bigboy292000

FWIW: our 2011 Legacy just got totaled 4 weeks ago (with about 124K on the clock) but - I will just say that having extended warranty on it was totally worth it. I had variety of issues taken care on the Legacy under the warranty and I saw issues with CVT in my future (CVT issues on that generation were not uncommon). During summer months when AC is running, the Legacy would many times threaten to die when idling at stop lights or switching gear from P to D etc. (and yes, I got the software update for idling issues when AC is running about 2 years ago which made it a little better). Additionally, I know my AC compressor was having issues as it was quite loud making strange noises at times.

My wife really wants to get the Outback now. I am not so hot on the idea but it is her car so ultimately, she will get what she wants. But if we do get the Outback, I am absolutely getting extended warranty for it (and will resist the finance guy pressure tactics but will get it from a different dealer after the fact). Our two other cars are Hondas and I will say I am very unimpressed with Subaru long-term reliability.

I wanted to provide a final update on my air mode actuator replacement saga:

 

When I originally bought both driver side actuators (my legacy does not have a passenger side unit as it does not have separate climate control) I took apart the upper (mode door) actuator. I wanted to see how it looked on the inside before installing it. What I did not anticipate is the part basically falling to pieces as soon as I opened it, with cogs and everything falling out. I then put it together how I thought it should go but as I said in my previous post, it did not look like it worked right.

 

I bought a second copy of the upper actuator and yesterday, I took out the lower actuator (heat) to gain space and then took off the upper actuator again. Then I lubricated the "channels" on the new part with quite a bit of dry Teflon lubricant. Then I took a bit more time to try understand the positions of "pins" as they go into channels...

 

Going back to 2 weeks ago: I went to Subaru dealer and spoke to a tech about installation of this. He said that I do not need to worry about the position of pins; as long as the part was lubricated and installed correctly (pins were in their right channels, no matter the exact position) - the part would sort itself out and move the pins in their correct locations when car was turned on and you cycle though all positions (air up, down, both, defrost etc.)

 

And finally - success! I was able to fiddle with pins and put them in about mid position and then placed the upper actuator on. The evidence of it all being aligned properly was that this time, I was able to drive in the last (top) screw (you have to do it blindly if you are doing it from below, I used a magnetic stubby screwdriver).

 

Put the bottom actuator back on, connected the body integrated unit loosely and tested - all is working great!

 

Funny thing is - all this took under 1 1/2 hours yesterday as I did it before, LOL. But anyway, this is now fixed.

Well,

 

Today I managed to replace both of those, from the bottom (no taking dash out). The key to the top screw was a #2 stubby screwdriver.

 

I took off the lower actuator first (that's the one for heating) and then it was easier to remove the top one also as screws were a bit more obvious (the top one had to be done by feel).

 

I am not 100% certain that I managed to align all the pins into the grooves on the new top actuator; I tested it and tested it and it seems to be working but it bugs me that it might not be totally right; I dunno if the bottom (air on the feet) is working correctly (but this is not my car so I am not very familiar how airflow worked in it before when the actuator was still working properly). I could not get the top screw in for the top actuator again LOL so right now it is held by only two screws, but it seems to be holding and is secure enough.

 

After a ton of searching, I was unable to find out any information on how the 3 pins should be positioned when the actuator is installed, so they all sit in their proper channels?

Hmmm... what I just realized is that looking at the illustration, it seems like the "mode door actuator" illustrated is the one that is marked as #2 in my attachment... and it is one that is above the part #7 in my illustration so that would indicate that yes, in fact, both of those can be replaced from below using the same process?

Does anyone know if the air mix door actuator can also be replaced using the same instructions, or the dash has to come out?

 

Mode door actuator is below (7) and air mix is above (2).

Answer is YES.

 

I did it with mine.

 

Its easy to take it off - half an hour and you are done. I recommend to download manuals prior doing it and check the process. I also recommend to purchase sound insulation materials and put it on inner side of the dash and firewall. And of course, new actuators.

 

Brilliant, thanks!!

 

Curious - I am thinking it would be safe to have the A-pillar clips ready at least as they might break / deform as you take off the trim; any clips / plastic fasteners that broke for you during the process?

 

Good idea on sound material; I would take this opportunity to tighten whatever I find beck there as there ate at least two rattles that have been going on for a while.

I have two air actuators that have either died or are dying; the blend door actuator is totally dead. The driver side actuator is still making clicking noises all the time, but more and more, it also just goes quiet.

 

I am talking about this problem:

 

Sound inside dash when I turn off the car.

 

Now - Subaru of course wants ~$2000 for the work. But I think I can do this by myself, but it is unclear to me if the dash can be taken out without taking off the steering wheel / steering column on the 5th gen Legacy? The shop manual indicates that the steering column needs to come out, but the following video (which shows an Outback) seems to indicate that this can be done without taking the steering wheel off:

 

 

Has anyone done this? That actuator right there in the middle on the top is the one that is dead (blend door) and without it, defrost will not work, air mode cannot be changed... PITA!

Okay - problem solved. What you need is Subaru part 57530AJ00A. Then:

 

1. Take the trunk internal trim off (pop off plastic holders by slightly popping out the middle and then pulling the whole thing out) - you might want to leave the middle one in just for stability.
   
2. Take out the trunk handle by prying out the side that is closer to the front of the car (side away from you when you have the trunk lid open).
   
3. Take the trunk trim off.
   
4. Unplug the electrical harness to the latch.
   
5. Unscrew two 10mm bolts that hold the latch assembly.
   

 

Now you can navigate the latch out and observe that there is a cable with a ball on the end that needs to be taken out and put into the new latch. To do that, you can use a small screwdriver to navigate the cable out of the notch inside and then open the latch mechanism to be able to remove the cable.

 

The latch mechanism has a cover that kind of pivots; to pivot it, see this photo. The red arrow shows the metal bump that extends through the black plastic (that plastic is the cover that pivots). All that you have to do is push the cover over that bump in the directions of green arrows.

 

 

Once that is done (you almost feel like you'll need 3 hands for this but I did it by myself OK) then it is a matter of guiding the cable out of the old latch, putting the cable into the notch in the mechanism and wedging the cable secure, closing the latch mechanism back up and then screwing it back onto the trunk lid. Torque (if you care):

 

7.5 (0.76, 5.5)

N·m (kgf-m, ft-lb)

 

MAKE SURE TO PLUG IN THE ELECTRICAL HARNESS BEFORE TESTING THIS.

 

Then put it all back together and that's it.

Had similar issue once

Check the emergency latch release that’s inside the trunk. (Right above the latch)

Pull on it a couple of times and lock it back into place. That’s what helped mine go back to normal.

 

 

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That right there might be the reason why this is a problem. About two months ago, we found the emergency handle thing in the trunk. It never fit right again; and I think it is because of the wire that held it in place. I’m going to get the new latch mechanism and replace it, as it is all together. Will report back!

 

 

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Thank you! Yeah, tried lubricating and no help (in fact I think it is worse now, LOL).

 

I tried the button in the glove compartment; but that is really only for making the inside button not open the trunk, right? Anyway - it seem to have made no difference at all.

 

Definitely nothing is in the way of closing.

Wife came from a store and the trunk does not want to close. You drop it down and it just bounces back. It’ll close maybe once in 10 tries.

 

I checked the mechanism on the trunk lid side and it appears to move freely. If I “lock it” while opened, it properly unlocks with a button or remote but then just would not close?

 

Do I need to replace the lid side trunk latch mechanism?

 

 

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did that fix it?

 

 

 

Yes! All fixed. Wife and daughter (both around 110-120 lb) confirmed that since the repair, the airbag behaves as it should, no intermittent turning off.

 

 

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Just for others who might run into this in the future:

 

We took the car to a different dealer who took more time to try diagnose the problem. In the end, they too said to replace the seat bottom. Ended up having them do it; if one does a DIY replacement of this, you still need to take it to the dealer to do what’s called ODS rezeroing- essentially factory calibration after the new part is installed.

 

$1350 all said and done. Could be worse, I guess.

 

 

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My wife just returned the 2020 Outback loaner we had while her 2011 Legacy was at the dealer for about 2 weeks.

 

She liked the utility of it and noticeably better lights than the candles that Subaru calls lights in her Legacy.

 

She kind of hated the media unit; CarPlay was less reliable than in the aftermarket pioneer unit I installed in her Legacy. Driver monitoring was annoying her at times too and can’t be permanently turned off it seems.

 

I can’t believe that the engine on the 2020 still vibrates as much as it does when in park. Meh.

 

 

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Nice!

 

I think it's really time you polish those headlights; they seem to be quite oxidized, just like mine were. That will definitely cause some of the light not to make it to the road.

My receipt, from yesterday (when this was redone on my car) shows that the following was used in the recall:

 

98279AJ06A

 

I found a good link that also indicates this part (98279AJ06A) is the 'final replacement part':

 

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCMN-18V013-5979.pdf

 

Takata part number 98279AJ02A has been superseded by part number 98279AJ06A as a recall

replacement part for the 2010-2013 Legacy/Outback.

OK, well - the Subaru was again at the deal for intermittent light.

 

Long story short, they 'recalibrated the sensor' and there is absolutely no difference. The airbag will turn off for my wife and daughter, very easily.

 

To help explain:

 

My wife is about 115 lbs. If she sits in the passenger seat with her legs all the way straight (so her legs touch the front part of the seat) - then the passenger airbag shows ON.

 

If then she brings her feet a bit closer, so the front of the seat is unloaded (but her butt is clearly still on the seat) - well, then the passenger airbag goes to OFF pretty much no fail.

 

Lower the legs down - ON again.

 

Now - while she showed this to them, they took her to an Outback they had available... and the same thing happened in that Outback (putting her feet closer to the seat caused the airbag OFF, but then stretching them again made the light be ON and it would not go OFF again).

 

We have been told that the sensor requires 70 lbs of weight in the seat. So we are to believe now that everything is working properly. I am baffled. Both my wife and I are wondering if it is possible we were blind for years and this was happening often? Note, she mostly drives this car.

 

And oh yeah - at my insistence, they gave me a quote for replacement of the seat bottom: $1520 with labor.

 

I'm wondering now if there is a way to hardwire that sensor into the state where the airbag is ON all the time no matter what. We will not have more small kids, and if airbags come on, the car will be totaled anyway.

 

Confused.

I recently received a recall mailer for this sensor in my '17 Forester XT. Never saw one for the Legacys, but maybe there needs to be unless its a pretty isolated issue.

 

I think this is different... in 2012 MY, Subaru has started using a different type of Occupant Detection System (ODS). They went from weight-based sensor to what's know as Electrostatic Capacitance Sensor ODS. It uses different voodoo to detect if seat is occupied, but has a bunch of issues too, like something spilling on the seat, a person in the damp bathing suit on the seat or a cell phone in your pocket can result in passenger airbag turning off. I thought I read it somewhere that they stopped using those in 2014 MY but I am not sure on that. Either way, the issue is likely different. I looked through Subaru TSBs and recalls and there is nothing for 2011 MY ODS that I could find...

Update from today:

 

Subaru seems to be in the place now where the dealership has the parts and they do not want to let the car go until the recall was completed.

 

I still do not see any outstanding recalls for my car. I still did not get any mailings for it. But today, I met my wife at the dealership to demonstrate a different issue. Once they saw that other issue, they said that they now have the parts for the yet unannounced (and second) recall of the passenger air bag, and that they will keep the car until that is performed.

 

I have talked to the service advisor that I want the air blend door actuators replaced at the same time because of the annoying and almost constant clickety-clack noise at least one of them makes when driving and when the car is turned off. So they will be looking at that also.

 

But yeah - the new recall seems to be real. I guess it depends on how early your original Takata airbag recall was done (I had it done as soon as possible when it originally happened a few years ago).

I have now unbolted the seat and flipped it on its back. Then undid all the connectors under the front and cleaned them. Put it back together and... no change whatsoever. Sigh.

 

I was able to see that by riveting the sensor to the seat, Subaru probably saved about 5 cents per car. That is why they don’t sell this part separately but only sell the seat bottom with the sensor attached. About $2000, if I understand it right.

 

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I don't remember who it was, but I seem to remember someone on here mentioning something about a service that will repair or replace just the sensor, rather than having to buy a full replacement upholstered seat cushion. Might have been long enough ago that you'd have to include the 5th-gen archive in your search, but it's out there somewhere...

 

Yeah...

 

I found an old thread about an eBay seller who was advertising such service. It was a different seller, but I did find another one that advertises the following:

 

2008- 2016 SUBARU REPAIR ODS MODULE CODE 29 or B1650 98321AJ01B 98321AJ00B

 

The thing that is interesting is that they mention two codes (29 or B1650) and I am not sure that there IS a code that is being thrown. Based on more in-car testing that we did here and there over the week, it seems like the problem is that either the circuit of the weight sensor gets broken or the connection under the seat has issues (which I will attempt to clean tomorrow). But the dealer was clear that there is no SRS code present. What seems to be happening is that the seat simply periodically thinks that nobody is sitting in it.

 

I would prefer that the failure mode be "airbag is ON" vs. "airbag is OFF" which seems to be the case.

Most likely the seat sensor is bad or getting there, unfortunately it also means the seat bottom would need to be replaced since the sensor is built into the foam.

 

First I would check the connections under the seat for any corrosion on the terminals, maybe even just put some contact cleaner on them either way.

 

Yeah, good idea; I have some CRC MAF cleaner spray, it should be safe for a thing like this. I'll see if I can unplug all of them things under the seat and clean them out as a first step. I think all of the plugs are near the front edge of the seat so it should be possible to unplug them without unbolting the seat.

There is a recall of the first recall, if that makes sense, some airbags were replaced with stop-gap airbags with the old inflator. So they will need to be replaced again. And don't be surprised the recall isn't complete the participation rate of owners is astonishingly low.

 

That's exactly what happened with my 2005 Accord, and I was wondering if it is abut to happen with the Leqacy also.

 

There was a second recall on an already recalled (and replaced) part. Both the driver and passenger airbags in that 2005 Accord were replaced twice, therefore.

 

If I log into my Subaru site, I see no outstanding recalls for the car; this seems to be something new.

While looking for TSBs related to airbags today, I noticed the attached one for "Click, Pop or Creek sound from left or right outer cowl corner / base of A pillar area" (12-169-14). Seems to apply to 2010-2014 MY Legacy and Outback.

 

Could this be a part of the problem on some cars?

6685734.pdf

I am having difficult time trying to figure out what is going on with our car: it has started to intermittently change from Passenger Airbag ON to OFF while driving. The passenger is in the front seat, sitting, no strange sitting position (in other words, the seat bottom with the sensor is not unloaded of the weight).

 

I have seen it happen with both my wife and my daughter.

 

What I did so far:

 

• Checked that all of the wires under the seat are tight and fully plugged in; they are. Wiggled all the stuff while the airbag was showing ON and it had no effect.
  
• Learned that the ODS (Occupant Detection System) control module is at the bottom of the passenger seat and is not serviceable; there seem to be some vendors on eBay that provide a 'repair' service but it is still unclear to me if I need that.
  
• Went to the dealer to read SRS codes; there was no code history at all, and while at the shop, the problem could not be reproduced (I was there in the garage with the guy, he was correct, it all behaved as expected).
  
• I have instructed my wife to pay attention to this a bit more now and try experimenting with moving the seat more forward vs. back and seeing if it changes anything.
  

 

Things that I do not understand:

 

Let's say that there is an SRS code (I am guessing that this would be under SRS?) Would there be history of this like with engine codes, or would this read only when the problem is present and then be gone, if there was some sort of a problem?

 

I do not have a reader at this point that reads SRS codes, but am considering getting one, to hopefully be able to record a change in the state while the car is driving; but I might not need to do that if past SRS codes are remembered.