Rooster2

I had the same thing happen on my 99 Leggies OBW in the front. I took out the turn signal bulb, found the base coated with electrical vasoline. I cleaned it up, or put in a new bulb, (can't remember which) and that fixed the problem. The front lens slides out after screws are removed. It is kind of a wierd way to affix the lens, but it works.

I had a p/s pump go bad on a 91 Leggie. Prolly a bearing on mine, as belt got real loose and floppy. For about $25 bucks, I replaced it with one from a wrecking yard. It was a simple swap out, ez to do. Never had any more p/s trouble after that.

Well it is possible that you have some air in your brake lines, but I would doubt it, unless you let the reservoir level get too low, or you opened up the hydraulic system to do work, which allowed air to enter. If you think you may have air in your system, you can tell because the brake pedal feels real spongie upon applying the brakes. I question if you possibly need a new master cylinder? That would be my suspicion. As far as bleeding the lines, I have been told to start the bleeding sequence at the road wheel farthest from the mc. However, I did not know that last summer, when I used a one man bleeder system to flush out old brake fluid that had the color of ice tea. I simply bled the back brakes, then the fronts. That worked out just fine. I guess in retrospect this could have been bleeding from the furthest point back from the mc.The one man bleeder prevents air from entering the hydraulic lines.

Agree, much easier to simply swap in an entire instrument cluster. If you go this route, be sure to turn on the head lights to see if any bulbs are burned out in the donor instrument cluster before completely reinstalling. If so, you will want to replace the bad bulbs before finishing the project. Use bulbs from your old instrument cluster if needed.

No, does not matter if donor car is auto or standard.

Prolly any Leggie from years 95-99. They all have the same dash, instrument panel, and guages. I wouldn't think there is any difference if the tach came from either a 2.2 or 2.5 motored car, as rpm read out is simply that on either motor. Prolly easier to pull the instrument cluster out as a complete unit from a car at a wrecking yard, then swap out the tac at your kitchen table at home. Spread out some old newspapers on the table before working, so the table stays clean. It makes my wife a lot happier when I use the newspapers for this type of work.

Suggest you get a front end alignment. If you have worn suspension parts, the alignment guy will tell you so. Your OBW looks exactly like mine, even the same color. Looks like I am looking at my own car!

my same thoughts........drain, flush, refill with fresh coolant, and add a new OEM Subie thermostat. It is very important to use only a thermostat from Subaru. For some odd reason, thermostats from other manufacturers are made cheap and junkie.

My driver's seat is uncomfortable on a long trip, and gets to hurting my back side. I suspect that the seat cushion foam has crushed down over time. When I go to my local pick a part, what front seats from what Subies will simply bolt in? Thanks for any advise!

The flush and refill with new ATF is always a good idea. Be sure to take a can of Trans X with you for the shop to have them add when replentishing the ATF. If you wait to add it when you get home, you would be adding it when trany is full of ATF, adding the Trans X will over fill the trany by about a pint. It is not good to over fill the trany.

Electrical problems like yours are always maddening! In my experience, I doubt that your battery is bad. Going through three batteries in two years leads me to think it is something else. Either you have a minor electrical short somewhere, or something like the light in the glove box stays on even after the glove box door is closed. I have heard of guys pulling all the fuses like you have done, then using a small 12 volt bulb in a socket with leads attached to spade terminals. Use this contraption to insert into each fuse location. You will get some bulb element lighting across the radio fuse location, as it draws a small amount of power to run the clock and radio memory. However, if the bulb lights on a circuit that has nothing turned on, then you can suspect something wrong on that circuit, and then you can investigate what is drawing the current. It is time consuming to do this, so many mechanics don't want to invest their time doing this, and want to get rid of you by saying they can't find anything wrong. There is a possibility that your alternator is bad. My experience is a bad alternator usually puts out less than 13 volts. 13.5 volts might be okay, maybe not. Did you ask Kragen guy and Napa guy what they consider to be proper voltage output on a good alternator? If your is marginal by their standards, try to get the Kragen guy to sway out your old one for a new one per your guarantee. I would try this before springing for a new alternator from Napa or another parts store. Let us know your progress. Subies are fun cars to own and drive. You deserve better then what you have right now.

Hope you get lucky with a good flush and new antifreeze to solve your problem. You might consider putting in a new thermostat, if the existing one is old.

same thought as previous poster..........you are low on A/C refrigerant. Add some refrigerant, if that leaks out quickly, then it is time to find the source of the leak.

Sorry to see your Subie with that much structural rust damage. I would be afraid to drive that car at highway speed, best to use on city streets only. My old 84 VW looked like that. Finally, the left rear suspension colapsed. Then, the only thing holding up the left corner was the shock absorber. So sad to loose a good friend to rust. RIP

I have used a lot of Fram filters over the years, but have read and heard enough negative to shy away from them. One mechanic told me that he saw a Fram oil filter that had come apart, and leaked oil badly. I made it a point a couple of years back to cut open a Fram filter. I was not impressed with what I found inside. There wasn't much filtering media, and the filter didn't look well made. I saw a report that had been published on oil filter performance. All Frams, except their top of the line, were not rated well. Wix came out the best, Purolator, was just so so. If I can find the oil filter website, I will paste it on here.

I have heard of the quick flow tips, what is it officially called, where is it sold, how much is the cost. Thanks for any info.........Rooster2

I use a good scissor jack that I got from a wrecking yard. It came from an Audi. It is a much larger and stronger jack than the one that comes with the Subie. Jacks easily right behind the passanger front wheel. Gives sufficient room to drain the oil and replace the oil filter. If using a scissor jack, be sure to chalk the road wheels to prevent the car from rolling even a little bit, and applying the hand brake. Nothing dumber then getting injured from a car rolling off a jack.

Starters come with a year, or life time guarantee. You may be able to get a replacement starter at no cost.

what quality level replacement parts did you buy? If you bought rebuilts from az or advance auto parts, their quality is not the best; then i can see them not lasting long. Agree with other poster, it sounds like you need to replace the starter.

If the 01 is like my 99, the rear squirter washer uses the same reservoir that the windshield washer uses. There is just one squirter reservoir container under the hood.

In the past, I have had good results on rusted floor boards by paint brushing on fiber glass resin. Once applied on a clean surface, it seals out moisture, and stops rust dead in its tracks. On rust holes in a floor board, I have applied layers of fiber glass matt to fill in the void. The resin stinks real bad for a few days, then the smell totally goes away. The strength of fiber glass matt is amazing. Once cured, you could pound on the finished patch with a hammar, and not damage it.

As mentioned, if there is still some grease inside the existing split boot, and you think not much dirt has gotten inside the bad boot, then maybe a split cv boot may work for a while. However, I wouldn't trust using one for an extended period of time. Once installed, I would keep a constant watch on the integrity of the split boot to see that it doesn't come apart. Years back I installed a split boot on a VW. It didn't work well at all, but I think the size I used may have been incorrect. No matter how I installed the split boot, I could not get it to fit well. However, that was just my bad experience. Within a week, I took the car to a shop and had the boot replaced with a non split unit. What ever you do, it is important to get that boot repaired. Driving with a bad boot will wear out your CV joint in no time flat. A bad CV joint will start making clicking noises during a turn. Then you run the risk of breaking down with a siezed bearing. Then, the repair gets more expensive, as the entire half shaft will need replaced.

Yes, I tried the Lucas tranny stop leak product first to cure my trany delayed forward engagement. It didn't work. My problem was slowly getting worse on my '99. So, I drained the ATF, added Amsol synthetic ATF, and the Trans X additive. In my opinion, it is the Trans X that solves the problem. However, I think it is important to have good clean ATF in your trany. It is the 99's and 00's that are prone to the Trany delayed forward engagement problem......................Larry (Rooster2)

Glad to hear another success story!..............Larry (Rooster2)

I would use the 98 as a trade in on the 03, because I don't think it would be worth your time and money repairing head gaskets yourself. Figure what you want to offer on the 03, then subtract what you would want to sell the 98 for. Negotiate only from the net figure, otherwise you can easily loose track of how much you will be paying out of pocket on the deal. Don't be afraid to walk away from a deal that you think is too expensive. I always leave my name and number with the dealer salesman, and suggest they call, if they can come up with a better price. In this era of slow car sales, they will be calling you back. Considering it would be a trade in, I would not give your opinion to the dealer as to the deficiencies of the 98. That is their job to figure out what your 98 is worth as a trade in to them. This is not unethical, as the dealer is not going to tell you the deficiencies on the 03, in trying to sell that car to you. Check Kelly or Edmunds for trade in value of your 98. Chances are the dealer will take your 98 trade in to a dealer only auction. Even if the dealer knew your 98 deficiencies, they would never be discussed at the auction. Doing biz with a dealer, it is always let the customer beware. I treat the dealer with the same courtesy.