What is a good place to go to have the Air Conditioning in the car diagnosed to figure out what is wrong with the AC system? I've already tried recharging the system, but the charge doesn't hold nor does the system blow cold air. It seems that there may be a leak or something else wrong that prevents the system from functioning properly.

Preferably recommendations for places in the East Bay (Dublin / Pleasanton / Livermore / Brentwood areas)?

 

Not sure where specifically you could take it, but did you try replacing the O rings on the high or low pressure lines? My O ring on the low pressure side wasn't making a good seal anymore so I replaced it & recharged and g2g again.

 

Seals are most likely thing if you don't see an actual leak somewhere else. It is quite common on these cars when they get older.

 

I had my seals done and the system evacuated/charged for $180 at FAST of West Chester. Bit of a drive for you though. Only 3000 some odd miles...

 

Yeah, that's just a bit farther than I probably would need to go.

 

My '05 STI had a similar issue when I bought it, and I thought it may have been seals or the compressor gone bad. Turns out, it just needed new O-rings since the old ones had dried and cracked. I took it to Howard Ave Radiator in San Carlos, and they were able to diagnose and fix in just a few hours, and for a really reasonable price.

 

AC repairs aren't really make specific, there's only a couple of things that can go wrong.