Hi all,

My '00 coupe has recently developed a strange problem.

When driving at highway speeds 55+, the vent switch (the one that selects "fresh" air or "recirculate") will only stay in the fresh air mode. If I slide it to recirc mode it slides back forcefully by itself.

At normal city speeds its less of a problem but the switch requires a lot of effort to put into recirc mode. Once I speed up, it slides back to fresh air mode.

Is my RS haunted? Do I have the Blair Witch Impreza? Anyone have any suggestions before I bring it to the dealer? It seems to be less of a switch (lever) problem and more of a problem of what's at the other end of the switch.

Thanks.
Bob

holy crap! i thought this was weird, sometimes i notice that my recirc. moves over but i dont witness it happen.

i keep mine on recirc. all the time, and once in awhile i would get in the car and it would be over on the outside-in-air. i thought it was sometimes my girl friend that did it when she would be a passenger in the car. but when she hasnt been in the car and it still happens....

i thought i was nuts.

justin

What is happening is the air coming into the climate control system when you have the fresh air coming in and are moving at highway speeds is moving so fast and with so much force that it is pushing the damper that chooses between recirc and fresh out of the way when you try to switch it. I think it comes from the "rolling brick" design of our cars and all the air that is forced through the front end.

Hey Safir,

I totally agree with your theory that its the wind force that is sliding the damper out of the way. THe strange thing is, it always worked fine, and the switch was easily and happily moved into either position at highway speeds. It seems like something broke all at once and now the switch is hard to move. (return spring or something??) I'll get it checked out and let you all know whats up.

Justin, you're not nuts...I think ;-)

Bob

That is sooo funny! The same thing keeps happening to me, be driving down the freeway, move the switch to recycle, two or three minutes later,...s l o w l y... moves over to fresh! Started to think I was losing my mind?@# Maybe cutting back on the greenery?! Na, just funny as hell!!!

Hello my name is Jay and my scooby does the same thing.

Oh I thought this was a self-help thread.

its the wind guys, dont know if its normal or not, but its defintatly caused by the wind entering the cowl and forcing the door back.

Jay McDade
Auto Tech--Lincoln/Mercury/Jaguar
www.hometown.aol.com/impreza25rs2000 (http://www.hometown.aol.com/impreza25rs2000)

Mine does the same thing but only when the window is open or the sun roof is open. The open windows create a low press which helps the vent open at high speed. In other words a low press on one side and a high press on the other (outside) side will force the door/flap open. Try closing your windows if you happen to have them open when this occurs -Arne

The Legacy has an button operated electronic operation for that flap. Wow another advantage to the "luxo-barge"! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/tongue.gif http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

same thing happens to my01.

hasn't happened since about 600 miles on my car. All I did was pretty much throw the switch over instead of just sliding it.
I did this whenever it would happen and now it doesn't happen anymore.

So just throw it over hard when it switches and I think it will eventually correct itself.

I've never found recirc. mode to be any good anyways... all it does is let your windows fog up and feed you the same air that you had in the car again. I only use it once in a while if I remember, when I'm coming up behind a particularly filthy burning diesel truck or a construction area with a lot of smoke or dust in the air.

Mine had this "problem" from day one, have you had any body work lately? what year is your car?

8 - i agree, I only use recirc when it is very warm/humid out and i'm running the A/C full blast or it is very cold out and i am running the heat full blast, it makes it cool/heat more when it has air that is already cooler/warmer than the outside air...

Agreed, I rarely use the recirc switch, but it does make for better cooling on hot, humid days. And the aformentioned diesel truck. It's nice to at least have that option.

No body work on my car.
Does anyone know where the air comes in from? I'd like to check that end of the line. I can hear a "door, flap, whatever" opening and closing when I force the lever over.

Thanks.
Bob

Arne, your reason for this phenomenon makes the most sense to me...I'll try the window/sunroof closed trick and see if its easier to slide the lever over.

Oh wait a sec. I think I remember seeing this in my owner's manual. Yep, here it is on page 42.

"If you wish to set the air intake mode to recirculate, be sure that all of the windows and sunroof are fully closed, this will insure you get the most stale air possible." :-)

God, I just love this near 20k "quirky" car. I'm really starting to lose my sense of humor with this thing...but that's another thread.

Rs22b, I'll try your trick as well.

Thanks for the info guys.
Bob

Yep, I could never do this with my sunroof open!

Hey, the fixed this problem in the WRX. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif