bernie

Not a rude question at all. Its been in twice for this issue and both times it 'could not be replicated'. For me, its a question of whats easier? Bring it to the shop, wait in line, maybe get a loaner, swap out the carseats, couple calls back and forth, go pick it up, argue with service manager, etc. or Take a shot at fixing it myself. I like working on cars and I dont mind trying to tackle it. If it starts to fail more regularly, I'd definately take it back in.

Good point. This would align with the system being 'on', but still blowing warm air. One thing I realized I didn't check was the a/c hose temps when 'on', but blowing warm. that would indicate that i was making cold air, but mixing in warm. Admittedly, this is a stinker to diagnose since it doesn't seem to want to act up when I want to work on it. I do suspect that there is a clue in that it will only 'fix itself' with the car being shut off/on rather than just cycling the a/c system off/on.

Thanks... excellent link. I'll check that. Of course when i do, the A/C will be working.

Hi. 2002 LL Bean (i.e. fancy climate control) The A/C will work intermittently. Start the car and turn on the A/C and sometimes it will blow cold, other times it will not. If the A/C is not working, turning it on/off will not get it to work. Turning the car off and restarting MAY get the A/C working again. The charge seems sufficient to trip the pressure switch. I was only able to check it with one of the cheesy 134 refill can gauges, but it was on the high end of the scale. Its under extended warranty and the dealer verified a proper charge, but of course couldn't replicate the problem. The compressor seems to be engaged when the system is turned on... regardless if its blowing cold. Pulling the wires to the pressure switch causes the compressor to disengage blowing cold or not. How do I properly test the switch... 4 wires confuse me... At this point, I'm looking for help in how to diagnose it further. i.e. a way to test the switch, clutch, or any other possibilities. Thanks Bernie

Ha... you talking about my car or the guy in the "No start on cold H-6" thread. My car hasn't been in the water. I think I just need to be patient with the dealer and hope they can figure it out. Its only been a week. :-\

whoops, sorry... double post

I saw that. I'm not getting any CEL, so I'm guessing its different. Also, that car is a flood recovery vehicle. Me thinks that might have something to do with it. Thanks

Runs fine otherwise. My problem is their 'methodology' for diagnosing the problem. It happened once for them. Now it wont repeat, so they seem stumped. The service guys response is that he's 'not getting any codes'.

2002 Outback H-6 with 33k miles. Regular service oil changes. Initial start when cold, the car will sometimes idle poorly and then die. restart and the car appears to run o.k. Drive the car and sometimes when you come to a stop in traffic or at a light, the car will simply die. Took it to the dealer (still under extended warranty) and the replicated teh problem once, but then it stopped happening. Guy says he drove it home and again on Monday and it wouldn't happen. We picked the car up and this morning the problem resurfaced. Its being towed back to the dealer. The car was due for an oil change on its first trip in for this problem, so we also had the system 'flushed' since it seemed beyond dirty and sludgy. This seemed odd since the oil was changed 3k ago at the 30k service. We're the second owners and though the previous service records seem very complete, it appears it was used for a lot of short trip stop and go driving. Any guesses on cause? Suggestions to diagnose? Things to request from the dealer service to nudge them along? Thanks, Bernie

Booster test? Now that would have been helpful to know. The car is under warranty.... booster is going to be replaced tomorrow. no charge. i'm not used to having a car under warranty. I'm more of a beater guy. thanks, bernie

Yes. And yes. My symptoms were different than the problem caused by the faulty M/C. My brake pedal got hard and would not go 'in'. The faulty M/C results in brakes not releasing. I had looked up the recall per the link and inquired with a follow up call to the dealer even though the symptoms didn't match. The recall did not apply to my vehicle. I suspect it was a bad 'batch' of M/C's and applied to a series of VIN numbers. The P.O. always had his vehicle serviced at a dealer and this likely would have gotten picked up there anyway. I do all the work/service on my 911 and am familiar with screaming at 'noobs' on bbs' to use the search and actually read posts. So, I see where you're comin from. -Bernie

The booster was definitely a suspect... not sure of your point. Since the 'problem' was intermittent, I was looking for some diagnosis methodology or anecdotal stories to figure out the problem. The car was left out in the cold last night and the wrench was able to reproduce it. Regardless, there was a stuck check valve in a line to the booster. The line (w/check valve) and booster are going to be replaced under warranty. -Bernie

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm positive thats not whats happening. The pedal is ROCK SOLID except for maybe 1/4" of loose give. Just enough (I suspect) to kick the trigger to allow you to shift it out of park. Now (since this started happening), I never shift out of park unless the pedal goes a bit soft like normal. Ive delt with brake fade, stuck calipers, et cetera. this appears to be something that is affectign the entire brake circuit. vacuum assist? M/C? abs module? dunno. If I go straight to drive with the pedal hard, the car moves forward at idle and it will NOT STOP. the pedal is rock hard. 5 or 6 panic pushes on the pedal and then it softens up a touch and the brakes engage. its almost as of the ABS is stuck pulsing the brakes 'off'.

BUMP My 2002 has started doing the same thing. Any other thoughts? Any resolution? i PM'd the original poster. of course my dealer can't 'recreate' it. -Bernie

Huh. Good point. I'll make sure to read up on that. And then explain it to my wife as if its something completely obvious that I've always known about. (its more her car than mine) I'm sort of known in our upper crusty little gated development here in Chicago as a bit of a grungey grease monkey. I get all sorts of odd looks when I'm wrenching on a car, so I had to fend off a couple of nosey neighbors as I was trying to diagnose the 'problem'. I had a guy ask me yesterday if I had sorted it out. I decided to give him a truthful answer to a different question... "Its working fine now". As a side note... I've been a little disapointed at the gas milage of the h6 (a little more than 20mpg), and I'm debating getting new rubber to replace the oem tires... but its tough since they have tons of wear left on them (have read up on both subjects on this board). Other than that... its a really nice car.