DirtyMech Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Hey all. Long time no post. I used to own an 85 DL, but recently traded up for a 1993 Subaru L Wagon, forest green, with AWD, a moon roof, and *GASP* a towing hitch! Its rocks Well there were a few things wrong with it when I got her. One is that the air conditioning isn't working. I've put it off for a while, but now its summer and starting to get hot as hell. I'd love to death anyone who could help me figure this thing out. Here are the symptoms so far: 1) The AC compressor clutch does not move at any time, whether the AC is off or on. Upon further inspection, I found that the one wire going to the compressor has zero voltage at all times, regardless of whether the AC is on or off in the cabin. I traced the wire nearly to the fuse box and found it still had no voltage. 2) The four relays and two fuses (one marked AC and the other marked Sub Fan) in the fuse box appear to be alright. The fuses are definitely OK but I have do not know how to test the relays. Each relay has four prongs, two copper colored prongs and two steel-colored prongs. So here are my questions. A) Is there any way to test the four AC relays and is it worthwhile to try replacing them? Would it be safe to attempt to "jump" the compressor wire to the battery and see if the compressor runs? C) What should I try to do to fix this? Are there any tests that I can do and report back on for more information? Huge thanks for any help or advice that anyone is able to give! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron917 Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 First make sure that there is refrigerant in the system. The low pressure cutout will prevent the compressor from running if there is not enough refrigerant. Best way to check is with a pressure gauge. I don't know the details of your car, but in most cars, you can jump the low pressure sensor briefly to see if the compressor will run. Don't let it run long! It won't have enough oil circulating if the refrigerant is low. Everything you need to know about automotive AC can be found at http://www.aircondition.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyMech Posted May 30, 2007 Author Share Posted May 30, 2007 *smacks head* Thanks, Ron. There IS no refrigerant in the damn system. And I just read about that cutoff switch you mentioned in the archives. I'm off to Autozone to get an R12/R134a conversion kit. I'll post my results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Here's the Subaru retrofit instructions from EndWrench, in case you're interested. I've used a few of those conversion kits. One on an '88 lincoln, it seemed to work just fine. I also used it on an '87 Ford F-250, but within a short time it started leaking oil from the a/c compressor and other areas...not sure if that's because of the kit or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoodsWagon Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 The compressor has seized on my dad's 95 legacy, which runs R134a. I have a spare R12 compressor out of an earilier legacy. Could I put in the R12 compressor and run it with R134a in the system, or would I need to flush out the compressor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 double post.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 The compressor has seized on my dad's 95 legacy, which runs R134a. I have a spare R12 compressor out of an earilier legacy. Could I put in the R12 compressor and run it with R134a in the system, or would I need to flush out the compressor. with my 93, my dad used r34B refrigerant, its compatible with r12. Anyway so we filled it up on a cold day, and it was super cold. Waited a day, go out turn on ac and turns on for like a millisecond, then shuts off. Go outside turn the ac and its like impossible to turn. So what we realized was there was to much refrigerant, so we used a recovery tank or whatever its called and took out some refrigerant untill it ran voila! sojust make sure you only fill it on a HOT day, if the compressor isn't under load it will not give u proper readings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Whale Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 The compressor has seized on my dad's 95 legacy, which runs R134a. I have a spare R12 compressor out of an earilier legacy. Could I put in the R12 compressor and run it with R134a in the system, or would I need to flush out the compressor. If it's the same model compressor with the same plumbing, it should be OK. You will at least need to drain out any old lubricating oil from the compressor, as the type used with R12 isn't suitable for R134a systems (not harmful; just not able to do its job). Note, however, that even Subaru dealers have a hard time identifying the correct compressor to order sometimes; we were given one for our '93 Legacy that had the correct Zexel model designation but the wrong pipe fittings. The parts department got it right the second time, though. I did see that our '93 and our '95 had the same compressor, which made an R134a conversion very simple; I asked for a compressor meant for the '95 so that it would come filled with the correct oil, drained the old oil from the receiver-dryer, replaced any O rings that I had disturbed, put on the correct R134a hose fittings, and filled the system with R134a refrigerant. It's worked well for six years, and has been just as efficient as it was with the old refrigerant. My reading at the time of the replacement and conversion convinced me that there was no need to flush out the old lubricant; it was fine to pour out whatever would come easily, and then add the correct amount of the new type (mostly already there, since the compressor was filled with it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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