apexi Posted July 4, 2016 Share Posted July 4, 2016 I thought about saying this yesterday but wanted to see what others said first, since hvac stuff isn't my strong suit. Maybe there's a problem with your driver side air mix door, or LH air mix door actuator? Some of this is for manual ac, but I think some of the air flow diagrams still apply to auto hvac models. http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5203409&postcount=4 Just for kicks.. I wonder what would happen if you tried running the auto ac diagnostics? http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4838143&postcount=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkM08 Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 apexi - I printed the docs in the second link and I'll run diagnostics later this morning and see if there are any trouble codes being thrown. Unfortunately it is a cloudy day here so the sunload sensor test may not be able to be done until tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmedic Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 If the temperature is changing, albeit not as much as the passenger side, I'd venture a guess that the blend door is working. Much as I don't think you want to hear this, it's possible it could be the evap is clogged, at least partially. There is a similar condition that occurs with the heater core becoming partially clogged, complaint there is usually no heat on one side or the other. In most cases, backflushing the heater core is all that's required to fix it. The explanation behind that is the HVAC uses half of the heater core/evap for one side of the car and half for the other. I'm guessing there are some fluid dynamics dudes/dudettes here who could explain why only half of it clogs but I'm not one of them. . . many a wife has refused to ride in hubby's LGT in winter over that 'no heat on passenger side' issue. I still have a hard time convincing myself that debris from the first failed compressor worked its way through the condensor, drier bag, and expansion valve and is deposited in the evap, but stranger things have happened. . . and it's worth exploring that hypothesis. Before you pull the evap (which is a miserable job---5 hours is conservative), pull the system down and backflush the crap out of the evap and watch to see if you get any schmutz coming out of it. To backflush, you would push flush/compressed air through the big pipe. Be sure to remove the expansion valve first, otherwise you risk contaminating it again and/or not getting all the schmutz out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkM08 Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 lock and apex - I spoke to the wrench a few minutes ago at the dealer I trust - 25yrs and 18 at Subaru. He said the 08 Legacy and Outback are notorious for having evaporator leaks and he has a sniffer he can use to figure that out without pulling it. He also said exactly what you said about Sub's being very particular about the amount of Freon going into them. I read your last paragraph from last post word for word to him. I used the technical term S#$T in place of schmutz though. Anyway, I am going to have them do the sniffer thing and if that shows no signs of leakage, we will evac, flush and refill to exact spec one more time before we go down the replacement path on the evap. He commented that the warm air on driver side is an indicator of not enough Freon. We'll see. He knows how to get at the actuator door if that is the problem. I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome. Stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkM08 Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 I thought I would write back to you guys and let you know how things turned out. The sniffer tool showed no evap leaks so he did another full evac and refill of the system. I picked up the car on Saturday and drove it at highway speeds (70-85) 1 hour to Milwaukee and 1 hour back with air on Auto and set at 65 for both zones. Both zones blew freezing. We are on day 3 of running with the a/c locally and no problems. The wrench said they could not find any problems with the system and the actuator door is working fine. So long story short - lockmedic - I think your original comments about Subaru's being extremely sensitive to the charge amount was spot on. I am at a loss why a second compressor would go bad based on an overcharge. If you can give input on that I would appreciate it. The guy in CO must have done that the first time. I am definitely not blaming him as he is a solid guy who stood behind his work. Apexi - I also want to say thanks for helping and getting me in touch with lock for his input. Hopefully we do not have to reopen this thread due to another fail because this was one pricey issue to resolve. Well, less than half of what Groove Subaru in CO quoted anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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