My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

Well I am on my way to San Diego finally not really much to talk about pretty boring drive so far...I am in Baton Rouge visiting family for now.........When I left Pittsburgh I thought about getting the A/C operating but since I bought the car in October last year and until I left there wasn't any need with the weather as cold as it had been. Well let me tell you I got to Louisiana and need to do something quick the weather wasn't all that hot but driving was getting a little uncomfortable for me. The car still had the old R-12 system and I don't know much about A/C systems at all. Well I didn't know where to go around here but thought I would try and find the local Subaru Dealership, well Baton Rouge doesn't have one! I went to a few local shops and they took one look at the car and said they couldn't help me. I finally went to Pep Boys who said they would take a look at it, so I left it with them and headed back to my dad's house. Six hours went by and I hadn't heard from them so I called. They told me the compressor was frozen and they couldn't find another around this area at all. Well when I got there to pick it up the started playing paper work shuffle, which I thought to be a little odd. The next morning I went to the local parts store and got the R-134a conversion and retrofit kit just to try it and see.....Well low and behold 1 12oz can later the A/C was blowing ice cold holding correct pressure and no leaks that I can find........I went back to pep boys and they tried telling me that I must have replaced the compressor because they were 100% positive that my compressor was frozen. Well I started to raise my voice about being lied to at the service counter and the manager graciously refunded my money they had charged me for the a/c evaluation..........I am here for a few more days then on to a couple of stops in Texas before finishing my trip..........

Re: My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

Sometimes when compressors sit for a while without doing anything, they can partially seize. What probably happened is as you added the gunk from the can into your system, the pressure switch for your A/C allowed the clutch to engage since it indicated a charged system. This overcame the partial seizure and let the internals spin, which were immediately lubricated with the new oil. If I cant spin a compressor by hand, thats a bad sign, like they told you. Its not like they told you they had a nice $500 one..... they said they couldnt even get it. You probably just shocked it into spinning again and you may lose your freon in a few days.... It was nice of them to refund your money anyways, I would have just told you that you totally borked your system with that retrofit-fluid crap. Ill be interested to hear how long it lasts.

Re: My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

Sounds more like another one if the millions of options that we can find to take our cars to that don't have a clue... Don't know which end is up. The pressure switch was the reason the compressor wouldn't run. "Sort of seized up" is laughable http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/images/smilies/lol.gif

Great that you got it going! Sometimes "drawing a crowd" at the counter is a good idea! :)

Keith:cool:

Re: My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

Worst thing you could do to it. If the seals weren't bad they will be shortly. :(

Re: My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

When the original ac died on my black 92 svx i just put in some 134 and it worked fine for the next 3 years until I sold it. Additionally, the same thing happened with my cavalier about 7 years ago. I put in 134. Still works fine.

Re: My move from Pittsburgh to San Diego and a Pep Boys along the way.
 

..... Keith, maybe they tried to spin the compressor and found it seized, anyone knows pressure switches stop compressor clutches from ENGAGING, but to tell a customer its seized I would hope they actually tried to spin it manually. Partial seizure (and subsequent release under load) of a bearing driven component that has not been used or spun in years is hardly laughable. In the future I hope you can refrain from jabbing at ideas that you fail to understand fully. Were YOU there to see what they tried during the diag?