mjreilly

Ouch, too true Nipper. It'll probably be jet skis and sampans up here in Western MA. We just got our first inch of snow here, just good enough for some donuts in the work parking lot on my way home, by the time I hit the main roads they were just wet. I love how you can go around a corner, start sliding and give it power to straighten out. Subies for ever.

I'm with Nipper on winter driver training. When I first had my license my favorite thing to do was to find a big empty, snow covered parking lot and do donuts and e-brake slides. Besides being tons of fun you get to learn how the car handles at the edges of it's limits in pretty safe environment. When my son learns to drive I plan on taking him for some parking lot donuts the first time it snows. Of course by then (15 years from now) he'll just look at me and say "Geez, dad why bother? I'll just take my jetpack" matt

The coolant temp sensor can do that, I got a CEL when mine went. When it needed to be replacee I had a warm start problem, it would start right up when cold. If it's really a cold start issue, how about the plugs? My 2.2L Outback had a problem starting when it was really cold, it would crank and crank until the engine flooded and would only start by holding down the pedal to the floor. Changed the plugs and it went away. It's worth a try. cheers, Matt

What year? The bumper covers are different between the 96-99 Outbacks and Legacys, at least the lower half anyway. The Outback have the large fogs and the Legacys the projector beam fogs. I'm not sure this would affect the grills though. cheers, matt

From what I've read the dealer check is simply a visual inspection of the airbag covers and to make sure the light isn't on. When my 95 OBW passed 10 years I did a search and this is one like I came up with, it pertains to Volvos but the gist is the same. Basically they said 10 years at the time because airbags were new and they didn't know how long they'd last, they've since revised that number up to 15. cheers, matt

Yeah, that's what I figured, I just don't want to screw up the aim. If it stops raining today, I'll get under the car, maybe post some pics for future reference. thanks, matt

Now, I've got the Haynes manual and I've got the original user manual for the car and in neither one can I find any mention of the fog light bulb replacement procedure. This is the 95 Legacy L "Outback" with the projector beam fog lights (unlike the big fog lights in the subsequent "real" Outbacks. Before I get under the car and just start unscrewing stuff, anybody have any clues? thanks, matt

Mine does lessen when the a/c is on and the RPMs also increase slightly when the a/c is on. Does the ECU do this to compensate for the a/c at idle?

My 95 OBW does the same thing in drive, smooths out in N. I'm confused about how it could have anything to do with the drive train. If they car is stopped, in D or N, no part of the drive train is moving, correct? I've always chalked the vibration stopped in drive to a slightly low idle. If you put the car in N(or P) for that matter, the idle goes up a few hundred RPM and smoothes out. I've replaced the plugs and wires and it helped a little. The Haynes manual mentions cleaning the throttle body, it can get gummed up and cause a low idle. I haven't done that yet. I've been trying to track down the CRC MAF cleaner but no one seems to carry it locally, next time my wife orders from Amazon I'm going to have her pick me up a can of it. I'll report back if that helps. cheers, matt

I bet the bumper covers are all scuffed up too. 8 months in Washington Heights did that to mine.

Maybe the alternator is fine but marginal? What about the battery cables? How are the grounds? Maybe a combination of all three? Good luck, matt

My gauge is back to about 80% functional after being completely useless for more than a year. It's taken a few bottles of Techron but I've got a feeling the next one will really fix things.

Rear transmission seal? EDIT I looked it up, extension housing seal. At least that's how they list it a autopartswarehouse.com. This looks just like the part I replaced. cheers, matt

95 Legacy Outback, original 2.2L, 181,000, no major work done.

On my 95 Legacy Outback I had to drop from the rear cat back to remove the cover and drop the driveshaft. That was the hardest part of the job, several days of trying to free frozen exhaust bolts and then an hour or two removing the driveshaft and replacing the seal. I had to cut a couple of them off. Needless to say, I replaced the nuts and bolts with stainless steel ones. good luck, matt

So you push a button and they fold in an out? Wow, I didn't know such a thing existed.

I should clarify that they were power mirrors and they were folding mirrors, not power-folding, if there was just a thing. cheers, Matt

My 95 Legacy L "Outback" has power folder mirrors. They came in handy when I was living in NYC. You've got to fold the mirrors in when you're double parked on alternate side of the street parking days. cheers, matt

You can do it without removing anything with the right combination of extensions. Just keep a bright light and a magnet handy for when you drop the bolt putting the sensor back in. Oh, and a vacuum cleaner. I had to vacuum out all sorts of leaves and debris from underneath the intake manifold. Weird. cheers, Matt

Was it an OEM thermostat? The feeling seems to be that OEM is the only way to go for the thermostat. cheers, matt

I second the suggestion of Techron. I've used two bottles a couple of months apart and it's starting to make a real difference in the reliability of the gauge. It used to drop off at about 3/4 full and now it's lasting until almost empty. I've got another bottle in the car waiting for the next fill up. Of course, after all this time trusting only the odometer I bet I'm going to have a tough time believing the gauge. cheers, Matt

I dunno, I heard they were ditching the "aviation-inspired" grill. cheers, Matt

I find that changing it myself is often faster than going and (usually) waiting in line to have someone else do it. cheers, matt

If you wanted to take the radio apart you could try blowing off the lens with some canned air, maybe it's just dusty. It sure is a sweet ride, good luck, matt

Even if it is an audio CD format, I'm not sure a 97 vintage CD player could read a CD-R.