The heater in my car is horrible

I have been having this issue since day 1 but its completely driving me bat shit. I keep having to adjust the temperature settings for it to be consistent. Sometimes 75 degrees is blistering hot while sometimes it will be freezing cold. Both sides are NEVER the same temp (you can feel it on your hands) and I will be freezing while the girlfriend is being scorched. I took it to Subaru and they said which the temp set to 75 degrees, they got readings of 106 degrees on the driver's side while the passenger was 64 degrees. I asked them to correct this to hear "According to Subaru technical, its completely within acceptable ranges". I couldn't believe that a 40 degree difference is "normal". Its really annoying because I am constantly changing the temperature in the car because sometimes 80 is freezing and other times 66 degrees is hot. Does anyone have this problem is it just me? I searched for threads about "heat" issues but nothing really so far.

Is you car a LGT with the auto climate controls?

Do you run it on auto mode?

 

I run my controls in manual mode all the time. I have never really used the auto feature. I pretty much leave my settings at 69F and the fan on the lowest setting all the time. The inside temp stays pretty even in my car. I might have to kick it up or down a degree or two on the highway during a road trip, but it has never been too hot or too cold on one side or the other.

yes, it has the auto but I dont use it as it loves to turn on the A/C when its 38 degrees outside and there is no reason to dehumidify the air. Its more like a crap shoot when I set my temps. 75 could be cool or burning hot. I can never just leave a temp setting as it changes day to day on how hot or cold it might be blowing out of the vents.

Maybe they should check to see if the little temp sensor is working properly. Have them read the signal being sent from the sensor that detects cabin temp. That is totally wrong. Like you said the AUTO feature kicks the fan up way too high and pretty much does what it wants. In manual mode cabin temps should be pretty stable.

+1 i have this problem as well

Me too. Constantly the AC indicator is on when it's freezing outside... no wonder the MPG sucks in this car. It's like the thing is either heating or cooling to moderate the temp. My truck works great plus its a dual climate...

FYI, the A/C indicator does not indicate when the AC is on, just when the cliamte control might turn it on.

Somewhere, there's a great thread on how the climate control works in our cars. Helps make sense of it.

However, the auto climate control in this car blows, except when its too hot or cold in the car. Every other car I've used with auto systems: audi, VW, infiniti, toyota, BMW, MB, even chrysler works much better. The VW/Audi one is by far the best setup.

FYI, the A/C indicator does not indicate when the AC is on, just when the cliamte control might turn it on.

True.

 

However, the auto climate control in this car blows

That's what it is supposed to do.

 

crap

Sums up the automatic climate control in one word.

 

I took it to Subaru and they said which the temp set to 75 degrees, they got readings of 106 degrees on the driver's side while the passenger was 64 degrees.

THIS defies even car dealer logic. I would like the design staff to explain this to me. I think there is something wrong with it.

Enforcer, you are definitely not alone on this one. My auto system does the same damn thing. My wife freezes her feet off in my Leggy and hates to ride in it in the winter. This has been a fact of life since I got my car.

 

Yesterday and this morning really reinforced the temp differential I have seen, must be something with the 2 degree temps...brrr! I feel a cold breeze on the right side of my head, while my left ear is nice and warm. I feel the driver side center dash vent and it is blowing nice warm-hot air. I then check the passenger side center dash vent and it is cold, not freezing, but cold. The control is in full manual mode with both temps set at 85 degrees. I ratchet the passenger side down to 65 and the air turns into a freezing flow. Bring it back up to 85 and it comes back to just cold...hmmm.

 

I am going to see what I can dig up at a couple local Subie dealers and let you know what I come up with. This can't be considered "normal", especially when the 85 degree setting is supposed to bypass the temp control (i.e.- full hot), similar to the 65 degree setting being equal to 'vent' (i.e.- no heat). Hopefully some dealership out there knows what the fix is for this and let's us all in on the 'secret'. I really with the Ltd model came with manual heat/cool.

Seriously! I rode in my friend's 99 Audi A4 and the auto climate control is superb! When it's set to 73 degree's both driver and passenger sides feel the EXACT same and the air coming out isn't insanely hot or cold, its just what 73 degrees should feel like. When I set the function to AUTO, it slowly rose the heat up until it reached the desired temp and then just held it there, warm and gentle air blew the entire time and the A/C NEVER kicked on. On the way to work today, I had the bi-level heat on (floor and top vent). My feet were hot (temp was set to 73 *sigh*) and the air coming out of the top of the defrost vent was luke warm / cold. How can this be normal? It defies all logic and common sense. I opened a case with Subaru of America but they haven't called me back in a week.

I've seen this as a negative in some car reviews for the Legacy. The climatronic is more on the ... paranoid side. Instead of slowly raising or lowering the temps, it tries too hard to *quickly* reach the target temperature and this leads to it blowing extremely hot or cold air.

I'd think you would have already read this, but just in case, I found it very beneficial to understanding the system:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6515

 

I turn mine onto semi-auto mode....I press the auto button and then turn off the a/c. The a/c turns off but it is still in auto mode minus that. 70 on both sides. It gets a little warm as the heat is coming up because it is trying to reach 70 quickly, but once it warms up, it settles down and I am very comfortable.

That's exactly what I do too, spect2k. I'm not having any major issues or complaints with the auto climate, it's OK for me. Just too paranoid at times.

i keep mine on auto at 72 degrees on each side and it does just fine. Not sure if it matters but my car is an 07...