I bought this car used with 55,000 miles on it, and the air conditioning has never worked satisfactorily. It cycles from very cold to ambient about every 20 seconds. The dealer has replaced the evaporator assembly and expansion valve and recharged AC system under my extended warranty, but the problem is the same as ever. On a hot day, the cooling is completely insufficient. According to the dealer, Subaru says they’ve heard this complaint from other '05 owners, but that the AC is working NORMALLY. The compressor cycles on and off to prevent the system from icing up. The dealer says there’s nothing they can do, that it’s just the way it’s designed. This seems absolutely ridiculous to me. What do I do now?
No, it’s not “designed to work that way”.
Kick it up to the next level with the Subaru Zone Representative. Contact information is in your Owner’s Manual.
If that is normal, let them show you another car on their lot that does it that way. If it is normal they all should do it.
Has the shop checked to see if the system pressure is ok? It sounds like it is over pressured.
This is the third time I’ve had it to the dealer, and they keep telling me that they’re checking the pressure, but I think they’re looking for low pressure, i.e., leaks. I’ll ask if it’s high–thanks. (It’s at the shop right now–ha!)
If the compressor is kicking on and off,it is porbably low on gas, and if it freezes it is overcharged.
They say the pressure is “within specification.” Dang.
It’s been flushed and recharged three times in the course of this drama, once by a local shop and twice by the dealer, so I don’t think that it’s lack of refrigerant. It’s not freezing.
You could take it to an independent shop again and just ask them to check it, not fix it, to see what he comes up with. Do not mention past history.
I know you have done that, but an airconditioner shop would probably preferabale.
I have the same problem! I have a 2007 Outback and the service manager manager said it ran within specs, but on a warm day I have to run my AC on 3 out of 4 just to stay cool. My AC did not do this the first month I ran it, but the dealer says “bring it back in if it happens again, but its running within specs”. How can I bring it back in then? My car also veers to the right, and the mechanic said it is following with the crown of the road, but why has every other car I’ve ever owned went straight on the road, and this is supposed to all be normal. I don’t know what to do anymore, but I hate my first new car. My 96’ Cavalier was in the shop a lot less than this piece of junk!