theflystyle Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 hopefully this is a stupid question with an easy answer... my ac has gone out with the start of summer and its hard to tell why. i have one of those crappy charge canisters with the pressure readout which says i am in the yellow (not overly dangerous yet) and all the connections which the haynes say to check to make sure they are cold are not (such as the ones going to the firewall near the passenger side. the fans and everything run when the ac is turned on so that isnt a prob. i drove to two places from work today to get some ideas on prices, etc merchant - 50 just to inspect, 130-200 for vaccum and recharge midas - 20 to inspect, 90 to recharge before i bite the dollars on this one i would like some ideas and suggestions. i tried the search but came up short. on a side note, if anyone has any recomendations for places to take that would be great. I live in fairfax, va Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 important question - is the compressor coming on when you turn the a/c on? is the clutch engaging? it's very easy to tell with the hood open. if it's low on coolant, remove both caps on the a/c system and look carefully down into them. common leakage occurs at the valve stem inside of them. it can be very hard to tell if it's leaking by just a visual check but sometimes you can see some wetness or bubbling at the base of the valve stem and this would indicate a leak. this is the most common cause of leaks with the exception of accidents (which break something) that i've seen. and new valve stems cost about 50 cents. i just replaced mine this summer. be careful on the "x amount to recharge" quotes. in typical cheeseball fashion they will give you a relatively cheap quote on charging it. then once they look at it or pull a vaccuum they'll say it's got a leak and they can't charge it until it's fixed or it'll leak out anyway and it's against the law and blah blah blah.....you get the point. then they'll follow that up with you needing some major component and a $1,000 bill. if it's low on refrigerant i doubt you're probably loosing refrigerant from some where and they're unlikely to recharge it blindly like that. if it's a R134 system, buy a $10 can and do it yourself. it's very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlsimpso Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 What is the year and milage? I had a similar problem this spring. A/C on and no cold air. I put one can (134) in and it started blowing cool, but not cold. Half way through the second can and it got nice and cold. I have done this on several cars and have not have had a problem. If you have an R12 system, you can convert it, but it may not work as due the the difference in the refrigerant. I did the convernsion on my 89 Mitsubishi Van and it worked fine for 4 years, until the compressor failed. I am not sure if the problem was the conversion, or the 200,000 miles on it. I found the cheap guages that come on the refill canisters are useless. Be sure to get a can that has some oil in it as well, if you have a lot of miles as it may have leaked out. If it gets hot again soon, you probably have a leak. BTW: Did you check that the damper is moving? The air may be working, but it could be stuck on the hot side. I have not had this problem with a Subaru, but I know it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 hopefully this is a stupid question with an easy answer... my ac has gone out with the start of summer and its hard to tell why. i have one of those crappy charge canisters with the pressure readout which says i am in the yellow (not overly dangerous yet) and all the connections which the haynes say to check to make sure they are cold are not (such as the ones going to the firewall near the passenger side. the fans and everything run when the ac is turned on so that isnt a prob. i drove to two places from work today to get some ideas on prices, etc merchant - 50 just to inspect, 130-200 for vaccum and recharge midas - 20 to inspect, 90 to recharge before i bite the dollars on this one i would like some ideas and suggestions. i tried the search but came up short. on a side note, if anyone has any recomendations for places to take that would be great. I live in fairfax, va ask them how much to replace any leaking o rings. thats the rewason why you lost refirgerant. Foolish to fill it up and have it all leak out again nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflystyle Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 first i wanna say thanks for the many quick responses!! important question - is the compressor coming on when you turn the a/c on? is the clutch engaging? it's very easy to tell with the hood open. btw the car is a 94 legacy l with over 150k i opened the hood and noticed the compressor was not turning.. the belt running to it looks almost new and when turned by hand the unit turns freely. i did some searching trying to find out exactly what a "clutch" in regards to the ac compressor but am ending up a little confused. is it the front of the compressor? i saw a thread with a posting of a "clutch" here if you want to see which picture im talking about. LINK sorry for being such a newbie but im a youngin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 thats the clutch all right. if there is no freon (generic term) in the ac system the compressor clutch will not engage. You have a fairly simple issue of a leak someplace that needs to be fixed, then the system evacuated and refilled. Midas price isnt bad and sounds far more reasonable (and what it should be). nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflystyle Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 this forum is a life saver.. thanks nipper for the info and i will at least walk in with more knowledge of the situation. hopefully this will be a reasonable price to have fixed.. ( poor college student lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 sounds like it's definitely low on refrigerant. problem is that i think your car is probably R-12. it'll likely end up being very expensive. remove the caps and see if you can see any bubbling or oil under the refrigerant caps, there are two on the a/c lines. just little plastic screw on caps. see if it looks wet under there. i've never heard of an a/c shop replacing them because in my oppinion they'll just replace a $500 compressor when really it only needed 50 cent schrader valves. if you get a confirmed diagnosis that's through the roof and you're close to DC (don't know where fairfax is), i might be able to have a look at it for you. i work in greenbelt, MD, just northeast of DC by 15 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J A Blazer Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I'm in Fairfax and happy to look at it if you want. I'm near George Mason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theflystyle Posted June 22, 2006 Author Share Posted June 22, 2006 i forgot to mention that i did check the refrigerant caps and did not see anything at all.. they were all dry as for the help i live on campus at mason ( in the dorms ) and would really appreciate it if i could get someone that knows their stuff to take a look at it before i take it to a shop. blazer is ridiculously close and if possible whens the soonest i could swing by and get you to look at it?? grossgary your about 40ish or so mins from me but its good to know that there are people in the area that are willing to help. i really appreciate it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J A Blazer Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 e-mail me directly at JABlazer@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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