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Saggy sun visor

34K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  Wulfgang 
#1 ·
<Sigh> Like a middle-aged anatomy, my driver's-side sun visor is starting to sag. (This could well be due to my having had a hands-free phone device clipped to it, but, still...)

Instead of staying snugly tucked against the headliner in its up position, the visor hangs down at a 20° angle or so. The friction that keeps it from truly flopping around still functions, but the sag is a drag.

Any advice out there? Thanks, HPH
 
#3 ·
I haven't checked, but the install involves electricity and at least partial headliner removal.

I'm hoping there's a quick trick. HPH
 
#4 ·
Hmm. This might well be moved to "Parts" for better placement, given where I'm going here.

Anyway, I apologize to gravity for blaming it -- really, it was breakage of plastic that's the problem. Surgery revealed that the sun visor rotates fore and aft on metal clips around that rod it's mounted on (and that the wires for the mirror bulb thread through), and that the visor itself is held onto the clips by nylon tabs, which were broken on my driver's side one. The metal clips were still doing their job, but the visor was not connected to them any more.

Fred Bean (online) says that a replacement is $76+, a savings over the $101+ Subaru price. But they don't have color info, and I'm wondering about the installation process. My headliner and visors are light gray; maybe that's the only color. Installation, though, looks...um...interesting, given how it all came apart.

At least the surgery fixed the problem that the visor was obstructing my view out the windshield, but the morning drive into the Sun is going to be a real bitch.

I'm not quite sure why this would have broken, except that I have a sunscreen that I use daily, so the visors (which hold it in place) get a lot of exercise. Maybe the nylon tabs just don't like exercise. HPH
 
#9 ·
Surgery revealed that the sun visor rotates fore and aft on metal clips around that rod it's mounted on (and that the wires for the mirror bulb thread through), and that the visor itself is held onto the clips by nylon tabs, which were broken on my driver's side one.
I have an 07 as well, and I'm trying to visualize the clips and tabs . . .

Any chance of posting some photos of the patient after the revealing surgery?
 
#10 ·
I'll get some pictures. I ordered a new visor today, and I'm going to be interested to see how it installs.

All this stuff (clips, etc.) is contained inside the cover of the visor, which has to be cut open to get at everything, so it's pretty much a destructive un-install (meaning the patient died during the surgery). HPH
 
#11 ·
Here are some post-mortem pictures. Now, even though our Outback is an 07, it must be a late-year build, because both visors have vanity mirrors, and the part is listed properly on the 08 pages, at least at Fred Bean's Parts.

This first picture is the L-bar that emerges from the headliner; here, it's swung back along the side window. Note the metal clips that provide the friction of the visor on the bar and the little tab on the bar itself that must be an alignment tab. The wires are for the vanity mirror light.


Here's the visor itself during the autopsy, showing the nylon tabs that broke (the half circles), the slots into which the black clamps fit, and, at the back, the little tunnel through which the wires go to get to the mirror lamp. Note that most of the structure of the visor is Styrofoam.



What I'm assuming is this: the black clamps come off and the new visor slides on (after I thread the wires appropriately). We'll see. HPH
 
#12 ·
I suspect that the rod and plastic parts are molded together on the rod and the styrofoam is then molded around them. In other words, the rod, and what you show in the photos (great, by the way!) are not separable.

Part #13 on the linked Fred Beans page might actually be the whole assembly including the rod. (It's the most expensive component, and the rod does not seem to be listed separately. If the visor itself were available separately, the rod would be as well.)

Guess you'll see when it arrives.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, that might be correct -- and then I'll have to figure out how to get into the headliner -- maybe the plastic at the base of the rod snaps off somehow. HPH
 
#16 ·
Followup: The PDF two posts up was helpful, although not as much as it could have been.

The trick with this is to get that cover off, the (rounded-corner) triangular plastic piece that covers the screws. In the picture in the PDF, note the two little notches on the visor assembly itself. In real life, there are actually four, those two and others on the two remaining sides of the visor base. These are places where little plastic tabs on the triangular cover snap onto the base.

It does not really slide off as the picture sort of implies. I used a plastic, wedged-shaped tool to slide between the headliner and the edge of the cover to unsnap two of these tabs, and it popped right off. The first time is the most difficult (especially with 5-year old plastic); now it'll be easier if I need to do this again. I doubt it'll come loose by accident, though.

The rest is trivial -- two screws and the electrical connection.

The new visor came from Fred Bean for under $100 including shipping. Warning: They, and the other vendors I checked, insist that they ship to your billing address. Also, although there are two colors for the interior (seats and so on), there's only the silver/gray headliner color for all 2008 Legacies, apparently, so color choice isn't an issue. HPH
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the update; yes, the FSM often does tend to oversimplify and/or not provide some of those small details that end up being important (or broken!). I wonder if the writers assume that the little cover is being replaced as well so a snapped-off tab isn't ca concern. In any event, glad it all worked out for you.
 
#18 ·
That's the exact part that broke on mine. Those nylon rings around the black clamps.

Sorry I didn't check back sooner but it looks like you got it all figured out. The hardest part was getting that cover off. I used a flat head screwdriver to pry it off and now it's pretty scratched up.
 
#26 ·
That might be for the poster's 2014, and perhaps they are not the same. I found an ebay page with photos supposedly of an 05-09 Outback sun visor. It looks as if the round tube goes up into the mounting bracket and on the opposite side is held in place by fingers that probably are supposed to be snug against the tube. I don't see a spring, but if one of the "fingers" were to break, that would reduce the hold on the tube allowing it to swing more freely. In any event, the photos show what's on the hidden side. Probably simple enough to remove the visor and have a look.

Link: 2005 2009 Subaru Legacy Outback Left Sunvisor Shade Mirror New 92011AG55AOR | eBay
 
#27 ·
This is easy quick fix, Take a razor knife and open the visor along the seam down to the end of the rod (about 5”) you will see that the 3 plastic clips that go around the rod will be broken (don’t lose the broken pieces), they will be encapsulated in Styrofoam. With an ice pick punch 3 holes down under the base that’s got the slots the metal swivels seat into. Go all the way thru for one side to the other, and then push a cable tie threw each one. Now make sure the broken plastic pieces are back where they belong and pull the ties snug. The cable ties should be right over the plastic pieces that broke. Now the visor will swivel on the plastic like it did when new but held in place by the ties. I then ran a piece of duct tape over the work area and it like encapsulated everything. I sewed up the incision with some light grey thread and it looks good almost undetectable. If I should ever have to go back in, no problem..just open up the incision. Hope this helps other folks that have same problem. Roby
 
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