Forrester Climate Control Problem Solved ????

[Victor Roberts]

I'm close to making a decision to buy a 2006 Forester X with
Premium Package (in the US) to replace my 97 Outback. One
issue is that I've read here and other places about problem
with the climate control system in the Forester - mostly
that it doesn't properly sense the cabin temperature so the
temperature will cycle between being too high and too low.

Does anyone know if this is still a problem? I test drive
the car yet again today and my dealer says he has never
heard about this problem.

Another "problem" is that I just love my 97 OB so much that
the Forester seems like less of a car - but I also don't
like the design of the new OB's but know that my 97 OB will
not last forever

 

[Blair Baucom]

On my 2005, it sometimes likes to roast me, and going to manual still puts
out hot air when set to 65°F. For cooling it works pretty good. Most of the
time in the winter I have to remove my coat and set it at 65-68°F for the
car to be cool enough.

Blair

 

[Woody]

I'm close to making a decision to buy a 2006 Forester X with
Premium Package (in the US) to replace my 97 Outback. One
issue is that I've read here and other places about problem
with the climate control system in the Forester - mostly
that it doesn't properly sense the cabin temperature so the
temperature will cycle between being too high and too low.

Does anyone know if this is still a problem? I test drive
the car yet again today and my dealer says he has never
heard about this problem.

Another "problem" is that I just love my 97 OB so much that
the Forester seems like less of a car - but I also don't
like the design of the new OB's but know that my 97 OB will
not last forever

I don't know if for '06 Subaru has a fixed climate control, looking
forward to hearing an answer to your question. In the mean time, a
little rant:

Two years ago we traded our '98 Forester s in on a '04 Forester xs. In
'04 Subaru cut some corners to keep the price down however there were
some new features such as limited slip rear diff. Overall the '04 as
good as the '98 was EXCEPT FOR THE #$%*&%* CLIMATE CONTROL.

If the '04 system could truly be switched to manual, all would be
almost ok except for the heat never wanting to be on low.
In automatic the system either is blasting heat with fan on 4 or
blasting a/c with the fan on 4. And attempting to operate in "manual"
get semi-auto with the a/c turning on/off at will and the fan having a
mind of it's own. For example, outside temp 20 degrees F, car is up to
temp and you want just a little heat. Crank the temp control down and
the a/c comes in. At 20 degrees outside. A real POS. In winter we
resort to turning the fan on and off manually every few min to keep
the inside comfortable.

The '04 Forester is the wife's car and she puts up with it. If it were
mine, it would be gone even though otherwise it is a fine car.



Woody; 95FXDS

 

[Blair Baucom]

Not sure if the 2004 is the same as the 2005, but I override the AC when it
is cold outside. You can leave the rest in auto and turn it on-off. If you
press it down and hold, it will flash and then go back into automatic.
Recirculation works the same way.

Mine does slow the blower when needed. It seems like the system tries to
guess when you need to defog/defrost.

It guesses correctly 95% of the time. Its during the 5% where it tries to
cook me that I'm not too happy. When you set it to cold and dash in manual,
cold air should come out when it is 40F outside.

Blair

 

[Victor Roberts]

I don't know if for '06 Subaru has a fixed climate control, looking
forward to hearing an answer to your question. In the mean time, a
little rant:

Two years ago we traded our '98 Forester s in on a '04 Forester xs. In
'04 Subaru cut some corners to keep the price down however there were
some new features such as limited slip rear diff. Overall the '04 as
good as the '98 was EXCEPT FOR THE #$%*&%* CLIMATE CONTROL.

If the '04 system could truly be switched to manual, all would be
almost ok except for the heat never wanting to be on low.
In automatic the system either is blasting heat with fan on 4 or
blasting a/c with the fan on 4. And attempting to operate in "manual"
get semi-auto with the a/c turning on/off at will and the fan having a
mind of it's own. For example, outside temp 20 degrees F, car is up to
temp and you want just a little heat. Crank the temp control down and
the a/c comes in. At 20 degrees outside. A real POS. In winter we
resort to turning the fan on and off manually every few min to keep
the inside comfortable.

The '04 Forester is the wife's car and she puts up with it. If it were
mine, it would be gone even though otherwise it is a fine car.

This doesn't sound very encouraging. Why would I want to
buy a car that makes me put up with this?

 

[Bugalugs]

This doesn't sound very encouraging. Why would I want to
buy a car that makes me put up with this?

Because other vehicles which may be thought to have "better" a/c are
deficient in other areas.

 

[Michael Pardee]

Because other vehicles which may be thought to have "better" a/c are
deficient in other areas.

It brings to mind the two-liner:
"Why do Yugos have rear window defrosters?"
"To keep your hands warm while pushing it."

Mike

 

[Victor Roberts]

If the '04 system could truly be switched to manual, all would be
almost ok except for the heat never wanting to be on low.
In automatic the system either is blasting heat with fan on 4 or
blasting a/c with the fan on 4. And attempting to operate in "manual"
get semi-auto with the a/c turning on/off at will and the fan having a
mind of it's own. For example, outside temp 20 degrees F, car is up to
temp and you want just a little heat. Crank the temp control down and
the a/c comes in. At 20 degrees outside. A real POS. In winter we
resort to turning the fan on and off manually every few min to keep
the inside comfortable.

Woody - I just spoke to the service department at my Subaru
dealer and they said 1) they have never had a complaint
about the automatic climate control, and 2) it can be run in
manual mode. Since this would not be the first time that
service or tech support people didn't know what they were
talking about or lied to their customers so they would not
have to face a problem, can you confirm that your are
talking about a US Forester - since I know that there are
significant differences between Foresters sold in the US and
other countries.

 

[Woody]

Woody - I just spoke to the service department at my Subaru
dealer and they said 1) they have never had a complaint
about the automatic climate control, and 2) it can be run in
manual mode. Since this would not be the first time that
service or tech support people didn't know what they were
talking about or lied to their customers so they would not
have to face a problem, can you confirm that your are
talking about a US Forester - since I know that there are
significant differences between Foresters sold in the US and
other countries.

Victor,

Ayah, New Hampshire is in the USA. I would not have a real issue if
the "manual" mode was really that. But even in "manual" the a/c goes
and off on its own even at 20 degrees F and sometimes fan speeds
change so "manual" is really semi-automatic. On a typical one hour
trip in the winter we have to manually turn off the a/c several times.
And if you turn the system "off" to kill the heat for a while and then
later put the fan back on low, the a/c will be back on and fan
speed/outlet choice will be back to semi-auto. All we want is to be
able to set the heat/fan on low and leave it there without getting
cooked.
The issue with the system performance is how the microprocessor is
programmed. This means that the fix should be easy, new firmware code.
Hopefully the '06 models have been fixed.


Woody; 95FXDS

 

[yngver]

Victor,

Ayah, New Hampshire is in the USA. I would not have a real issue if
the "manual" mode was really that. But even in "manual" the a/c goes
and off on its own even at 20 degrees F and sometimes fan speeds
change so "manual" is really semi-automatic. On a typical one hour
trip in the winter we have to manually turn off the a/c several times.
And if you turn the system "off" to kill the heat for a while and then
later put the fan back on low, the a/c will be back on and fan
speed/outlet choice will be back to semi-auto. All we want is to be
able to set the heat/fan on low and leave it there without getting
cooked.
The issue with the system performance is how the microprocessor is
programmed. This means that the fix should be easy, new firmware code.
Hopefully the '06 models have been fixed.

They must have been fixed because I have an '06 and in the situation
you describe, I would just turn off the a/c and leave the rest on
automatic. But I could operate everything manually if I wanted to. I've
only had the new Forester for a little over a month, and it's been cold
weather, but so far I'm very pleased with the climate control. It heats
up pretty quickly but when the sun warms up the cabin it lets in cool
outside air. I keep the a/c off--haven't needed it yet.
-yngver

 

[Blair Baucom]

They must have been fixed because I have an '06 and in the situation
you describe, I would just turn off the a/c and leave the rest on
automatic. But I could operate everything manually if I wanted to. I've
only had the new Forester for a little over a month, and it's been cold
weather, but so far I'm very pleased with the climate control. It heats
up pretty quickly but when the sun warms up the cabin it lets in cool
outside air. I keep the a/c off--haven't needed it yet.
-yngver

My 2005 is the same, I can override the AC. It is a U.S. model. But manual
sometimes does not let cold air in without it being heated. After cooking me
for several minutes, cold air was available again. I leave it set at 65F all
the time, except on the rare occasion I may move it to 66 or 67 F when it
feels a little to cool. For the most part it works ok.

Blair

 

[Victor Roberts]

Ayah, New Hampshire is in the USA. I would not have a real issue if
the "manual" mode was really that. But even in "manual" the a/c goes
and off on its own even at 20 degrees F and sometimes fan speeds
change so "manual" is really semi-automatic. On a typical one hour
trip in the winter we have to manually turn off the a/c several times.
And if you turn the system "off" to kill the heat for a while and then
later put the fan back on low, the a/c will be back on and fan
speed/outlet choice will be back to semi-auto. All we want is to be
able to set the heat/fan on low and leave it there without getting
cooked.
The issue with the system performance is how the microprocessor is
programmed. This means that the fix should be easy, new firmware code.
Hopefully the '06 models have been fixed.

Woody - I'm going back to my dealer on Monday to look at the
Forester's climate control one last time before making the
final deal. I suspect that the system does not have the
capability for real manual control - at least as we are used
to. The AC in any car can only go on or off, but the heat
has always been adjustable, either by mixing heated and
non-heated air or by varying the amount of hot water allowed
into the heater core.

I suspect that when the climate control was added to autos,
some or all car makers eliminated the variable heat control.
They assumed the system could work like a heating system in
a house, where the heat is either on or off and the AC is
either on or off. However, unlike a car, a house is large
enough that you don't have the hot and cold air blowing on
you all the time and the house itself has enough thermal
inertia to hold the temperature relatively constant as the
hot or cold air supply goes on and off.

 

[yngver]

My 2005 is the same, I can override the AC. It is a U.S. model. But manual
sometimes does not let cold air in without it being heated. After cooking me
for several minutes, cold air was available again. I leave it set at 65F all
the time, except on the rare occasion I may move it to 66 or 67 F when it
feels a little to cool. For the most part it works ok.

Blair

Hmm, well, as I said, I haven't the car long enough to experience
weather warmer than about 45 degrees F and I haven't needed the a/c. I
also have it set around 66 or 67. It does blast out hot air at first
just to warm up the car but it stops when it gets up to temp. Then
iwhen it gets too warm it does blow in cool air from outside.

I agree, there ought to be a lower setting because some people like it
cooler than 65 in the car. I did have to fiddle with the vents to keep
it from blasting hot air into my face when it first comes on--I have it
turned more towards my hands now which can use some warming up on a
cold day.
-yngver

 

[Victor Roberts]

Hmm, well, as I said, I haven't the car long enough to experience
weather warmer than about 45 degrees F and I haven't needed the a/c. I
also have it set around 66 or 67. It does blast out hot air at first
just to warm up the car but it stops when it gets up to temp. Then
iwhen it gets too warm it does blow in cool air from outside.

I agree, there ought to be a lower setting because some people like it
cooler than 65 in the car. I did have to fiddle with the vents to keep
it from blasting hot air into my face when it first comes on--I have it
turned more towards my hands now which can use some warming up on a
cold day.
-yngver

I test drove a Forester XT yesterday just to test the
climate control system. The test drive didn't last very
long, but it was long enough for me to decide that I the air
flow going on and off was very distracting. I set the fan
speed to medium instead of automatic set the air positron to
upper body instead of automatic and was pleasantly surprised
to find that the temperature control seemed to work. That
is, instead of the air changing from very hot to very cold
as the system tried to keep the cabin at a fixed
temperature, setting the air temperature lower or higher
made the fixed air flow cooler or warmer, just as had hoped
it would.

So, my previous speculation that cars with automatic climate
control may not have the capability to adjust the
temperature of the heated air was apparently incorrect.

Of, course, this short test drive was not long enough to
test the system under all conditions, but it does seem
encouraging.