Fluffysubie Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 I am on the road right now and getting "roasted" ha no I actually need help. My ac suddenly started working very intermittently. Runs very cold for about a min and then it feels like the compressor completely stops. The compressor was just recently replaced (the original compressor clutch went) and the system was charged by a reputable subaru shop so don't think its a low or too much freon issue. PLEASE HELP IM SWEATING MY A** OFF. And I did do my research online before hand but all the chats I found people were saying its normal for the ac to be like this. I've had the car for 6 years now and the ac was never like this. It was never the best but I always thought it was good and did very good at keeping me warm and cold when needed. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Ac relay is known for being a failure point. Freon could be low, cabin filter clogged not allowing sufficient airflow across the evaporator causing it to get cold and turn off. Could be lots of things man. My ac wouldn’t cool any lower than 45° till I did the pot mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted September 1, 2023 Author Share Posted September 1, 2023 I swapped the relay no fix sadly and the cabin air filter was very recently changed. Hopefully not low on Freon as it was just charged. I’m on the road tho so need it fixed urgently so I just brought it into a shop that would look at last second for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 Let us know what it is please. I’d be interested in what temp it’s cycling at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted September 2, 2023 Author Share Posted September 2, 2023 So there was too much Freon. Almost 20oz when it’s supposed to have 13-15. That was it luckily a quick fix for the shop and was back on the road. Thx for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted September 2, 2023 Share Posted September 2, 2023 Get that in writing from the shop to take back to the place that did the work initially? That’s a pretty dumb mistake, maybe they’d be willing to make it right in future. If you’d still want to go there anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted September 2, 2023 Author Share Posted September 2, 2023 I’m in the process of moving a couple thousand miles away so I won’t be dealing with that shop ever again so I’m not going to bother to be honest. The people that work there are also very nice and help me out pretty often so I don’t want to call them just to bash them for messing this up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted September 2, 2023 Author Share Posted September 2, 2023 Next issue of the trip though. Just started happening. The second hit 3k rpm’s my car starts to run lean with afr consistently sitting at 17-18. I haven’t pushed it further then 3300rpms out of fear of sending a piston to on coming traffic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted September 4, 2023 Share Posted September 4, 2023 Dang. Any chance you've got a fuel pressure gauge installed? That could certainly be a few things, but going lean only above a certain RPM/fuel demand makes me think fuel delivery first anyway.... If you're on a Stage 2, then you probably/must have an aftermarket pump.... what is it, and how old? There are definitely quite a lot of people who've experienced premature failures with a number of them over the years. I see now this is 2 days late, so barring some other failure presumably you've been able to get where you're going staying below ~3K...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 It for some reason worked itself out enough that it wasn’t much of an issue. The next morning after this while the engine was still cold I took the intercooler off and inspected the vacuum lines. Everything was connected but I went ahead and zip tied the t fitting under the intercooler and that bright things back to normal and better actually than before. I had a smoke test done before the trip and supposedly everything was good. Not sure if the shop was being sloppy again though like the ac. I do not have a fuel pressure gauge installed I’m going to look into installing one of those though. The fuel pump is an aem fuel pump with a little over a year on it. The factory bpv also coincidentally just started leaking during this trip so I will be replacing that as well to help seal up the system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncbill Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 (edited) On 9/1/2023 at 3:36 PM, blackobxt said: Ac relay is known for being a failure point. Freon could be low, cabin filter clogged not allowing sufficient airflow across the evaporator causing it to get cold and turn off. Could be lots of things man. My ac wouldn’t cool any lower than 45° till I did the pot mod. What is the pot mod? Last summer I noticed the A/C on my 2005 Legacy i was cutting on and off...cool air followed by warm air followed by cool air. Had it recharged at my independent shop but now see the below behavior: This summer it seems to work when the engine is cold or even at operating temperature (clutch spinning merrily) for a brief period before cutting off and then only blowing warm air...I park it, leave it running to check and the clutch is no longer spinning. Checked the clutch gap with feeler gauges and I think it's within specs...0.03 fits but 0.03 & 0.032 together don't. So, what should I check next...relay, high/low pressure sensor/switches? Have the shop check refrigerant charge & expansion valve? Edited September 16, 2023 by ncbill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 This changed everything for the better for me. I live in Phoenix so any defects in an air conditioner will have you pretty uncomfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowspirit Posted September 21, 2023 Share Posted September 21, 2023 On 9/15/2023 at 9:13 PM, ncbill said: What is the pot mod? Last summer I noticed the A/C on my 2005 Legacy i was cutting on and off...cool air followed by warm air followed by cool air. Had it recharged at my independent shop but now see the below behavior: This summer it seems to work when the engine is cold or even at operating temperature (clutch spinning merrily) for a brief period before cutting off and then only blowing warm air...I park it, leave it running to check and the clutch is no longer spinning. Checked the clutch gap with feeler gauges and I think it's within specs...0.03 fits but 0.03 & 0.032 together don't. So, what should I check next...relay, high/low pressure sensor/switches? Have the shop check refrigerant charge & expansion valve? I had this issue on a 2014 Forester. I first replaced the expansion valve and AC relay. After those 2 less expensive parts, I replaced the AC compressor and condenser. The last 2 fixed the problem. I'm not great at diagnosis... I'm much better at parts cannon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncbill Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, yellowspirit said: I had this issue on a 2014 Forester. I first replaced the expansion valve and AC relay. After those 2 less expensive parts, I replaced the AC compressor and condenser. The last 2 fixed the problem. I'm not great at diagnosis... I'm much better at parts cannon. I thwacked the relay with a tool handle & the A/C clutch engaged & started spinning. Might be the original (blue Mitsuba) so I'll replace & hope that fixes it until next summer, well, spring here. Edited September 22, 2023 by ncbill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fluffysubie Posted October 2, 2023 Author Share Posted October 2, 2023 On 9/22/2023 at 9:46 AM, ncbill said: I thwacked the relay with a tool handle & the A/C clutch engaged & started spinning. Might be the original (blue Mitsuba) so I'll replace & hope that fixes it until next summer, well, spring here. Sounds really similar to issue i just had which turned out to just be the system was overcharged. My system was charged by what I thought was a reputable shop and had been going to them years just to find out it was about 6oz of freon over the specified amount. Found this out the hard way when my ac compressors clutch stopped engaging during mid summer indiana heat while traveling. Brought it to a shop along my way in michigan that was super nice and checked it over for me. Has been working great ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncbill Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) My system was undercharged...probably leaking slowly so O-rings will probably get replaced next spring. Checked more exotic things like the clutch gap first...now have a set of feeler gauges. Before smacking the relay and seeing the clutch then engage. Replaced the original relay with a generic A/C relay..two for $10 off Amazon. Edited October 3, 2023 by ncbill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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