AC Woes, and Woh!
 

Well once again my AC is not working. I took it to the dealer and ended up having a hour long shouting dispute with the service manager. The problem was I had them "repair" a leak in the system and recharge it last year for the tune of $170. First thing this year I turn it on and it doesn't work again. I called and asked if they would warranty their work and they said they would. I bring the car in and they tell me sure enough its leaking again. However they refuse to fix it because it's a problem with my compressor. Then they wanted to charge me $50 to tell me this (after they told me it would be looked at for free). So after yelling the manager for a while, I got him to re-emburse me for the $170 I spent last year on a fix that could not possibly be fixed.

So now I have no AC, but at least I got my $170 back. I just wish it was something cheap and not a $700 compressor + labor. :(

On a completely side note. I just noticed this today:

Most users ever online was 61 on 03-18-2002 at 06:02 PM.

What the heck, did I miss a major online forum meeting or something. :D

Was that at Burt?

Actually, and I'm not saying this to be disagreeable, they may have fixed something last year and the compressor leak is something new.

Yes this was at Burt. I usually have had nothing but good service from them, but ended up getting a real jerk of a service advisor this time (one that the service manager even agreed was getting a lot of complaints).

However they had a record on the invoice saying it was in fact the same leak, hence I was upset. If they had told me last year this was a unfixable problem then I would have never have paid the $170. Hence they gave the refund. :)

That's crappy, attempt a repair, it doesn't work out, charge you anyway and see if they can get away with it....

Let me guess. Syed right? After a good ten minute shouting match, I almost jumped the counter and punched the jerk-off!! If you'll excuse my hostility. Anyway, I've just got my AC recharged for $206. I have 81k on my 92 L. If there is anything I should be concerned about, please do me the courtosy of letting me know . It doesn't seem much colder and still gets warm when the car's at idle.
Dave.

I honestly can't even remember his name. But, that very well could be it.

Anyways, that was the same experience I had with my A/C. It was never as cold as when it worked like it should have. Hopefully your compressor isn't shot as well. :(

Re: AC Woes, and Woh!
 

>>.. So now I have no AC, but at least I got my $170 back. I just wish it was something cheap and not a $700 compressor + labor. :( <<

I don't know the year of your SVX, but it -seems- that some of the '92 Legacys use the same compressor as the '92 SVX's. If yours is marked "Zexel DCW-17", then check this out:

http://www.a-aironline.com/

Click "Subaru"
Fill in the screen fields with Legacy, '92 w 2.2L/DCW-17

Looks like a rebuilt unit runs $266.09, plus a $35 core charge. Even if your car has a different compressor, I'd give A-Air a call, and see if they have it. If it were me, I'd at least try the following:

(1) Confirm that a rebuilt compressor with warranty is available.
(2) Find a reputable 3rd-party A/C repair house, and ask them if they'd allow you to supply a compressor and parts for your 'specialty car', and pay them the install labor.
(3) If so, order the compressor from the rebuilder, and an R-134 retrofit kit from subaruparts.com .
(4) Take it in, and have it done. If it comes together the way I described, you could probably have the whole thing done for roughly what you were quoting for the compressor, and future repairs would be for the cheaper R-134 system.

My .02,
--jim