bstone

I laughed out loud a few times by how you write! Sorry about the trans, but you're frekin hilarious!

I know. I want to do this for the experience. My AC works great, but I have this extra compressor and I want to tinker.

Gotchya. Should I get one of those kits to rebuilt a compressor? I figure I may as well replace the clutch and whatever gaskets and such that I find along the way. Do you know where I can find such a kit?

I have a known bad AC compressor from my 97 OBW AT. The symptoms are thus: the clutch does not engage and when I tried to add refrigerant oil to the ports and turned the clutch by hand the oil did not get sucked in. The two Master ASEs who I was working next to both said "the compressor needs to be replaced". I did that (it was expensive!). Now it's time for a project, even if it's only to be done once and isn't worth my time. I want to experience, damnit! So, people, talk to me about rebuilding an AC compressor? I googled it a bit and found a few folks who did this and took a lot of pictures. I guess I need to know about any sort of "AC rebuild kit". Where would I get such a thing? Any advice, thoughts, feedback, etc. Thanks.

Rain dance will probably work. I echo what GD says. He's the expert.

Growl. The new (used, from boneyard) compressor is bad. Clutch sputters and barely turns. Growl. I am returning it in the morning, but they only give store credit. Any ideas what I should get for $125?

That'd be illegal, me thinks.

I put a Walker in last summer. Works great and was really affordable.

The guy at the yard says I need to add oil. How much, where and what type?

I am on my way to a boneyard to pick up a used but good compressor. How do I install it? I hear about having to put oil in it, but what sort of oil and where? Leaving in a few minutes and back in an hour or so. Thanks, folks!

I echo this. Your gas mileage is going to *seriously* suffer. If you are going on a road trip you certainly want to have the exhaust system in fine working order. Go to a dealer and get an OE sensor then find someone to replace it for you for a lot less than the dealer.

Wasn't that hard but one of the bolts was hard to get to and I had to remove a metal fuel line out of the way. Once I did that then it wasn't too hard. I should have used a swivel socket but didn't remember I had one. Oops.

I do not think it's possible. The ECU isn't that interactive. Sorry.

That's a really good idea. I'll do that in the morning. I haven't driven anywhere, only fired up the engine to make sure the squeaking noise had gone away.

The belt for the compressor only turns the compressor. Power steering and the alternator is the other belt. I removed the AC belt.

I removed my AC compressor this afternoon due to the fact that it's making a high pitch squeak noise and it no longer blows cold air. I am waiting for the local dealer to get one in stock. In the meantime, can I drive with the AC hoses disconnected? They are not obstructing anything. Removing the compressor wasn't the easiest. I had to remove one of the metal fuel lines going into an injector in order to gain access to the compressor bracket mount. Thanks.

I might go with a new one. I know it's a lot more expensive, at the same time I caution all the car owners I work on "if it moves don't buy it used". Also, this is *my* car, not someone else's, and I would prefer to have a nice new part and not something used. This is sort of the reason why I just paid several hundred $$$ for OE pulleys and tensioners instead of getting an aftermarket kit.

Update: All pulleys and the balancer is/are installed. Replaced the timing belt, as well. Additionally, did the oil pump and gasket since I happened to have it. Next is to replace the AC compressor as the current one doesn't work and has a high pitch noise coming from it.

I had that problem once when the neutral position sensor was bad.

Do 2 oil changes, each about 50 miles apart. Throw in some of that Magic Mystery Oil. The second time. Let us know how it goes.

You mean you took off all the bolts from the transmission extension housing? Make sure you got them all- some are really up there and a pain to get out. Get a drain pan underneath as you're going to lose several quarts of trans fluid when it comes off. Take a thin screw driver and just start slowly prying. Be gentle but use gentle force. Also get some Red Permatex and new gaskets for the housing and solenoid. This is a good opportunity to reseal the transmission.

Try an online subaru dealer. You can probably find the OE for $15 less than the local dealer.

Do you mean the strut mounts?

That's exactly the point. This is arguably the most important maintenance that you can do on the car (lumping in the timing belt and water pump). I would much rather go with a superseded OE part that has 2 bearings than an aftermarket with one. I am going to be spending a few bucks on this, so may as well do it right. I am in MA and subarupartsforyou is CT, so I figure it'll be here in a day or so. No rush, tho the whining balancer is getting me nervous. I also ordered an OE timing belt and will do that when all the pulleys are replaced. Does anyone know if I missed any important parts?

Here's an experience is the local parts dept vs an online OE dealer (who has a store not too far from me, so I can save on the shipping) Part Local (CitySide Subaru) subarupartsforyou.com 13085AA080 Idler Pulley w/teeth (1) 81.82 62.00 13073AA142 Idler Pulley-smooth (1) 74.95 56.00 13068AA051 Hydraulic Tensioner Adjuster 149.95 99.00 PULLEY CRANKSHAFT, BOLT & KEYWAY FOR 1997-2009 LEGACY OUTBACK 2.5 179 145.00 Total: 485.72 362.00 I think it's pretty obvious who I will be buying from. $123.72 difference in price for the same exact parts. Holy Moses!!!