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I beat the dreaded screen bubbles for free*

Gen 5
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6K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  walker  
J
#1 ·
Well I got the bubbles... And it was livable for a while, but finally, I'd had enough. It was livable for a while, but after a long road trip, my car ventured to call everyone in my contacts and delete all of my Bluetooth devices.

In my cheapness... I had the brilliant idea, what if I just disable the touch screen completely?? I end up using the steering wheel and voice controls anyways so maybe I can make this.work.

This idea rattled in my mind these past few weeks, and this morning, I decided to dive in and make it happen. After taking apart the center controls, removing the head unit, and tearing it apart. I was able to get to the touch screen ribbon cable. After removing that ribbon cable, taping it up, and putting it back together, I have everything working with no more annoying touch screen!!! As an added bonus, it seems the tuning knob now works to select on screen buttons so I have even more control than I thought!!!

Overall, this is not workable for everyone, but for me, this will do just fine till I'm ready to upgrade my head unit.

If you have questions, feel free to ask. I didn't do the best at taking photos, but I will help where I can! Main thing is you need T9 and T10 Torx drivers to take apart the head unit and some prying tools to get the rear shield off the front screen module so you can get to the cable.

Ribbon cable I removed is taped up in yellow just to avoid any contact with things it's not supposed to touch! Also... This ribbon cable may be in different spots depending on your model.

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#2 ·
JMossOutback said:
...after a long road trip, my car ventured to call everyone in my contacts and delete all of my Bluetooth devices.
Click to expand...
False inputs from the defective touch screen sure can cause a lot of issues I hadn't even thought of. Fantastic solution and thanks for sharing it. An exceptionally great first post!
 
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J
#3 ·
One more thought, it's a real shame that Subaru does not offer a replacement of just the screen since it is easily detachable from the head unit. It would only take 4 screws to remove and replace it, and would be vastly cheaper than replacing the entire thing.

I know they will never offer this, but it's a real shame... Would have been a lot cheaper for them and for us.
 
#11 · (Edited)
JMossOutback said:
One more thought, it's a real shame that Subaru does not offer a replacement of just the screen since it is easily detachable from the head unit. It would only take 4 screws to remove and replace it, and would be vastly cheaper than replacing the entire thing.

I know they will never offer this, but it's a real shame... Would have been a lot cheaper for them and for us.
Click to expand...
there was a third party replacing the screens for $450. The problem is in the faceplate, not the cheaper LCD that people have sourced. Not sure where this third party was able to get the faceplate with the digitizer screen.
 
#5 ·
What year is your OB, how many miles on it and what kind of climate does it live in? Is it garage kept? Just looking for data points, and thanks for sharing.
 
J
#10 ·
I don't know how to upload a video on here, but I can upload a short one later to YouTube and post that. As you see in the photo, this new blue little circle appeared. I can use the tune knob to move it around and select things. It doesn't work in every menu, but it lets me get around Android Auto pretty well.
Image
 
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