brus brother

is there a diagram on the inside of the fuse box cover?

does this look familiar?

Twas the relay $6 and all is cool again.

Lucky T, When I put the gauge on the system (Parts store gauge and can Arctic Freeze) it showed full. As I thought I was going to have to jump the relay to get the clutch to engage, and suck in the gas, as I just wiggled that big honkin relay in the fuse box, the clutch started spinning. The mystery of why there would be ice cold air then nothing seems to be explained by the failing relay?? Do relays fail like that where they work for a few minutes then cut out, as if heat expansion affecting performance.

ok may have figured out the mystery. If I wiggle the relay the clutch spins in and I get ice cold air. Possibly the relay is the problem? Is the symptom of a dying relay that they fail after a short period of time working? Can failure be intermittent like this where they fail after working for a few minutes and then start again after rest??

I am guessing that I am now reqally low as the clutch won't engage now. Problem is how to refill without ac running. Bypass the relay? OK never pulled a relay out before. I have identified the relay. Is it just a straight pull out or is there a retention clip that needs to be pushed back? Then, what terminals do I cross to bypass the relay?

Inflation!

Lucky T, I think I may have recharged it once. I just checked the gap for the ac clutch and it is spot on for spec. so no need to go rip that apart for now. I am now leaning back to low on gas. Will check and report back.

Not just a matter of low on freon? I was hoping...

yes

Hey moosens. Some respect for the elderly. Bought that 05 in the summer of 04 so it's 15 years old. Leaks plenty of oil... Need your driveway resealed, I'll drop the car off.

AC light on Clutch not spinning.

2005 Outback AT 190k miles. Started yesterday 90 degrees out. AC runs nice and cold for the first 3 minutes then blows warm air (same as outdoor air). Turned engine off for a few minutes, restart the car and same sequence, runs cold for 3 minutes then warm air.

I bought a cheap prop shaft from partsgeek for my 05 Outback. $250 (cheapest one they had). The center joint was shot and while some shade tree mechanics have pressed in new ones, not even local shops do it around here on this car. Car had a rumble in the seat and would actually hit the bottom of the car as well on quick acceleration. There may be a related bushing that was (is) worn, not replaced, but all other symptoms were gone. Check to see if your bushings are adequate. There is always a $15 off cpn if you decide to order from PG I can send it your way.

In the words of Pee Wee Herman... "I meant to do that"

Interesting suggestion. So If I were to cut the wire going back to the ecu and splice in a power source with the correct millivolts, it might do a trick? hmmm. splice in a 700 mv diode on the return line? Car runs great and gas mileage hasn't changed any through the years. Reason I dove in with both feet to replace the cat was that around 6 years ago, I did provide live data to CarDoc over on the outback site and he suggested bad cat. I will hunt around for the cable and software I used at the time and repeat.

Car cooled down. placed new O2 sensor post cat on passenger side and.. p0420 came right back. So to recap, new cat and O2 Denso downstream sensor. Precat A/F sensor is 80K old. No obvious exhaust leaks other than the steam coming out of my ears. I'd love to eliminate the cat reading from the ecu and would appreciate any off-line direction. Please PM me if you have know how for this 05 Outback AT 2.5 non turbo. While our state of CT is hot on emissions, the wheels can be falling off your car and still pass inspection.

duly ashamed

Thanks GD. I don't have live data ability. Small correction in original post. the front a/f sensor was replaced at 105K miles. Cured nothing. Mis-diagnosis by wallet! Today the passenger cat was replaced (Eastern Catalytic converter) and still throwing p0420. Their "direct fit" required additional gasket to fit! I have a new o2 sensor for that cat which I will swap in as soon as the car cools down. Subaru tech suggested that I might have to change out driver's side cat as well. Apparently that is sop in the shop as they want the $ and don't want the customer returning dissatisfied with same CEL complaint. He also suggested that our winter gas here in CT that kills cats.

My 05 auto outback has two precat air fuel sensors, two post cat oxygen sensors and one oxygen sensor on the rear cat. P0420 giving me a headache. No obvious exhaust leak. Got a cheap cat and will be installing tomorrow. Changed the post cat sensor at 105 k miles when code first appeared but that changed nothing. Now at 190 k miles fingers crossed. Could the rear cat and or sensor relate to the p0420?

Any recommendations for O2 sensors for 05 Outback AT? 195K miles. Pesky P0420 has worn me down. Started at 105K miles. After 6 years of being able to clear code and set readiness parameters for Emissions inspections here in CT, the code now comes back almost immediately after clearing. Many years ago CarDoc on the Outback forum had diagnosed the cat as bad after having me run some live scans (I can't remember which at this point). Before that, at 105K miles, I had changed the front O2 sensor (behind the first cat) but that didn't help. I did not change the front air fuel ratio sensor (before the first cat) at that time. Ordered a $200 Cat from Eastern Catalytic but fear that the sensors may also be shot. Haven't detected any exhaust leaks. Car runs fine. Gas mileage hasn't changed. Inspection is due in 2 weeks so I am trying to get my ducks in a row.

brave cameraman!

is there vibration in the steering wheel or do you just feel it in the seat

A good start but while possibly hitting the nail on the head, the diagnosis might not be definitive IF one of the rear tires is also out of balance/bent rim.

get your tires balanced. cheap and easy on the back. Start simple but if that doesn't solve your issue then dig deeper into the soup pot. common things happen most commonly...