When cruising at 70-90mph on the highway today I noticed the A/C stopped blowing as much or as cool as normal so I shut it off. Turned it back on, switched from fresh to recirc, etc. Stayed that way until I stopped to get gas, then it cranked like normal. Back on the highway I tried duplicating the problem by turning the cruise control on/off and opening/closing windows to no avail. Then later on it slowed down all by itself!

Anybody else notice this? Any ideas?

My A/C is ice cold when accelerating.

When idling at a red light or cruising in 5th gear (under 3000 rpm) it does drop off a few degrees. (ie. get back on the gas)

So, yes, it's the nature of the beast. My guess is we all have it.

Living in Florida I notice it more than others but, I can deal with it.

Rob :cool:

Originally posted by TurbosOnly
When cruising at 70-90mph on the highway today I noticed the A/C stopped blowing as much or as cool as normal so I shut it off. Turned it back on, switched from fresh to recirc, etc. Stayed that way until I stopped to get gas, then it cranked like normal. Back on the highway I tried duplicating the problem by turning the cruise control on/off and opening/closing windows to no avail. Then later on it slowed down all by itself!

Anybody else notice this? Any ideas?

Welcome the club of WRX owners with A/C failures! Search A/C, AC, air conditioning and similar phrases for more messages than you'll probably want to read on this topic. In short, your system freezes up and stops working; when you shut it off, the ice melts and it works again. SOA has no idea what the problem is.

Originally posted by Spa2K


Welcome the club of WRX owners with A/C failures! Search A/C, AC, air conditioning and similar phrases for more messages than you'll probably want to read on this topic. In short, your system freezes up and stops working; when you shut it off, the ice melts and it works again. SOA has no idea what the problem is.

"failure" may be a harsh term. I would call it more of a quirk of the questionable system design.

The system is still working (since it freezes up!) but the build-up of frozen condensate means the air flowing through is restricted so you get much less cooling out of it. I've seen it postulated that the freeze-up is due to poor drainage of condensation which leads to some of it sticking around and freezing. If you get this, open your windows and turn the fan on with AC off and allow warmish air to flow through the system until full airflow resumes, then your AC will be able to once again blow fresh cold air.

I was under the impression that when you are going fast, the car learns that, and disconnects the AC belt. That would cause less of a strain on the engine, therefore freeing up more Horsepower. I would consider myself blessed. However, I live in the Bay area where it rarely gets above 85 in the summer. interesting theory none the less...
--Adam

Sorry, but if the AC doesn't blow cold air when I want it, that's a system failure. And turning it off to let it defrost is an unacceptable "solution." However, you're right, the design may be questionable—but that doesn't excuse Subaru from delivering a system that works!

Originally posted by subaruwrx
I was under the impression that when you are going fast, the car learns that, and disconnects the AC belt. That would cause less of a strain on the engine, therefore freeing up more Horsepower. I would consider myself blessed. However, I live in the Bay area where it rarely gets above 85 in the summer. interesting theory none the less...
--Adam

The compressor clutch cuts out at wide-open throttle, not at high vehicle speeds. As soon as you back off the gas—even a little—the compressor clutch re-engages.

The AC coils are freezing up. My car does this as well. Turn the temperature control up 2-4 clicks and it will stop. Just enough to let some heat through but so you are comfortable. The heat will dry the coils and they will not freeze up. You can run the system on fresh air as well. Chances are the air outside is hotter then the air inside.

CT


Originally posted by TurbosOnly
When cruising at 70-90mph on the highway today I noticed the A/C stopped blowing as much or as cool as normal so I shut it off. Turned it back on, switched from fresh to recirc, etc. Stayed that way until I stopped to get gas, then it cranked like normal. Back on the highway I tried duplicating the problem by turning the cruise control on/off and opening/closing windows to no avail. Then later on it slowed down all by itself!

Anybody else notice this? Any ideas?

Hey guys. . .I don't have a WRX, but I'm looking to get one next year. I do have some experience with A/C troubles though. I currently have a 99 Accord coupe and was experiencing A/C problems similar to what you are describing. I had to take my car to the dealer 3 times before they figured out that the problem was that there was too much refrigerant in the system. When I turned my A/C on, the increased pressure would cause the system to overheat and shutdown. The solution was to drain some refrigerant and lower the pressure in the system. I haven't had a problem since that was done, so you may want to have the dealer check the system pressure.

In looking up this problem on many different car boards, it appears that the factory sometimes overpressurizes the A/C systems which account for this problem. I'm not saying that this is the solution to your problem, but for some, maybe it will be a solution.

Originally posted by AZScoobie
The AC coils are freezing up. My car does this as well. Turn the temperature control up 2-4 clicks and it will stop. Just enough to let some heat through but so you are comfortable. The heat will dry the coils and they will not freeze up. You can run the system on fresh air as well. Chances are the air outside is hotter then the air inside.

CT




This is a good idea, but unfortunately it does not work in parts of the country that also have high humidities to go with the high temperatures. :(

Originally posted by Spa2K
Sorry, but if the AC doesn't blow cold air when I want it, that's a system failure. And turning it off to let it defrost is an unacceptable "solution." However, you're right, the design may be questionable—but that doesn't excuse Subaru from delivering a system that works!

well yeah from a "Total Quality" standpoint, you as the customer has the requirement of cold air being blown in your face when you want it but the manufacturer didn't meet your requirement so they have failed, but all I'm saying is that it doesn't happen much (only happened to me once in 5 months and I know how to prevent it now) and it works great the other 99% of the time.

Lets face it, $25K is not much for a car that performs like this. Did you really expect a luxury car? I'm more than happy to deal with the quirks this car has.... They don't annoy me in the least. But I totally understand your desire to have a system that works perfectly. Unfortunately, few systems do work without flaw. I personally am fine with my in situ fix for the "failure" and am in no way motivated to take my car in to have it looked at. If it really bothers you, stop wasting your time here! haha. Get that thing to the shop and tell them to fix it (some say they have found the system to be over- or underfilled which might cause this problem...).

Have a good one!

Originally posted by nhluhr


well yeah from a "Total Quality" standpoint, you as the customer has the requirement of cold air being blown in your face when you want it but the manufacturer didn't meet your requirement so they have failed, but all I'm saying is that it doesn't happen much (only happened to me once in 5 months and I know how to prevent it now) and it works great the other 99% of the time.

Lets face it, $25K is not much for a car that performs like this. Did you really expect a luxury car? I'm more than happy to deal with the quirks this car has.... They don't annoy me in the least. But I totally understand your desire to have a system that works perfectly. Unfortunately, few systems do work without flaw. I personally am fine with my in situ fix for the "failure" and am in no way motivated to take my car in to have it looked at. If it really bothers you, stop wasting your time here! haha. Get that thing to the shop and tell them to fix it (some say they have found the system to be over- or underfilled which might cause this problem...).

Have a good one!

Prevent it? You mean compensate for a bad design or defective parts, don't you? My AC will not work for more than 25-30 miles without failing—and then it will fail again in the same distance (after it defrosts itself).

This had nothing to do with whether or not the WRX is a luxury car; I knew exactly what I was buying, but I also expected that what Subaru was selling would work. This has everything to do with Subaru delivering a car on which at least one major system does not work to minimum automotive industry standards. (And there's a big difference between something working perfectly and something not working at all.)

And, just because you seem to have missed all of the other threads on this topic, I will tell you that the car has been back to the dealer; in fact, Subaru has acknowledged this problem and doesn't know how to fix it. SOA sent a rep and an engineer from Calsonic (the AC manufacturer) to look at my car (and others around the country) a couple of months ago—and even installed an "experimental" heater box/evaporator in a couple of cars, which did not cure the problem.

Originally posted by Spa2K


Prevent it? You mean compensate for a bad design or defective parts, don't you? My AC will not work for more than 25-30 miles without failing—and then it will fail again in the same distance (after it defrosts itself).

Oh. I was unaware your AC was "failing" so frequently. I rescind my previous comments and now state simply:

"Damn dude your AC is F'd up. Demand a fix!"

I will venture to say that MOST WRX's don't fail as frequently as yours so in many cases this simple 'fix' if you can call it that is more than sufficient. [shrug].

Originally posted by AZScoobie
The AC coils are freezing up. My car does this as well. Turn the temperature control up 2-4 clicks and it will stop. Just enough to let some heat through but so you are comfortable. The heat will dry the coils and they will not freeze up. You can run the system on fresh air as well. Chances are the air outside is hotter then the air inside.

I don't have a WRX, but the evap core should be BEFORE the heater core, so turning up the heat (unless Subaru has different clutch cycling parameters for temp variation) shouldn't cause the evap core to unfreeze anymore quickly than turning off the a/c with the blower on high.

BTW: an evap core that ices up is a system failure, the hi/lo pressure switch isn't cutting out the a/c clutch when it should.