. is because the compressor seems to be faulty, could just be the pulley bearing that is bad and it's making a lot of cyclical squealing noise with the accessory belt. But at 212K miles, it may be time to replace it and since I have an almost new compressor that came with the 20x motor, I'm changing it for that one. As I said, I may not go to the extent of pulling the Evaporator, unless when I remove the Expansion Valve, I notice the oil is dirty and dark. I was just thinking that pulling the evaporator, may allow me to clean/flush it much better and was glad I did not have to remove the whole dash. We'll see. I may have forgotten to order the two O-Rings between the EV and Evaporator lines.

Good luck with your project, hope you can fix it. If you’re going to do this yourself, I REALLY recommend at least briefly learning on the many components of the a/c system first and the many possible symptoms they each can present. I don’t claim to be an expert by any means, but in the a/c system, it’s quite a few things that work in relation to each other. It’s a universe of its own. Thankfully, there are plenty of really good videos on YouTube about it. One more reason why I’m trying to keep my car stock as much as I can so as not to affect any other components.

Hmm.. this might be good. Reading the FSM section for the evaporator, notice it doesn’t mention anywhere the ‘Instrument Panel’ needs to be removed! And that’s awesome.. while it will still be time consuming to get to the evaporator, since the blower motor has to be come out first to get to it, and a couple of actuators, it won’t be the hassle of having to remove the whole dash. It appears the evaporator comes out sideways towards the passenger door. I’m not sure yet if I may go as far as removing the evaporator (depending of how the EV looks), but it looks like it’s not as difficult as I thought.

Yes, I will need another can of R134a. The O-Rings & Schrader valves were around $35 altogether, I had to pay another $15 in shipping though; a bit much for such little parts. But Subaru Parts Deal OEM parts are greatly discounted so.. I’m not replacing the Expansion Valve. From the research I’ve done, nothing seems to be wrong with it. Just hoping I don’t see any dirty oil residue (a/c technicians call it black death) when I remove it.

Finally got a set of much needed ramps, should make oil changes a breeze. I’d really like to overhaul this bad boy and swap it into an older SF. I miss that car. Although the wiring nightmare alone would probably discourage me.. Honestly, my favorite gen Forester.

Something very cool coming soon.. I’m glad I have the habit of capping ports. The compressor has been capped all this time.

Wow, talk about a project! Looks awesome dude. Congrats!

My bad l seanyb505. I got excited when I saw those numbers, didn’t realize. You guys were like why in the heck is he posting this here lol

Very impressed with this little motor.. getting an increase of almost 4 mpg more than before. Very happy on the $3.95 per gallon savings

Nothing but the best.. The one and only MrSubaru1387 himself. I consider Robert, probably the best Subie YouTube mechanic. His videos are replete of valuable information, never cutting corners and always following the FSM. https://youtu.be/q-_cA0AEKB0?si=FEy7hsoGoqM5GtmH

The A/C issue is bugging me, particularly because when it’s On, it’s putting extra load on the motor where it overheats at idle and heavy city traffic and the A/C belt randomly starts squealing, so bad that I have to shut off the A/C entirely. But it’s been very busy lately, haven’t had much time to work again on the car. Thankfully the temperature is getting a little better down here. TYC condenser just in case. Thanks for the recommendations.

Happy Friday everyone! Do you guys know if aftermarket condensers come with a new desiccant filter tube inside the dryer cylinder? Since more than likely I will need a new condenser, are aftermarket units ok? OEM Subaru costs 4x as much.. trying to save some money. Wondering what’s the typical quality of the aftermarket units? No experience here.. though I’m thinking it’s just a neatly welded aluminum cage.. blackobxt, you mentioned to get an OEM expansion valve? There’s no way to service these right?

Just saw a great video about this. I'm still doing research and learning the other A/C system components and their inter related functions, quite interesting on everything that can happen. All my troubleshooting so far seems to indicate the current old compressor is the one overloading/overheating the engine since the motor never overheats when the A/C system is off.. not sure if anyone has ever experienced that before. You were correct, I may need to replace the condenser since I want to do a full system flush, individually on each A/C component. I'm hoping I can also flush the components behind the dash without having to get into tearing down that nightmare. Hopefully checking how dirty the expansion valve looks will give it away. I might as well replace the schrader valves and all O-Rings. Found this website that lists all the specifications for the amount of oil needed in different areas of the system. https://vil3.motor.com/Home_Frameset.aspx?MSID=le3eyc3pdx23rly3vprbcd5z

You’ll get it eventually..

Thank you blackobxt. My old compressor’s clutch still engages and the A/C blows I’d say 1/2 cold of what it used to.. I will keep researching & learning before I do anything in order to avoid mistakes. For the others who aren’t subscribed to the BtSsm thread, the app works now.. use these cables on the pic below on any Android device, it should work.

It should work on your Nexus 7 too. I have the latest version of Android on my Amazon tablet and Nokia phone and it works fine. Very cool to have the BtSsm app back. I need to play around with it.. what parameters do you guys usually monitor on it? Same as when doing an eTune? Seems you can only fit so many parameters in a regular size phone, the 7” tablet seems way better. So can we dedicate this thread to BtSsm logs, suggestions & comments? Since the old threads got deleted..

"Weapons and counter measures good to go.. Have good ends, good highs, good lows, no out lights, ready in the back.. Here we go!"

Yup it does work. It should work on any Android device with that cable setup..

This is the setup I have.. Hold on, let me try it with the Nokia X100 phone..

Just get a small (USB female to USB-C adapter) and connect it to the OTG cable that goes to the Taxtrix Open Port. I don't have a charging option yet. What I'm doing is charging the tablet and using it while driving to monitor, not leaving it in the car. I’m holding the tablet with doble sided velcro tape. Notice the small cable adapter the Vendor sent me, the one directly connected to the tablet. That’s what made it work! “Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.” - Victor Hugo

Guys I have great news! The App works!! It was the freaking OTG adapter after all..

I am preparing things to replace the A/C compressor for the newer 20x model that came with the motor. I have been doing research and learning how to recharge the system myself (1st time doing this). A friend lent me his vacuum pump and gauges. After reading the FSM, I realized I should have plugged/capped the removed A/C compressor ports since the oil it uses is very hygroscopic. The replacement compressor has been stored in the garage (dry/hot place) all this time. I'm hoping no moisture got inside. Some questions: 1. Do I really need to recover the refrigerant if I'm just quickly replacing the compressor? Can I just get away by pulling a vacuum on the system and recharging it afterwards? Or is a recovery of the whole system actually necessary? (All this time I thought the Compressor oil would stay in the compressor itself, but it actually mixes with the refrigerant in older vehicles, which I'm guessing is the case on my '05 OBXT). This is why I'm asking the first question. How do I know how much oil to introduce in the compressor if it's already mixed with the refrigerant? 2. The FSM mentions to use only Denso Oil 8. Google says PAG 46 is the same thing, is that ok to use and what amount of oil is needed? Going by the FSM looks like I have to measure the amount of remaining oil in removed component.

Just a follow up update on this BtSsm stuff.. I have been keeping in touch with the vendor to find a possible solution on what's going on, he has been super helpful responding questions. I mentioned other forum members were having the same issue with their other Android devices as well. Vendor ran his own 'OTG?' app to show if there are any issues. I downloaded the same app, and I'm not getting the data he did highlighted in yellow. Vendor suggested I get another OTG to USB-C adapter.. He was kind enough to send me a free adapter to try out. We’ll see.. This is what I get when I ran his UTG? app.. This time I was trying a Nokia X100 phone

Bumping this helpful thread 3 years later. My 212K miles compressor (I'm thinking it's the original one) seems to have departed. The socket trick to remove it was very helpful! I was going to try to fix the clutch/gap, but it may be more than that given its age.

I’m emailing back/forward with BtSsm app support. Seems I’m very close to getting the app to work on my tablet, and yes it’s free now! I’m thinking the new free app may be giving problems for some since it’s a new version. I went into my tablet’s Developer Options settings (now available) and it seems I have to enable USB data transfer for the app to recognize my OP2.0 BtSsm support told me to check the tablet OTG compatibility via the app “OTG?” and it looks like it works ok too.. The only thing is, the tablet keeps displaying “USB device not available” I will check again tomorrow morning if it works when connected to the car. Update: I tried changing a few settings in the tablet developer mode and it the app settings itself, but nothing has worked so far.. it's weird because it looks like the Tablet is ready to go all things checked out, not sure if it's the new version of the app that is presenting the USB issues.