sur6e

Well, I found the problem, and it's not what anyone thought really. Everything is fine. I had my shop do a full check on the system and they couldn't find it, but concluded it must be the ECU or some controller. I called a Subi junk yard to get a price on an ECU and they wanted to part# to look it up. SO I pulled back the carpet, removed the metal plate, and there it was, the ECU with the sticker on top that has the part#.. made some pics, and then decided I was going to unscrew the ECU. I pulled it out and then noticed that some of the wires have been spliced in the past and were wrapped in electrical tape. I started to fiddle with it, and tried the A/C and got it working! Then I tried to put it back together and the compressor cut out. Just by rotating the ECU a little to put it back it cut out. I rotated it back to me and the compressor started up. Did that a few times. I fiddled with it some more, retaped some of the splices and got it working again and was able to put everything back. Then we went for ice cream.

The gauge only fits on the low side and I don't have a manifold gauge. How much did it cost you to replace that? I know the part is just under 40$ but in labor I mean. From what I see in the manual it might be a hell of a job since it requires pulling down the system and needs to be disconnected from both sides of the firewall and then installed and charged up. Just seems like it'll be a bill. Thanks for the feedback everyone, finally feeling like I got a solution. :-\

I bought a kit to recharge the system that includes a gauge that goes up to 150psi. 55-150 is red zone. I put the gauge on the low side and the needle did almost a full 360, way past the red zone. I briefly jumped the compressor while at the shop where I bought the kit and it was making a rattling noise which it hadn't done before so I turned it off quickly. I bet it's rattling because of the pressure. And it's not turning on, because of the pressure. The manual says that if pressure is unusually high on the low side it's either: -defective compressor -defective expansion valve -too much refrigerant I'm going to take it to a shop tomorrow and have them hook it up to their system and check it all out. I'll have them vacuum it out, check for leaks, etc. Question for you guys: If it's the expansion valve, and the compressor is forced to run like I did briefly by jumping the relay, could that cause the low side to build up pressure? Could it cause the low/high sides to be separated by the broken expansion valve as in that it doesn't relieve the low side when it's turned off?

Okay one more thing. What should the pressure be when the compressor is off? If it's the same on both sides, how will I know whether it needs more freon? I imagine it will be between high and low specs somewhere? According to the manual: High 213-242 psi Low 18-28 psi While off

Thanks, I'll report back if I'm still alive

Okay, everyone keeps saying add r134a. I guess that will be the first thing I'll have done, but I wonder, doesn't the compressor need to be running while charging? If I'm not going to do it myself, how will the shop get it running? Will they just put power directly on the compressor? Maybe I should buy a manifold gauge and a can myself and add some, but I have no clue about the oil so that worries me. Thanks for the replies!

Until now I've been assuming that at least one of the shops has checked pressure, and that bypassing the pressure switch confirmed pressure hi/lo isn't the problem. I'm due for an oil change so I'll ask 'm to check it. I don't understand how this could be though. Bypassing the AC relay made it run so my guess was that one of the safeguards are keeping the relay from switching.

HI all. I got an 02 Outback LLBean with the H6 3L. AC started having problems last year and would work sometimes, usually after stopping/restarting the car a few times. Eventually that didn't work either. Now it never works. Problem is the compressor doesn't engage. I know there are a ton of safeguards in the car that can prevent the compressor from engaging but I don't know 'm all, or where to find them all. I have been studying the manual and wiring etc. Things I've learned/tried so far: I know that when I jump the AC relay the compressor does work and blows cold air. I jumped the pressure switch which did not engage the compressor. I replaced the in dash controller, no difference. I ran the diagnostics on the in dash controller which tests a bunch of the sensors in the car and there are no faults. I have had the car in 4 or 5 shops and they all got to a point where they didn't want to spend more time on it and sent me on my way without pinpointing the problem. There is a TSB on the compressor revolution sensor for this model which has been tested and replaced twice with no effect. I can't figure out where this thing sits or what it's connected to myself. Since two shops said it tested bad one time and not the next I wonder if it's connected to something else that affects diagnosis and might be the real cause of the trouble. Relay and fuses are all fine. I want to check on the sensor on the evaporator in the dash, but the diagnostics by the in dash controller come back good. In the manual I see something called AC Cut Connector which I wouldn't know where to find and there is no other info about it that I can find. There is a 3 pin plug on top of the compressor. One wire goes to the relay and the two others go I think to the ECU and maybe somewhere else. I would assume that jumping the relay doesn't take those out and thus should not be a problem. I also read about a lock sensor in the compressor which stops it from engaging if it detects locking in the compressor. Again, jumping the relay should not bypass that part I think (tell me if you think I'm wrong) so it should not be the cause. I knew absolutely nothing about AC or how it all works when I started looking at it myself, so I may have some limited or even misinformation. I would really appreciate help to figure this out. I can provide the manuals in PDF if someone wants to look at them.