Last year and now this year my air conditioning will be running normally blowing cold air and then for no apparent reason it will start blowing unconditioned air. Last year I took it in to a dealer who charged me $1000 to fix a few parts that were "leaking" and didn't fix anything. Then I took it in to a local shop who said the pressures were off, recharged and it seemed to work normal through the rest of summer. This year it started again. I bought a bottle of freon from Autozone that had a gauge on it. It initially showed low so I charged it. It said to turn it from 12 to 3 ever few seconds which I think I overdid and over-pressurized the system. I bled it back down from the high side. Now it runs OK for a little while, starts honking like a goose (honk, 3 seconds, honk, 3 seconds, ...) then eventually it starts blowing unconditioned air again and the honking stops. Today I could hear the compressor clutch quickly clicking in and out while driving down the freeway. Any ideas on something I could check myself or do I suck it up and go back to my local shop? I trust the guys it just didn't get fixed the last time and I really can't afford to spend a whole lot. Thanks in advance!

 

Alan

Sorry, forgot to mention it's a 2001 Forester with 230,000 miles

Common source of leaks on these is the O rings for the lines on the compressor. But anywhere there is a connection between lines is a place where it can leak.

from what I've read likely still overcharged, or possibly bad/clogged H tube.

"Today I could hear the compressor clutch quickly clicking in and out while driving down the freeway."...................

 

When I read this, it is a sure indication that you are low on refrigerant, so you still have a leak somewhere. The dealer charging $1,000 to fix only a few leaks, and it still leaks, is nuts. I wouldn't go back there again.

 

Suggest you go to a good A/C auto repair shop, that can find leaks with a sniffer wand, and or use UV dye to source the problem. Like posted earlier, it is prolly a bad "O" ring or two that is allowing the refrigerant to leak out. Fix, and your honking should go away.

So, the A/C 'honks like a goose' in my Baja, too. It started immediately AFTER a shop did an evac & re-charge on the system. Since getting this trucklet, I've had to take it in to re-charge the A/C every couple years or so. It just slooowly loses cooling capacity. It's been leak-tested multiple times, and each time whatever shop did the work says there are no leaks, it's just low on refrigerant.

 

Took it to PepBoys the other day, and they said the issue 'might' be the receiver-drier (I explained the above history) because they found no leaks and "it looks original and is probably old." They said $250 and I said no chance. Then they wouldn't do anything with it since I declined to follow their recommendation, so I left. A/C was totally ineffective for even mild cooling after that visit, so I just shut it off.

 

Took it to Firestone yesterday and told them history, and refused all everything except evac & re-charge. They did, then said the compressor's bad and asked me to come outside to listen. There was a nasty squealing noise when the compressor clutch kicked in IF the mechanic revved the engine to ~4k rpm or above. Driving away from the place, the A/C was nice and cold once again, but will now occasionally make the goose-honking noise inside the car, but actually generally only at lower rpm.

 

Should I go get a junkyard compressor and put it in, or do you think it's something else?

Forgot: '05 Baja turbo A/T, 145,000 miles. I've owned it since 70 or 80k miles and about 2007.