unibrook

Get familiar with how to check for torque bind before you buy your used Subie. Search the many threads here on how to detect it. Otherwise, just as the others said b4 me!

That is the pressure at the low pressure port with the system turned on. Ambient temp was 65F. Yes, plz, on links or ideas.

ok, so I hooked up the pressure gauge to the low pressure port and it read zero, so I figured I would inject a 3 ounce can of R134a with red dye into the system to see if compressor would at least turn on. And it did. The pressure gauge read 39 lbs when finished injecting refrigerant into the system. The high pressure line felt nice and hot. But the return low pressure line never got cold. After several minutes of running the AC on High, still no cold air coming out of the vents. And I could not see any red dye leaks anywhere in the system in the engine compartment. I suppose it could be leaking near the evaporator inside the dash. Any ideas? Should a 3 ounce can of R134a have bumped the system pressure from 0 to 39 lbs? Should I go ahead and inject another can of refrigerant into the system to try to get cold air? What else could be the culprit? Some sort of valve/switch near the evap? Line clogged?

x2 on your front 02 sensor. If it hasn't been replaced in the last 40k miles, that is your prime suspect. The only odd thing in your post is that it is worse when cold. If front 02 sensor is the culprit, it will only act badly when warm. Cold hesitation may be something diff.

Here are a couple of good clips showing multimeter testing of AC electronics:

Do I understand right that you recently replaced the front 02 sensor? If not, then do it.

Yes. The low pressure switch is atop the dryer canister. That is the one I jumped. Will check the fuse in the cabin also.

2001 Forester 100k miles. A/C switch light comes on when pressed, but compressor does not engage. Multimeter test to compressor shows no power. I switched compressor relay, but still no power to compressor. Power to Low pressure switch is ok at 14.2v. And I jumped the two wires in it to see if that would cause power to flow to compressor, but no. What next? Are there other fuses or relays in the system that I haven't found yet, that I should test? Should I jump a wire straight from the battery pos terminal to the compressor connector to see if it will engage that way? and to see if refrigerant is still up to good pressure?

Thanks guys, I will try the multimeter test this weekend.

2001 Forester 99.5k miles: New condensor and recharge about 1 year ago. When I turn on the A/C switch and fan........no compressor engagement. What are the usual suspects I should check first?

Thx all for the good points raised. It seems I should worry about the carb cleaner possibly degrading the rubber boots on the brake cylinder, so I will use brake cleaner only. thx again.

Are these two essentially the same? Can I use carb cleaner on my rear drum brakes as I change them? Any probs with this?

Oil is holding steady at halfway full. hmmm. no obvious issue appearing. I will change the oil next week and give a close inspection under the engine while I am there.

I always just "price in" the assumption that this sort of major repair will happen kinda soon when I bid on a car. I pick a fair price in my head, then I subtract $2000 or whatever I think the due repairs and maintenance will amount to, and I stand firm on the price. If this deal doesn't happen, move on to the next one.

No, I change the oil myself. I put another quart into it today, since the dipstick was still looking dry. Finally got it up to halfway between the dipstick holes. Will monitor on a daily basis for a while to see what the hay is happening. I still can't see any leaks.

2001 Forester 99k miles. yikes. I changed my oil about 5k miles ago. Getting ready to do it again soon, just happened to check my oil level yest, down over a full quart. It has never lost this much oil between changes before. I will monitor it over the next few weeks. So far, I haven't seen any leaks around the engine, no smell of burning oil, no oil smoke in exhaust. No puddles under car. I hope it isn't anything major that needs engine pulling!

2001 Forester 99242 miles on her. The belt was loose.....and it was also separating longitudinally. So I replaced it with an $18 Dayco belt from Autozone. Now we have our power steering back! And no more screech.

change your front 02 sensor if it hasn't been done in the last 40k miles. after MUCHO trial and error searching, this turned out to be the cause of my running rough when warm problem.

I have a squeaking belt in the morning with stiff steering issue appearing now. I will try your water spray trick and report back here. Is that supposed to temporarily recondition the belt to perform better?

U could first try some Power Steering Stop Leak goop........if you need a quick fix to get you by for a while. I used that junk in my old Saab story for years. Never did end up bothering to replace the pump b4 I dumped the car.

I know my 4 yr old can break an OEM cup holder in no time!

Seeing as you are up in the snow belt, you can bet yur bippy that the bolts that hold the disc bracket in place are frozen. Take my advice, hit them with heat before trying to wrench them off.

Glad to hear Hbr Frt has a cheaper alternative to the Hub Tamer now. I own and used the Hub Tamer and I am very happy with it....but I think it cost me $350, so not cheap! PM me if you want my step by step notes on doing Forester rear wheel bearings.

Hmmm kinda expensive in my eyes. Here around Boston, but with 100k miles, the car sells on CrList for $5k.

It is a pretty tough but doable weekend project in your driveway. Where do you live? If in rustbelt, you can bet your lateral link bolts are frozen and the bushings need to be melted out. Just adds some time/effort/expense. PM me with your email if you want me to email my step by step notes to you.