SubaruForDan Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 just how hard is it to find a simple question, where is the A/C in the engine bay of a 1999 subaru outback? Google shows page after page of pictures of the exterior of cars, mostly for sale, and precious little of the engine bay, and after 10 plus pages of hits, nothing showing WHERE THE DAMN A/C IS !!!! WTF? sorry, I'm getting frustrated. Can anybody point me in the right direction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 from front bumper of car looking to engine. AC condensor is behind the grill, forward from the Radiator AC compressor is to the right of the Alternator and has a belt AC Drier is over by the right shock mount inside to the frame rail above the axle AC on off switch on the climate hvac panel in the cabin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubaruForDan Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 from front bumper of car looking to engine.AC condensor is behind the grill, forward from the Radiator AC compressor is to the right of the Alternator and has a belt AC Drier is over by the right shock mount inside to the frame rail above the axle AC on off switch on the climate hvac panel in the cabin. thank you. Are the schrader valves under the blue plastic caps labeled Viking, one with an H, one with an L ? Are the O-rings under the blocks that the metal lines attached to the compressor by? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, High pressure line is capped with you guessed it H Low pressure line capped with you guessed it. orings are at the compressor fittings, as well as at the condensor inlets/outlet tubes, and etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubaruForDan Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Yes, High pressure line is capped with you guessed it HLow pressure line capped with you guessed it. orings are at the compressor fittings, as well as at the condensor inlets/outlet tubes, and etc.... woo hoo, I got one right. now bear with me. everything looks dry, I'm going to assume normal slow leakage due to expansion/contraction thanks to new england weather. Where does the new refrigerant go in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 sometimes a refill with the system sealant stuff lasts the life of the vehicle. most common leakage point is the line fitting that bolts to the a/c compressor. attached with one bolt. replace the orings under there. for other possible orings and leakage points, just follow the lines like a maze and each fitting has an oring. don't sweat opening the system for a quick oring swap, just unbolt, swap orings, and recharge. you won't have any issues doing that. the recharging devices will only hook up to one of the two ports, so charging is a no-brainer. i'm a bit confused - you don't know where the A/C components are and need a picture, but know about schrader valves and seem well versed? something isn't adding up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubaruForDan Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 sometimes a refill with the system sealant stuff lasts the life of the vehicle. most common leakage point is the line fitting that bolts to the a/c compressor. attached with one bolt. replace the orings under there. for other possible orings and leakage points, just follow the lines like a maze and each fitting has an oring. don't sweat opening the system for a quick oring swap, just unbolt, swap orings, and recharge. you won't have any issues doing that. the recharging devices will only hook up to one of the two ports, so charging is a no-brainer. i'm a bit confused - you don't know where the A/C components are and need a picture, but know about schrader valves and seem well versed? something isn't adding up. I learned about schrader valves from stuff I gleamed from searching here, saw pics of what they were in other applications (via google search, but never once did I find any pics in a car, let alone a subaru), bicycle tire stems basically, so I know what they do. I have a basic understanding of the working of air conditioning, research here discerned the difference between the high side and low side. I've just never, until today, ever actually put my hands on them, under the hood of my car. Or anywhere else, ever. What was frustrating is trying to search for visual aids in my endeavor and getting hundreds of pictures of cars' exteriors, mostly in for sale ads. Or putting 'subaru' '1999' and 'engine bay' and getting one blurry picture taken from 25 feet away of an '85 wagon with its hood open. So I spent about an hour and a half today, bending over the engine bay, poring over all the components. I knew the compressor had to be belt driven, but which pulley? I saw these plastic things, like oversized tire stem caps, one with an H, one with an L. Ah, there are the schrader valves. Followed the hose to the compresser. Anyway, I was successful, thanks to help I got here. I now know where my compressor is, how to recharge the system. Ice cubes are once again falling out of my dash board. I just wish I could have found this information 2 weeks ago when it was blisteringly hot, but better late then never. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 I guess I've just been around cars for too long. I can't figure how anyone would have a hard time finding an AC compressor. Especially under the hood of a Subaru. But you got it all fingered out now so it's all good. Re-charging with the kits they sell in parts stores is done through the low side fitting. Most of the time an AC system that is not working is just in need of a recharge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 nice hit, glad you figured it all out and learned it yourself, that's awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubaruForDan Posted September 2, 2009 Author Share Posted September 2, 2009 I'm on a roll. Last week, I fixed both my foglights, which the dealer once charged me 250, for one. My A/C this week, which they wanted 140 dollars before they would even charge it. I've nothing against the dealership. I'm at a stage (no real job in the last 6 years) in my life where I simply can not afford to keep throwing money at them. It is a 10 year old car, I need to learn to do some stuff for myself. Next items - fixing my tailgate latch, which is sticky and will only open with a key. I did ask about it, got the usual 'do a search, noob' reply. The other, which is actually a biggie for me, is to fix the tweeter on the right side of the stereo, the one that goes in the front corner by the side mirror. It was an optional speaker that I had the dealer put in when I got the car 10 years ago. For some time now, it works intermittently. When it works, holy moley, does it make a difference. And another fairly big one - the rubber seals around the bottom of both my front doors have deteriorated. last winter, after an ice storm (one of many), my doors were frozen shut. In the process of prying them open, my seals pulled away from their little mounting studs. I don't even know if you can get new rubber for a 10 year old car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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