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'06 Forester Heater/Mode Cables Deform
The manual mode control stopped operating on this '06 Forester with around 75K; the cable had bent. After replacing it with another "official" Subaru cable from the local dealer, it deformed again.
Discovery ? We installed a complete heater and mode control system including the dash panel from a 2003 Forester ( $50. thanks to a used parts yard here in Maine). The complete OEM system from Subaru was about $300. The newer cables and our 2006 cables were thin gauge single strand wire.
The older '03 cables were thicker, more rigid, multi strand.
Our '06 cable wire had simply deformed around itself. Yes we're in Downeast Maine, BUT ?
Any others with this 'problem' ?
Looks like Subaru beancounters wanted to save a few pennies.
Discovery ? We installed a complete heater and mode control system including the dash panel from a 2003 Forester ( $50. thanks to a used parts yard here in Maine). The complete OEM system from Subaru was about $300. The newer cables and our 2006 cables were thin gauge single strand wire.
The older '03 cables were thicker, more rigid, multi strand.
Our '06 cable wire had simply deformed around itself. Yes we're in Downeast Maine, BUT ?
Any others with this 'problem' ?
Looks like Subaru beancounters wanted to save a few pennies.
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Comments
Impossible ! :mad:
Hey, it's a machine. Engineers and manufacturers often cut corners as in this case.
The wires for the mode and heater controls were a thicker gauge in earlier ( e.g. 2003 ) Foresters; this replaced the weak, thin, cheap wires that deformed on our 2006 Forester.
That's the beginning and end. You enthusiasts sound too "enthused" about this vehicle.
" Never heard any complaints about the Olds front ends breaking." The above account is accurate, correct, detailed, honest. Period. Don't get offended. :sick:
That's the beginning and end. You enthusiasts sound too "enthused" about this vehicle. " Never heard any complaints about the Olds front ends breaking." The above account is accurate, correct, detailed, honest. Period. Don't get offended."
Not offended, just trying to figure out what happened. Had not heard of it on any Forester in the Edmund and and subaruforester.org in the past four years, nor has is happened on my '08 Forester, so it sounds unusual.
For me, that means ensuring the system is set on defrost/footwell split with fan speed at '2'. I wouldn't even think about changing that setting with the temperature at -20 to -30 (or lower) like we've been having in Fairbanks for the last week and a half!
So far, I've owned four Subaru vehicles (not of the second gen Forester, though), all of which have lived outside, with no cable problems. (Is this the part where I knock on wood?
$700 does sound spendy, yet it does take some time to dig into the stuff packed behind the dash.
Conclusion ? The SOA beancounters decided to save a few $$$ on decreasing the quality and reliability of the heater set cables in the 2005-2006 models. The "older" set works perfectly.
Note: dealer says: "we've never had that problem." Customer says: " the check is in the mail", and...." I will love you in the morning dear."
Conclusion ? The SOA beancounters decided to save a few $$$ on decreasing the quality and reliability of the heater set cables in the 2005-2006 models.
It would have been the weight watchers, not the bean counters. Every ounce of extra weight is being removed to improve fuel economy. There may have been no decrease in cost. Expect many more such weight reductions in new models.
Weight of a full set of cable [non-permissible content removed]'y weight including knobs is less than a couple of pounds. Decreasing the thickness and material quality of cables of less than 12" for each cannot be a weight decision on a vehicle weight or "fuel economy". Give us a break: SOA wanted to save a buck.
Now if it is weight, the poundage of the hood for example has been lightened by near 1/2 from the 2001 Forester to the 2006. Now that's a weight consideration for fuel savings.
In any product, the CFO rules.
Certainly cost is also very important: We are Subaru rather than Audi buyers.
Audi , for example,went too far on early model year 1974 Fox models' window crank mechanisms and had to retrofit heavier and sturdier versions. My new 1974 Audi Fox was one of those getting the fix.