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Subaru Forester Air Conditioning Problems

55 messages,  Last post on May 10, 2013 at 3:29 PM

You are in the Subaru Forester Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester

Messages Page 4 of 6

#25 of 55 Re: Forester air conditioner - follow-up, at last by quark613

Jun 07, 2010 (2:03 pm)

See my post # 16 above. Had to cancel my appointment late last summer to have my a/c checked out by my mechanic because my daughter had a baby early and I went to help her; by the time I got back we figured we might as well wait till the next cooling season to deal with it. Finally brought it in. Took some sleuthing to find this: "a/c clutch develops an open circuit and disengages." Replaced a/c clutch and I've got nice cold air blowing as long as I need it to. Yay! Total cost was $410 plus tax.

#26 of 55 Re: Forester air conditioner - follow-up, at last [quark613] by ateixeira

Jun 08, 2010 (10:36 am)

Replying to: quark613 (Jun 07, 2010 2:03 pm)
Glad to hear both of you found a fix.

#27 of 55 2009 Subaru Forester AC stopped working by samsuby

Sep 21, 2010 (9:09 am)

Hi - have a 2009 Suby Forester with 47000 miles (mostly highway) and the air conditioner which isn't used all that much has stopped blowing cold air. I took it to my local dealer who informs me that the compressor doesn't work, the clutch doesn't function properly, etc. $1400++ to repair!! I live in No. California so AC doesn't get used constantly, but it gets at least weekly use in summer/early fall (85+ and the dogs start panting...)
Naturally the car is just out of warranty, but no way should this be happening after only 47000 miles?!! Any advice on what if any recourse I might have with Subaru? Thanks for any suggestions.

#28 of 55 Re: 2009 Subaru Forester AC stopped working [samsuby] by ateixeira

Sep 21, 2010 (10:56 am)

Replying to: samsuby (Sep 21, 2010 9:09 am)
That is very, very unusual.
 
I have heard that you should use the A/C once in a while to keep the seals lubricated. There's an additive in there that cycles around the system.
 
$1400? Yikes!
 
Call 800-SUBARU3 and tell them how new your car is. Be super-nice - you get more flies with honey. I used to work in a Help Desk so trust me on that one.
 
Hopefully they will cover at least a portion of that cost.

#29 of 55 Re: 2009 Subaru Forester AC stopped working [samsuby] by quark613

Sep 28, 2010 (10:21 pm)

Replying to: samsuby (Sep 21, 2010 9:09 am)
I don't believe it for a minute. There's no way the compressor AND the compressor clutch are shot, and that figure is absurd. Take it to a reliable, independent mechanic.

#30 of 55 Re: 2009 Subaru Forester AC stopped working [quark613] by baires60

Jun 14, 2011 (12:31 pm)

Replying to: quark613 (Sep 28, 2010 10:21 pm)
Hi, I bought a 2010 subaru forester in January 2010 and I went to start my AC on those hot muggy days last week and nothing. I had used it a couple of weeks ago or maybe a month now and it seemed to work fine but may have been that I was going over 60 and the air was coming in colder. But is anyone else experiencing this on the 2010 AT Premium X? I bearly have 9K on the car. Thought it could be the freon but isn't it too early to be replenishing that? I don't drive anywhere that I would have punctured something - I do city and highway driving - though some potholes can be like craters in NY.
 
TIA, Silvia

#31 of 55 Re: 2009 Subaru Forester AC stopped working [samsuby] by mgoltra

Jun 29, 2011 (10:49 pm)

Replying to: samsuby (Sep 21, 2010 9:09 am)
my 09 forester's a/c broke around 28K. Sprayed Freon all over my face and my wife's. Dealer said it was the condenser. It was replaced eventually but A/C is not the same, it doesn't get that cold.

#32 of 55 2006 Subaru Forester air conditioner problem by nbg2

Jul 05, 2011 (6:39 am)

My air conditioner works well for a while, blowing very cold air. The, suddenly the compressor seems to shut off and only warm air is emitted. This seems to happen especially on hot days, and especially if I am headed downhill (i.e. when my engine is revving down). If I accelerate, raising RPMs, the compressor seems to kick back in. I can do this 5 or 6 times. Eventually, even that fails. Then I have to turn off the system and let it rest. About 10 minutes later I can restart the air conditioner, and it cools perfectly. I have 100,000 plus miles. I recently started using a phone charger in my cigarette lighter and recently had the head gasket changed. Could either of these two changes be responsible? A post I saw on this site mentioned something about an air conditioner clutch and another post mentioned a coolant temperature sensor. Does anyone have an opinion about my problem?

#33 of 55 Re: 2006 Subaru Forester air conditioner problem [nbg2] by dahs10

Jul 05, 2011 (7:29 am)

Replying to: nbg2 (Jul 05, 2011 6:39 am)
When my air conditioner started acting like that, I had to have the computer module for the a/c replaced. Not cheap but after that the a/c worked fine.
 
I'm still having problems with the car overheating when I run the a/c. I can turn it on but if I travel on the interstate when I get off, it starts to overheat. I've replaced the head gasket so I didn't expect this to happen again. Any ideas?

#34 of 55 2009 Forester AC problem by mjb59

Jul 25, 2011 (7:34 am)

The AC on my 2009 Forester (58,000 miles) quit working. The compressor makes a lot of noise (rattles) when the AC is turned on. I took it to the dealer and was told I had a clog in the system. They said the rattle was due to the compressor pulling vacuum on the low side and that pressure on the high side was over 200 lbs. I was told there was no way to find the clog and the only sure way to fix it was to replace all components in the system. Total cost around $3,000.
 
I would like to know if there are any other options.

Messages Page 4 of 6

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