dougintveld Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I have a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT ltd, which I love, but last week my display for the climate control was working intermittently and now it is completely not working. The buttons always light up but the display panel that shows the blower speed, blower direction, and temperature worked when it wanted to. When the display panel is lit up the controls all work, but when the panel is not lit then nothing works. I know that the radio and HVAC is all one unit but any research I have done points me in the direction of people who had problems with the radio (which works fine in my case). I fear bringing it back to the dealer because I think they will just replace the whole unit and give me a huge bill. Anyone have any ideas or similar issues before I take it to Subaru?...Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVXdc Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Is it single-zone or dual-zone? When the climate control stops working do all of the radio functions still work? What exactly do you mean by "The buttons always light up" (are you talking about the front/rear defogger/defroster buttons)? Start by pulling your radio and making sure all of the harnesses (especially the 8-pin plug that has the A/C control wires) are connected securely. You could try temporarily connecting another good radio, and then running the built-in diagnostic features to make sure there isn't also a problem in the A/C control system (the box elsewhere in the car that controls blower, duct actuators, etc.). Find the 2005 vacation pics for the procedure. But the problems you've described sound internal to the radio/ACC unit. A dealer won't repair it — they'll only want to swap in a new unit. You can try appealing to SOA. You'll need to get a dealer to diagnose the problem (bad radio/ACC) and write up the repair estimate, and then politely complain to SOA that such an important part of the car shouldn't have failed so soon. The smaller the amount of time it's been out of warranty the better your chances for that working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougintveld Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Thanks for the suggestions....the car is dual climate control and no the defrosters do not work when the climate control is not working. What I mean by buttons is that the buttons that suround the panel light up when my lights are on and all other night driving interior lights are on, they just do not work when pressed. My radio and radio controls all work regreless if the climate control is working or not...thanks avian, any more info would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galligs Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I had the same problem with the climate control in my 05 LGT...try pushing the eject button on the CD changer. Mine can back to life after ejected two CD's and is still going strong two weeks later. Sounds crazy but it actually worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluwrxwgn Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I had the same problem with the climate control in my 05 LGT...try pushing the eject button on the CD changer. Mine can back to life after ejected two CD's and is still going strong two weeks later. Sounds crazy but it actually worked for me. This just happened to my wife's '08 Legacy. First thing in the morning everything worked great. Go back out in the afternoon and the radio and climate controls were dead. Checked the fuses and everything was good. So I came on here, so your suggestion and tried it and it came back on and worked flawlessly. Very strange, wife has an appointment at the dealership on Monday so she'll mention it to them while she's there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewsalinger Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I never ejected the cds that were in my player, but the Climate control miraculously came back to life the next time I started my car. Funky yes, I assume it was the computer related... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReluctantGT Posted October 8, 2010 Share Posted October 8, 2010 I've got a similar problem on my 2005. No ominous intermittent failure though. It just stopped. No HVAC display and nothing on the console works except for the radio volume/power, load and eject buttons. Radio display works and CDs are still playing. I'm going to pull it apart tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReluctantGT Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 Update: Pulled the panel off the HVAC/Radio unit. All the solder joints I could see looked fine, but I bent the grounding "springs" back a bit to make sure they connect well, and reassembled. I turned it on and it worked! I suspect the 2 small multi-pin connectors in the middle of the unit got separated from the panel over time. If/when it happens again I may try to shim the circuit board somehow to ensure the connectors mate properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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