paladin_w

I have a 1997 Outback wagon 2.5L 5 speed. I have to get my good winter vehicle to my new house which is over 100 miles away, and can not start it. I have checked and do not have flow of fuel at the filter. I can't hear the fuel pump kicking on for the couple seconds after I turn the key to on. I have checked all the fuses under the dash and in the engine compartment. None of them seem blown, but I havn't pulled all of them out to see. My manual is packed in a box buried somewhere in my new house. The owners manual doesn't tell me anything that helps. I could use some help to try and figure out what is going on, it started last week and ran just fine. I don't know which fuses, or fusable link runs the pump or if there is a fuel pump shut off switch anywhere. I have taken off the covers behind the back seats and don't see any loose wires. Any suggestions would be appriciated, Thanks.

All this hill holder talk, got me so nastalgic for my 92 legacy, my 97 outback doesn't have HH on it, and I miss it soooooo much. Have had to do the hand brake routine several occations.

I am not very knowlegable about inner workings of engines but I thought a higher compression was a good thing, gave more power. am I completely off or just a little confused?

Still looking for a good wax/polish, tried Nu Finish, and something 3000 came in a green bottle, would not recommend either. both left white residue that I kept finding in areas I could not buff well months after application. Good luck

I had a similar problem on my girls pos 98 ford ranger, it would click, or just slowly rotate for a couple of seconds and then start. would not give problems unless it set for a few hours. I still think it something to do with the starter, but had it checkout at autozone and it was good, had the entire system checked out there too on their machine, and it showed a huge amp draw which suggested a minor ground fault somewhere. Unfortunatlly did not find any fault execpt the battery would drop majorly in voltage. I replaced the battery, with a bigger one not that it mattered, and have not had a problem since, seemed like it was a bad cell, or a cell going bad. So ya might want to get your battery checked out or if it is 5 years old or more, might just want to replace it anyway.

Changing the height would mess with your speedo too, would go further per revolution, but I would love to get em bigger. I wonder if it would completely screw things up putting larger tires in the rear and smaller in front on awd systems, it sure would make the wagons look mean though.

I am too cheap to get anything other than the green cool-aid. lol and good for you to change em before there was a problem, I wish I had that much initiative.

I would definatly take this opertunity to learn brakes, they are really easy to replace and most all shops try to snow you, and leave your wallet very dry. Majority of the charge is labor, I have been doing my own brakes for 5 years and saved tons of money, before I spend $550 on brakes for a surburban that would have cost me 1/3 if I would have just learned it myself. I agree with the lubrication, and maybe even bleeding the system would be a good idea, one man brake bleeders arn't expensive and will pay for them selves quickly.

I have still got chips in the windshield with em on other cars, but I like the looks of so they still have my vote. As for the clips, I am assuming they are the attachment clips, and I would suggest autozone, or checkers for possible replacements, or if you were careful you could probably drill and put small bolts to make sure it would not vibrate or fall off. just my 2 cents

I am a constant oil changer, can't help it, it was beaten into my head throughout my childhood working on 75' Chevy's and Dodge trucks. I do mine around 3500, and since my outback's filter is only $2.67 at walmart, I include it everytime, gets all the old oil out that is possible without engine dissembly, and gives me a little peace of mind. Which I need pushing 200k.

Update for my problem sorry it took so long, I have done the water test sea#3 suggested, tested the knock sensor, and tested the coil pack. The coil pack was <.2 ohms above max limit on primary resistance, .9 instead of .74 ohms. That was the only anomaly that I found, no corrosion present. The knock sensor tested ok from what the book told me to do. Would it test ok when cold and cause a problem on the road? I wish I had the software to monitor that stuff in real time on my PDA. So basically I am still at square one, going to give it a tune-up and clear the codes in the next couple days. Also I have a high pitched squeal when the engine is under hi load, like hard acceleration but not at normal acceleration or cruising speed, replaced both belts with gator backs, and that did not fix it, does that sound like the water pump going out? Thanks

I do my tune-ups about every 3500 - 4000 miles. I will check the spray bottle thing here after I get off work, and give results tomorrow, coil is what I was thinking since I got misfires on all cylinders. Others thought it may be a timing issue, but as far as i can tell the car does not run differently or rough since the CEL was flashing. The only other thing has been a decrease in milage of about 1.5 to 2 MPG over the last month. The EGR problem has been a huge headache, I have done all the tests in the book on all the componets, and all of them checkout individually. I have cleaned the valve, checked movement with vaccume gage, resistance on relay, and replaced transducer. I have cleaned the pipe, checked for other blockage and reset the code more than once. dont know what else to do.

sae#3 OK Answers! 1) miles appr. 190k 2) not raining, although we have been getting alot of moisture lately 3) last service about 3500 miles ago with that last trip, I do the servicing myself, basic tune-up filters, plugs, oil. Timing belt replaced somewhere around 120k, and just replaced the belts two days ago.

I have had my 97 OBW for less than a year, the EGR has been an issue constantly, but yesterday on my way home the CEL started flashing. I pulled the codes this morning and got PO301 thru 304 all cylinders misfiring, PO 325 Knock Sensor 1, and my old PO 400 EGR flow malfunction that has been there for about 6 months, can't figure that one out. Could not stop as I was late for work and on the interstate doing 75, I slowed to 60, and while driving it today it was just on steady as it has been with the EGR PO 400 problem without flashing. I am not sure where to start looking for my main issue, and am quite worried I have to take a 2500 mile trip in a week and a half for my kids and right now my OBW is the only operational vehicle. I just got done with putting about 1500 miles in a road trip two weeks ago without any similar issues. I could use some suggestions on where to start working, the last thing I need is to have my car break down going up the continental divide or taking my kids back to Kansas. Thanks.

I have a problem that I have been dealing with with several vehicles for years, but in my OBW it is the worst. I have the AM/FM, Casette, 6 disk CD changer spliced into a hi to low converter going to a kenwood preamp 7 channel EQ going to three aftermarket amps. I have installed stereos for years, and have Alt Snd Suppressors on all of the units seperately to match there amp ratings. As long as I have the lights off I do not hear any whine, but as soon as I turn my parking lights on, the whine comes into the system greatly, and increases to a level that is fairly painful to the ears when the headlights are on. I have good grounds on all pieces, run my power directly from the battery, same size wires on input and gnd, and have not messed with power wires on the factory head unit. This has resulted in not being able to listen to music after dark, or turning the boost off the EQ and turning the volume all the way up to hear anything, which starts crackling my speakers! :madder: It is definately alternator whine as it changes pitch with RPM. I would appriciate any suggestions or thoughts on this matter, I have noticed throughout the years headlights increased the whine, of course due to the additional amprage draw, but I am going deaf with this one. My all nights trips are not easy to make without music to get me through late at night.