I've been browsing this forum for a few months, and almost have my heart set on getting a WRX Wagon to replace our boring '96 Honda Accord (sedan/auto/4cyl).

I do have a concern that I've been hearing here and there. Does the A/C really suck in these things? I hear of it cutting out on hot days (which seems to be the only time it's needed), the cooling fan kicking on and off constantly, etc. Surely this is because of the heat under the hood, but is it isolated to a certain run of WRX's, is there any fix, etc?

The other issues, such as squeaks in the suspension, CEL's, grooved rotors, etc. aren't as important to me. But being stuck in traffic on a 90+ humid day without a functioning A/C is miserable and could possibly sway me away from this otherwise outstanding vehicle.

I'm located in the Northeast, and the thought of having a rocketship like this, along with AWD for the snow/rain, along with the utility of a wagon (have a wife and toddler) is tempting. It would compliment our '01 Lexus RX300 rather well.

Also, what dealerships in MA are trustworthy, have good service, good prices, etc? Do any dealerships give out loaners when cars are in for service?

Thanks...

-Craig

As far and the A/C goes...mine cuts off all the time. People that say it doesn't are BS'n you. Every WRX I have been in does this. I live in south FL BTW, and always have it parked outside. I have titanium tint too (all windows).

mine doesn't cut off.

it keep me sufficiently cool even in houston texas heat and humidity.


it is not a powerhouse of an AC unit for sure, but it gets the job done, barely.

Not the best A/C, but it works well enough to keep me alive here in Dallas :cool:
It's plenty cold when you are moving, but it struggles a bit when you are sitting in traffic.

my AC is plenty strong for here in North Carolina. I did have it stop blowing (due to frozen condensation) once while using it on the freeway one very humid night with most of the vents closed (which restricted airflow already). It hasn't done this again since then (couple months ago at least).

Neither of the AC systems in my WRX or Forester are superchilly. But they get the job done. What is this "cutting out" stuff all about? The unit does cycle, but all AC units cycle.

Works fine for me.

I have a forester, and the AC rocks. The WRX AC is not as cool, but it does perfectly well, and Ive never noticed it cutitng out on me, even during the heat waves we had here in the summer.

As for dealers, If I were to do it again, I would probably drive the extra miles and go to Exeter Subaru in NH. I went to cityside in arlington, and it was so-so. Exeter is good about mods.

Ginseng, you are right; the A/C unit is simple cycling, but too darn long of a cycle time IMO. None of my previous cars did this, and they were all small too. I don't really care though, I love my car and wouldn't trade it for anything (of equal or lesser value of course, hehe).;)

I live in Toronto and was reading all the messages about how bad the A/C was. I planned a road trip down to Key West during that REALLY HOT spell in July and was quite worried about it. It was always 110+ degress while I was there and I had a fully loaded car with a passenger as well.

Let me say that the A/C performed PERFECTLY. I had no problems at all. It kept us cool and we never turned the fan on more than #2.

I'm not "BS'ing" either.

Rick..

I never have to turn my AC on maximum and most people who have riden in the car when the AC is on have requested that I turn it down(or up? *make it warmer*). I'm sure the fact that mine is silver with tinted windows helps some too.

EDIT: I live in Atlanta GA and it gets pretty hot here, especially with the humidity.

I have NEVER had a problem with my air conditioning in my REX (6,000+ miles). I hope all the people out there know that the compressor shuts off when you push the gas pedal to the floor. That is a GOOD thing to help performance while wanting to excellerate quickly with the AC on!!!!!

The drive I took at the end of JUNE and Early JULY from Chicago to North Carolina was during very warm temperatures. I Had no problem with the air conditioning. I have a BLACK car with NO window tint. Some people may not know that if you want cooler air you can also change outside air from coming in and recycle the interior air. This lets the AC cool the air inside the car that is much cooler to start with. This works on ANY car. If your car is parked out in the sun this will let the AC cool the car down at least twice as fast.

The unit that comes with the REX is adequate for the task if the driver is smart enough to know how to use it, obviously alot of folks are not.

Flame me if you want it does not change the facts!!!!
:D :D

I live in Puerto Rico, where 90+F days with 90%+ humidity is almost an every day occurence, and ive had the car since march 6th, with NO problems with my A/C, the only moment i have to use it above "2" is @ noon, because my car sits in the sun all day. I generally have it on 1!!

no problemw/mine whatsoever, sometimes i feel it is to strong.

Mine never once shut off or slowed down. Shortly after I got my WRX we had our hottest and most humid few weeks. The a/c worked fine. I hate hot weather and the A/C did me just fine.

I have not had any problems with mine. Knock on wood. No squeaks, no rattles, no window noises, nothing. The only flaw I have seen is the notchy reverse gear and I can get around that very easily.

Mine works fine. Like others said, not freezing, but adequate.
Have never had it cut out, freak out, or sneak out late at night.
I have had mine since June, and it got pretty hot a couple of days in CT, and if worked pretty well.

mines just fine, it's never cut off. ANT thats no BS.

Wes

I've had my car since March and it has just over 6K. I have not had any problems at all with my A/C except that I have learned to turn it off a few minutes before reaching my destination and crank the fan with the vents on. If I don't, I think condensation collects in the ducting and it kind of smells (typical automobile A/C smell, but longer lasting and more pronounced) for a few minutes next time I drive the car.
I have driven through Sacramento on 100+ days and remained pleasantly cool while driving my car, however, it does not get humid here in California like it does in the South and that may be why peoples unit's are freezing up.

A/C is fine on my WRX.

So far as MA-based dealers are concerned, I purchased my WRX from CarMart Subaru in Wilmington and found them to be okay. They do offer loaner cars via their service department. The guy I dealt with there is Dave Sullivan; the web site for Carmart, plus every other New England Subaru dealer can be found at http://www.sne1.com.

Cheers!
Bradus

my ac is great i usaly end up turning it down because i am too cold

Works just fine for me. In fact in my trip to Myrtle Beach SC this past August on a couple of different occasions I had to raise the temp a bit because i was getting cold. I'm ususallu hot.
I have 4k miles no problems at all no CEL, been perfect so far.

The compressor is designed to cut off durring hard acceleration to save power. If you take it easy on the car in the heat it doesn't happen though.

It isn't the best A/C, but it has gotten the job done for me.

Well, to counter everyone elses response, I have had the A/C problem several times.

Search for a post titled "A/C Stopped Cooling Today" and read the reply by Rob W. He is a climate control engineer. And being a mech. engineer myself, I totally agree with his explanation.

When the problem occurs, I usually turn off the A/C button leaving the fan to blow air over the iced up evaporator. This provides kinda cool air to the cabin and eventually melts the ice. Within a few minutes, the air flow from the vents will return to normal.

As further proof of Rob's theory, I had the A/C stop cooling right as I pulled into my home. About 5 minutes after shutting the car off, there was a big puddle of water under the passenger door. Much more water than from normal evaporator condensation.

Either:

A- Everyone who bought a WRX in FL that I've talked to got a bad A/C

or

B- FL is a little hotter (and tropical) than some other places and caused my A/C to fade out more...

hmmmmm:rolleyes:

All I know is that when I get into my car after it sits in the sun for anymore than an hour, I sweat my a$$ off for at least the first ten min. of the ride. I have experianced this in other WRX's as well.

I'm not big and fat and like the cold either...actually, I'm a slim guy who gets cold quite easily (i'm cold right now in my office, hehe).

My A/C has worked fine here in San Diego (not a hot climate), but I don't use it that much and only have 1500 miles on my car.

In limited use, ZERO problems.

Originally posted by Rev
The compressor is designed to cut off durring hard acceleration to save power. If you take it easy on the car in the heat it doesn't happen though.

It isn't the best A/C, but it has gotten the job done for me.

Bam!! I was just going to say that! If I drive hard when it's over 100 out, then I can feel the temps rise when the ac cuts out. When I drive econo-style, it's very good, and I usually keep it on 2 during this kind of weather.

At 3, the GF gets too cold and complains.

ANTWRX:
I think you just got a bum car ;)

Here in South Texas, it gets just as hot as (if not hotter) than there and I've never had a problem. In fact, compared to my two Integras (which had SUCKY A/C), the AC is AWESOME on the WRX. It blow very hard (no pun) and get cold quickly. Maybe some of you are expecting it to be like opening the freezer door?

Originally posted by TypeC
ANTWRX:
I think you just got a bum car ;)

Here in South Texas, it gets just as hot as (if not hotter) than there and I've never had a problem. In fact, compared to my two Integras (which had SUCKY A/C), the AC is AWESOME on the WRX. It blow very hard (no pun) and get cold quickly. Maybe some of you are expecting it to be like opening the freezer door?

errrrr....buzzer sounds...your WRONG!

I have a couple of friends here from Texas that said it's MUCH hotter here in FL....I've been to Dallas also. It's a different heat, not like here though.

Anyway, It's funny you brought 'tegs' into a conversation again b/c my g/f's 'teg' has a much better A/C than my car. Also, my previous VW had WAAAAY better A/C than both cars.

And like I said before, I know other WRX drivers down here that agree and have the same problems too.

well thats odd.. i havent perceived this either:
The compressor is designed to cut off durring hard acceleration to save power. If you take it easy on the car in the heat it doesn't happen though.

my A/C is on 99% of the time here, and i drive HARD! (sometimes getting like 15mpg!) and ive never had the compressor cut out due to hard driving....

my A/C is on 99% of the time here, and i drive HARD! (sometimes getting like 15mpg!) and ive never had the compressor cut out due to hard driving....


The compressor shuts off, it is in the owners manual.

mine works fine, blows very cold air, has never cut off in NJ traffic, so I say either they fixed some problem and it no longer happens, or the people complaining are never gonna be happy anyway. i have had mine since May and have not had one single problem at all!

Well, since not everyone has the same problem than no. But if you ask me...tell all those people that say, there's works perfect, to leave there cars in the hot FL sun all day and then drive through 5:00 traffic. The responsed to this thread would be diff.

Like I said before though...I don't care one way or another.

Shooot, I turn my a/c off everytime I think someone wants to race me anyway.:D

I've had my car since the last of August and haven't run the air yet. I keep the A/C off and just run the vents on "1". I'm a big fat guy, but my windows are down 100% of the time I'm in the car, so I don't get hot. Even when I had my 3000GT this summer I turned the air on once or twice all summer and that was for my g/f. Just doesn't bother me. My '87 Monte Carlo has no A/C and the heater and/or heater core is messed up so it blows hot air from the lower vents all the time, even when the controls are turned off completely. I even disconnected the heat/Fan controls, but it'd still blow hot air. I went all summer with no A/C in it and had hot engine heat blowing on my legs, didn't bother me after I got used to it. I'd rather have heat in wintertime then A/C in summer time. This is in Tennessee, btw, so it's not like I'm in Alaska. Maybe one day next summer I'll use my A/C and let ya know how it works ;)

I've seen all AC units perform badly when using the fresh air vent option. They all do! Use recycle. That way, the AC only has to suck the water out of the air once and it keeps cooling already cooled air. I wonder why the manual says to use the vent option???

Originally posted by Ant WRX
Shooot, I turn my a/c off everytime I think someone wants to race me anyway.:D

So I'm not the only one who does that! :lol:

my A/C has worked fine the few times I have used it. I did notice that when sitting in traffic it kinda "cuts off" a bit but when you hit the gas it kicks back in cold. It didn't really bother me.

steve-O

Originally posted by gabedude
I've seen all AC units perform badly when using the fresh air vent option. They all do! Use recycle. That way, the AC only has to suck the water out of the air once and it keeps cooling already cooled air. I wonder why the manual says to use the vent option???

It's interesting how few people use the recycle option. My Dad drove his new car for a year without ever using recylce until one day I'm in the car with him and, feeling hot, switched the car's a/c to recycle and - hey, presto! - cooler more powerful airflow. He couldn't believe it, and neither could I for discovering he didn't know how to use the a/c properly.

Cheers!
Bradus

the a/c isnt as bad to me as everyone makes it out to be, i dont usually use it on the streets i just roll my windows down, but on the freeway it feels like any other car to me.

A/C works fine. I live in south texas and normally have it on 2 or less with the temp cut back slightly even on hot days. Saying Florida is hotter than Texas is silly. Is south FL more humid than El Paso? Of course. More humid than Houston? I doubt it. I just travelled to FL and the temp is not that much different than east Texas. It may feel warmer since you may have less wind but this should not effect the A/C.

I think whoever is making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. However, it must be an issue with somebody or they wouldn't have brought it up. Maybe like someone said, they don't use the recycle button or have their vents shut...doh! I don't know.

Greg

The air conditioning on my car always freezes up within 25 miles or so at speeds of 65-75 on the Interstate—no matter what the fan speed or recirc/fresh air setting—on high-temperature, high-humidity days. In addition, even when the unit works, I wouldn't rate it any higher than "adequate."

This is a known defect that Subaru has acknowledged. In fact, one of our compatriots in this forum was a guinea pig for a "test" evaporator/heater box that an engineer from Calsonic brought all the way to Iowa to replace the original unit. (Can you imagine your dealer's service department ripping out everything from the steering wheel to the firewall to replace the evaporator/heater box? :eek: ) Unfortunately, the new unit did not solve the problem.

So, yes—there is a problem with the air-conditioning on the WRXs.

Originally posted by Spa2K
The air conditioning on my car always freezes up within 25 miles or so at speeds of 65-75 on the Interstate—no matter what the fan speed or recirc/fresh air setting—on high-temperature, high-humidity days. In addition, even when the unit works, I wouldn't rate it any higher than "adequate."

This is a known defect that Subaru has acknowledged. In fact, one of our compatriots in this forum was a guinea pig for a "test" evaporator/heater box that an engineer from Calsonic brought all the way to Iowa to replace the original unit. (Can you imagine your dealer's service department ripping out everything from the steering wheel to the firewall to replace the evaporator/heater box? :eek: ) Unfortunately, the new unit did not solve the problem.

So, yes—there is a problem with the air-conditioning on the WRXs.

Sounds like there will be a TSB soon. Probably before next summer. So we will all get new AC!

Originally posted by Rev
The compressor is designed to cut off durring hard acceleration to save power. If you take it easy on the car in the heat it doesn't happen though.

It isn't the best A/C, but it has gotten the job done for me.

what makes you think this? Where did you get this information? I'd like to see the definitive proof that this is the case because I ALWAYS notice that my acceleration is somewhat muted when the AC is on. I would really be interested to know if this is TRULY true instead of just some heresay.

Originally posted by nhluhr


what makes you think this? Where did you get this information? I'd like to see the definitive proof that this is the case because I ALWAYS notice that my acceleration is somewhat muted when the AC is on. I would really be interested to know if this is TRULY true instead of just some heresay.


Taken from page 4-11 of the owners manual:

"Air conditioner compressor shut-off when engine is heavily loaded

To improve acceleration and gas mileage, the air conditioner compressor is designed to temporarily shut off durring air conditioner operation whenever the accelerator is fully depressed such as during rapid acceleration or when driving on a steep upgrade."

A.) It's clear from the posts here that there is a REAL problem with some WRX's freezing up. This sounds like a design problem to me, but it's odd that some people don't experience it at all. I'm sure there's more to come on this one. It's encouraging to hear that Subaru is actively working on it.

B.) The compressor DOES cut out at WOT for increased HP. However, even with the compressor cut out, the engine timing is retarded slightly when you're in A/C mode, so you won't get full power back. To get full power, you need to actually turn OFF the A/C button.

C.) Those of you who think your compressor is truly cutting out at hot times (not due to a core freeze or a WOT run) should go to your dealer. You probably have an overcharged A/C system that's cutting out due to high pressure. Just explain your problem, and ask them to pull/evacuate the charge and recharge it. It doesn't take more than a half hour or so, and I bet it'll fix your problem for good. There's enough complaints on this board that I suspect some (maybe a whole batch?) cars were accidentally overcharged at the factory. Trust me, this happens sometimes with new car launches, regardless of the manufacturer. Fortunately, it's easy to fix.

My limited experiences (twice) with the WRX were both on extremely hot, humid days. I was amazed at the ability of the A/C system to provide super cold discharge temperatures at idle conditions. I think that if anyone out there thinks the system is 'barely adequate', you should strongly request your dealer to evacuate and recharge your system. It's probably overcharged. (that's right, an OVERcharged system will cool very poorly)

The dealer called Saturday. My WRX should be here Monday! Woohoo! :D :D

Rob W.

Yep, there is an A/C problem on some WRXs, and Subaru and Calsonic are working feverishly to solve it.

The symptoms are exactly as Spa2k describes -- the A/C system ices up while travelling at highway speeds in certain heat/humidity conditions. The entire system completely ices over, from the outlet of the pump all the way back to and including the coil in the cabin. Turn off the A/C button for a while, the ice melts, turn on the A/C button and the system works OK for a while.

It's my car that Spa2k refers to that has the new Calsonic unit in it and yes, it did not fix the problem. SOA, SOA R&D, and Calsonic know of the status of my revised A/C unit.

Subaru is a smart company with a lot of smart people working for it. I personally am not worried about it, and figure they will have a solution soon enough.

I ordered my WRX back in January and have a 1st allocation wagon delivered March 17, and I love it. This is an awesome car at a bargain price. Even with this A/C problem, I get a smile on my face every single time I drive this car.

I know some of you would have a different reaction if in my place. I don't know what to tell you, my life is too short to get worked up over the little stuff, and in my world this is little stuff.

My advice to you who have the problem is to take the car to your dealer and have them take a shot at it to make sure it gets documented. Also put a message on the Subaru website reporting your problem so they can get a feel of the magnitude.

To the SOA folks reading this message -- I understand your situation and I empathize. I want to be part of the solution, and I apologize if this post creates any problems. I have ultimate faith in your ability to generate a solution.

IowaWRX

The A/C on my WRX has worked perfectly so far. I agree.. it's not as cold as some.. but I have no complaints. I mostly drive with it on auto mode, and I just adjust the temps accordingly. :)

You guys actually turn on your A/C? ;)

You don't know a bad A/C unit. I drove a black '94 Civic for 7 years... The '94 civic obviously was one of the first environmentally friendly A/C units because it was horrible. I think I even took it in for an A/C related recall and it didn't help. I discovered very quickly that the heat absorbing black color simply overwhelmed the A/C even on full blast. I learned to roll down the windows and enjoy the fresh air. I still do that with my WRX. Why turn on the A/C and rob the car of power and deny yourself the nice noises that bounce off the surroundings and back into your open windows... Only thing A/C is good for is to defog windows... :)

I have had the AC line to the fire wall ice up on me 3 or 4 times. When this happens the ammount of air flowing into the car lessens and the temparature goes up. Letting the AC sit off for a bit solves the problem.

Good job IowaWrx on dealing with SOA on the issue - Hopefully a solution will be available soon. I need to be a little more persistent with the dealer as it would be nice to have this fixed (when there is one) as a warranty repair.

That said, this is a great car. It is a blast to drive. I would buy the car again if I were suddenly in the market.

I have been amazed at just how quick the car cools down when I start the AC. When I am 40 feet away from my garage, it's already putting out cool air. A couple hundred more feet and it's putting out cold air. I've never experienced any problems with the system icing up. I do notice that if you are stopped for a long period of time (like 5 minutes or more), the AC starts losing some of it's cooling ability. My theory on the reason why this happens is because our cars idle really low and it's possible that the compressor just isn't turning quick enough to keep the cold charge for a long period of time at idle speeds. As far as the AC taking 10 minutes to cool a car that has been sitting in the sun for an hour, that's about right. But when the inside of the car can get up to ~240 degrees F within an hour of sitting in the sun (in Phoenix anyway) - especially since our interior is black, 10 minutes to cool down is actually saying something good for the AC system. This system definitly won't freeze you out of the car on a hot summer day, but it will do a good job of keeping you comfortable.

Well, there will be some defects in other cars. Nothing man made is perfect. I havent had any problems with my WRX and hoping not to have problems at all. My A/C works fine.

No problems with my A/C. It works fine on the hottest of days.

Well, even tho its been nearly three years....I guess i'll go ahead and revive this thread. My a/c works reasonably well...but i have to say that my car feels slow as **** when its running. O well...can't expect anything different from a 2.0l engine.

Mine works fine as well - the problem is the compressor cycles too much for me - I turn it on, the air gets cool very quickly, then the compressor cuts out, then the air gets warm, then the compressor kicks in, the air gets cool, etc. - it's only really noticeable when the car has been sitting in the sun all day - it still does it when it hasn't been, but it isn't as much of a problem then.

My theory (at the moment - if I go with the assumption that nothing is broken) is that the temperature probe measures the temp of the evaporator surface - the temperature range it thinks is acceptable, results in warm air being blown out when the car is very hot (and the walls of the tubes leading to the vents are all a gazillion degrees) - I am curious if moving the probe out a bit from the evaporator would help...

The iceing problem is probably the cause of the problem in humid climates when the AC has been running a while - I sincerely doubt that is what is happening to me (since the typical daytime humidity level here is below 20%...)

Originally posted by DrD
Mine works fine as well - the problem is the compressor cycles too much for me - I turn it on, the air gets cool very quickly, then the compressor cuts out, then the air gets warm, then the compressor kicks in, the air gets cool, etc. - it's only really noticeable when the car has been sitting in the sun all day - it still does it when it hasn't been, but it isn't as much of a problem then.

My theory (at the moment - if I go with the assumption that nothing is broken) is that the temperature probe measures the temp of the evaporator surface - the temperature range it thinks is acceptable, results in warm air being blown out when the car is very hot (and the walls of the tubes leading to the vents are all a gazillion degrees) - I am curious if moving the probe out a bit from the evaporator would help...

The iceing problem is probably the cause of the problem in humid climates when the AC has been running a while - I sincerely doubt that is what is happening to me (since the typical daytime humidity level here is below 20%...)

You're so lucky...its so friggin humid down here

My A/C has had continual problems since I moved form southern California to St. Louis Missouri. I just found out today I need an ew compressor - hopefully this will work.

I think my expansion valve has gone out. I get cold air for about 5-10 minutes depending on ambient temp, then it warms up. I shut the A/C off for about 3-5 minutes, turn it on again and I'll get another 5-10 minutes of cold, then back up to ambient. When I park the car I don't get the telltale puddle of water from an iced up evaporator and the actual volume of air moving through the system isn't diminished. Now that I"m out of warranty, the cheapest option I have for fixing it will still run me ~450 bones. Oh well, I'll just have to live my life 5-10 minutes at a time...bah, it's not like Seattle is burning hot anyway.

bring it to the dealer. they may help you if its a known problem even though its out of warranty. mention to them it started happening while it was still under warranty. cant hurt to try.

that doesn't work, they diagnosed the problem.

that doesn't work, they diagnosed the problem.

What was the problem and the solution?

My probs sound exactly like yours. I had all kinds of things replaced, except the compressor and titned the windows. I am about to drop 1300 on a new compressor installation.

Umm...I described my problem in the post above. I also said that I'm just gonna live with it for a while.:confused:

There was a thread about wrapping insulation tape over the A/C pipes near the TMIC.

TA DA!!!!!

:)



INTRODUCTION
There is a possibility that icing could occur in the evaporator core of air conditioned equipped
Impreza vehicles. During operation under warm, high humidity conditions the customer would notice
a diminished output of air from the dash vents causing the cabin temperature to rise. The icing
condition can be eliminated by replacing the original Thermosensor with a new fin sensitive type
sensor and placing it in the proper location.
The location of the original Thermosensor will depend on the production date of the vehicle. In
December 2001, it was moved to the right side of the evaporator. You will replace the surface
mounted probe with the internal fin-mounted probe if the condition still exists on vehicles up to the
production change listed in this bulletin.
NUMBER: 10-72-02R
DATE: 07/15/03
SERVICE BULLETIN
APPLICABILITY: 2002 - 2003 Impreza
SUBJECT: Countermeasure to Prevent Icing in the
Evaporator on Air Conditioned Vehicles
Correction
ATTENTION:
GENERAL MANAGER o PARTS MANAGER o
CLAIMS PERSONNEL o SERVICE MANAGER o
IMPORTANT - All Service Personnel Should Read and Initial

Do you a link to that or a scan of the TSB you could put up?

sorry, new here and don't know how to post a link :confused:

if you have access to subaru info, it's a service bulletin #10-72-02R
"Countermeasure to prevent icing in the evaporator on air conditioned vehicles"

I had it done to my car and they gave me a copy to explain what it was about
:D

There was a thread about wrapping insulation tape over the A/C pipes near the TMIC.
Tried that, it works pretty well to give me a bit longer of a cold cycle, but eventually it still warms up.

TSB wasn't recommended for my car since I don't experience the diminished air output, only warming of the air.

Do you a link to that or a scan of the TSB you could put up?This service bulletin isn't applicable to the 2004 WRX, but here's a link to a poorly reproduced copy of it anyway:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/prepos/files/Artemis/Public/TSBs/2003/SB-10001350-2224.pdf

Our AC isn't really that good, that's a known fact. But its not really bad either, it keeps me pretty cool in the summer. Just turn it to the coldest.

More complete and readable info on the TSB here-
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=4246184

Do you a link to that or a scan of the TSB you could put up?
Here is a link to the Subaru Endwrench site that shows any & all service issues with our cars as well as legacy/outback/etc. models:
http://endwrench.com/current/Current6/03/InsiderInfo.pdf (scroll down until you see the heading "Evaporator Icing Countermeasure")
That should help y'all... :)

I will agree, if i turn the A/C off for a few minutes, cold air will bolw when that cold air starts to warm up, I turn the A/C back on.

I also got a 30% tint, and that has helped ALOT

Well, to counter everyone elses response, I have had the A/C problem several times.

Search for a post titled "A/C Stopped Cooling Today" and read the reply by Rob W. He is a climate control engineer. And being a mech. engineer myself, I totally agree with his explanation.

When the problem occurs, I usually turn off the A/C button leaving the fan to blow air over the iced up evaporator. This provides kinda cool air to the cabin and eventually melts the ice. Within a few minutes, the air flow from the vents will return to normal.

As further proof of Rob's theory, I had the A/C stop cooling right as I pulled into my home. About 5 minutes after shutting the car off, there was a big puddle of water under the passenger door. Much more water than from normal evaporator condensation.