Mechanic said my compressor is going bad.
 

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I recently just bought my first car, a 2015 BRZ Limited, and it came to my attention that my compressor was going out? When I checked it out while the car was running I noticed that the compressor cycles in and out every 30-40 seconds give or take. It also seems to mess with my RPM's a bit. Now I dont know much about cars, so I thought id get a second opinion and see what you folks have to say.

Thanks.

Your ac compressor? Yea the clutch turns on and off quite often, that's normal. Unless it's not blowing cold air I don't know why you would want to replace it.

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Is it making and loud rattling noises when it is running?

It's normal for the clutch to cycle, it's normal for the RPMs to fluctuate *a bit* when the the engine has to adjust for the increased load caused by the compressor.

The clutch cycling fast, like coming for a few seconds the releasing, then clutching again for a few seconds, not cycling at all, or a melted pulley from the clutch trying to couple a seized compressor to a moving belt or abnormal noises like the grinding of internal parts or the roaring of bearings, would be outwards indicators of a bad compressor.

It's hard to say without hearing it, but I've known of shops that regularly threw compressors at cars for nearly every AC concern. A 30-40 second cycle, depending on the atmospheric conditions isn't alarming and if it's blowing lots of cold air and not making noises, I wouldn't be inclined to replace it for fun.

It’s blowing cold air, that’s why I don’t get it.

I’m not sure, it might just be normally running? I could give a video for further details

Well I’m not sure, because when he said this to me, and I know nothing about cars, so it was concerning to me. It blows cold air perfectly fine, when the car is in idil, the engine runs, then for a second as the compressor cycles you can hear your RPMs drop a bit, then it picks up again, and the cycle continues etc. Weather was about 80ish degrees and humidity was about 80-90% so I wouldn’t think the ambient had anything to do with it, but I could be wrong

Yea dude that's perfectly normal. I could show you a video of my car doing that exact same thing.

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sounds like you need a replacement mechanic...

Sure if you wouldn’t mind

To be fair I just moved up here lol

You got an Instagram account I can send it to real quick

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Sure do. Look up yixossiko

You should tell us the name of the shop and the city where this mechanic works so that we all know to stay away from it.

Iffen the AC is blowing cold air and the compressor ain't smoken - it ain't broke - no need to fix it.

from Bubba

Ambient conditions have EVERYTHING to do with AC performance. 80 degrees and nearly maxed humidity is a decent load on an AC system, if your air outlet temp is in spec, it's likely fine. To test your air outlet temp: Hood closed, windows down, MAX AC setting and max blower speed, 1500 RPM, let you thermometer stabilise.

DO you have an automatic? There is a TSB for idle stability the Autos when they are in Park or Neutral. Otherwise i know there was another TSB for idle stability for Autos and Manuals.
https://www.tsbsearch.com/Subaru/11-136-14

that does about as much good as 'blocking' those spoofed spam callers. if the guy's terrible, much of the time he'll end up bouncing around to another shop in a few weeks time, and all we end up doing is smearing a small business name in the dirt over an employee that they already dealt with.

Here's why it's normal. There's a temp sensor on the evaporator (in the cabin) The controller shuts off the compressor to keep it from getting too cold and frosting. Test it by cranking the blower to high. It'll quit disengaging because the evaporator can't get cold enough.


Did someone else already answer this? Meh. :iono:

as a professional wrench, its perfectly normal for it to cycle on and off. If its every few seconds it might be either over pressure or under pressure, but other than that, normal. if it sounds normal, and the clutch doesn't appear overly rusty in the contact surfaces(with associated rust all around when it gets worse), and its not noisy, along with the system making cold air, its fine.

If your mechanic said you might need a new compressor based on the compressor cycling, he is either incompetent, or trying to rip you off.

As they say "the short term memory is the second thing to go" - :iono:

What's the first?

Probably ED

lol ... I mean Awww... :(

I appreciate how you compare incompetent mechanics to spam callers.

:(

The first what?

THAT'S what I was thinking. :clap:

Do I know you?

lol

i know your son.

Is that you, Linda?

no, no, i'm William.

Back on the topic.

My compressor went bad a few years ago - it won't pump up anything - :sigh: