It's gettin pretty damn hot so If your A/C needs some TLC then you should definitely take your car to "Chet's European and japanese Auto Care" in Santa Clara.

So here's my experience today:

Took my car to Bayshore Auto because of all the rave reviews on yelp. When I brought my car in he looked at it with a flashlight and took off the high-side cap and put a little pin in it and told me I had no freon and quoted me $135 just to recharge it. I asked him could there be a leak or if something else might not be working, he said he can put some dye in for an extra $10 to detect leaks so $145 total. Seemed like a lot just for a recharge so I lied and said I had to go to go to bank.

Took my car to Chet's (found through Detail Addict mentioning on another thread). Its a really small shop but Vu the mechanic hooked up my car to recharge machine and made sure my whole A/C system was working and it was, but we realized there was a leak (due to rubbing of an old intercooler) in the Low-side A/C line and he called subaru immediately to see if they had the part, unfortunately we had to order it. Even though I'm gonna be spending bank because of the A/C line I was quoted only $80 to evac and recharge. Even with the the 1hr of labor they're gonna charge me for the install it only came out to a little more than what the other shop was gonna charge me just for the recharge.

So if you got A/C problems go see this guy

Like Detail Addict said in the other thread make sure you know the basics on how your A/C system works before going to any shop. Hope this helps with the HOT summer coming up.

 

crapp.... my A/c hasnt worked since i got the car. subaru couldnt figure out why either. thanks for the headsup ill have to see this shop. =]

 

Also check and make sure both of your radiator fans are plugged in and working.

I had one of mine unplugged for clearance issues and eventually found out that's why my AC wouldn't turn on...

 

hm,m i gota diagnose my car to see why its not working too too... i recharged my ac back when i was goign to school at wyotech in the summer of 07 then when winter came around i didnt use it. but once febuary hit, when i tried to turn my ac on it was just blowing out warm-hot air... any ideas anyone?

 

sounds like a very respectable shop
maybe i'll fix the ac in my talon this summer
its boiling outside

 

ah... A/C issue... yes, I had to deal with it many moons ago... glad that Vu is taking care of you.

 

Could've been a leak, but there's a number of things that can go wrong. What you can do is test and rule out what is working before u take it in, such as making sure the compressor works, go get a recharge kit with pressure guage to see if its just low on freon.

While I was at the shop they were working on a miata and the reason the A/C wasn't working was because the pressure valve stem wasn't tightened and leaking. All the mechanic did was tighten the valve stem and problem fixed. GOOD LUCK!

 

Thanks for the info. My A/C failed a couple of months ago. The car has 116k on it so I guess its not surprising that it needs some TLC.

 

good tip... my a/c crapped out over the winter (tried to defrost while up in tahoe) and its definitely time to fix it before the next heat wave.

 

are a/c issues common with subarus? i noticed my a/c blows cool at most but even then it takes forever but nothing cold.

 

low on r132a?

 

Even when my wrx was new, I never thought the a/c was very cold. It might be cold for a couple minutes, and then go warm. I read it might be the a/c cycling, or something was freezing over

 

same here. i had mine work good for maybe 3 months after i bought it brand new.

from what i hear the subie is notorious for a/c probs. something with a compression washer breaks alot. and if its not that its something with the lines. i am still under warranty, damn thing would blow cold air and then hot air the other day. gonna go get that **** checked out.

i only have 18k on it and less than 1 year of use. (got it last july) i will let you guys know whats wrong so that you can see if you have same prob.

 

ive only used my AC like 3 times so far this summer.. i didnt have to but the gf kept *****ing lol

 

bring it back to the dealership!