subdenver

Not a bad price. Thanks for the tip. I just discovered something. I actually went and looked under at both rear tires. The rear passenger tire is smooth on the inside, although there is tread on the rest of the tire. The rear driver's side is wearing evenly. Both front tires are in great shape. I have no hubcaps anymore, from years of back-country driving. (All my hubcaps are in the Rockies somewhere.) The driver's side does have some grease on the large center nut? Part of the problem or false leads? Thane

Hi All, my Impreza Sport recently began making a low frequency persistent noise from the rear end. It's consistent as the car speeds up - meaning there is no whump-whump; the noise begins low and raises in decibels as the car accelerates, but the sound is the same at low or high speeds. Last weekend on Car Talk, a girl called in with a similar issue. Click & Clack told her it's her wheel bearing. Her description was close enough to my issue that it seemed plausible, but I thought I would post here to get more informed opinions. (You can't trust those Car GUys, by their own admission.) If it is the wheel bearing, does anyone have an idea about how much that would cost to fix? Thanks in advance, Thane

Hi there all! After trying this suggestion several times to unmitigated success, I agree with frag. This is definitely the problem. The switch is going south. Usually, I discovered recently, I don't depress the clutch all the way to the floor to engage the switch. If I don't do that, the car sounds exactly as I described previously and won't start. However, after I read frag's post, I tried his suggestion of pumping the clutch pedal. That didn't work either on the very cold days. When it didn't work immediately, I became frustrated and jammed my foot to the floor. The car started. A couple of days ago, I was wearing my hiking boots which extend the reach of my leg about a half inch. It was about 5 or so degrees, but with the pedal depressed completely, the car started on the first try. Thanks to you all. And special thanks to frag. You should replace the Car Guys! Still cold, but happy, in Denver, Thane

Yep, cuz here I am again. I took the battery into the house and left it last night. Reinstalled this morning & car won't start. Interestingly, yesterday it did. I brought the battery inside in the morning, warmed it up for 45 minutes while I got ready, put it in & the car started...first try. When I put the battery in today, the hazard lights came on. I tried to start it with door open to listen for the starter & heard nothing.... Is that my big clue that I need a new one or are you all of the opinion it's simply too cold? AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH! in Denver! Thane ps. the posts are clean. the battery is only a year old. Soemone at work suggested it's not rated for my car, but when i bought it last year, i made sure to check the spec and ask the auto parts guy....

Hi All, Thanks again for the advice. I took the battery to Advanced Auto Yesterday. The first test showed the battery to be in need of a charge. They wanted to do it right then, but I had an errand to run, so came back in a half-hour. We took the battery inside & hooked to the diagnostic. Sure enough, it came up fine. I suspect that running it for a while reconstituted it? The guy at the parts shop suggested if it happens again, I just bring the battery in overnight, like I had done last year with the old one. Too much effort for me. So I banked on this: it was cold & the battery hadn't been used for an entire day (last Sunday). So this morning, after having driven a bit yesterday, it started immediately. You all get my thumbs up. The chill, coupled with a day of inactivity was the culprit. Thane

Thanks for the advice, folks. I really appreciate your help. Since I've taken the whole day off anyhow, I'll run down to Checker and give the charging system test a go. Interestingly, before I replaced the battery last year, we had some really nasty cold weather. One day the car wouldn't start, but I did hear the starter trying to go. I took the old battery off and brought it inside to warm it up. After a couple of hours, I reinstalled it and off I went. Of course, that only worked a couple of times since the old abttery was mostly dead anyhow. Maybe I'll try that tonight. The only problem then was that everything electrical reset. Had to set the clocks, the radio presets, and finally take the car to Subaru dealer because the check engine light had come on. They performed some voodoo to exorcise the demon light and sent me on my way.... , Thane

Thanks on for the reply and the welcome to the boards! Seems like agreat place to learn. I did try jumping it. Everything electrical works fine- headlights, radio, & the dome light is not dim whatsoever.... Thane 10 Minutes later... the temp has dropped 1 degree. But the sun is smiling down on my car. I went out again & tried it. Started right up with no problem. That however, does not make me feel better about the rest of the week. Today is supposed to be the warmest day all week. Is it worth it to replace the starter in the freezing cold (I have a non-heated garage)? Will this more than likely continue if I don't? Or is this possibly something that happened simply because it's really cold & I didn't run it for a day? Thanks again, Thane

Hi, I can change my oil, but am otherwise illiterate when it comes to cars. Went to start my '98 Outback Sport this morning & got nothing. The battery is only a year old & working great. Saturday evening it started right up after not having been driven since Friday afternoon- about 24 hours. Didn't start it yesterday at all. It's cold as hockey sticks here this morning. When I turn the key, I get no noise at all. I've checked all the wiring conenctions and they're tight with very little or no yucky stuff on them at all, so I'm fairly certain all the contacts are all right. I read somewhere in here about tapping the starter to unstick the plunger? Is it possible it's just so cold that the plunger's frozen in place? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks much, Thane