WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 I'm waiting on a PDF copy of the factory service manual BUT, I am trying to get to the A/C control panel on my 90 Legacy wagon. I've read some other things about taking the top of the dash off. I see 2 screws on either side of the dash and I'm know there are more in the middle somewhere. I just can't see them. Any idea how many total screws there are? I want to take that control panel out and see if I can fix what I suspect are cold solder joints. Sometimes the air blows and sometimes it doesn't. The A/C compressor is unplugged until I can get it changed over to R134. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemologist Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Hey there, I'm sorry, don't remember where the screws are. Have you looked at YouTube? There are many Subaru how-to's there. Nice because they are videos. As for the A/C control. Had my '90 down at the A/C repair shop having it serviced. The guy came back and told me that I needed a new 'electronic control unit' and that the unit was $600. Driving down the street with the A/C shop in the rear view mirror I started thinking. The most detrimental stress on a car is 'cyclic loading'—the vibration from driving. Electronic components are soldered together; Solder has a lot of 'lead' in it; lead work hardens with vibration; hardened metal cracks because it is now brittle. So I drove up to my friendly 'car radio repair' guy. Al looked at it through his magnifying glass and told me that I had some cracks. Can you fix them? I asked. He said, "yes, I can re-solder the whole thing for $20. I said, "you can't even buy dinner for you and you wife for $20." So I gave him $40. I've got close to 80,000 miles on that 'electronic control unit.' Hope that helps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 I have not found any videos. I want to try resoldring mine as it works intermittently when I keep poking buttons. Right now, I just need air to blow since it's not hot yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemologist Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) Hope I didn't send you on a wild goose chase, looking for a video—I'll try. As for the intermittent functioning, that's what mine did. The A/C would run get cold and stop. It would get hot and the A/C would come on. I think the cracked solder would expand or contract with heat and cold. /////////////////////////// Looks like it was a goose chase... 1990 was before YouTube was invented. Take a look at this; a couple of posts down: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/can-replace-radio-head-unit-my-first-gen-wagoni-165289.html Edited December 27, 2015 by gemologist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikaleda Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) This thread goes into detail of what this job takes and I beleive there is pictures showing where all the screws are.http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1142 Edited December 27, 2015 by mikaleda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 This thread goes into detail of what this job takes and I beleive there is pictures showing where all the screws are.http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1142 Looked at the pics and I'm going to jump on it tomorrow. I wanted to avoid breaking old, brittle, plastic things if I could. Cold and rainy here now not to mention late. Thanks! Will let you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 Hope I didn't send you on a wild goose chase, looking for a video—I'll try. As for the intermittent functioning, that's what mine did. The A/C would run get cold and stop. It would get hot and the A/C would come on. I think the cracked solder would expand or contract with heat and cold. /////////////////////////// Looks like it was a goose chase... 1990 was before YouTube was invented. Take a look at this; a couple of posts down: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/can-replace-radio-head-unit-my-first-gen-wagoni-165289.html Hope I didn't send you on a wild goose chase, looking for a video—I'll try. As for the intermittent functioning, that's what mine did. The A/C would run get cold and stop. It would get hot and the A/C would come on. I think the cracked solder would expand or contract with heat and cold. /////////////////////////// Looks like it was a goose chase... 1990 was before YouTube was invented. Take a look at this; a couple of posts down: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/can-replace-radio-head-unit-my-first-gen-wagoni-165289.html I've found some odd stuff on You Tube so it's always worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemologist Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 (edited) I hate breaking plastic stuff too. Here's one I learned by accident. You know how Armor-All makes old plastic shine—don't like that look. One day, trying to help some old plastic along in an area that was hard reach. Taking a 'chip' brush—natural fiber disposable paint brush—and cutting the bristles to about 3/8 an inch. Used it to lightly 'scrub' the Armor-All into the plastic. No Shine! Tried scrubbing other pieces, looked like new. Looking for a natural—soft-ish bristle finger nail brush, so it will be easier to work larger areas. Edited December 28, 2015 by gemologist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) A/C control out & no plastic broken. Now to exercise my exquisite solder skills? Edited December 29, 2015 by WokeUpGrumpy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I'm waiting on a PDF copy of the factory service manual BUT, I am trying to get to the A/C control panel on my 90 Legacy wagon. I've read some other things about taking the top of the dash off. I see 2 screws on either side of the dash and I'm know there are more in the middle somewhere. I just can't see them. Any idea how many total screws there are? I want to take that control panel out and see if I can fix what I suspect are cold solder joints. Sometimes the air blows and sometimes it doesn't. The A/C compressor is unplugged until I can get it changed over to R134. If you see a PDF copy of the factory shop manual on ebay, skip it. It's a poorly copied manual that can't be searched. Also, probably missing some material. I got my money back but just thought I'd throw that out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 It appears fixed. That said, one piece of plastic did get broken. Because I sat on it. Oh well, little JB Weld and all will be well. Bwahahaha! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 It works some & then it doesn't. Could this be the blower motor resistor being flaky? I really need this thing to blow air on really cold mornings. I can do without A/C till it gets warm but, I really need air to blow any time. I resoldered all the switches and thought I had it fixed then it went back to working whenever it's "in the mood". When it doesn't work, none of the A/C buttons even light up. I saw a unit on ebay for $39.99 and didn't buy it because I thought mine was fixed. GRRRRRRRRR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WokeUpGrumpy Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 Last update. I finally replaced the blower motor resistor and it is working perfectly and all the time. If your blower only works on high this should fix it. 15 minute part swap and I got mine for $35 @ Rockauto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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