Ac Compressor won't kick on, no R134a, someting in the lines

[kirbyy]

hey guys,

:( so my subaru is full of issues and this is one of them, my ac compressor won't kick on at all..I press the AC button and it won't go on.

I measure the R134A with a guage, and it reports 0, so I filled it up and it lasted around 2-3 days until the AC compressor no longer worked.

It worked fine; until one day I heard a whistling sound coming from my AC vents, kinda like a ticking turbo where I'd press the gas it'd sound more and more...etc then it just stopped in which I think the r134a just was gone..

do you guys have any idea what this could be? leaking o-ring, or shot compressor/condesnor?

[decke48]

they sell a uv dye to put in the system to expose leaks. may sell a kit with the glasses and black light. but you need to fill the system back up with the dye. if you still have pressure and no leaks you need to find out whats not causing it to run. Low/high pressure switch, a/c switch, or the compresser clutch

[Huffer]

Yep, you have a leak somewhere. I'm betting it's the condensor.

[kirbyy]

Yep, you have a leak somewhere. I'm betting it's the condensor.


Hah, so only way to figure it out is get this UV dye, and put it in and bam look for the leak? then just patch it?

:( fun subie, fun.

But what if the heat still works?

[OutbackMat]

The heat should still work--it uses engine coolant through the heater core. Different animal.

If you've got a leak that big, I wouldn't be surprised if you have contaminants in the system, which can kill the compressor. So before you go dumping more refrigerant into the car, have a vaccum pump stuck on that thing and try to clear out the compressor. Hopefully, it hasn't been damaged.

[kirbyy]

The heat should still work--it uses engine coolant through the heater core. Different animal.

If you've got a leak that big, I wouldn't be surprised if you have contaminants in the system, which can kill the compressor. So before you go dumping more refrigerant into the car, have a vaccum pump stuck on that thing and try to clear out the compressor. Hopefully, it hasn't been damaged.

Ah, okay!

NOw stupid questionl; where would you plug in the vacumn pump? I follow the lines form the AC compressor and they jus go around the engine bay..nothing where I could unplulg and attach to a vacumn..unless you are thinking of another thing..

[decke48]

its goes to lower pressure side of the a/c or the bigger fitting. both fittings should be right near the compressor. the lower side hose that goes to the firewall.. were you fill the a/c. theres a specific vaccum pump for a/c look like this
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/03/ROB15434L-1.jpg

[kirbyy]

its goes to lower pressure side of the a/c or the bigger fitting. both fittings should be right near the compressor. the lower side hose that goes to the firewall.. were you fill the a/c. theres a specific vaccum pump for a/c look like this
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/03/ROB15434L-1.jpg

ohh, so thats what the bigger one is for :p

hmm guess i need to find a place that can hook up the machine to that, and also guess I need to take out my condensor and see if it's somewhat fixable otherwise gotta get some money in for that to lol.