galactichero

So, I was driving back from my parents' house in the mountains, and all of a sudden this mist comes out of my vents. I smelled it, and nothing smelled funny, so I figured it was water vapor (this has happened in the rain a few times before, when I splash through a big puddle). It stopped after I fiddled with the fan level, the recirculation lever, the temperature ****, and the vent direction *** (the one that allows you to send the air down, or up, or to the defroster, etc.). After a while, I noticed that there wasn't much air coming out of the vents, so I turned up the fan. More fan noise, but no more air, so I turned it up again. Ditto. This starts to worry, me, because it's hot as hell here, and there is a limited amount of air coming out, albeit cold air.

I stopped to take a look, thinking that this is one of the areas I know NOTHING about, but figuring I would check anyway. There turns out to be a lot of condensation on the AC hoses and compresser hoses, and there's a ton of water coming out of a plastic hose connected to nothing just to the left of the downpipe, which I figure is supposed to be like that. The compresser looks fine, belt looks and sounds fine. I get back in the car, shut it down, go inside to the bathroom and come back, and when I start the car the vents are fine... SOOOO, I get back on the highway, and after 60 more miles it happens again, I stop, and it unhappens again.

The air coming out of the vents is cold, there just isn't much of it, and the same amount comes out regardless of what setting the fan is on. It's hard to tell with the AC and fan off if the air flow isn't working right when just the vents are open, but it certainly doesn't INCREASE any if I turn the fan off. My first thought was recharge the system, but again, the air is still cold. My next thought was that it was something internal and mechanical, but this seems unlikely because it fixes itself. The last thought I have is that it has something to do with the level of condensation--ie. that ton of water that was coming out of the disconnected hose--I also suppose it's possible that the hose isn't supposed to be disconnected. If it were an engine or electrical problem, I might have a clue. This, I am clueless about.

Thoughts?

Cabal

Take it to your dealer, there's a TSB about this. They'll fix it.

galactichero

You ROCK!!!

Don't get me wrong, I've had an Impreza since the first year they were out, and I got a Rex only because the old one died and the STi wasn't out yet, but WTF with all the TSBs? TSB on the clutch, the AC? What next? Rack and Pinion?

Cabal

Every manufacturer has TSBs, they simply mean a problem exists that is not safety-related and that they'll fix it. I think if you look at the NHTSA site you'll find Subaru to have far fewer than a lot of domestic manufacturers. I'd much rather have a problem be fixed than go unrecognized or covered up (*cough* BMW *cough).

Besides, the clutch shuddered because it gripped better than the new ones, I'm not sure replacing it with one that grips less is an improvement.