Rooster2

Good idea regarding using silicone spray. I will try that next time.

If the button is stuck, or sort of stuck, it can happen if soft drinks from the cup holder spill down upon the HVAC control buttons. To fix this, I use Windex and paper towels. I spray and wipe, and keep pushing the buttons until they move in and out easily during the entire spray and wipe process.

I am thinking that new spark plugs and wires are needed for your car. Though number of miles is low, I bet the plugs and wires are the originals and need replacing. I would also suggest that you add some fuel injector cleaner to the gas tank. Get the good stuff that costs about $6/bottle, like Chevron Techron or TLC. The cheap stuff for $3 or $4/bottle doesn't help much in my opinion.

You may want to try to remove a couple of spark plug wires at the spark plugs. If they are original, I would not be surprised if you report back they are most difficult to remove. With time and heat the plug wires seem to shrink wrap themselves to the plugs. and cannot be removed without destroying them. If you plan to replace the plugs, you will almost surely need to replace the plug wires as well.

Thanks for the advise. The half shaft is after market from Autozone, so I knew to somewhat expect trouble when I bought it. It is guaranteed, and labor is not much to replace. My Subie dealer is too far away to deal with, and an internet purchase kind of a hassle in my opinion for something like this. Like someone said in a response post here, I will drive on until it clicks when driving straight, or if front end vibration starts, then I will replace it. I have even heard of using a syringe to inject grease through the boot, but I don't know if that would get the new grease worked into the joint.

The radiator hose bursting and now the P/S pump acting up may be just coincidental happenings. Since you cleaned off the P/S belt, and if you don't thinking it is slipping, then it must be your pump. I can't imagine that any aeration of the ATF is your problem. I replaced the P/S unit on my Leggie a few years back. I bought a used one from a wrecking yard for $35. I never did any air bleeding on the install. I simply filled it up with ATF, and it worked perfectly for years.

I know my driver side front half shaft on my 99 OBW is starting to tell me that it is going bad. It is making the clickety clickety noise on left hand turns. This just started. Any idea how long I can drive the car this way before absolutely having to replace the half shaft? It makes no noise going straight or making right hand turns. Thanks for any advise!

Subaru could have made the spark plug change a lot easier had they left access holes in the inner fender wells large enough to insert a spark plug socket. They could have even added rubber plugs to cover the holes to keep dirt and water spray out of the engine bay. Maybe a design engineer working on future design will read this, and incorporate this idea into new Subies! It seems a little strange to pull the road wheels to change spark plugs with my idea, but a whole lot easier, then the mechanic unfriendly way that the plugs have to be changed now.

+1 on the above. I had the same problem a few years back on my 99 OBW. I yanked, twisted, and pulled until the boots either pulled off, or ripped off in pieces with long handled needle nose pliers. Years of under hood heat seem to weld and shrink the boots onto the plugs. When adding new wires, smear on some of that Vasoline type stuff that is made specifically for plug wire. It will make the next wire change a lot easier. Changing the plugs will be just as nasty. Read old threads on how best to do that job.

Too much of a PITA to work clutch and shifter, when postal driver stops every 50 feet or so to deposit mail. So, not surprising that all were speced with A/T.

Yea, I am getting up in years, but heard back in the day about replacing both, when only one was definitely bad. As others have written earlier on this thread, that doesn't apply any more. I have replaced just one caliper, and the results were fine. It is an easy do it your self job, if you are handy with a wrench.

Yes, tires can get very noisy, especially after running many miles when not balanced properly. They start to develop cups, and bounce and vibrate to cause noise and vibration. Glad the new tires and alignment solved your problem.

years back, I swapped out a blower on my 91 Leggie. It was a piece of cake. I don't remember any cross bracket in the way. Guess things change over the years.

Yes an oven glove, or even just car work gloves will work just fine. Also, handy to take a small hammer with you under the car, and tap around on the exhaust system and listen for any rattly noises. I have hammered in bolts (as a wedge) on loose muffler shrouds to keep them from rattling.

+2 on getting the tires balanced. Also, look at the front tires to see if they are worn evenly. If they have been out of balanced, and driven for many miles, the tires will develop "cups" or scooped out areas from bouncing around. If so, new tires will be needed to fix the problem. Highly doubt the steering rack has anything to do with this problem. As others have written, loose/worn tie rods can allow the wheels to shake. Check for that too.

The connector housing is best found at a wrecking yard. I am also thinking that simply turning on the A/C, turns on the cooling fan. It is wired that way, and is not dependent on any sensor. So, if refrigerant is low, I think the fan should turn on when the A/C is turned on.

I think what you are needing is the "generic radio interface wiring harnass" (for lack of a better description) that goes between an after market radio, and connects to the wiring going to the speakers. These small wiring harnesses are made for specific car models, and work well. It eliminates cutting of any of the car's wiring, which makes wiring up an after market radio a cinch. I can't remember the name of the consumer electronic mail order store that sells these wiring harnesses, but if I search high and low, I may find something on them. Maybe someone else on this forum can chime in on a source for the radio wiring harness.

I am using the standard Bosch platinum plugs, and a bosch wire set on my 99 OBW with no issues. These were swapped in about 3 years ago, and have about 35K miles on the wires and plugs.

I had similar problem with a car years back. To test if wiring to speakers was good, I took an old portable radio, and had an old head phones. I cut off the wire to the head phones, then wired the leads to the car rear speakers. Both speaker would play the portable radio, so I knew the problem was in the wiring connection to the new car radio. Finally, I figured it out to get the new car radio to play properly.

I just replaced all four rotors on my 990BW about a week ago. I bought mine at Advance Auto Parts. It is pretty cool to go on line, buy the parts, then pick them up at the store. Sometimes, they offer an extra 10-20% off by buying on line, that they don't offer on store purchases. I call the store after purchasing on line to make sure they have the part in stock, and they always have. Then, just stop by the store, give them my name, they hand me the parts, and it is out the door. Don't think I even have to pay sales tax. Recent rotors cost about $35, and offer a 2 year warranty. Rotors fit real nice, and work real well. Don't think the dealer sells rotors with a warranty.

You might try cleaning the rusted off as best you can with a wire brush, then applying JB Weld, and let it harden up over night. It will work for a while.

What is a goiter?

Nice detective work. On the 1994 link, it shows up as the Legacy Mi Alpine Sport Wagon. I would like to see some pixs of it.

The parts stores are good on their guarantees of a free replacement, but they won't refund any money in my opinion. Read all your posts, still sounds like your current alternator has a bad bearing. Like said, alternators on Subies are rather easy to replace. I just make sure to wedge a rag or paper towel under the long bolt, that way, if I drop the nut on disassembly or reassembly , I can easily retrieve it, and not have it fall through to land on the block somewhere.

+1 on Ace Hardware. That is where I bought my last metric bolts/nuts. They even offer metric in stainless steel, which I bought. Since you are using to affix the alternator, if you can't find in metric, you could substitute in SAE, if simply used to hold a bracket in place.