littlefish

after wrenching an old volvo for the last 3 years, time to refresh the 02 obw at 245000 mi. head gasket at 225000. needs shocks, cvj, windshield. will be looking for sage advice, thanks!

ok ok ok... thanks a bunch! already pased on the v70. went to the [non-dealer] volvo geek nearby, looked at a 97 850 5sp wagon/188k. much simpler. he said the same things bout the v70 and cars from 99+. i like the ride and lack of gadgets in the 850, but heard from another garage that 97 - 98 have engine problems.... i'll find a volvo forum and get up to speed. reading deeper meanings in to mr. tractor pole's comment, i would stay with a 5sp subaru for awd, had enough of torque bind with a 98 impreza, but that would have been an $800 dollar bushing - worth the price if i had kept the car...

driving a rotted-out legacy wagon that won't pass next year. found a 2000 v70 wagon, 260k, no rust, 5speed. drives nice, leather, electric driver's seat/windows/sunroof. seller runs a shop, bought it at auction, did all work required for inspection and will replace a bad rear rotor on purchase. asking $1995. seems fair. like a safe car for the teen driver. opinions from my most trusted usmb acquaintances?

thanks for the advice to not remove the unneccesary bushings... after all, this is just our rally-x car... really, she had me put skid plates on the family wagon! well, it's back at the shop that did the pads, so i'll let him finish the job that will never get done by me.

hi, would like to replace front right rotor - shoulda had the shop do it, but cheaped out... apparently caliper stuck, inner pad wore to metal. he did pads and a bracket - but let me cheap out on new or cut rotors. now i have a vibration. i may take it back, but for diy, does the abs present any difficulty? thanks...

wifey's 02 obw fills 1/2 gallon, shuts off pump. she drives a lot, is annoyed, my problem now. canister under fill pipe was replaced a few years back after it was cracked during a hitch install. is the canister prone to clogging? gonna try to drop it a bit, find the vent to the filler, get my self in to trouble and generate some codes, keep a dealer tech employed one more day...

thanks, but it all sounds like fuzzy logic to me... the stuff looks like smooth, black hair from a short distance, but has to be stuffing. suppose that i am looking at replacing a muffler.

maybe not specific to a subaru, but, there is hair coming out of my muffler...

legacy brighton 2.2, 199k miles. thanks for all the advice. trying to understand about lifters. if they are hydraulic, would a solvent treatment help? ivan's says no.

so in the interest of not damaging seals, cat, sensors, i'll probably return the sea foam. how about a pint or so of kerosene and a long idle before the oil change?

advice on seafoaming the crankcase? seen it mentioned, can't find a thread. have lifter/slap noise on 97 legacy 5 speed. runs well, good power/mileage. thanks.

talk to a good subaru shop/dealer about replacing a bushing in the transmission - i was told that up to '98 this was one cause of torque bind - $800 repair. duty c fuse always helped mine. have since traded in for legacy 5 peed. keep the fuse in until you have a plan for fixing it.

just to give you some confidence, i vote wires as well... same issues on our outback.

boring topic, sorry, but i have this radio left over from a yard sale. would like to wire it up for garage sound. i suppose power leads are a good start, can test out for speakers after that. from a '95 saturn. thanks.

I'm looking for extra wheels for rally cross. Will steel wheels from a 2003 Forester fit my 2002 OBW? Any other suggestions for spare rally cross wheels (these will be for snow tires)? Will steel wheels affect performance? (posted by the wife of Littlefish)

quotes on suspension repairs to my former 98 impreza were the same among 2 local shops and a very dependable dealer. recently traded down to a 97 legacy brighton for the sheer pleasure of doing my own wrenching without worrying about a/t, power windows, etc... there is a subaru every other driveway or so here in nh. lotsa independent shops run by former dealer's techs.

wifey ran scca rallyx at stratton vt in her 02 obw. stuck it in first, and managed to hit almost every boulder. broke the plastic undertray, nerfed the left side wiring harness. big smiles. skid plates are in next week. stickers are already on. planning on upcoming events at n.e dragway, nhms...

hi all... backup lights on my new crappy old 97 legacy brighton wagon don't work. dug in to the switches on driver's side of transmush - the rear switch went on in reverse, off in neutral; wire to rear sw had 4.7 volts key on/off. the front switch stayed off whether in neutral or reverse; wire to front sw had 12v key on. jumping the wire from the front sw turned on the backup lights. Can't swap connectors since they are keyed differntly, but I can certainly swap the switch positions. would have to test the 'do nothing' switch after removal. question 1: what does the neutral sw do? q2: was something reversed and the lights probably never worked? thanks

wifey got the ride of her life at the scca covered bridge rally-x sunday at stratton in vt. great 1st/only run, 1 cone. then people started pointing out the dead headlight and dragging plastic - busted the plastic shield and crushed the right side wiring harness. enjoyed lunch and headed home for repairs to the main family 'rally' car. all ok now, but need to locate and install a skid plate. advice? next event for us will be rochester nh fairgrounds if they do that again... may even trot out the brighton...

horse traded a 98 impreza auto for a well-worn 91 legacy brighton 5sp - no torque bind! also no electric windows, locks, etc... rock stock and the a/c works. wifey wanted the imp for autocross/rallycross, but now she will have to learn to use her left foot!

about 2 weeks into driving after repairs... took about a week - partly to wait for the insurance geek to show up which he never did. car was ready on time, about $110 out the door. she also got a fairly new legacy as a loaner [with the sport shift locked out by tire weights]. dealer and soa will pick up the rest even if the extended warranty doesn't come through. to that end the dealer documented, photographed and probably made plaster casts and applied the latest in forensics to gather evidence towards making them pay. apparently the left side pistons were in pretty bad shape. now runs quiet as it should. been too distracted to check on oil consumption, power, etc, but overall, we are satisfied with the job. i am entirely in shock that it all went so smoothly. if you are in northern new england, i will gladly refer you to this store. p.s. my wife knows how to negotiate as she deals with lawyers over special ed cases on behalf her school district. the customer ahead of her on pickup day threatened to take her business elswhere over some issue about timing or scheduling. point is that business goes both ways and she has always been treated exceptionally well there.

'02 outback recently acqiured with 60-odd k has piston slap. my wife took it in for an oil change, had them check it out. she left with an appointment to have 2 pistons replaced. 1/3 paid by subaru, 1/3 by dealer, 1/3 on us which is covered under the used car extended warranty. our total cost will come to approx $100 for oil & gaskets... is this a typical story?

at 183,000 my wife's wagon refused to back up, went forward ok, but would not shift. dealer said it's dead. we limped it home after she made a deal on an '02 outback - happy wife, sad car out in the weeds. am i dreaming, or can i get a used trans and diy-it assuming no hurry... the goal is to have a (non-competitive, but fun) autocrosser. auto sucks, but she doesnt like using her left foot anyway. thanks in advance for all encouragement and offers of help...

is there a cure for a sticky front caliper? the car goes less than 5 miles/day to drop of the cherubs. started a road trip - bad vibration braking at highway speed, stopped to check - very hot left front hub. let it cool during breakfast at denny's, then ran cool on the hour back to home. pulled the left front to check pins and piston - pins greased, no rust, boots tight; piston would extend, but didn't retract very readily. sensed some drag with the wheel in the air compared to the right front. replace? rebuild? suffer? thanks...

hi - wifey's wagon's radiator is leaking a bit at the radiator air vent plug [as identified by our haynes book]. this is a plastic phillips screw that resides in the right [passenger] side of the top tank. the top part of the screw has seperated leaving a small portion of the phillips head accessable. easily replaced? look for a used radiator? let the dealer advise her? buy a honda? we're looking at zero and below in nh this week. thanks...