Loss off power to radio and climate control.

it just happened to my out of warranty legacy, display went blank but the a/c was still blowing, anybody know how much is the whole unit?

Just did it this morning with shorting of the stereo and HVAC display.

36,700 miles : ( Ill call the dealer and speak like an adult and see if it gets me anywhere..

Hi,

 

I have an 05 GT. My HVAC/radio display went blank once or twice in the second year and did not happen again almost for another year.

The problem got more frequent (just the display, HVAC and radio still worked) and dealer finally replaced the head unit a few months ago and everything has been good since.

 

Thanks to people who already had the problem, I knew what I was up against.

I just had this happen the other day. First time since new (39 months, 45k miles). Was driving to work and stereo shut down, no lights on stereo or climate controls. Parked at work and shut off engine. Immediately turned key back on and everything went back to normal and stereo resumed playing a previous volume.

I've had the flickering about 3 times now. I'll mention it to the dealer next Tuesday. 2007 spec.B

Had this happen to me this morning. My 08 spec B with 15K - stock. Pulling up to work my stereo and hvac display went off but the radio was still on (not controllable), just like the a/c. I turned off the car and it fixed itself. Still happening on after years with no solution I guess....

Thought this problem was because of a recent fender bender but apparently not. Don't tell my insurance company.

 

'05 LGT with 55k started about 2 weeks ago. The HVAC display would go dead but fan was on and kept blowing whatever temp was last selected but none of the controls would change it. Could not duplicate at the dealership so they didn't do anything. A couple days ago it went from intermittant to 100% dead. Radio still works and I've noticed that the radio display doesn't dim at night even though the rest of the instrument panels does.

 

I'm using this as an opportunity to upgrade to '07 head unit to get the aux in.

Got me too, first time three days ago after having the car for 2 1/2 years.....gremlins!

This has been happening to me more and more often. My HVAC and radio go dead and become responsive. The situation is always accompanied by a loud pop/shorting sound in my speakers followed by the HVAC/Radio going dead.

 

This weekend, it happened 4 times on an hour and a half drive. My windshield started fogging up each time, while I am driving 70 mph on a busy highway. Now, it is a safety issue. BTW the previous owner told me it happened to him once, and he had the head unit replaced already.

Edited November 25, 2008 by dorikin69
spelling

Hi all,

 

This happened to my wife about 4 months ago. I had her pull over, restart the car, and it worked fine.

 

Now it happened yesterday on her drive home, and again today. Has ANYONE discovered a fix for this? I really don't want the dealership tearing apart my dash unless this is identified.

 

Joe

Our car has had this very same issue repeatedly, initially in the first year of ownership. Just last month (11/08) another (3rd) HVAC control unit died, this time entirely. A new HVAC control unit was installed as the remedy with SOA picking up the repair cost although the car is out of warranty; A well taken “big boy” gesture on SOAs part.

 

The automatic/dual HVAC is not Subaru’s or Panasonic for that matter best work; an opinion independent of the assemblies’ consistant failure rate. In plain English the HVAC / dual climate control is junk, starting with the absent almost sophomoric functionality. “Sophomoric” is being generous. Our MY05 OB XTs production date was 9/2004 and its this owner's understanding the very same system, defects included, is used in today's production. Go figure. In our case Subaru will forfeit a repeat customer.

Edited December 19, 2008 by M. Schneider

Thanks for bumping this thread. This problem has reached the apex of bad for me, I am hoping. Now, like clockwork this whole thing happens to me everytime I drive my car over 30 minutes. But, the problem has gotten worse. Now, my CD player absolutely refuses to work. In fact, i can't even eject the discs that are currently in there. My Head/HVAC was replaced already by the previous owner. If I take it to a dealer, do you guys think SOA will cover the costs?

Funny...had this happen once too..my only speculation is loose wiring from the factory...just a guess. No clue about SOA's coverage though :-/

If I take it to a dealer, do you guys think SOA will cover the costs?

 

I would buddy up to your local Subaru dealership's service department asking them to fish around for a "Good Will' gesture on the part of SOA. At worst all they can say is "SOA has declined to pay for the repair of a known, declared defect in its dual climate system". SOA has to this day taken a "Good Will" approach when it’s the vehicles first owner, so as the second owner all you can do is try. Go figure right - same defect all be it different vehicle ownership circumstance.

 

SOA was well aware its dual climate control systems functional short comings when production started in late 2004 and then subsequently by their own failure rate/warranty data. SOA is charging this back to the system OEM Panasonic anyway .... it's all part of the process.

 

See what they say~

Edited December 22, 2008 by M. Schneider

Haven't had a chance to take her in yet for a checking up but I have made some observations. Now, my CD player is completely fubar. It won't play or eject any of the discs that are inside of it right now. It really won't even turn on 9 times out of 10. However, I have some good news. My HVAC no longer intermittently freaks out! . Hooray. I would like to listen to some CD quality music sometime, but at least no "shorting". So I am basically thinking it neccesarily has to be a glitch in the CD player and not the HVAC?

 

Furthermore, I took a short trip over the weekend and upon returning to the airport my battery was dead... a quick kick start got me going, but. This is the first time my car has not started after leaving her for a few days. Granted, there are MANY things that could be going on, bad battery, alternator, it has been very cold etc. However, I am wondering if maybe the CD player not functioning could be somehow slowly draining my battery. I need to take her in so they can run some tests.

Dang I was hoping that I had escaped the Radio/HVAC curse, but no such luck. At 33K while driving to work I couldn't change channel or volume on the radio. Restarted at work everything was fine. At lunch time the radio is fine but I've got no HVAC control. That's bad news when it's snowing. I called the dealer they are ordering parts, no questions asked.

 

Just curious as this problem seems to be limited to the radio setup with automatic HVAC control. Does anyone know if the manual setup could be installed in it's place? Thanks.

 

PSB

This has been happening to me since I got the car. Although...mine just flickers after driving for about an hour or more. It has never completely shut off. My warranty ends tomorrow too!!

My radio/cc unit would start to flicker and the radio would start to increase in volume. Dealer swapped it out under warranty

I've lost the red backlight on mine. Everything else seems to work just fine.

I lost the radio/climate control twice. Both times were at the start of a 4 hour drive when I wanted the radio and needed the a/c. Following initial rage and anger, I shut the car down, restarted, and the radio and a/c were restored. Probably the car is screwing with me.

My radio/cc unit would start to flicker and the radio would start to increase in volume. Dealer swapped it out under warranty

 

That's exactly what happens with my car. My warranty expired 12/31......crap!!

This happened to me for the first time tonight -- I've got about 28K on the car. Started her up, no display on the ACC or stereo although the heat was definitely on. Windows started fogging like crazy too.

 

It's kind of a relief to find that it is a fairly common problem. I have done some stereo work (cleansweep, etc) and was worried that I had screwed something up. On the other hand, if the problem recurs, that might make it harder to get a replacement under warranty...

My car did this again...it seems to happen like once a year. NO power to radio or hvac unit. I just ejected a cd and it all came back on. Been working fine ever since.

A mile high huh? It's funny, this happened to me in Colorado. Boulder actually.

Just drove 6.5 hours to buy a LegacyGT and on the way home this happened to me... does anyone know the cause, or the solution? (other than restarting everytime)