Potential Customer,Concerned about Climate Control Issues

Hey Everybody,have a question concerning the Automatic Climate Control issue that seem's to exist.I.e. it blowing cold then hot etc.Is this a widespread problem,has everyone experienced it.Or do some have the problem other's dont.I just recently read I believe it was on Edmunds.com there long term-test of 05 Legacy GT Sedan had this problem.I really like this car the Legacy GT and really am considering it but I live in a very hot climate where temperatures easily get's into triple digit's during summertime.Thank's for the input. :? TurboMike04

I never really have a problem with it keeping the car cool when the AC is on. My only problem is, when using the fan only, it sucks in warm air from the engine and blows that into the cabin. But when using AC I always get cool air. What I bet people are experiencing is, when the AC senses the cabin has reached the right temp. it turns off the AC for a little bit and just uses the fan. Then when its only using the fan it will suck the warm air in (like I described above) and thats what you feel. Then once the HVAC senses the temp is higher it will turn the AC back on. I don't really think this is a reason not to buy the car, its just a small anoyance, maybe subaru will do a recall on it as everyone seems to complain a bit about it.

The A/C has worked fine for me whenver I've used it.

That is the automatic system, regulating the climate. That just means that the system is working. Kevin

My first impression of these issues is that some people are unfamiliar with what all happens with an Automatic Climate Control system and why. I could be wrong. Here's my experiences anyway: I have had Automatic Climate Control on my cars since 1998. I have missed having it on my Wife's '03 Legacy when we drive that. The ACC takes input from the Sun Load Sensor in the front of the passenger side windshield, the Air Temerature Sensor below the ignition lock on the dash, and the Ambient Temperature Sensor in front of the radiator. The system doesn't sense and adjust during the time that the ignition is off. This can cause a lot of confusion! If you park the car in a garage with the outside temp being 45 degrees F and go out the next day to a cool garage and start the car, it will still think the outside air is 45-50 degrees for a while. Even if the temperature is really 80 degrees F in the sun, the car will pump out heat for a short while until it takes another temerature reading from the Ambient Sensor. (It's not a constant process, but a periodic process.) If it's like my last car, the ACC may not even try to take a temperature reading until the car is driven a few minutes in certain circumstances. It seems that many are also under the impression that when the A/C indicator is on, that the A/C compressor is operating at peak capacity. That's not true. When the A/C indicator is on, the compressor itself is "allowed" to cycle on and off and/or reduce it's flow to help adjust the temperature of the air according to the instructions of the ACC. If a person turns the desired temp up to 85 degrees F, that person will still get 85 degree air regardless of whether the A/C indicator is on or not. The compressor itself may not even be engaged depending on the circumstances. Still, maybe there are units out there that are truly malfunctioning. Maybe it's just a little bit quirkier than other systems. Maybe it doesn't collect data from the sensors as quickly and often as it should. I can't say that I've had any complaints personally. It seems a bit better than the unit in my GTP to be honest. I do wish that I could adjust the desired temp for both the driver and passenger sides at once (in single zone mode) like I am used to doing. If I were you, I sure wouldn't let it keep you from getting the car!!! If you turn off the AUTO mode, it's been my experience that it stays in MANUAL mode until you switch it back to AUTO. I don't believe that it goes to AUTO by itself even after a restart. But I could also be wrong about this since I never mess with MANUAL mode. It's also my opinion that some people are reluctant to embrace newer technology. Many people never think twice about letting their home's thermostat alone for months at a time to do it's thing, but they will complain that their car is out of their control if it changes the fan speed. :) I personally miss my automatic headlights and wish my GT also had them!

I think some people are having legitimate problems with the system, but 95% of the discussion I see appears to be related to confusion and inexperience. I had the auto climate control in my 02 Outback, and it took a few weeks to master the operation and learn how to cooperate with it rather than fight it. It gets especially confusing when you attempt to do manual override, but just remember that the system is still operating in a semi-automatic mode until you have overridden ALL the settings. If you just tweak one setting, the system wil try to compensate by adjusting the others. When I got my 05 Outback, I found that the auto climate control system worked more or less exactly the same as my 02. Consequently, I have not had any problems at all. When I put it in vent mode, it blows cool outside air just like I want. I have not experienced getting warm vent air like others have mentioned. If you want a true vent mode, the procedure is: from full auto, turn temp down to 65. Press off. Select the vent mode of choice (panel or bi-level), and toggle the intake damper to make sure it is set to outside air (ie, not recirc). Note that this is similar to what you'd do on a car with manual climate control, where you would turn the temp knob to minimum, shut off AC and fan, and them select the vent mode. The auto system is really no different. If you just happen to turn the system off and then bring up vent mode without first setting the temp to 65, then the incoming air will get heated using whatever heater core setting corresponds to the last temperature set. SO that would definitely result in warm air. Like a manual system, you need to turn the heat setting off first. 65 on the auto setting is equivalent to minimum temp on a manual system. We really need to make a sticky topic on this, maybe with a couple basic procedures for new owners. Craig

Well, this morning it was cool for the first time since I bought my Legacy (50-55 degrees), so I turned on the climate control and set it for 70. During the hour I drove the system blew hot air, then air conditioned air, back and forth, and the temperature fluctuated wildly in the car: I was too hot, too cold, too hot... I tried other temperature settings, but the system worked (or didn't) the same.

My Legacy's ACC works better than my '03 Saturn. I have noticed it has a quicker response to temperature changes than the Saturn. The L300 was so slow to react that it was always overshooting the desired temp. I took it back to the dealer and they re-programmed the system's calibrations based on a service bulletin. Check with your dealer to see if they have been getting compliants. It may be that Subaru will issue a re-calibration if they see problems in the field.

[quote name='TurboMike04']Hey Everybody,have a question concerning the Automatic Climate Control issue that seem's to exist.I.e. it blowing cold then hot etc.Is this a widespread problem,has everyone experienced it.Or do some have the problem other's dont.I just recently read I believe it was on Edmunds.com there long term-test of 05 Legacy GT Sedan had this problem.I really like this car the Legacy GT and really am considering it but I live in a very hot climate where temperatures easily get's into triple digit's during summertime.Thank's for the input. :? TurboMike04[/QUOTE] I haven't had any issue with the auto climate control. But to put things in perspective you could go out and by a 05 Rx-8 flood the damn thing and have the engine rebuilt. The ACC pales in comparison to what other cars probs are...:)

I never had an ACC before getting my LGT a few weeks ago. I was dazed & confused at first with the ACC...since in previous vehicles, I had to be a master at working the fan speed/temp dial ratio to get it just right. At first I found myself getting frustrated with it, always turning it off to go into manual mode. But now, I just set the temperature and let it go....and it seems to do a pretty good job for me. I also miss my auto headlights...and auto door locks at a certain speed....ah, good times...good lazy times.