Air conditioning comes on Defrost position.

[Legacy 97]

As part of the design of my Legacy 97 ever time you select Defrost mode the Air Conditioning system comes on. I was wandering if any of you ever deactivated this feature I would like to know how you did it. I think that as responsible adults we should be able to decide when and where we want to have air conditioning. I would also like to deactivate that same automatic feature on my Outback 2000. Can anyone help on any of those 2 models?

[Legacy777]

That's the way the system was designed...including the first gen legacies. it's done that way because a/c system removes moisture from the air, which helps with defogging the car.

If you really don't like it....you could tie a toggle switch in line to the wire going out to the a/c compressor, and flip the switch open when you don't want the compressor to turn on.

[Legacy 97]

Would you need to add a relay on the switch line for current draw?

[Legacy777]

I'm pretty sure it's a low current line. It's probably around 18 gauge.

[Legacy 97]

Thanks!

[Legacy 97]

Wouldn’t there be a wire in the back of the climate control panel where you select defog that you could just cut that would render this automatic feature inoperative?

[Legacy777]

ummm....I don't think so. It depends on how the climate control is setup. The logic in the climate control system probably interprets the input from the control knobs, and then sends out the appropriate signal to turn the A/C on. I don't think you would want to cut this wire, because more then likely the a/c wouldn't work at all.

Look at some wiring diagrams, trace the wire that goes to the A/C compressor. Find out where it goes to, and just splice a switch inline.