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I know there was a heap of stuff om the old site about replacing the heater box in l sreries subarus. I have a haynes manual that says i have to pull the dash board out. If my memory correct the advise on this site didnt go that far????
Can anybody direct me where to look from this new site?????

that is correct about pulling out the dashboard for the L series.

with the MY's, there is a neat little trick where you can remove the heater core without removing the dash.

disconnect the heater under the bonnet and keep a jacket or a blanket in the car....

Second try..... Just follow the manual , it's not as bad as it seems, take the front seats out, four bolts, gives more room to work, and when you remove the dash, tie it up out of the way to the sun visors so as to easy get to heater box. Try and remember where the vacuum lines go and don't forget the one to the blower. First time took me about four to five hours, second time, under two..

Also easier, i believe anyway, if u dont have aircon u can remove it without the dash removal. I have air con so i had to take the dash out.... Agree with lang, much eaiser second time. If u break one of the connections to the flaps, replace it before u put it back in....

89lseries

I 2nd take the dash out, even though its a chore, takes a while, its an easy job.
Start by taking all the console knobs off, much easier to keep all the switches in place. including the air slider.
If it takes you a few days to get a new heater, you can always make up a
cardboard to support all the switches/knobs and drive around without the dash, I did

Fred-Sub,found didn't have to remove any knobs at all, this is for an L series, the whole lot moves back and up , and only the steering colum needs to be dropped and the pertaining bolts and speedo cable removed and the thing is hung up out of the way.. Maybe for other models your correct, can only go on the L series.. As mine had Air-Con , no choice but to remove the dash, again, it's not a big deal, just take your time and no problems..

im interested about this non-aircon business about not taking off the dash.... never heard of it!!

tell me more!

LANG, you got the adjustable steering column? could make a dfference, yeah I'm talking about an L too
theres probably a few ways to skin this cat< and probably also depends on how willing you are to play contortionist
its also a good opportunity to check/fix rust at bottom of windsceen.

Thank you all for your replies .It appears im resigned to taking the dash out ,as my car has aircon. But do you need to dismantle all the dash panels of the dash to remove or can the whole lot be moved as a single unit ?.
The last time i took out the instrument panel from the dash, the vacumn hoses for the vent system came away from their places and that proved to be the most frustrating and time consuming job of all, trying to put them back.
I ended up replacing the vacum hoses with longer lengths just so i could put them back where they should be.without jamming my fingers putting the instrument panel back in.
I promised myself id never remove the instrument panel again!!!!!

twc wrote:Thank you all for your replies .It appears im resigned to taking the dash out ,as my car has aircon. But do you need to dismantle all the dash panels of the dash to remove or can the whole lot be moved as a single unit ?.
The last time i took out the instrument panel from the dash, the vacumn hoses for the vent system came away from their places and that proved to be the most frustrating and time consuming job of all, trying to put them back.
I ended up replacing the vacum hoses with longer lengths just so i could put them back where they should be.without jamming my fingers putting the instrument panel back in.
I promised myself id never remove the instrument panel again!!!!!

having to do some oddjobs that involved me pulling off the dash, I encountered the same problem. with me having no aircon, nor any heating, I tried my best to reconnect the hoses back to their original places, but failed miserably! Now, I have no heater, and no directional controls!!

I too swore I'd never go back there!!

take off the under panels on both sides, unclip all the electrical connestors, there all different, drop the fuse box, undo the three I think bolts under windscreen ,they are behind the plastic covers, and four under dash, pull speedo cable, drop steering colum then ease the complete dash back, just keep an eye out for anything still attached there, the vacuum hoses have a "memory" of sorts so you should get that right.. I am doing this from memory so I guess something I have left out, but thats the basics..It will all work out as you go along..

the vacuum hoses have a "memory" of sorts

can you tell us what you mean by this?

I bypassed my heater last year with a $20 hose under the hood and would like to replace it.

I have an Lseries with aircon and no andjustable streering wheel - I guess you guys mean a height adjustment when discussing this?

enduro wrote:

the vacuum hoses have a "memory" of sorts

can you tell us what you mean by this?

no nothing weird! the hoses if you disconnect, stay in the same general shape, so naturally feel to reconnect in the same position.

Anyway, there is no real need to disconnect them, its been a while now...but there was a wire cable that goes from the knob to the box that got disconnected. There is no need to pull the speedo cluster, the instrument surrounds comes off easily if you undo all the knobs - lights,wiper,fan etc, and screws. Really, taking the dash out is simple, just a lot of screws/bolts

Aren't the hoses numbered anyways?