Rooster2

I have a spade type electrical connector that is full of corrosion. Blue/green corrosion is making for a bad electrical contact. I used a cut down cardboard finger nail emery board that my wife had, to clean up the male and female sides of the the connector. Still, the connector does not look clean. Is there a product that can be bought to dissolve away the corrosion? Would a solution of baking soda and water do any good? If I can clean the connector, would applying the vasoline type electrical gel used to connect spark plug wires to spark plugs help prevent corrosion in the future? Thanks for any help!

Yes, just like some Subarus, some women can become high maintenance. You just have to be careful which one you want to live with.

The ECU seldom breaks. So I am not surprised swapping in a new ECU did not help the problem. Did you replace the cold start sensor??

Parts from any Legacy 96-99 will work. Maybe even parts from a 95. The 95 may have a one piece head light/side light. Later models went to a two piece unit. Sounds like you are replacing parts to a car that has been wrecked?

Or simply just need a new starter.

I think the noise is still with your brakes. It prolly is not a serious problem, just annoying to hear the noise. I am not familiar with 08 brakes, as my car is a 99. Still, I don't think Subie reinvented brake technology in the past 10 years. I would suspect the anti-rattle shims as the source of your problem. They are designed to put pressure on the brake pads to keep them from rattling around when not in use. When all this rattling noise is heard, just lightly apply your brakes. If the noise stops, then it most likely is the shims.

I just replaced the radiator on my 98 OBW. It is not a difficult job. Just remove the cooling fans in front, that are held in with a few bolts. Remove the two small hoses on driver's side for the automatic trans cooling (if so equipped), top and bottom hose, and a few bolts holding the radiator, then pull up, and the rad is out. Pretty much out and in, in less then an hour. Use a long handled pry bar to push the small A/T cooling hoses from the rad nipples, as they will be really stuck on those nipples good. New small hose clamps will prolly be needed. Suggest using a dremmel tool to buzz off the shroud around the Y pipe to see where the leak is. I wouldn't be surprised that it may just leak at the gasket, where it bolts to the head.

Should have access to the fuel pump and power connectors there correct? Thanks! Yes, I am betting on a bad fuel pump. Lucky, you don't have much fuel in the tank. Low fuel makes it easier to change the pump.

Any chance you can push this car into a heated garage, or at least wrapping the motor in an electric blanket? Difficult cars to start always respond better to warmer temps. I am thinking it is possible that the car ran out of fuel. Yes, you put fuel back in, but it is always difficult to start a car when the fuel lines have run empty. Perhaps squirt some ether in the air intake may help. It would be worth a try.

Why so many 2.5 motors get replaced with a 2.2 motor is because of replacement cost, and gained reliability. In my case, I spent $400 for a motor from a respected wrecking yard. I took it to my mechanic's shop, where he replace the water pump, timing belt, idlers, and seals, and installed it for $1600. The 2.2 from a 95 car is plug and play with existing ecu, wiring, and exhaust down pipe. With a 2.2 motor, it is a non interference motor, so should the timing belt ever break, it won't take out the valves. Also, the 2.2 does not suffer from weak head gaskets, so there is gained reliability. I am happy with the result.

Sorry to hear your good news/bad news. With that much damage, you may want to consider replacing the motor with a 2.2 litre. I just had that done on my 98 OBW. Much written on this subject on this forum. The result is a good running Outback at a reasonable cost. Power is down just a tad, but not bad.

It would be helpful to know what year and model car this is. If it is a '95 or newer, it would be OBD 2, and you could take it to an auto parts store, where they could pull the codes, if there are any. Pulled codes would tell you if the knock sensor or 02 sensors are reading bad. My experience with a bad knock sensor, is that my car still ran good, but was noticeably down on power. With a bad knock sensor, the computer goes to running in "limp mode," by that I mean that the computer electronically retards the timing to prevent detonation or ping. The retarded timing prevents the engine from putting out max horse power. This said.......I doubt it is the knock sensor causing severe driveablilty when engine is warmed up. I am thinking this is more likely a problem with the MAF or MAP sensor. Someone in a recent post was having a similar problem. You may want to read that post and responses. Since you said the motor ran well until warmed up, I am thinking there isn't that much wrong with the motor. Others will chime in, but I am thinking it won't cost much to fix the driveability problem.

Long term solution............Ace Hardware stores and Autozone advertise that they sell replacement remote entry fobs. Prolly less costly then going to a Subie dealer. I don't know of a short term solution.

I think it would be pretty impossible importing a Subie diesel. It would lack all EPA certification to get through customs. I don't know if Canada has Subie diesels, but if so, you could perhaps snare one from there. I am thinking you would need to identify it as a gasoline engine to get it through customs. That would prolly be much more trouble then it is worth, and I don't think I would want to break the law on a project like this. I don't think converting a gas engine to diesel is practical. GM tried that back in the 80's, and it made for a non dependable engine. Just too much stress with the high compression ratio to get a non diesel designed engine to hold up.

Maybe new fan belts could cause this.......especially if over tightened??

I check mine in the Fall when doing antifreeze swap out. Sometimes, after a year it still looks like new, so I just reinstall it. I am lucky to put 10K miles on my Subie per year, so for me an air filter lasts a long time.

If you are handy with a wrench, it is no big deal swapping in an alternator to your Forester. I have always bought a reman alternator from a parts store like Autozone or Advance Auto Parts. Seem like three I have bought for various cars over the past 15 years or so. I have never had any problems with any of them. I know others here on this forum will say that they have had trouble with remanufactured alternators from parts stores. With Autozone, they offer a lifetime warranty. If the alt goes bad, they will give you another one at no cost. A dealer with genuine OEM won't sell you an alternator with a lifetime warranty. Some guys source things like alternators and starters from wrecking yards. Price is usually good, but you just don't know how much life is left in a used part. You might also want to check on line parts stores. I know Advance Auto gives 20% discount if you buy on line, then pick up at one of their stores. Just my 2 cents worth. I wouldn't drive far with that alternator with the bearings going out. It is possible that the bearing will seize up, and leave you stranded.

Okay, now I understand that the turbo motor is worth some money, even in core form. Learned something today!

I will stay with my original post that this non running car is not worth more than $500. Sure, if you took the time to part it out, you could get more. That is what wrecking yards are in the biz to do. However, I think most everyone doesn't have the room to store a parts car, or the time to disassemble and sell parts. I recently sold a cooked 2.5 motor to a wrecking yard. All they would give me for it was $35. in salvage value. I bought a '95 EJ-22 motor from a different yard for $400. Hard for me to believer a core engine (in who knows what condition it's in) is worth $500. Just my humble opinion!

For what it is worth.........a friend of mine who owns a foreign wrecking yard, recently said that any car, running or not running, he will buy for a minimum of $400. With that in mind, a non running 93 is worth maybe $500 imo.

In English, we say the central door locking thingy is known as a key fob. If indeed, you are referring to the small hand held remote used to lock/unlock the driver's door. Replacing the battery in the fob may fix the problem. Congrats on a nice buy!

I have the same opinion as John eggleston. I too, am very suspicious of a seller who won't spend the money or time to fix what he says is a bad ground. Since the car doesn't run, it really only has limited value, and should be sold as a "parts car," at near scrap pricing. However, I am guessing the seller is not doing this. What price has he put on a non running car?? Be very wary of this seller!

Glad to have helped you. Have a Happy New Year!!!!

The first thing I would try is to remove the positive battery cable from the battery. Leave the cable unbolted from the car about 5 minutes, then reconnect to the battery. This is how I have stopped the alarm light blink on wife's 98 OBW. You will loose the correct time on the clock in the radio, and all that is remembered on the radio presets, but that is not too difficult to correct. Best regards, Rooster 2

With really stuck filters, I have used the two filter wrench approach, one to go around the body of the filter, and another as an end cap filter. With both wrenches in place, you have two handles to turn at once to get the filter loose. It is a lot less messy then doing the "screw driver through the filter" trick.