Re: Automatic Climate Control: You can have it!

Could you share that knowledge with us? Mine works crazy, just like most of the rest of ours.

It shouldn't take FOUR MONTHS to figure out how the climate control works. Subaru climate control is very poorly designed.

I had to create my own fix - see the link below:

"Get used to how it worked"? The essence of a automatic climate control, it seems to me, is you set it and forget it. There's no "getting used" necessary. It should be a no-brainer.

Indeed that's how the system worked in the '99 Accord V6 that my Forester replaced, and it's the way the system in my Volvo S60 works. The Volvo is the best--we don't even think about it because it just maintains the desired temperature transparently.

I'm in the US, also, and mine does NOT "work fine." It needs frequent adjustment, and there's no correspondence I can tell between the temp settings on the dial and the real-world temperature. I'm going to point out this problem when I go in Friday for my second oil change, but I'm not hopeful.

Despite this glitch, and the less-than-wonderful gas mileage, I still love my XT Premium!

HW

insufficient

I had a Volvo 850 with climate control for 8 years and in all those years I switched it to manual control only a couple of times, in order to defrost the windshield.

Now I have an Infiniti with climate control, and it has an annoying habit of switching on the dash vents in chilly weather.

The Forester doesn't have climate control so that's not a concern.

Err, perhaps I should have said "experience" rather than knowledge.

For example, today, in manual mode, I was warm in our boiling sun. I twisted the cool/heat knob all the way CCW (or full COOL mode). The air got very cool. I then turned one click back toward hot. Then another, and another. After three or four clicks, the air grew warmer, as you would expect it to. It did NOT begin to even feel warm until after crossing from "blue" to "red" zone. As you'd expect.

Folks who say theirs goes from cool to hot in that first click appear to have a malfunction. To accept the excuse, "it's a design feature" is a lack of knowledge or experience.

Would it behave like the above in full AUTO mode? Yep, it has so far.

Nah, it is simply that I have never before owned an automatic climate control system in an auto. Also, that I didn't read the book very much, and I don't work at it for hours on end. I just experimented to see what seems to work.

Result: the system seems to work fine. A click up, a click down, it responds nicely. I can't imagine a need for your "system" to blow air down the little tube!

Bottom line: my USA model Forester works quite well, without modification. Sorry, but that's the situation here!

Okay, Hal. Sorry yours isn't working well. Mine is (and I am not sorry about that!)

And sorry I am so slow to get used to an automatic feature. I didn't read very much of the book before taking a long trip. Oh, I took a long time to get used to my home computer's capability, also. I guess there are some benefits to not being young and impatient anymore.

My Forester maintains the temp approximately where I set it. (I do not use a calibrated thermometer to check it, however. I use "my comfort" as my gauge.)

I simply can not understand how so many systems do not work and the Subie mechanics just tell you it is designed that way.

GTT, glad you're satisfied. As for the benefits of not being so young and impatient anymore, though I continue to be on the impatient side, I assure you that I no longer qualify for the "young" excuse!

I think the guy who advertised here the kit to install a small fan in that sensor duct is onto something. I know my Volvo has such devices on its climate control sensors and, as I said, the Volvo system truly is set-and-forget automatic, as I was thus spoiled to expect of the Forester. Alas, the Forester, despite my great liking for it, is not in the same price class.

Hal

The car I owned and drove primarily before buying my Forester was a 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue. Its automatic climate control worked perfectly: Set the digital display at 68 degrees (in the winter -- I'd set it at 72 in the summer) and the car was magically comfortable all the time. The first time I set out in my new Forester, I set the manual dial at what should correspond to 68. It was about 25 degrees F outside. Once the engine warmed up, the thing started blowing desert-hot air full blast. It kept this up until I was uncomfortably warm, at which time I started to turn the dial down. When it got to about 64 the system seemed to be blowing air at the correct temp. I figured this must be the setting that would be comfortable for me in this particular car. But about 5 minutes later, I noticed I was shivering. So I turned the dial back up, to warm up the car. And so began the irritation -- "chore" seemed too harsh a description -- of having to constantly tweak the temp knob up and down to keep myself comfortable.

The Forester's slow reaction to cabin temperature continues to show itself -- and to annoy me. And I've owned two other cars (in addition to the Olds) with automatic climate control systems -- a 1989 and 1990 Audi. Both of these car's systems were as "set and forget" as that in the Olds. So I'm *not* new to automatic climate control systems, and perhaps therefore have a bit higher expectation of the system.

I remember being 16 and absolutely thrilled at owning a car that would just start and move me down the road. It was 1985 and the car was a 1982 Ford Escort and an AM-only radio, a 4-speed non-OD manual transmission, and a wimpy 1.6L engine -- not to mention being seriously deficient in the then-important "cool" department. I'm pretty sure I'd be less thrilled with a similar car today, despite placing much less importance on "coolness" than I did at 16. Point being, we tend to resist moving from something better to something worse.

I checked out the gentleman's pre-fab fan kit, and have decided I can build my own for a lot less than the $60 he wants for his. My only problem is finding a supplier that sells a tiny 17mm muffin fan. Once I find one, I'll make my own voltage controller, cut the ears off the discharge side of the fan, and stick it in the little tube. (And I'll probably add a little switch so I can turn it off if the sound of the fan ever becomes annoying.) Yeah, I could survive without it. But why should I?

If and when I locate a supplier for the 17mm fan, I'll post it here. I'll even post an electronic schematic so you can make your own voltage controller.

- Greg Reed

Excessive delay in a feedback (control) loop is a classical cause of overshoot and under damped response. A fan to the sensor should help.

-rick-