[Legacy]

Had AC last week, this week I don't. It has been working 100% up till now, had it recharged summer 2012. The light on the dash turns on but the clutch on the compressor is not coming on (which could be due to low on gas).

I do have an STI TMIC which did a bit of rubbing on the hard lines by the firewall (both lines), I have rubber hoses installed over them and while there's some wear there does not appear to be any obvious holes. One thing I noticed (see lifted pic below) is the rubber line coming off the compressor which runs back to the driver side firewall, the rubber section is soft and easily compressed while the other rubber line is hard. Should this line be hard (it is on my wife's 12 XT).

 

[ferret]

Alexi, check the GAP on the AC clutch .... there are many threads here about it.

You can try turning on your AC then with a stick ( I use a small piece of wood ), push lightly on the face of the compressor clutch. If it engages, then chances are the clutch is worn,, the gap is too wide and has to be adjusted.

In any case, good time of the year for it to fail .... except for defrosting issues.

 

[Legacy]

Kewl, will look into that, thanks Mikey. Yeah, better now than mid July.

 

[Peanutswagon]

This also recently happened to mine after a tmic install. Started to get warm then eventually just stopped coming on. Ill bet bc of lack of line pressure. I order a fmic and will then be fixing the ac during the winter.

 

[bkbajan]

This also recently happened to mine after a tmic install. Started to get warm then eventually just stopped coming on. Ill bet bc of lack of line pressure. I order a fmic and will then be fixing the ac during the winter.

Where are the fmic kits you speak of?


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[Peanutswagon]

Somehow I knew you would ask... its for 02-07 wrx sti. With slight modification it will fit. Also has blow by maf housing. Coolant relocation kit and aven a bumber beam all for $288. Also comes with t bolts instead of poopy worm drive clamps. Turbo xs knock off from ebay

 

[bkbajan]

Somehow I knew you would ask... its for 02-07 wrx sti. With slight modification it will fit. Also has blow by maf housing. Coolant relocation kit and aven a bumber beam all for $288. Also comes with t bolts instead of poopy worm drive clamps. Turbo xs knock off from ebay

That's pretty nice, thanks for the info.


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[Legacy]

Nope, this wasn't my issue, gave AC a few love taps and it never engaged.

 

[Shef]

Sounds like you've got a leak. I'd guess that maybe you've unbolted the A/C compressor a time or two? Both mine and a friends A/C failed due to leaks in the soft line coming off the top of the compressor. The soft line can exhibit fatigue failure if you unbolt the compressor and hang it off to the side. This causes the soft line to twist since the rest of the line is hard.

You can try adding in some refrigerant with UV Die in it and then go back a few days later to look for the leak with a black light.

 

[Legacy]

I suspected a leak as it worked just fine days before. And yes, had the HG replaced this summer. I assume they did as you suggested, hung the compressor when they pulled the motor. Probably too late to blame them for it.

Did you replace the line? And if so how much and what's involved to re Re?

 

[Shef]

My friend had to replace the line and I just happened to have an extra line from an 06 NA A/C compressor that worked fine on his. I think they go for around $100 usually.

As it happened, we knew a guy that "taught us" how to do A/C for a 12 pack so labor was basically free. You need a gauge set and a pump to draw a vacuum OR if you have an air compressor you can buy a cheap gadget that uses your compressor to create the vacuum. (there needs to be a vacuum in order to completely fill the system with refrigerant and the gauges are needed because too much will damage your A/C components and not enough won't be very cool)

I was lucky (so far). Just as with my friends, we pulled a vacuum on my system and then added the refrigerant w/dye & leak stop so we could find the leak source. That was 6 months ago and so far (knock on wood) my A/C has still worked so the leak was small enough to be fixed by the stop leak that was in the refrigerant we used.
But I'm pretty sure my leak was from the same hose as on my friends as you can see where the slight leak had accumulated dirt making black spots of grime on the exterior of the hose.

If I were you, I'd try adding the small can of refrigerant w/dye without using a vacuum. Since you have a leak you don't have to worry about adding too much since the can is like 1/4 of your systems capacity. You're A/C *might* work afterwards or might not but the dye will works its way out the leak path and guide you on what to replace. Then buy the parts myself and take it to an A/C shop (I'm cheap )
They have the refrigerant/dye at most every auto parts store, should be less than $15.