AC Not Working After Stereo Install

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frances
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AC Not Working After Stereo Install

Post by frances »

I recently got the factory stereo replaced on a recently purchased 2006 Baja. As I drove home, when I turned on the AC there was blazing HOT air coming out. I took it back and they seemed to immediately know what the problem was and reached behind the console from the passenger seat and adjusted some wires. The AC worked for a few days and then started blowing just air, not AC. I took it back this week and it now is making a hissing sound that was not there before and the air is just air...not ice cold. They said something about pulleys and tubes were difficult to align on the subaru and the pulley had gotten kinked which they tried to straighten out and that it should be working better now; however, as I drove home, it never seemed to blow cold air. I had the Baja for a month before I put the new stereo in and the AC was ICE Cold before the install. Help, please. Thank You!
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Guacamole
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Re: AC Not Working After Stereo Install

Post by Guacamole »

Firstly, congrats on your purchase & welcome to the forums!

Okay now to your issues:
1. Is your 06 a sport or a turbo model, and which stereo did you have installed? (See pics below)
stereo_sport.JPG
stereo_sport.JPG (31.46 KiB) Viewed 4501 times
stereo_turbo.JPG
stereo_turbo.JPG (30.72 KiB) Viewed 4501 times
If it's neither of these, it is not a stock stereo.

2. Was this installation done by a third-party mechanic/technician or a Subaru mechanic/tech?

It sounds like during the installation they may have shorted out the AC compressor. It's easy to short something out & there's a chance of it happening every time you mess around under the consoles if you don't know what you're doing. If they were just doing a quick swap of the same stereo unit this should be no issue, but they may have tapped into power where they shouldn't have, or messed up a connection somewhere. From your story, it sounds like they have no idea what they're doing or have never worked on a Subaru before. The Baja's interior is the exact same as the Gen 3 Legacy & Gen 2 Outbacks, so the maintenance manuals & experience crossover. I'd definitely take it to a genuine Subie tech so they can further diagnose it.
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kamesama980
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Re: AC Not Working After Stereo Install

Post by kamesama980 »

Sounds like they were feeding you a line to cover their ineptitude. Subarus aren't anything terribly exotic or hard to work on. I've had the console out on several cars (including Subarus) and never had a problem putting them back together. go take apart a vacuum-actuated HVAC system and get it working again and tell me a few plugs and bowden cables are hard.
-Russell
"You don't get to judge me for how I fix what you break"
03 sport 5mt
05 turbo 5mt vf39 and other STI bits, 3" turbo-back
Steve.G.Sanders
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Re: AC Not Working After Stereo Install

Post by Steve.G.Sanders »

Hopefully you have already solved this problem, but I just put an aftermarket stereo in my 2006 Baja Turbo. It was far from the first time, but the first one in a Subaru. I followed the instructions that Crutchfield sent and it was very easy.

Damaging the HVAC controls would require effort. There is no need to touch the wiring for it at all. All electrical needs are covered by the radio wiring connection. The only exceptions were a wire for a voice command microphone and a parking brake switch lead, but neither would be in the HVAC harness.

You do have to remove the HVAC control panel from the center stack frame, and there's not much slack in the wires. It's possible that some wires were pulled too hard and damaged. That control panel has one wiring bundle (with no visible connector) and one cable from the temperature control. Based on your description, it's probably wiring damage from excessive force.

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