I have just bought a 2004 (with 200,000 kms)Forester after the recent death of my 2000 model. Have just noticed there's a faint squeal for a couple of seconds after pushing the clutch in or letting it out. Sounds like a bearing starting to go in the gearbox or drive shaft somewhere near the gear box. Does anyone have any advice? I don't have a hoist so I haven't listened from outside the car. 

 

The second question I have is about air conditioning. There's plenty of gas in the system, it runs cold for about 5 minutes and then starts to run warm. If I then turn it off it will work again after waiting five minutes to turn it on. I took it to an air con technician who said it might be the compressor clutch had worn. He was a bit vague about the details but said something about using a puller to remove the bolts, take off the pulley wheel ad put it back on tighter to close the gap. Has anyone had the same issue with their air con, and was this the issue? Will I have to let the gas out/ get the system regassed to do it my self?

 

Thanks for any advice

 

Tim

is there lot of reddish buildup around the a/c comp? if so, could be your tech is correct.

 

also, I have read of people replacing the a/c comp relay due to it dropping out or being unable to carry enough current due to worn contacts.

 

an intermittent rad fan might cause issues - but you'd probably have overheating too. Double check that they are both running when the a/c is failing.

 

this is a stretch but - might be a good idea to check the crank pulley. It's a 2-piece unit and sometimes can slip if the rubber is degraded. Not common, but possible.

 Does the clutch on the compressor disengage when its blowing warm or is it still engaged? If it disengages (stops spinning) it is probably being cut off by either too high pressure on the high side pressure switch(to protect the compressor from becoming damaged) or the evaporator temp sensor(this cuts the system off if it gets too cold to prevent the evaporator from freezing up) or the compressor thermal protector opening up because the compressor is getting too hot. First I would get a tech to hang gauges on it to make sure your pressures are good(not too high or low while operating).

   If the compressor stops running and the pressures were good then I would access the evap. temp probe connector behind the glove box (2 wire connector, black wires that go into the black plastic ac box) while car is still running and ac is in warm blowing state disconnect temp sensor and use jump wire on car harness side of connecter, if a/c starts running then the temp probe (thermistor) is most likely bad. Don't run the system with the jumper on there for a fix as you will freeze the evaporator up.

The squeal you are hearing is more than likely you throw out bearing, wich would mean you about due for a clutch replacememt. If you haven't heard any grinding noises or had 4th or fifth poping out of gear the input shaft bearings more than likey okay. When you replace your clutch, make sure they use the right gear oil to fill it as well, I've had a few shops try and put 80w-90 in subies around here and that will mess them right up. You need a 75w-90 oil and I would suggest Subaru oil or motul 300 depending on how Much you would like to spend.