Air Conditioning Problems
 

About a month ago I turned on my car and noticed that the A\C wasn't blowing cold. The fan was working, I just wasn't getting cold air. I checked to make sure that the A\C was on, which it was, and eventually I got it blowing cold again by hitting the A\C button twice to turn it off and on again. This is a premium BRZ btw, so I have the no frills A\C system. The next couple times I started the car there wasn't an issue so I tried not to worry about it. But it happened again within a few days. I tried the same trick but this time it didn't work. I ended up turning the fan off and on and this time that fixed it. It ended up happening again either the next time I got in the car or soon after, and this time I couldn't get it to blow cold no matter what I tried. And every time I got in the car after that the A\C never cooled.

I ended up taking it to the dealer. They had it for a week. At first they weren't able to replicate it, I guess maybe it worked for them to begin with. A few days into them having the car they told me that they weren't sure what was wrong and that they were talking with Subaru to figure out what they could try.

They ended up replacing the compressor. I've had the car back for a couple weeks now and everything seemed fine until the other morning. I got in the car and again it wouldn't blow cold air. I tried some of the same tricks I tried before but nothing worked so I gave up. Then maybe 10-15 minutes into the trip it just started suddenly working. The only thing I noticed this time was that it started raining pretty heavily a few seconds before. I don't know if there's any correlation with this, I was thinking maybe the temperature difference could be relevant.

Right now I'm just waiting because it has come on each time I've started the car since then. I know there's obviously still a problem, but it's not easily replicated right now. Has anyone else had any similar issues? Or maybe any theories on what it could be? My initial thought was that it's an electrical problem, but that's just a guess. Whatever it is, it's pretty frustrating since the car is brand new, just hit the 3000 mile mark the other day.

Ouch, and in Texas no less. Well, be thankful it's happening now so there is plenty of time until Hell weather returns.

So I think the dealership has finally fixed my problem. I wanted to share the solution with everyone in case someone else comes across the same issue. It took taking the car in 3 times to finally get the a/c fixed, but it looks like it's finally working.

So they replaced the compressor the first time I took it in at the end of last summer, which it turns out didn't help. On an unusually warm day a few weeks ago I tried to use the a/c for the first time in a while and couldn't get it to work. So I took the car back in and explained everything again. Unfortunately the service guy was rushed and wasn't paying a lot of attention. They ended up replacing the blower motor, which didn't sound right to me. But I went along with it since they know more about this stuff than I do.

I got the car back and the a/c didn't work the first time I tried it. Actually it didn't work any time I tried it. I took it back and asked to have one of the techs ride with me so I could explain the problem to them. Apparently the service manager had said that I wasn't getting any airflow, which is why they replaced the blower motor.

I left the car with them again and they figured out that one of my relays was bad. Apparently there are two relays, one for the a/c and one for the horn. They swapped the relays and my horn stopped working and my compressor started working. :happyanim:

I knew it seemed like an electrical problem. I guess I should have gone straight to the tech from the beginning. Oh well, at least it's fixed now.

Well, Shark, good to hear your A/C is working.

What was the dealership thinking ?? ......... a bad relay ..... REALLY !! ...... who woulda thunk .. ?? ...... http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...mages/sigh.gif ...... :bonk: ...on them ..... :slap:


humfrz

Thanks for sharing the solution with us there Shark. I'm really surprised that it took two trips to the dealer to get a simple problem fixed.

Jason

Bumping an old thread because I've been having the same issues as shark did. I bought my frs without warranty (car has 61k) 5 months ago, I've been trying to find this ac relay shark was talking about but I can't find it for the life of me. I took the frs to my local Toyota dealer but their wanting to charge me 120 just to look at it. Anyone else having/had issues? Any help is much appreciated

Fuse box by passenger side fender under hood. Relay #5.

Nice reply, there @Tcoat .....:clap:


@Rubbish ....... you get a :slap: for not reading the manual.

;)


humfrz

^^ thanks guys, I looked in the fuse box but I guess I didn't look hard enough

I might be wrong, but @Shark mentioned that the problem was in a relay, and @Tcoat is showing fuses. These are different things, and relays are shown but not marked in the manual. They are the grey unmarked boxes.


To identify relays, you should refer to this picture:
http://i.imgur.com/EeIrjUF.png


Note that it is rotated 90 degress, compare labels on fuses above to fuse labels in the manual to get yourself oriented.

Much time has passed but did the OPs horn ever work again?

Thank you. My ac kicks in and off too much. I know at start it's ok for first few seconds but it did it for 20min I had it idling. Relay was bad. Now to find a replacement

Air Conditioning Problems
 

Old thread I know but I just went through the same ordeal with my car. I got my car in October and spun a rod bearing before it really got hot here in Florida. I just got it back on the road and noticed the compressor wasn’t running. I figured I damaged the line by pushing the AC off the side when pulling the engine so I checked the refrigerant first. It was a tad low so I charged it a little and I thought it was fixed but then after the engine bay got hot the compressor stopped and refused to come back on. So I connected Techstream and could see that the ECU had the clutch on but it wasn’t actually. In Techstream there is a test for the clutch where you can toggle it on and off manually with the engine off. That wasn’t working. So I swapped the horn and Ac relay and now I have an intermittent horn but the ac is working again. I’m glad it wasn’t one of the lines that was damaged because I had to bend the rubber portion of the AC lines more than I would have liked to clear the engine.

Those relays are a bitch to get out. I had to make a tool to get them out. Took a super thin metal ruler and folded a 1mm tab on the end of it and was able to slide it down the side of the relay and hook the bottom.

Pro-tip, if you mod cars quite a bit and spend alot of time wiring these come in handy:

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-4493-Angl...KWMG5NQK36DKQS

https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-46950-R.../dp/B002NR2Z56


For the longest time I used forks, or metal bent tabs till i got a set from harbor freight :lol:

Just had this problem and fixed it by reading this. Damn relay lol.

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

i know this is a very old thread but.. im having this problem and trying to follow this thread and fix it myself but need some more help. Maybe i'm not seeing it but which relay is the A/C compressor or the one you need to replace/switch with the horn? :bonk: help

The one labeled HEATER relay, far left.

So swap with the one labeled "horn" and see if the horn works. If it does, then the relay isn't the issue. I just had to go through this last week because my AC suddenly stopped working. Relay and fuse both checked out. Both high and low pressure side AC lines were super easy to pinch, so I started filling up the system with refrigerant. Low and behold, I could immediately start hearing a hiss, and located a crack in the condensor, right in the middle, where clearly a rock hit it. FYI - the system has a pressure switch, if the pressure is too low, it will not kick on the compressor (so as not to damage the compressor).

If relay and fuse are both good - start looking for a leak. Chances are if the AC system went from working awesome to not working at all, you have a big leak somewhere.

Hi everyone, I know it's an old thread but I'm not sure whether I should create a new one.

The compressor of my air conditioning keeps turning ON and OFF every 5-10 seconds. I can actually see the pulley disconnecting and connecting all the time.

I took the car to the local dealership and they did not find any leaks in the system. They said the compressor is fine and that the problem may be the temperature sensor in the cabin but in order to check it, they have to dismount the dashboard.

Does anyone in here had a similar problem? If yes, how did you solve it?

Thanks

Does it blow cold?

Is the cabin air filter clean?

If you have good airflow, does the behavior change (improve) with windows open and fan set to max?

edit: Problem Symptoms Table

There is a section in the manual devoted to invoking a diagnostic mode and interpreting the results. Rapid engagement/disengagement of the compressor may indicate over-pressure on the high side. I've read about a failure of the cooler expansion valve causing this. Basic troubleshooting skill and tools will reveal the issue and I suggest verifying that before tearing apart the dashboard.

Nah, never worked again . Just frozen..

WOW! Great informative post - :thumbsup:

(those fiber pills must be working - :D)

I can think so much more clearly now. It's amazing.

Thanks for the reply!

Sadly I don't think that any of the symptoms in this table correspond to my situation.

I have good air flow and the air is sufficiently cold. When I stick it to manual control I don't hear the clutch of the compressor every 5 seconds. It stays permanently ON.

Only when I stick in AUTO control, I can hear the compressor clutch engaging and disengaging every 5 seconds. I think this is why the guy at the garage said that there must be something wrong with the temperature sensor in the cabin.

Sounds like your guy is going down the right path. Let us know how it turns out.

So I came to this thread, checking for AC clutch engages and disengages. This is what is hapenning to me on my FT 86. Yesterday I went to start my car, which i'm not taking out for a long time. Most of the time I just go to my garage to start it , and take it for a ride just to refuel. Hard time here.
So like I always do I just start it , and I always check lights, etc, turn on the AC . then I started to hear a click.. at 2000rpm. I always idle it at around 2000rpm to charge battery for 15 minutes. Open up the hood and saw the ac clutch engaging and disengaging not instantly but every now and then, and when this happens I hear the radiator fan like kicking in and then stops revsd falling a bit . This left me really sad and worried. My ac is manual my ft it's base. Now my questions are

- I got my car for around 10 years never changed coolant on the compresor . Couple days ago temperature here reached around 45 C. Maybe this affected coolant.

- Dust on the belt pulley

- Thought about faulty relay, or fuse.

- I never changed car radiator refrigerant as it's quite specific , or water.

- Haven't done oil change since I got it. ( it's 2000km on dash)

- should I disconnect battery to reset ECU ?


So asking for all your help so I can calm down, I can't sleep since yesterday. Never had any problems.

Friend this started happening yesterday to me out of nothing and I can't sleep of how nervious I am. What exactly did it happen to you. This happened to me out of nothing. I was thinking on switching the horn relay to the AC ( which is the heater relay). Also which relay brand did you buy and amperes. Thanks, if you can message me.

It is perfectly ok. That is how the compressor should cycle. Notice that if you turn the blower on high, the compressor stays engaged longer. There is a temperature sensor on the evaporator in the cabin. If it gets too cold, the compressor disengages.

I recommend a battery tender instead of expecting the alternator to charge the battery well enough in storage.

Hi mate thanks for answering, apologias I didn't answer before I wasn't notified of the reply. But anyways I'm thinking something might have gone bad. Every time I've been starting my car I never heard this click ( of the ac clutch engaging and disengaging) . This as soon as I revved to around 2000rpm started getting worse, click- click , every 15-20 seconds never had this happen before. And all the time I used the AC. So either gas coolant inside the compressor has lost pressure, bad relay , or what about this sensor inside the cabin.

where is it located so I can spot it . Maybe it got some dust or something. Anyways next time I'm going to start my car hope this problem goes away. but my head has been spinning about all possible scenarios. Again thanks for taking your time and helping

I saw your other thread after this. Looks like you got some solid replies there. If this is new behavior, have it checked by a pro shop.