Subaru - Forester :: Loses Heat And AC When Car Warms Up
Jun 5, 2012
Took a 9 hour road trip and after an about an hour of driving we noticed AC slowly lost both cool temp and air flow (makes not different if AC button depressed or not). We could hear the fan but NO air was coming out - as time progressed the high setting on the fan made no noise at all. The vent did not blow any outside air either. There was about a gallon of water dripped from under the car when we reached our destination. The next 2 days, EVERYTHING returned to NORMAL during short trips around town. AC was cool but not cold. On the return road trip, again we slowly lost the AC - as we drove north to MA it got cold outside and when we tried the heat, it was the same problem - we could hear something like a fan but no air at all, heat or vent. No warmth when hand placed on vent and high fan setting made no noise.
The next day - a cold June morning - the heat works great - fan and all.This 2005 Subaru Forrester (100 thou miles - car fax ok) - was purchased from a used dealer last Nov and has been a never ending nightmare (including - but not limited too - the dealer replacing the engine post purchase) - we noticed that the AC was not working at the time of purchase and they signed a paper saying they would fix it - just took it in to the dealer last week to have them repair the AC and then we took the trip. Think all they did was replace the coolant and it blew cold when I left the dealer. I think this has been a problem from day one but could not really tell with the AC during the winter and did not take long trips in winter when using heat...sometimes I did question if the heat was working though.
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My lovely little 99 Forester was running fine up until about 6 weeks ago. Now it has always burned oil and my dealership gave the the run around saying it was "normal". Fine, so I've driven around with quarts of oil in my car for the last 8 years, and I dump a quart in every 500 miles. Every time I bring it into for oil changes them I've told them it burns oil.So 6 weeks ago, I start the car and no heat. The temp gauge shoots up to H and then the heat kicks on and the temp gauge goes immediately back down to N. I call the dealership - they say the thermostat is sticking and I'm find to drive it - I get an appt for 2 weeks later.
2 weeks later, car is in the shop and I'm told because I've been driving the car and its been overheating the headgasket is cracked. So I pay the $1,700 to repair it and replace the timing belt and temp gauge.I pick up the car and it is running WORSE than it was when I brought it in with the cracked headgasket and sticking temperature gauge. I call the dealership from the traffic signal up the road. They schedule another appt for a week later.
Week later I bring the car in and the oil light blinks on as I'm driving car into their driveway. Get a call the next day saying I need a new shortblock and it will be $3,000.I meet with dealership and tell them 1) they should have checked the engine/cylinders when they replaced the headgasket and 2) I'm not repaying them to do the headgaskets twice basically.
So they tell me they are crediting me for the headgasket repair job. And get this - the price is $3,000. It actually is $5,000, but they are crediting the headgasket repair job to that.I'm just disguisted and furious at this point. Car has 140,000 miles, and I'm really anal about changing the oil every 3,000 miles - despite the fact since 12,000 miles the car has been having 6 new quarts of oil dumped into it between changes.They are telling me "its my fault" the cylinders are bad because I allowed the engine to run repeatedly overheated.
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I have an 05 Impala. When I turn the car off, the heat gauge stays where it is. When I start it up again, it stays there until the car warms up and then goes up from where it was. I have found that by turning the key off and on quickly several times it goes down each time to bottom. What can cause the gauge to stick like that?
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Recurring intermittent problem with the AC. It has been in and out of the shop three times in the past year. First time, a basic checkup with service to specs. Worked okay for six weeks or so. Second time, revolution sensor replaced. Worked okay for a little over six months. Next time, revolution sensor replaced under warranty. No change - problem still there. Dealer shop wants to replace compressor/clutch assembly. I'm not convinced. The problem only occurs in the morning after the engine has been at rest overnight .
No AC until the engine warms up and the engine is switched off and then on again. You can check it after a few minutes and no AC. Shut down the engine after 20 minutes or so, turn it back on, AC is good and will be good for the rest of the day, even if the engine is at rest for a few hours. Next morning, same drill. There is a three wire connector at the clutch with one black wire running to the clutch. I am unsure what voltage I can check there to see if the system is calling for clutch engagement. How I can narrow it down to clutch/compressor malfunction or some other sensor problem?
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I have a 2005 VW Golf GL, automatic tranny, 2.0L 4-cyl that has some issues during long drives in hot weather. The 1st incident occurred when I was driving on the interstate in AZ w/the outside air temp around 100 degrees. It was a flat, desolate stretch of road and I had cruise control engaged as well as the A/C turned on. Suddenly it was as if someone had let off the gas pedal, as the car began quickly slowing down from 70 or 75 to maybe 40 or so. I turned off the cruise control & tried to increase back up to highway speed manually, but there was a long lag time before the engine kicked up again. I got it back up to full speed, then moments later it would kick down again unexpectedly as if I had taken my foot off the gas even though I hadn't (and I was still not climbing any hills). The temp gauge was still normal, but I turned off the A/C just in case this was making an unnecessary drain on the engine. Still the car would behave in the same way. I took the next exit, let it rest a bit, then limped along @ a slow speed on the frontage road until the next town. Suspecting it was the MAF sensor, I had it cleaned @ a repair shop before heading back home. It ran normal for a little while during the drive back, but then the same issue.
Back in town, I replaced the whole MAF sensor, since I was told just cleaning it was a temp fix. By this time the outside air temp was cooler, & short drives to/from work went fine. However, the next time I tried taking the car on a long hot drive (from SoCal into NV), the same issue happened again! So maybe it wasn't the MAF sensor afterall (unless the replacement was faulty?). Nevertheless, I took a wet washcloth & wrapped it around the sensor, & this seemed to do the trick to get me back home again. For now I am no longer going to risk taking this car on long hot trips until I can figure out what's wrong w/it & how to fix it. I do plan to take it to a mechanic but wanted to see first if this rings any bells for people on this forum.....??
2nd, (possibly related?) problem:
Today as I was coming home, the engine stalled when I tried to take off when the light turned green @ an intersection. I limped it to the other side, pulled over, & tried starting it up again. It started right away & then ran fine. I'd been low on gas but not so low that it should be an issue. I drove the rest of the way (on a highway) to a gas station (several miles) w/o A/C, no problem. I filled it up, did the washcloth trick once again in case that was related to the problem @ all, & drove the rest of the way home just fine. Battery is relatively new (about 2 yrs.) & alternator tested fine. Did not see any corrosion on a recent check of the battery posts. Outside air temp warm today, but not that bad...only mid-80s. Temp gauge read normal.
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I have a 2004 Prius, ~150k miles. At about 80k I replaced the inverter coolant pump as a preventative measure.
Recently, the car has shown an intermittent lack of power, and abnormally sluggish acceleration, which seems similar to what I've heard about the failsafe mode of an overheating inverter, except no warning lights appear. We have had some hot days this summer in SLC, Utah (100+ deg). It's a sporatic issue that seems much worse on hot days. The weather has been hot, but we've had hot days in past years and not had this problem.
Yesterday, the car showed the worst ever such behavior and was nearly crippled for my wife (why do these things always happen when the wife is driving alone?). She was returning home from a ~ 1hr appointment, where the car was parked in the sun, ambient air temp was ~103 deg. The car was very sluggish and ICE was revving much higher than normal. The battery fan that vents next to the rear passenger-side door was running at the higher speed than she's ever heard it before. I asked her at the time about the battery level, and the display showed two bars, even though she was going mostly downhill. A/C seemed to be working, but she turned it off. She was able to limp home. It did seem that when the battery charged a bit, performance improved somewhat.
After I got home a few hours later that evening, (temp ~90-95 deg), I took it for a spin and it seemed fine. I'm pretty sure I detected a slight hiccup in power one of the times I punched it, but nothing drastic. She drove it this morning (84 deg ambient, ~75 deg overnight low) and it seemed normal, except that she could hear the battery fan (we almost never hear it running), but it was much slower than yesterday.
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My AWD 1996 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon suddenly loses power while I'm driving......
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Have an '03 Subaru Outback Ltd. 184k miles. Great car all in all. Has been burning 3-4 qts oil between changes every 3-4k miles. Stated idling rough after warms up [intermittently], slight 'shimmy' at stoplights. Check engine light on always, flashes at times when warms up but even then doesn't flash all the time. Took it to dealer for upcoming smog check, have a bad oxygen censor and possibly bad catalytic converter, but also said low compression no.2 cylinder--which is what I'm wondering about.
Without further diagnostics they're talking about perhaps new pistons, and/or valve job and/or short block rebuild. My questions are 1-is there any more diagnostics possible to narrow it down without pulling it apart? and 2-is it worth a rebuild or should I sell? Great car otherwise, they're talking 3-5k range for repairs, blue book on the car is 4-6k rough estimate? Been a great car all in all, aside from clutch replacement this is the first major repair issue.
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I have a 2005 Subaru Outback. I will be driving and lose all power to the car and it dies. I will try to restart the car and all the battery power will be on (lights, radio, power windows, etc.) however there is no sound when trying to crank the key. If I wait a little while or push the car, it will start back up with the check engine light on and cruise light blinking. I can drive it a block or so with decreased acceleration and it will die again. Brought it to my local shop and they could not recreate the issue (sat overnight). They cleaned the battery terminals and cleaned the throttle body. I drove it for about 3 weeks with no issues and the same exact thing happened again.
The shop told me the codes they got from the check engine were all communication codes (??). The only thing know about the two days the car broke down 3 weeks apart is I filled up the tank with gas on those days (but that doesnt seem like it would matter).
After sitting for an hour waiting for the tow truck. The car started up and he was able to drive it off the truck with no issue. I am totally lost here.
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I have a 2004 Subaru Forester xs and the a/c goes out intermittently. I was told I need a new compressor clutch and that the whole compressor assembly will have to be replaced. I contacted another mechanic and he said that he would fix just the clutch but I should replace the whole thing. So, what do I HAVE to do? Are these prices in line? Can I get used parts or discounted parts?
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I have an '06 Forester XT 2.5 turbo that has, what I can only describe as a stumble around 2500 rpm. The car's maintenance is always up-to-date, and never has anything under 91 octane run in it.This started out when you had the cruise set and now does it all the time whether or not the cruise is used. I've had it to 2 shops including a Subaru dealer that had it for a month and couldn't find the issue. We've been through injectors, coils, maf sensor, etc. to no avail. The trouble code that we're given is a misfire in cylinder 1. We discovered, while trying to find the issue, that there was only 30psi in that #1 cylinder and the valve guides were the issue. So the motor was pulled, heads planed, etc. and new guides installed. Also, put in a new timing belt, and so on, that is usually done when the motor is out.They have done a leak down test and compression tests as well. This is my wife's car and she absolutely love it, so I need to get this figured out.
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I just bought this car for my daughter. It's in very good shape; runs like a top. But the gas mileage is a lousy 20 mpg. All of my trips are local (no stop and go stuff as we live in the country). A buddy of mine with the same car and similar driving habits says she gets 25-28 mpg. So far I have changed the oil, oil filter and air filter.This can't be the best I can expect, can it?!
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At 56,000+ miles on my 2006 Forester, I was horribly shocked to learn while having 60,000 maintenance done that my head gasket was leaking. inclusive of timing belt replacement required. I have read some discussions in this vein, but none regarding a car with this few miles on it. It does not seem right. I have had other issues with this car, my 2nd forester. I do not know what I should do.
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I have a 2015 forester & the seats are not wide enough so my right leg rests on the front corner of the seat & after driving 70 miles my legs & back are hurting. I think the outback has seats 2 inches wider , that could work.
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Sometimes when the AC is on automatic control it will kick out of auto control into manual control and the fan will speed up. All this happens without touching anything. Dealer said it's working fine.
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I have a 2003 Forester that has low air flow thru the vents if you try to use the AC or heater.
If you turn the speed from 1-4 you can hear the blower fan turning faster but the air coming out of the vents is very low. YOu can hardly feel it. I checked to see if there was a cabin filter and there was none.
Even though you can barely feel the air coming out, when on AC the air feels cold and when on heat it feels hot.
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Sometimes the Subaru standard transmission just does not want to go into reverse. I don't see a pattern here, but when it happens I have to double clutch it, or hold the clutch peddle down and move from first to reverse.
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I bought the car brand new in May of 2009. All was good until February of last year when the battery died. I kind of wrote it off as one of those things that's part of life in AK. But then the same thing happened in November - yes, it was cold again, but it died after I'd successfully started it and drove it to my husband's work. He was inside for maybe thirty minutes. Not wanting to waste gas, it turned the car off and listened to the radio. When hubby came back, I tried to start the car and ... nothing. We had to get it jumped. Hubby said I shouldn't have been listening to the radio with the engine off. Anyway, I had a service appointment at the dealership a few days later and mentioned that the battery died again. They checked it and said it was weak so they replaced it.
Now, of course, I'm super-paranoid about everything that could be draining the battery. I turn the lights off whenever I turn off the engine (even though that's supposed to be something the car does automatically), and only listen to the radio when I'm driving. I've made sure that there's nothing plugged in any of the power outlets, and I don't have anything that's aftermarket. Oh, and middle of last year the radio/CD player died too, and that had to be replaced. Don't know if it's linked, but it's still odd.
The only advice the dealership had was to drive it more. I guess I'm pretty severe on the car - work's maybe a fifteen minute drive (20 if it's snowing) and a fair few of my journeys are short ones, for a variety of reasons. Plus, it's Anchorage, AK. Severe driving's standard here. But I never had these issues with my other cars, and my driving patterns haven't changed at all. Could there be something that's draining the battery that I haven't thought of, or am I really stuck with driving around Anchorage aimlessly for at least 20 minutes each time I get in the car?
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Okay, I've been trying to diagnose this problem for ages. Whenever I top off my tank with fuel, the garage smells of fuel until I use up about a quarter of the tank. The smell stays mostly outside of the car. So far I have replaced the drain filter (a few years ago), fuel filler neck, hose leading from the filler neck to the tank, and had the system pressure tested. I'm fairly certain it's not the tank because the car has been undercoated since new and my mechanic saw no signs of a leak when he replaced the rear crossmember recently. My next guess is either the gas cap, the charcoal filter, or some hose leading to/from the charcoal filter.
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After having changed the oil in my 04 Forester multiple times, I must have lost my mind and drained the transmission fluid. I realized this when I started it back up and it wouldn't move. Clearly I put an oil filter on with engine oil around the seal. Should I do a tranny flush or can I just replace filter (with correct one) and fill with tranny fluid?
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I have a 2003 Subaru forester w/ 148k and manual transmission. Recently I have notice two new symptoms, but am not sure if they are connected. First is some bluish exhaust just at startup. Second is a wining sound out of the front of the engine. It fluctuates in time with the rpm. When I pop the hood it sounds like it may by coming from the generator or AC unit which has a wired red powdery substance on it. The wining seem worse for the first 1/2 hr of driving.
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