Mode door actuator location 2010 Subaru legacy

[Smarvin05]

Does anyone have a diagram where the mode door actuator is located on a 2010 legacy 2.5i? I can’t seem to find it anywhere

[DrD123]

Here you go

[bigboy292000]

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).

[bigboy292000]

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?

[Brunzo]

2 - this is "mode" actuator.

7 - cold/hot air mix actuator.

Some people changed "2" without dash removal but its extremely hard due to unscrewing upper screws. I changed mine when dash was removed. Its a way easier.

[bigboy292000]

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?

[bigboy292000]

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.