I found a local 94 legacy sedan auto fwd today for $300. It has 134k miles on it and it needs a new head gasket and gauge cluster. I was thinking about buying the car to either fix for myself or sell to make some money.
The only problem is that I don't like about it is that it is fwd and it takes a lot of money to fix the head gasket since I might not be able to do it myself.
On the upside, it is the same color exterior and interior as my car so I might be able to use it for parts. I need a front bumper and odds and ends.
The REAL question that I have is if the entire A/C system on the 94 sedan (condensor, all lines, and compressor) would work on my car if I swapped everything out? The owner says the A/C in this car is ready to go and just recharged and is practically blowing ice. Would this be possible to swap out the whole thing inton my wagon? I know the lines from the compressor to the firewall mount differently on a wagon and a sedan but I want to know if it is possible to swap the entire system into my car using all of his good working parts?
What does everyone think?
Thank you for your time on this!
Brad
1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)
Well, if you're swapping everything then I would think it would work fine. You'll want to make sure to cap off all the lines after you open them up to keep any debris from getting in there. And you'll of course have to pull a vacuum and recharge the system once it's all back and installed.
The condensor (?) coil that's in the HVAC system can be gotten by removing your glove compartment. You don't have to take off the whole dash to get to it.
Otherwise the parts should be a fairly easy swap.
One item of note - I seem to recall that different year compressors have different mounting patterns so you may want to think about that and be able to grab the alternator mount bracket. But if you have both cars side by side, this shouldn't be a big problem to just swap things.
skid542 wrote:Well, if you're swapping everything then I would think it would work fine. You'll want to make sure to cap off all the lines after you open them up to keep any debris from getting in there. And you'll of course have to pull a vacuum and recharge the system once it's all back and installed.
The condensor (?) coil that's in the HVAC system can be gotten by removing your glove compartment. You don't have to take off the whole dash to get to it.
Otherwise the parts should be a fairly easy swap.
One item of note - I seem to recall that different year compressors have different mounting patterns so you may want to think about that and be able to grab the alternator mount bracket. But if you have both cars side by side, this shouldn't be a big problem to just swap things.
That's my .02 on the matter at least.
Thanks skid for your input. I'm going to put the cars side by side like you said at first to compare and go from there. I didn't know if anyone would know for sure. Why would I have to swap the coil in the dash as well? Wouldn't that be the same in these generation legacy's?
Brad
1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)
To All,
with all the heat latly, A/C is on everyone's mind, First Skidd was 1/2 rite ,but evaporator the condensor...the condensor is in front of radiator,Same idea ,here's a quick run down of a system for thouse who care ,So the condensor is where the r134-A turns back into a liquid ,thus called condenser from a Hi-psi gas into a liquid then off to the expantion valve where it goes from Hi-psi liquid into a Lo psi liquid/vapor thus evaporating into a Lo-psi gas evaprating & absorbing the heat from said cabin/passenger compartment & returning to drier/reciver to remove said molocules of moisture from vapors while in tranit to compressor this is also refered to as the "Suction side" or Low psi side.This is the side of the system in which you would apply more r 134-a if your system is in need of a "charge" then cycled throught the compressor ,once it leaves the compressor it's a Hi psi gas( (if ya look on the out side you'll see a litttle black check valve that only lets it flow one way) then it enters the condensor as a hi-psi vapor cooled by the flow of cooler air condensing the vapor back into a liquid ....thus the cyle starts all over
Hope this was some what clear. If not ask I'll be more than glad to help anyone out who wants to "be cool" go figure my A/c dosent work ...Yet to busy fixing everyone elses
Thank you very much Jay for that helpful insight. That does help me to understand it a bit more now.
I just know that the whole system in this 94 sedan works and I'm trying to figure out what I need to make it work on my 91 wagon. I'm going to take a closer look at all the parts and everything on Sunday.
Brad
1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)
USE comppressed air @ own risk over psi can damage system
with that being said use just enouf air so you dont have to use your lip's & lung's
system operates @ 35-45 on lo side (depending on ambient temp) hi side (200-300)
subaru hi switch usually 315psi aprox
Very common issues with ANY expantion Valve system, Esspessially with the system being w/o oil and or a "charge is the valve getting stuck,Do like was posted earlier .Pull glove box diconnect the two lines behind the turbo ,then back inside you got two 10mm bolts ,well a nut & a bolt (very anal,no pun..)one up behind the g/b latch the other 6oclock unplug & give a good tug & the whole darn HVAC unit will come to ya ,Neatest unit I've EVER worked on
Anywho pull the hvac unit the evpantion valve is on the evap inlet,use blow gun to make sure your not plugged,you will have some restriction (E/V) operation,be sure your clear then pull lines off comppressor ,& give it a shot make sure there good & no colapses in the lines,If all is good get some new orings(cost bout 5.00) put vback together & find someone with a VAc, normally I like to see 30 Hg within 3 min but spec is 5-30
But thats another story,either Pm me if you need specific info or help ,
Thank you Jay! Some of this stuff you are speaking of is very foreign to me. I don't have a lot of A/C experience as you can tell I am sure. I am going to try and mess with this sedan tomorrow to see what I can find out.
Thank you again for your help and I will get with you if I need any further help.
Brad
1991 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon 5MT (DD)
2000 Outback 5MT (DD)
2005 AW STi
2010 LGT (hers)
1998 Outback (her DD)
I'm curious as to how you get 30 in/Hg. The theoretical maximum possible vacuum is 29.92 in/Hg and getting to 28 in/Hg is pretty damn good. A venturi pump can creep up to 28 if things are sealed nicely.
Very good call, you are absolutly corect ,But I didnt want to get to technical, But yes technicaly it insnt exactly 30 Hg ,But a hair under ..But I ussually do my work under the sea so I can obtain the 30Hg I was speaking of....LoL... No you are absolutly correct & I thought about that when I was writing it up ,But like I said dintnt want to get to technical for the others who are interested there is some quite good reading matireal out there, fourms just like this one that get quite deep into the workings of HVAC, everyone has to start somewhere & most issues lie around plugged systems or a leak whether its a simple oring or a hole worn in the condernsor form rubbing aginst the radiator , But if your not shy , most isses can be done yourself
then just take down to your local garage to have them vac , test & charge if it holds Vac (perfect 29.92) is best , other than that you might still have a issues Another note you could still hold vac & not have cold air, Systems which dont have a Expan/Valve have what is called an orphice tube , which can cause flow issues;which is cheap & simple to change But if you have particles in your system you need find out how they entered a closed system....
My best friend is a mechanic at Tires Plus and we did my system today. The edge of the gauge hits 30, but the needle was actually right around 28, which is about 95% vacuum.
Unfortunately on my AC system, I seem to be chasing an electrical problem. The AC will turn on after several tries on the HVAC panel, then will run just fine at idle, blowing cold air. Once I start driving it, the compressor kicks out within little time, then rapidly kicks on and off. I can hear it and feel it.
I can the in-car relay on a manual switch, isolated from the temp sensor. This had no positive result, so it must be something else. I'm questioning the pressure switch or the receiver/drier as a whole, or maybe the expansion valve since it works at idle and not while driving. I just don't want to throw money at my beater wagon anymore than I have to.
The previous UV charge and a few hours with the blacklight show no leaks. Nothing is coming out of the evaporator drain either.
I'm half tempted to manually wire in the compressor, lol.
Just a quick note about the AC operation for our cars, (again I'm a devil for the details as well). On our cars, the receiver drier is after the condensor and before the evaporator. Also, the refrigerant will flash from a high pressure liquid to a low pressure vapor after the expansion valve, and as it goes through the evaporator and absorbs heat it will go to a liquid/vapor mix.
Dan, have you hooked up a set of gauges to the AC system? If so, what is the low and high side pressure readings? Can you get the AC system to reproduce the cycling without driving? What's the ambient temps? Does it act up even at lower temps, like during the night or morning?
