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  #1  
Old 09-12-2002, 07:15 PM
overdalimit
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Angry Air Conditioning Problem

I have a 95' Model with 50K on the speedo. I have having a very awkward problem with my climate control system. I'll turn my a/c on and it'll cool fine for no specific period, then , all of the sudden the damn compressor will turn itself off. Then, all of the sudden the damn thing will kick back on again. It is NOT cycling on and off like it has low freon but just cutting off for a couple minutes and then back on. Some times it doesn't do it and some times it does. I hope SOMEBODY can help me!. I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a Mazda dealership just started working on Subarus here and they can't find a damn thing wrong with it but i'll burn up for 3 or 4 minutes and then all of the sudden the damn things starts cooling again. The blowere never stop though. Sometime when I turn the a'c on it'll take a while for the blower to turn itself on though.
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Old 09-12-2002, 08:04 PM
lee lee is offline
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I'm assuming the cooling performance is OK when the system is running. The next time it does this, pull over and run the internal diagnostics. Without knowing more it's hard to guess, but maybe a sensor is telling the system something is wrong, i.e., evaporator sensor. This is a simple and free test of the system.
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Old 09-12-2002, 08:06 PM
overdalimit
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How Do I do the self diagnosis?
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  #4  
Old 09-12-2002, 08:12 PM
Green1995SVX
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Mine does the same thing, and i've run the internal diagnostic program while it was doing it, and it didnt throw any codes.

Mike
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Old 09-12-2002, 08:29 PM
lee lee is offline
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If the self diagnostics don't show anything then I think an expert has to give it the hands on. Ask at a couple of places who they recommend for A/C work and take it to the place where you get common recommendations.

the self-diags run by starting with ignition off, then holding down the auto and off buttons (together) on the climate system as the ignition is turned on. It takes a few seconds to run through the tests and will settle down to a number(s) if it finds an error. I don't know if the system stores error codes (maybe somebody else on here does), so you may only be able to do this test when the problem occurs.
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Old 09-12-2002, 09:19 PM
Green1995SVX
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Mine doesnt concern me too much... especially now that we're on the way to winter. I had to use my heat tonight! Time to get the skis tuned!!!!

Mike
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  #7  
Old 09-12-2002, 10:05 PM
Boone
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The compressor mostly runs all the time but cuts out on excessive coolant temp. Wierd stuff happens if you have an insuffient charge. No error is marked in the diagnostic. Check my locker under SVX stuff for info. B.

Last edited by Boone; 09-12-2002 at 11:25 PM.
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  #8  
Old 09-12-2002, 11:14 PM
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Aredubjay Aredubjay is offline
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Sounds to me like you may just need a recharge. Start the car, and run the a/c for a few minutes. While it's running, open the hood. Then, turn the car off and go and check for bubbles in the sight glass. If you got bubbles, you're low on refrigerant.
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Old 09-13-2002, 11:19 PM
gl1674 gl1674 is offline
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Just because A/C cuts off, does not mean it is an A/C problem...

It sounds like the engine might be overheating. A/C produces lots of load and heat, so the engine computer is programmed to cut off A/C if engine coolant temperature is too high. It is a safety feature to protect engine from overheating.

You can tell it by looking at cooling temp gauge. If arrow is any higher than a middle point (even a little bit), engine is overheating and will cut A/C off.

If this is the case, check the coolant level (easy), make sure both fans work, flush radiator, replace coolant. If it does not help the next things are thermostat and water pump.
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Old 09-14-2002, 02:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by gl1674
Just because A/C cuts off, does not mean it is an A/C problem...

It sounds like the engine might be overheating. A/C produces lots of load and heat, so the engine computer is programmed to cut off A/C if engine coolant temperature is too high. It is a safety feature to protect engine from overheating.

You can tell it by looking at cooling temp gauge. If arrow is any higher than a middle point (even a little bit), engine is overheating and will cut A/C off.

If this is the case, check the coolant level (easy), make sure both fans work, flush radiator, replace coolant. If it does not help the next things are thermostat and water pump.
That is what I was going to suggest. Mine overheated a few times when my waterpump was going to go, and it did the same sort of thing. Once the car got too hot AC would quit ASAP.
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