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Ifixtheinternet

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Everything posted by Ifixtheinternet

  1. Got a call back from the shop. They tried to fill the system but The compressor is having "issues". It's building pressure, then losing it, then building it, rinse repeat. He stated that he wants to refill it with oil in the morning, that maybe too much oil was lost with the evaporator leak. I'm not optimistic. they also stated that since there was only quarter pound of refrigerant in the system, I was already practically empty. Sounds like they're building their case of washing their hands of the problem. He said he didn't see any debris in the system but It will show up in the morning in the oil if there is some. looks like I'm in for some expensive repairs.
  2. That is really concerning, sorry to hear. The car is at the shop now, and I told them to verify if there is any debris in the system before attempting to fill it. They expressed that they had already planned to do that. It will be really unfortunate if there's damage. Not only the financial implications, but this shop has been otherwise really good to me and seem very experienced. I would be baffled about how they would not know about this being a thing for at least the past 10 years.
  3. Well I spoke to the shop about this, and they are confident that it is not damaged. The lead tech's opinion is that the warning in the service manual is overly cautious, like "don't run the engine if oil is 1/2qt low." To be clear, these compressors are variable output type and do not have "clutches" like the older style compressors. They are always spinning with the belt regardless. Hence the concern. So it would seem that at minimum, the compressor is defeated some other way in a low charge state, instead of with a clutch. Apparently most newer cars have this type of compressor. It doesn't make sense to me that most manufacturers would remove the Fail-Safe of defeating the compressor in a low charge state. However, seeing that warning combined with a mysterious strange noise right after I drove the car from the shop had me convinced that the compressor was damaged. Currently the plan is to take the car back on Wednesday, have them fill the system and see what happens. I've decided to put off the evaporator job. since I've discovered how difficult and time consuming it's going to be, I'm planning on getting a heater core and replace that while I'm in there, along with possibly a blend door motor and anything else that might be a good idea while I have everything apart. So on Wednesday, either I or the shop is going to learn something.
  4. 2013 Legacy 3.6R. This post is somewhat of a PSA and question. So the past couple of Summers I've had an obvious AC refrigerant leak - It will stop blowing cold by the next summer and I have to have it refilled. last summer it didn't even last through the season. Took it to a local shop and they detected refrigerant coming out of the vents, so the evaporator needs to be replaced (or possibly an o-ring). The lead tech mentioned this type of compressor shouldn't be run with low refrigerant, otherwise it can get damaged, and that while the vehicle should stop it from running in this scenario, it appears mine wasn't. so when it started getting low again, I unplugged the electrical connectors to the compressor. I've done a lot of car maintenance and repairs myself, have a lot of tools, figured I could tackle this job. so I took it to the shop and had them evacuate the system completely before attempting to replace the evaporator. It appears this was a big mistake. I picked up the car from the shop. Did not engage the A/C. As soon as I started driving away, I heard a strange Whirring / mechanical noise from the engine compartment that lasted a few seconds and then went away. I was concerned about this but not sure what it was at first. Couple days later, After following an instructional video for 2014 Outback, which shows that you can access the evaporator from the lower dash without removing the whole assembly, I found that was not correct. I acquired a full service manual, and it turns out the whole dash has to come out, coolant drained, an entire HVAC box removed from the vehicle to get this done. Boo. Then I saw it, a big warning right at the beginning of the instructions: "Do not start engine before refilling the system." "If engine is started before system is filled, replace compressor". Fuuuu . . . So the noise I heard was likely the compressor being destroyed. I haven't talked to the shop yet about it but I'm guessing they're unaware of this caveat, and they just did what I asked. I was surprised to learn of this, that if the leak is so bad that everything leaks out, the compressor will get destroyed? Surprised I hadn't heard about this before. Sooo, I'm trying to figure out how screwed I am. I know when some compressors go bad, they can send debris through the entire AC system, which then all has to be either replaced or flushed. Anyone know if this is the case with these compressors? or is there any way to check that? So PSA: Don't even drive these cars if there's no refrigerant in the system!
  5. 2013 Legacy 3.6R, 105k. A couple days ago I noticed a single click/pop from the front passenger side when I accelerated from a dead stop, with the wheel turned to the left. First time I noticed it. I got under the car and I don't see any signs of cracked bushings on the control arms or front suspension. No play found in any wheels vertically or horizontally. Could this be the ball joint even though it looks okay, or maybe something else? Engine mount? I have new shocks, struts and front lower control arms ready to all be replaced. hoping to take care of whatever this is at the same time.
  6. Aside from the noticeably bumpier ride from the worn struts, and maybe a little bit of freeway wonder, I'm not noticing anything in particular. It just seems like the consensus is all these bushings last about 100k, so I thought to just get it all done at once while I have it apart, do one alignment and be done with it. Will give me confidence I will be good for another 100k. looking at all the nightmares of people dealing with bushings and presses, I'm thinking just buying new parts for the rear seems much easier. I can get both control arms, trailing arms and lateral links with bushings for about $400 for the rear.
  7. I've just turned over 100k on the 2013 Legacy. Just did spark plugs, and It's obviously time for new struts/shocks. I've decided to refresh the entire suspension while I'm at it, since all the bushings are on borrowed time. So far I've ordered: KYB struts / shocks / Mounts / bellows Mevotech Supreme front control arms I also plan on ordering new inner/outer tie rods (unless this is deemed unnecessary), rear control arms (or bushings), and rear trailing arms (or bushings) and front/rear sway bar end links. The front control arms weren't much more than all the bushings/ball joints separately, and I dont have a press, so that seemed easier. However I'm seeing that the rear control arms / trailing arms are much more difficult to remove, so I can't decide what's the best option here. Is that true? Should I plan on torching out bushings, ordering something to install without a press? The car is stock except for upgraded RSB. Don't have any particular expectations, but firmer / more durable parts would be great. And, did I miss anything that I should consider replacing?
  8. Okay I think I found the answer. It seems these are wear indicators and not necessary for holding the brake pad in place, which is what I thought. It seems a lot of aftermarket manufacturers have opted to only include one to save cost, since if one is that worn they both need to be replaced anyway. Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
  9. I ordered new pads and rotors for the Legacy. Did the front a few days ago and when I got to the rear I ran into an unfortunate surprise. Only one out of the four pads in the Akebono kit that I ordered have a clip riveted to the rear of the pad. I double checked the car and both the inner rear pads in the have a clip riveted to the pad. I got the car with only 30k so I'm quite sure those are the original pads. So I contacted the seller expecting the box was just loaded incorrectly. They said this is by design and all the kits are made like this. I looked at a couple other kits and sure enough only one out of the four pads has a clip. I am really perplexed by this. I can't imagine why any vehicle would need a clip only on one side. Did Subaru update this at some point and only require a clip on one side? Apologies if this has been going over, I did a search and couldn't find anything. Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk
  10. I'm having a problem with my driver side front window I can't figure out. It began to not roll up all the way. I discovered it was jumping forward when I rolled it up, which allowed it to get in front of the seal on the rear side and bunch it up, creating a restriction so it would roll back down. I can get it to roll up properly by holding the rear of the window down so it stays in the rear track. I took the door apart expecting to find a loose bolt or broken clip Etc, but nothing is obviously wrong. The problem seems to be too much play in the window front to rear (like it's rocking), it's just not clear to me why. Both bracket bolts seem tight and it has no play with the bracket. I did notice I can lift and drop the window in the track an inch or so with the motor stopped. It looks like the motor has a bottom and top cable connection to the window creating a loop, maybe that has slack it should not and is why I can lift the window? The side tracks are fixed. The rear one has a bolt but the front one looks all welded. I tried adjusting the bolt but there isn't really any play. They are held on by L shaped brackets so I wonder if they just bend over time. I compared it to the passenger side and it rocks a bit too, but not as much, and not enough to come out of the track. Any ideas? Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
  11. I'm having a strange issue which I think is related to the 5EAT torque converter. When traveling at constant speed between 50-60mph, if quickly releasing throttle from about 25% to 0%, sometimes the transmission will disengage harshly and the whole car shakes back and forth a couple times. First trip to the dealer was fruitless, but I need to reproduce it for them. I upgraded the rear bushing but that did little to nothing. Others have said this isn't normal for this car. Any ideas I can throw at the dealer?
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