91 legacy, still r-12, only 98k miles.. crazy clean everywhere..

ac blows at 38 degrees.. when it wants to work... its full on freon too..

 

the problem:

 

sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.. if it wants to work it will work fine for 100 miles or more, then when the car is shut off or the ac is just turned off, it won't turn on either at all, or if you cycle the buttons on and off enough it might come on after 5 sec or 30 min.. its totally random..

 

today it worked for 5 miles down the freeway and wouldn't turn on for the other 30 miles. i get home, pop the hood, check ed relays, fuses, connections, etc.. all is fine, i cycled the buttons several times, nothing. i left it running, waited a few min, cycled the buttons again and it came on. i let it run for 30 min on max, worked flawlessly..

 

any ideas? i do hear the switch behind the glovebox click when it shuts off, or cycles.. i dunno if that means it may be on the way out..

clutch is probably shot. there's a really good recent thread about the clutch and shimming it out to make up for wear. like i think less than a week old, i'd find that thread and read it.

pretty sure the clutch is good, its not discolored, and works fine when it works.. when the ac decides it doesn't wanna work the aux fan does not kick on either.. so whatever it is its shutting the whole system off..

if the clutch was bad the aux fan would still be on....

 

update: just heard the clicking behind the glove box about 10 times per 5 seconds.. it was kicking the ac on/off fast enough to make the car feel like it was missing..

 

whats behind the glove box related to the ac sensor or relay wise? i need to dive into the dash but wanna know what i'm looking for.

I had a 91 Subie, that I had to get behind the glove box to change the fan motor. It is easy job to remove the glove box assembly. I don't know what you will find clicking back there, but clicking could be a relay. Whatever......sound like you are having an electrical problem with your A/C. That is a whole lot easier to fix then anything mechanical on an A/C system.

Might just be the switch.

Not sure where the relay is, might try digging though the FSM here: http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/

to see what you can find out.

i agree it could just be a dirty / bad switch. you could test if its dirty switch by testing power going into and coming from the switch. you will have to remove the switch and connect testors to it. and see which side is the hot side and which side isnt. turn the switch on. with key on of course. and see if power goes out of the switch from the side with no power when turned off.

 

on my 93 there is a control box behind the glove box mounted on the kick panel. if i remember right it is for the a/c control. but i could be wrong.

There is a temp switch behind the glove box. Our legacy would work sometimes great and other times not at all. Jumpered two terminals in the switch and it worked great after that. Will see if I can find the post I went off of. It was years ago so really dont remember.

Second link tells which wires to jump, second to last post. This fixed the problem for me and I never had the evaporator ice up.

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76297

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=60679&page=2