Daskuppler

I just ordered a new high pressure and low pressure line. I also got a new condenser since mine is pretty chewed up after a rough 135k miles. I also got an O-ring set since the system will be apart. I'll post back once it is all installed and it warms up a little.

I just ordered a 30" Diode Dynamics bar. It should fit on top of the crash bar behind the bumper cover so it's almost a factory look and is still somewhat protected from road debris. It will add an additional 6,000 lumens. If anyone is interested, I can follow up on this thread.

I'm working on getting one. Looks like they are $340 from Subaru.

I looked at this morning. When I first turned the AC on, the compressor was short cycling. It would run for about 2 seconds then turn off and repeat. Since the gauge showed that the system was overcharged, I let a little bit out. It then stopped short cycling and never came back one. I put the gauge back on, and the pressure read 0. I added about 4 ounces and the compressor kicked on, the low pressure line was cold, but it was still short cycling a little bit. It would run for about 15 seconds then shut off and come back on about 20 seconds later. While it is cycling, pressure rises to about 38 while the compressor is off and drops to 10 while it is running. There is an oily residue where the high pressure line turns to rubber coming off of the compressor. Bad compressor? Bad pressure switch?

Hello Everyone, I have a 14 Forester and am looking to add some auxiliary lights to the vehicle. I do not have an aftermarket bumper or anything else to mount to that would not be present on a stock vehicle. What have you guys done? Light pods? Light bar? Cheers

Is it really leaking? It's been holding for almost a year. Obviously there is a leak at one location, but could that be because it is overcharged?

Hello Everyone, I have a 2002 Impreza with about 135k on it. Last summer the AC started to not blow as cold as desired, in fact it was borderline warm. I added some refrigerant assuming I would have to address a leak later but I could limp through the summer. Adding refrigerant helped , but temperatures soon dropped at the vents, even though the gauge still read around 32 psi. Best I can tell is the compressor kicks on as there is a load on the motor when I turn the AC on. The low pressure line is slightly cooler than the engine bay temperatures but by no means cold. High pressure line is hot. The condenser at the front has seen better days and has a lot of damaged fins, though no sign of a leak. I checked pressure again without the car running and it read at almost 50psi. I'm not quite sure what happened but that's where it sits. There is some sign of leakage on the high pressure line where it goes from a rubber hose to the hard piping attached to the compressor, but this was not present last summer. I am guessing this is due to the fact that the system is now overcharged. Any ideas where to go from here? Cheers

I got it all done. Temps at the vent got as low as 45.5. it's 70 outside. It took about 16 ounces.

Looks like it comes oiled, as do most new/remanufactured units these days. I would certainly hope that for $900 they could add $0.30 worth of oil. I'll be working on it tonight so I'll post back with a conclusion to the Saga. I might be in touch with you again shortly, I have a 2002 Impreza with an AC that's not working as well. There does appear to be some visible leaks. One vehicle at a time though.

The shop quoted 1100 to do the job with a remanufactured unit from Napa. I presume this is likely to have issues since it is most likely a remanufactured unit that already failed because of the known problems. Would I be better off just spending the $900 for the OEM one? It is in stock at my local dealer today. Anything I should be wary of when replacing the compressor? I haven't really looked at it but it looks like it's just a handful of bolts and look out for the refrigerant that leaks out. Then recharge with the auto parts cans that contain oil. Also, is it likely the compressor? The AC seemed to work fine not more than a couple months ago. The car is a 14 forester, 100k on it. We live in Colorado. The compressor makes a terrible noise and never shuts off or blows cold air. Is there a way to troubleshoot it prior to spending the money?

Okay, so you can't just grab the recharge units at the auto parts store and refill lol. I agree, not worth it at that point.

Hello Everyone, I turn the AC on today and had no cold air. After further investigation, the compressor is incredibly noisy (buzzing, clicking, and running continuously), From previous research, I noticed there is a TSB out for the compressor, but Subaru won't cover anything. Can I recharge the system at home from empty, or does it need to be done with a special machine when it's completely empty after the compressor replacement. Also, do I need to replace the dryer if I open the system to replace the compressor? Cheers

The struts are KYB. Ball joints, true rod ends, and wheel bearing are Moog. The end links be are mevotech. I'll get a pry bar on it tomorrow if it's not too cold lol

I did the work. I'll check the to bolts, they looked good but I'm give them a good crank I forgot to mention I replaced those as well. They still looked right, I'll throw a wrench on them though.

Hello Everyone, I have a 2014 Forester 2.5i that has recently started clunking if I hit a bump while turning. It is most prominent when turning left and hitting a bump with the passenger front tire. The noise comes from the passenger front tire as well. Tie rod ends, ball joints, struts, and the passenger wheel bearing were recently replaced. The clunk did not appear right after the work, rather a couple thousand miles later. I checked to make sure everything was still tight and it is. There is no play in the steering wheel or tire. I did notice that the coil ionthe strut is shifted about 1/4 inch from the stop on the spring perch. I can't iimaginethis would be an issue, but I suppose it's possible. There is no abnormal tire wear Thoughts?

Replacing the wheel bearing fixed the problem

It is primarily noise, you can feel it every so slightly in the floor boards. I put the car on jack stands and was not able to discern any difference between left and right. There was no play in the wheel. I did take it out for another short drive and noticed that when I load the right wheel in a turn the noise became louder. I ordered a wheel bearing so we will see what that does. The rear on on the same side went out a little while ago so maybe there was an impact on the passenger side that is still causing problems. The bearing should be here today and I should be able to install it tomorrow. I'll follow up with any changes.

The issue on turns was before the work was done. It is separate from the present issue and no longer present. I'm confused as to why the brakes are even in question, they were never touched. Is there a way to diagnose the wheel bearing and/or CV joints. There is no clicking present on sharp turns.

The work was done because there was a shake coming from there passenger side front tire on high-speed sweeping left turns. Before the work was done, I verified that the tie rod end was infact blown in that wheel. It was rusted to the inner so I cut it off and replaced both, I did the same with the driver side since I was going to have an alignment done. The struts were replaced because they were pretty rusted and the car had 115k rough miles on it. I used KYB struts. The ball joints were replaced since it was all apart and they were quite rusty, one of them was blown. Both pinch bolts broke off and were drilled out and replaced with a through bolt and nut. The tie rod ends and ball joints were Moog and the sway bar end links were Napa premium chassis. The current noise/vibration sounds very similar to a warped rotor but nothing is felt in the steering wheel or brake pedal. The rotors were replaced with factory rotors and pads are at 50%. The noise is audible at speeds over 35mph and is not present under acceleration, though it might be hard to hear. It also goes away when brakes are applied. The noise appeared about 20 miles after the alignment was done and was first noticed at highway speeds. It sounds like it is coming from passenger front center. I did not notice the noise with the card on Jack stands. There is no play in the front wheel or noise indicating a bad wheel bearing but I'm not a mechanic so I'm not 100% positive.

I'd probably be more inclined to just replace them at that point, but it is an $800 bill so that's depressing haha

Hello Everyone, I have a 2014 Forester which has developed a vibration/clunking in the front end. As the title says, I recently replaced struts, tie rod ends, and ball joints. The alignment came back in just fine and is spot on. The clunking is getting worse, and seems to be isolated to the passenger side though it is hard to say. I cannot feel it in the steering wheel or brake pedal. The clunking is only present when I let off the gas, it is not there under acceleration and goes away when the brakes are applied. I was thinking maybe a bad CV joint, but I'm not sure. The boots look fine, but they were rebuilt maybe 15k ago. Cheers, Andrew

Coins something have been damaged during a stud replacement? The tire shop broke one off and paid for another shop to replace it. The vibration was noticed sometime after that

Hello Everyone, I have a 14 Forester 2.5 Premium with 100k on it. Recently, I have noticed a shudder in the steering wheel when making left-hand sweeping turns at speeds over 50. It feels like it is coming from the passenger front wheel but it is hard to tell while driving. All tie rod ends, ball joints, and wheel bearings feel tight. However, with the driver side tire on the ground and passenger side jacked up, there is a significant amount of play in the wheel with very little translated to the driver side (though there is some movement). There is also a "rattle" sound coming from that corner of the car on cold starts, and some popping when bumps are hit just right. I did not notice any play in the strut, but I did not remove it to double confirm anything. I was thinking the rack and pinon is going out, but steering is still smooth, tight, and there are no leaks. I also don't want to just throw in 1k worth of parts without knowing for sure. There is no abnormal tire wear either. The alignment was just done, maybe 1k miles ago and everything is in spec. What else could be causing this? It does not occur on right-hand turns. What could be causing this? Any other troubleshooting steps?

It also says not to use springs which are 20-30 % stiffer which would be the king springs

For everyone's reference, here is Bilstein's response: 'Our B6 dampers are intended for the OEM spring, the dampening profile would not be optimal for a 20-30% increase nor will the travel of the dampers be optimal for a lift spring, this will keep the dampers at the top of their travel and will cause premature topping out." So despite Primitive and Rallitek offering stiffer springs as a package, they are not compatible and not recommended for use with B6 dampers.