mikeamondo

We made a conscious decision to not buy full coverage and save the money.... willingly took the risk, so we can't complain. Over 20 years of insuring our cars, I'm sure we're still well ahead. "Collision" coverage protects your car against damage you cause. "Liability" covers damage you cause to other cars and property... and people. "Comprehensive" coverage covers damage beyond anyone's control, such as a deer strike, tree falling on the car, theft, etc. Uninsured / Underinsured motorist is self explanatory.... We had everything except Collision.... :-\

Yeah... poor Chuck... he was the one my wife drove... our son had him while we worked out the sputtering issue with the 99 that I posted in another thread. Turned out to be a loose Engine to Firewall connector. 4 Soobs and a 97 Town Car ("The Mary Todd") I've taken some new pics of the car and I'll post those here shortly. Also asked the body shop for a full estimate on the repair, but I really think I'll be selling it as is.

The first one wasn't a wreck.... engine threw a rod through the top of the case.... that car's still going fine. Henderson's engine, by the way was a great find.... quietest subie engine I've ever heard! I'll mention the raquetball class, but I think they've got their pe credits out of the way.... one senior theatre major (95 Impreza), one sophmore Anthropology, (95 legacy) and one Commications Sophmore with the 99 Legacy...

I'm going to be replacing this car with something in the $3,000 to $3,500 range, so the closer I get to that the better. 3 kids at WVU so money is super tight right now. One guy I've already talked to has said he'd go $1,500, maybe a little more. I've got several business contacts who are into selling and/or rebuilding Subies, as well as other salvage customers, so I've got a lot of calls to make today or tomorrow. Probably also throw it in the Expo this week.... maybe I'll just leave it unpriced. I'll send you a private msg with my contact info in case you want to look it over. It's at Allen's right now.

So, our son glanced at the green light and when he looked back down, the lady in front had stopped short. You can see the result. Mushed the pass. headlight in about 2 feet... Messed up everything from the eng. forward. The Sube, nose low, slid under the bumper of the Kia van, rump roast high. Anyway, I had it towed to a body shop and the guy says it would be totaled (if I had insurance)... since the car wasn't covered, it'll be cash out of my pocket and he says around $5k. Maybe $3500 if I can scrounge a parts car. He says it ripped the metal off the frame rail. So... I have a couple questions.... IF we sell this car as is, what should we reasonably expect to get? It's an 03 Legacy wagon, 85k miles, dual sunroofs. Assume engine forward and front clip are toast. Engine starts and runs perfect, trans. is just fine. Airbags and interior, all glass perfect. We drove it onto the roll back. Does it look to you, in the pic, like the body guy is right? Is that really that bad? Any advice would be appreciated.... In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the old subie retirement home. Thanks, Mike

Our '03 Legacy Wagon "Chuck" after pushing through snow over the hood last winter. Our drive is about 300 feet long and drifts pretty heavily. Had back up and hit it hard a few times, but he got us through it! Good Car. Also a pic of Dempsey... not a Subaru, but the worlds greatest dog.

Hey, thanks for the input! I guess bad connections is the best of possible outcomes! The tool I got is just a reader.... keeps me from running to Advance all the time.... I think they were getting sick of me.... A further clue that it was the connections is the fact that the temp gauge has been working again... so I'll let it ride for a while and see what happens next! Thanks! Mike

So, I finally sprang for my own OBDII scanner.... very basic model, and yet I feel so empowered! .... back to the Soobie.... First, let's back up a day. Yesterday afternoon, I found and took off the TPS, blew out any dirt and reassembled. Took apart the large grey and large copper colored connectors (about 1" square, pass. side, below the TPS) and blew them out, inspected and reconnected. These had wire harnesses going to the firewall and also to the o2 sensor. I'm assuming TCU and ECU connections. I also wiggled and unhooked various other connectors as I found them. I did not see anything overly dirty or corroded. I also noted that the air filter was very dirty, with some dark oily patches where hoses came into the air filter housing. I didn't have a new filter, so I put it back, rotated 180 degrees, so the heavily soiled areas were in a different location. After all that, last evening I drove the car into town and back, about 20 miles total. Then, into town and back twice today, another 40 miles, WITHOUT MISSING A BEAT.... ran like a top. Prior episodes were maybe 10 -15 miles apart.... When I got to Advance Auto Parts this evening, I bought the scanner and pulled the codes.... it showed P0325, P0117, P0113, and as you predicted, P0108... in that order. I don't know the last time the codes were pulled, so I have no idea how old any of those were. I cleared the codes and then drove home, as I said, with no problems. When I got home (about 10 miles from Advance), it was still showing no codes. SO..... what do the codes mean, and should I wait to see if it repeats before we do anything else, in case the problem was in the connectors? Thanks! Mike

So I've found that TCU Code 45 is "Intake Maniford Pressure".... does this clue me into what has been causing the problems? Does it fit the symptoms? Thanks, Mike

Took me forever to find this buried in the literature, so I thought I'd pasted it in a forum by itself.... invaluable info if you've got that AT OIL TEMP light a-blinkin.... If you're driving an earlier model, by the way, you use the method of finding the black connector under the dash, and inserting the grounding pin into slot number 5 as described elsewhere.... but there is no connector in the number 5 slot on the 99's..... so you just gotta do the "Tranny Code Dance"....

Well... finally found the proceedure to pull th TCU code on my 99.... there is no connector in the #5 slot of the fabled 6 pin connector..... so you have to do the Tranny Code Dance.... Got the code of 45. Anyone know what that is, or where I can find it? Thanks! Mike BTW.... I'm going to try to attach the dance card for the tranny code dance....

The problem has repeated twice, with 3/4 and the 1/2 tank... so I'm thinking it's not fuel pump. There seems to be no corrolation to driving condition.... uphill twice, fairly level the next. Here's a breakdown of what it does.... It will be running great, then begin to miss heavily. It sputters, lurches and gasps, and the stinky smell appears. (I'm assuming it's a overly rich mixture smell, but not sure). AND... the transmission begins to shift and slip... like it's searching for the right gear, going into neutral or slipping and then back into D or L. Shifting into 3 or 2 makes it change gears but not to the right one. Lurching, shifting, sputtering, you can still make 20mph or so level.... and get off the road. If you let off the gas, it will die. Once off the road, I shut it off, and start it up again within a few seconds. It will start and run okay, but with a continuous blinking light. I shut off the car again, wait 10 seconds and restart. The light is gone, and the car runs great again. Drove over 20 more miles with no problems. QUESTIONS: 1) Will the TCU still be holding the code that caused the flashing AT OIL TEMP light, even though it's no logner flashing? And can Advance Auto Parts scan TCU codes? 2) Which would be the most likely culprit? TPS, Fuel Pump? Something else? 3) I checked the connectors on the passenger side of the engine, grey and copper colored, below the TPS, bought 1 inch square. Are those the main connectors between eng. and ecu/tcu? They looked clean, as did the TPS connector. Any thoughts? What should I try first? Thanks! Mike

Considering this car had a recent engine swap, I'm thinking the following: 1) the speedo problem predated the engine swap, so it's likely unrelated to the other issues. and... 2) there may be a problem with one or more electrical connectors between the ECU / TCU / Engine & Tranny. Would you agree? If so, where are the connectors that would have been disconected and or replaced in the swap? (If I can find them, I'll check for corrosion and bent piins) AND... could a bad connection in those connectors cause the sputtering/stalling issue, for example, if the VSS's could not communicate....? Can you direct me to the secret handshake method of checking TCU codes on my 99? I understand there's an engine on, gear shift, left leg in, left leg out, turn yourself about thing you can do and then watch for blinking light codes.... THe sputtering still feels exactly like what my '90 did years ago when the fuel pump got weak.... Thanks! Mike

Okay... new symptom. I really think we're dealing with multiple issues at the same time..... Thanks for the speedo fix. We're going to give that a try. So, we had decided it was likely a fuel pump issue on the sputtering, and we're running the current tank out to see if it repeated when low on gas. Going up a hill this morning, 1/2 tank of gas, it started sputtering again. Didn't notice the smell this time, but we got off the road quick, and the windows were up. But the AT OIL TEMP light started flashing the instant that the car started missing. The AT light kept on flashing, constantly, after the engine was shut off and restarted. Turned the car around, came back down the mountain to a conv. store and checked the tranny fluid. MAYBE a little low.... it was showing at the F line when cold, but the car had been driven about 5 miles. After sitting in the lot for about 10 minutes, I restarted the car and the AT OIL TEMP light was no longer flashing at all. Again no codes on the CEL. What does a constant flashing AT light mean? At least constant for 5 minutes or so? Is it possible that the fuel pump failing caused the engine to sputter and surge under load, which in turn threw a sort of mental curve ball to the ECU, causing it to say "What the hell?" and trip the AT light? While surging/sputtering, the tranny seemed to be searching for the right gear.... Thanks! Mike

Had the same issue on my 99 Leg wagon... I think it was my 99.... anyway, it turned out to be the clock spring. Little gizmo maintains electrical connection to the steering wheel while it turns around. Apparently a regular fail point. I had a mechanic do it, as I wasn't about to mess around with the airbag. --Mike

The smell is def. not coolant... I'm dealing with a bad heater core on my town car, so I'm all too familiar with that smell. Also, the smell was only there while the sputtering was occuring.... cleared up immediately when it was running correctly. And it was more like burning rubber or garbage... that's not quite right, but close... a hot, burny, yucky smell. What does it smell like when it runs on too rich a mixture? No codes. as of yet. If it's a weak fuel pump, we should see it again if the tank gets low, correct? Had that happen on a '90 Leg we had. We're driving the car into town this morning, so we'll have a chance to see if it repeats....

Our 99 Legacy, 2.2L, auto, AWD, 135k miles.... with a newly transplanted motor from an 01 Impreza. Car has been running great since the motor swap, but on the way home from watching WVU get tromped by Syracuse, tonight, it had an episode.... First, the speedo has not be working for a few weeks.... it will work intermittanly, but mostly it's just dead. SO..... tonight..... the engine begins to sputter coming up a short hill, and we smell a weird odor in the car. It gets worse and car is barely running so I pull over, and then limp to a gas station..... it was low, but not empty... took 12.1 gal. to fill it. After the fill up, the car ran great again... in fact, we drove across town and then all the way home, maybe 20 miles total, with no problems.... ran great. Half way home I noticed the temperature gauge was barely above C, but the engine should have been at reg. operating temp. Shorty there after, the gauge dropped all the way down, but the car continued to run fine. The speedo was working right after the fill up, but stopped working again somewhere on the way home. Sube Shop says the speedo is bad (very common in 99's so they say) and are going to swap it out next week. So..... Non working Speed, odd smell, sputter, sputter, and failing temp guage.... what's that all add up to? thanks! Mike

Yeah, I've been really happy with the Sube Shop.... But he's also a good customer of mine... we publish a local magazine (Auto Expo)... Ernie's always treated us right! The engine is in and the car runs better than ever. I think the old engine was already weak before the final failure..... cause it now has more power than it's had since we've owned it! I think we may have lost a sensor... but I'll address that in a new thread. Thanks for advice on finding the engine! This forum Rocks! --Mike

Hey, John.... thanks again for the tip on car-part and hendersons.... I picked up the 2.2 w/ 6 mos. warranty that you mentioned this afternoon. Should be in the car later this week..... it's in the hands of the good folks at the Sube Shop now.... Thanks! Mike

Thanks for the replies, the heads up on car-part.com, and especially for the nod to Henderson.... they're fairly close to me, so I think I'll start there on Monday! Thanks also for the offer on the Forester eng... but I'm looking for something we can just drop in, ready to roll... --Mike

So.... my son's 99 Legacy quit running and siezed up. Thought it was due to low oil.... he hadn't checked it in a while and had allowed it to get 2.5 quarts low.... so we added oil, put a wrench on the crank and got it loosened up a bit. Enough to turn it over and fire.... Then bang. The broken / busted rod shot right through the top of the case, right below the alternator...... I think the rod had separated at the crank and the low oil was incidental. There was no hole in the case before we screwed around trying to 'loosen' it up... So.... we need an engine. And... I understand it has to come from a 99 Legacy or a 99-01 Impreza, due to the number of bolts at the bell housing. Anyone have any advice on finding one? What should I expect to pay? I posted a wanted ad here..... any other ideas? (Other than make sure it has enough oil in it next time?)

Thanks for the info! I'll dig into the console in the next day or so and see what it looks like. We gave our kids (all 3 at WVU right now) 2 rules for college.... 1. Keep your scholarships and 2. Don't get arrested. My oldest is in her senior year and so far has adhered to both rules.... so I guess I can't complain too much about the car! Thanks again!

Typical college kid, the car is a pig sty. Seriously.... I found a piglet once under a pile of fast food bags and empty energy drink bottles in the back floorboard. A couple times, the last one being a couple weeks ago, I've had to take apart the console, remove the shifter and clean the brake pedal/shifter release switch. It had become sticky from Coke drippings that came down from the brilliantly placed cup holders. So... maybe it's possible that the switch that turns on the brake light when the parking brake is pulled up is gunked up in a similar manner. Anyone know where that switch lives and if that's a possiblity?

Definately the parking brake light and not the ABS... Fluid was a little below MAX line.... didn't try adding any as it wasn't very low... and my daughter's driving the car, so my diagnosis was over the phone. The brake pad were changed not that long ago.... I think. With 4 old sube's in the family, plus one neat old Town Car, I can never remember for sure which car I did what to when. :-\ Thanks! Mike

95 Impreza 2 door, auto... the brake light on the dash came on and stayed on the other day. Brake fluid was fine. Pulled the hand brake on and off hard a few times.... no change. After a day or so, it went off on it's own. A couple days later and it's back on again. Is there a switch in the center console, on the hand brake, that may be stuck? Would dirty / old fluid cause this? Or... is there some other sensor that can fire the brake warning light on the dash? No other warning light are on. Thanks! Mike