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Take it to a shop and have it discharged, resealed with new o-rings/hoses as needed, and charged. It might need a compressor but you won't know till it's properly charged. The compressor will make noise if the system is low on refrigerant. If you do end up needing a compressor - buy it from Subaru ONLY. Don't buy any aftermarket crap. They had enough problems in stock form and if there were any design changes required Subaru will have already done that with a supersession - the aftermarket may be selling the dated design that had the problem in the first place or just Chinese crap that will fail and fill your system with metal. Don't be that chump. GD

Aloha from Oahu, USMB! New member here....I have long been a Subaru fan and recently an opportunity has come up to purchase a JDM 1990 Legacy GT Wagon 5-speed that is all factory right down to the non-airbag 4-spoke Momo steering wheel (per WIki this was a JDM factory feature...?) The mileage on the vehicle is about 86,000 miles (the dash is original JDM in kph) and it has the turbo 2.0. I have a lot of experience with turbo cars having built and raced Buick Grand Nationals for nearly 20 years, so I was intrigued when this Legacy came up. I test drove the car and it solid, tight, and smooth. All gauges read normal and I didn't her any piston slap at idle or notice any funny smells. The clutch was a little stiff, but not overbearing. Aside from hitting the wiper stalk on the left side of the tilt steering wheel thinking it was the turn signal (which is on the right, by the window) and an AC control unit that read in Celsius, I quickly adapted to the RHD. However, there was a button marked "Steering" that was located right below the tach to the left of the rear window defroster button (see photo below), and it was illuminated. I did not push it during the test drive, but can someone tell me what it is "supposed" to do? Secondly, for those that have owned these cars, would this be a worthwhile buy? The primary use of this car would be for Costco trips and hauling my mountain bike and surfboard, etc. to the beach, something my 2015 Mazda Miata power hardtop is not very good at. Mahalo Nui Loa ("thank you very much" in Hawaiian) for your time!

He should Read the FSM to see what it says and ask Subaru when you pick it up. Or read directions that come with a aftermarket (though I wouldn’t buy one!). add a few drops if you don’t know. It’ll get distributed through a significant amount of interior surface area throughout the comrossor and lines so err towards adding if unsure. Residual oil in the system copiously migrates throughout too, oil goes EVERyWHERE when they spring a sundown leak. so if the compressor was dry and you didn’t add oil…. Nothing would happen. Not recommending that - I’m just saying they are very forgiving. Add a few drops or look up how many milliliters and you’re good.

If he gets a new compressor, will it come with a little oil in it, or should he add some?

Yes. Subarus are easy. After repairing the issue add about 20 ounces of refrigerant and done. That’s it. Read the amount of refrigerant needed, often there’s a sticker on the top radiator supper (roughly around 20 ounces for most Subarus) and compare to the bottle contents, it’s roughly “two cans”, can sizes vary. You do not need to replace the drier. But you can while it’s apart - they’re cheap and easy. If the compressor is bad then presumably the refrigerant is fine and no ambient air and moisture entered the system. Replacing a compressor doesn’t give much time for ambient air to saturate the drier. Even if it was open for long periods of time I’ve never seen issues and live in a high humidity area. But again - driers are cheap and easy. There’s zero need to pull a vacuum unless you absolutely need the AC to work 100% like new. The AC works fine in 95 degree 90% humidity summers even if you don’t pull a vacuum. if you want the AC to blow 48 degrees instead of 53 degrees (I’m making up numbers for illustration) then pull the vaccum. Maybe some people on coastal southern humid areas with dark cars that sit in the sun all day or something need it 100%. If that’s the case pull a vacuum. I have a vaccuum puller and gauges with adapters for all Subaru AC fittings and haven’t used them in 15 years. Subarus are so easy it’s not worth my time. I think I’ve used the gauges a time or two actually since then but it’s rare. When replacing the compressor replace the orings at the compressor - they’re the most common orings to fail by a looooong shot. Due to heat cycling from engine/compressor heat loads I guess. I wrote the now 10+ year old Subaru article about AC charging and repair that’s now many pages of comments long of raving success. I buy fix wrecked or totaled front impact Subarus and old Subarus so repairing Subaru AC is about as common as it can be for a DIY person who isn’t doing this for a living. I wouldn’t assume anything anout other manufacturers AC systems based on this.

*** Burp it. 1. Is it overheating and spraying out from overheating? or 2. leaking and spraying? determine that FIRST. They can look the same and be hard to distinguish. It does sound like a poor repair (or parts) was done and the headgaskets need replaced again. If you got a decent review, history and sense of integrity from the seller it sounds like the engine is fine and the mechanic did a poor job. If that’s true I’d just suggest redoing the headgaskets. The heads are unlikely to be warped or cracked. But a shop can check that. make sure they get resurfaced No matter what even if they are “in spec” or “not warped” Except do the headgaskets correctly. Subaru gaskets only, resurface heads, clean surfaces, lube bolts, torque properly.

that long crease will definitely impede the flow of fluid in the bottom.. clearances are pretty slim in that area. might almost be worth sourcing a different pan, as bad as that one is - car-part.com is a great resource

its fixed. i pulled the tail back off and took the clutch drum and transmission side drum from another trans that was having electrical issues and put it into the forester trans. no more binding.

~450km round trip today to see my brother (good catch up that was long overdue!). I drove home with the roof glass out, got a bit cool climbing the hills through Wombat State forest area. This pick was near an old volcano called Mt Franklin with several storm clouds off in the distance - where I was headed for home. I missed all the rain which was good. Longest run with the “tops off” for me so far - about 220km through several climate changes. Last big trip to Melbs and back I managed to get 8.5L/100km - anything at 10L/100km is awesome in my book for a vehicle of this age. This trip might be different as there were more hills and more stop/start intersections. Great day crusing! I enjoyed it! Cheers Bennie

No worries mate, I love mine too. Only downer (sometimes) is not being able to fit more than one of my kids in it. It’s good and bad in that way... Cheers Bennie