Commuter

Hi everyone, I haven't been around the board very much in recent years. Thankfully my car wasn't giving me any new challenges to speak anymore. I did learn a lot about my car earlier on from this board and hopefully was able to help some other people as well. My car has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky this week. 1997 Legacy Outback Wagon, base model. Lots of little upgrades that I did to it over the years. Lots of miles. Other than being on the third engine, I can't complain too much about the service it gave me. It was mostly trouble free the past 4 years with the exception of the fuel pump that went a year ago. I managed to time it quite well. Mechanically, the car is very tired at this point. The body is still in great shape. No accidents and Rust Check every year. Interior still very good except the driver's seat was starting to go. Hanging onto it for a few more years was also a plus in that there is a lot more selection (for me) than there was a few years ago. I insisted on a small(ish) hatchback and there was very little to chose from up until the past couple of years. I know I'll be asked what I'm driving now. I started looking back in the spring, test driving here and there, checking out new models as they were released. I drove just about everything that was a small hatchback under ~$25k. In the end, I decided on the Hyundai Veloster. Commuter

Before buying a unit, I decided to take it apart again. Nothing much to see that I haven't already seen. I squeezed some dielectric grease into the connector. I pushed in on and off the pins several times. Hooked everything back up and viola, it works. So, it would seem to be a flaky connection. Or possibly there is a break in a trace on the board some where and my messing with it brought the connection back (for now). We'll see. Fingers crossed. Thanks everyone. If I do have to replace it, I know that there are units out there and I'm well versed in taking these things apart. I don't expect to have the car much longer, so here's hoping it keeps working for as long as I need it to. Commuter

My vent settings are 'stuck' as I posted about recently. In doing some eBay and internet searching, I'm encountering 2 different listings for the control units. 95-97 and 98-99. Some listings though are indicating that the units were the same across all these years, or at least compatible. Does anyone know? Eg will a 98-99 unit work ok in my 1997 Legacy Outback? Just from the pictures, I can see that the blue/red temperature band was changed from a continuous solid bar to a dashed colored bar. I guess that could be enough to have generated a new part number. Otherwise, it looks identical. My concern is whether the electrical connection / circuit board is the same or not. I'd hate to buy a unit and then find out that it doesn't hook up. Thanks.

Turns out, they are M8. The 4 long hex fasteners are all the same. They are similar to a coupling nut, but with a threaded male stud sticking out one end and a blind female hole in the other. The 2 in the middle have the male end screwing up into the floor pan. The 2 on the back end have the female end screwing up onto a stud sticking down from the floor pan. :-\ Subaru, what the heck?! Anyway, they all came loose without much trouble. I used some large flat washers to hold the heat shield in place. The one rear stud was ripped off, so I didn't do anything about it. With 5 of the 6 total fasteners back to a solid condition, the shield is no longer rattling and I'm not worried about losing it.

Thanks for the replies. The buttons are not stuck. No problem there. I am fully aware of how to take this unit apart as I have done it about 4 or 5 times now over the years to replace bulbs. I just did it a few months ago the last time. I know all about disconnecting the cable at the lower end, thanks. So... seems the consensus is a bad board? Hmmmm... I really don't want to spend $200 on a car that is not worth much more than that. Especially if I don't know that is really is the board. I guess I could take it apart and clean up the contacts and see what happens. Right now, I'm stuck on the bi-level setting which is what I use 95% of the time. I've thought of just buying a 12V plug in fan for those times that I need to clear the windshield. Not elegant, but much less than $200. If someone does have a used board for a fair price, I'm interested. But until I rule out the connection or actuator, I'm a bit hesitant to pay more than a minimal amount to be honest. Commuter

1997 Legacy Outback, 693,000 km. My ventilation settings are no longer working. It stays on the bi-level setting (the one I'm on 98% of the time) and won't switch no matter what button I press. Everything else seems fine. A/C, recirc, etc. This did happen once last winter. After punching the buttons a few times, it started working again. So... Electrical connection? Vent actuator dead (or dead spot)? Stuck linkage / vents? ??? What is the most likely culprit? Where should I start looking? Thanks.

The long heat shield in the middle of the car; the one between the exhaust pipe and the floorpan; it attaches to the floorpan - has come loose on my car. One of the long hex nuts that stands the shield off from the floor is missing and I can see what looks like a threaded stud sticking down. Does someone have a good diagram of this connection? Or can explain exactly what it is? Is the stud welded right into the floorpan, or is it a replaceable fastener? I haven't had a chance to crawl underneath yet. What thread size are these parts? Thanks. My Haynes manual doesn't appear to have the correct diagram for a 97.

The lower line coming off the side of the radiator is looking a bit deteriorated and the connection is seeping a bit. Can someone tell me the hose size? The dealer wants $31 for the part. This hose has very little bend in it and I would think that a pc of straight hose would be fine. Thanks.

Disconnecting the drive shaft, dropping the tank etc... Yeah, I probably "could" do it... but I don't really have the means or inclination. Yes, I appreciate that there are probably other areas that are getting thin as well. Still, there usually are some specific attack points. I think it has rotted thru where the lines are clipped to the "frame" of the car. Accummulated dirt, moisture, salt... you know the routine. I appreciate the offer of pulling those lines for me, but shipping and border issues etc might be a killer. And if couriers smell or see any oil or gas, they will refuse to handle it. I think this will just be a patch as necessary. I had a similar failure on my 85 Civic. The lines rotted where they went from outside the car thru a grommet to the inside. I had to pull the back seat, pull the interior panel etc. In all, it wasn't too bad. Shaped up a few 6" lengths of tubing, some hose connectors and worm gear clamps and it lasted for the rest of the life of the car. Of course, the trend always seems to be that things get less and less accessible. Come to think of it, that happened somewhere around age 10 to 12 years as well. Hmmm... Commuter

I follow what you are saying. The 3 lines I can see thru the access port don't connect to the fuel pump... at least, not right "there". There is one line out of the fuel pump angled towards the other side of the car. I don't have my Haynes manual on me and I didn't get under enough to know just what the routing is. My intent at this point (pending further inspection) is as you say... to just replace the rotten sections with hose. If the rotted section extends up to where the lines are sandwiched in between the top 'corner' of the tank and the floor pan where it starts to drop down for the rear seat... grrr... that will be very difficult to access I think. We will see. Commuter

1997 Legacy Outback wagon, auto. Ok... Discovered fuel dripping from the lines just in front of the driver (left) side rear wheel. I haven't had a chance to get under the car yet to see just where the leak is coming from, but it was flowing down the lines from above the connectors that I could see. Of course it looks like a spot where it will be hard to get your hand up in there (between 'frame' and gas tank?). I flipped up the rear seat bottom last night. Where is the panel that is suppose to give you access to the pump and sender units? Is it under the rear seat, or behind the seat in the cargo area? I'm going out right now to take a look in the cargo area. Anyone had this experience? I'm hoping that I can fix it with some tubing / hose / clamps and don't need a whole fuel pump etc. Thanks. Commuter OK... Found the access covers behind the rear seat. I can see 3 fuel lines that run alongside the tank then dip down the corner of the tank and run down to where I see the fuel leaking underneath. These lines are corroded pretty bad in this area and one of them (one of the 2 bigger ones, in the middle of the 3 lines it seems) is leaking. On the one hand, replacing approximately a foot of line looks to be the easy fix. On the other hand, ACCESS looks like it is going to be a royal pain in the @ss. I'm not equipped to start dropping drive shafts and gas tanks etc. Now to call the dealer and see what they might have to say. Commuter Dealers... "Bring it in and we'll have to take a look." However, I'm an hour away from them. Sigh... Looks like I might be taking a vacation day to go at this. I think I can snip the lines thru the access hole and patch in some tubing / hose, but it will be painfully slow I'm sure. Still, I don't have hundreds of dollars floating around to pay to a shop right now for this. Any input / feedback appreciated. I have to wonder if these lines that run across the front of the tank might have more weak spots. I don't know if I can see that if I get right under the car proper. I'm hoping to get another year or so out of this car, but I'm thru paying big bills on this thing. It's just getting to be a little much. Side note... I have my car sprayed with Rust Check every year. Usually, it helps a lot to prevent stuff like this. However, it can only do so much on a (relatively) exposed line like this. Gotta love all the salt they dump on our roads in S. Ontario. Commuter

Ok, so here is my situation. 97 Outback, auto, 580,000 km. Last summer, after putting a used engine in, I noticed some oily mess from the front diff. I don't think the engine change had anything to do with it; just coincidental timing. There is a bit of oil coming out near the top, towards the passenger side. This is just back of the dipstick for the diff. There is a little block and a couple of tubes at this point. I believe it is a vent for the diff?? At the time this first started, I had a slow leak in one front tire. I wondered if the 'spitting' was due to the diff working some from uneven tire pressures causing different effective tire circumferences. (I believe this is what happened to me several years ago on the rear diff. I picked up 2 nails in the same tire in a 3 week span and the tire pressure got down to 20 psi and even less at one point. Same behaviour... the dealer said the seals were bad, but to this day I'm not sure that I believe that was the case.) So anyway, the tire was resealed a while ago. The bit of oil mess seems to be continuing. I wiped it off recently and there is now some fresh oil there. I topped up the front diff as well. I'd only lost 0.1 liter over 40,000 km. I don't know if there is any connection to the synthetic oil that I use. That is, whether it is more likely to foam from a diff that is having to work some from uneven tires. I might change it out, but not until the weather gets better. I should also mention that I do a lot of highway driving. About 50,000 km a year, most of it highway. Any clues? I certainly hope this isn't a sign of anything going wrong. The car drives the same as always. I just have this bit of oil mess plus a burnt oil smell since some gets onto the exhaust. Thanks. Commuter

I work for a company that does a lot of business with US companies. Many of our contracts (often a year in duration) are in US $. The weak US $ and our strong Canadian $ is killing us! Sure, it's great when I personally buy some item out of the States, but I could soon be out of a job, our company closed, etc. It will happen to some. You can only bleed red ink for so long. I was just reading an article about price differences between US and Canada on vehicles. Several years ago when our loonie ($) was worth 65 cents US, we had some of the best prices on the planet. My ex bought a 99 Honda van. In the US, it was an easy $5k more at that time. Today, the tables have turned. Now we are the ones getting hit. Car companies simply can't react to every little change in currency fluctuations. It would create a lot of instability in the market. They have to look at the big picture (multi-national) and hope that the 'pluses' in one country cover the 'minuses' in another. In the longer term, they can slowly move the pricing. There was a newspaper article a while ago that looked at about a dozen industries in Canada and the impact of our rising $. Most were negatively impacted moderately to severely. A couple bordered on neutrality. One came out ahead; our air line. Most of their revenue is in Canadian funds but most of their expenses are in US funds. It was the only industry to gain. Sorry, getting off topic. A strong $ has its pros and cons. Commuter

Pretty sure you will find links in the FAQ sticky. Commuter

I went thru issues on my 97 OB like this. The diaphram was torn, but that didn't solve it. Passages were clean (or cleaned). Still not solved. Vacuum lines that go under the throttle cable (at least on my car) thru little metal tubes were changed out (the metal part), just in case there was a leak there. Still not solved. You can easily bypass these temporarily with some hose to test. Solenoid was changed. Problem finally solved. About a year later, EGR code showed up again. This time, it was the sensor on the passenger strut tower that you speak of. I was also getting some slow/delayed shifts from the transmission. Once it was replaced, both problems disappeared. Did you get a new sensor, or a used one? You can rip off the EGR... car will run the same (but emissions might be a bit higher... and I don't know about passing inspections...). You WILL get the CEL though since the sensor looks for a change in manifold vacuum when the EGR valve is triggered. If it doesn't see this, CEL comes on. Commuter

Running Michelin Harmony's now with just over 100k km on them. Still lots of tread left. They are a very good all around tire. I know that Canadian Tire Corp has a version of this tire called the Destiny (slightly different tread pattern). Sounds like Costco has their own version. I do seem to be getting a bit more noise, but can't see any obvious cupping etc happening. At least not yet. I previously had Michelin X-Ones (very similar characteristics to the Harmony) and they did cup on the shoulders and got quite noisy the final 30% of their life. I easily got 160k km out of them and could have had 20k km more (but winter was coming). Commuter

Another vote for heat shields. See the FAQ sticky for some ideas. Commuter

Hate to admit it, but I did this years ago with my 88 Honda. The filler cap sits on the valve cover there. I drove about 4 hours. The next day, I noticed the oil mess on the front of the car and some dripping on the ground. I was at the add mark. Lost a liter of oil. Years later, seemed no harm was done. Commuter

I'm in Canada and I haven't bought an OEM filter for years, so I don't know just what Subaru of Canada is up to today... but... Some years ago, I cut open one of their "Six Star" brand filters and it was indeed a Fram. Six Star is a brand that Subaru of Canada came up with to counter some of the high priced Japanese parts. I know they had (have?) rotors and brake pads as well. I don't know what else they are making under this "Canadian/Subaru OEM/but really aftermarket" brand. Auto parts... such a wonderful world. :-\ I had trouble recently (quickly) sourcing the Purolators, so I ended up buying a Fram Toughguard. I'll be curious to see what it looks like when I open it up. I know that years ago, Fram became part of Allied Signal, and it was at that point (I believe) that manufacturing moved offshore and the quality took a hit. It seems that they are now part of Honeywell?? Anyone know? People get so hung up on oil filters (myself included), however, it is often difficult to find some of the most tell-tale specs. One being the multi-pass efficiency at a certain (or several) micron particle size. You rarely see that info. Commuter

The "gasket" would be for the oil pan drain plug, commonly referred to as a drain plug washer. The oil filter has its gasket built in. Commuter

Foveator - See my prior post about using an Obus Forme back rest. I've been using these for about 20 years and would not be without it. Go with the low-back or wideback. That should keep it below the level of the headrest. It would be a shame to give up on a vehicle you (presumeably) like for this one thing. As to the use of 2005 head rests, but the notches are on the wrong side... anyone tried creating notches on the proper side? E.g. with a file? Just curious. Commuter

Ditto. I had the same problem with my car. The replacement half shaft was a Subaru re-manufactured one. The vibration was slight, but there. They changed it again under parts warranty and it was much better; almost back to original, but not quite. I later had the other side done and it was fine. Again, perhaps just a hint of increase in vibration, but tolerable. If you did the half shaft yourself, you could try rotating the connection at the differential by 90 degrees or 180 degrees. I've heard of that solving the problem, but it's a crap shoot. Several years ago when my engine was replaced, I had them put in the newer liquid filled mounts. They probably help to diminish vibrations a bit. I did that at the time because I had installed a lightweight crank pulley and vibration increased a bit as a result of that. The mounts helped quell things. Commuter

For those interested... There is a big looooong FAQ sticky on this topic. Commuter

Don't most cars put the dimmer on the ground side? As I recall, the circuitry is configured so that a fault will cause them to go full bright, as opposed to go off. Could it be as simple as a grounding issue? Sorry, can't help you beyond that. Commuter

Changed my knock sensor yeterday. No problem getting the old one out with the right socket, extension and adapters. Putting the new one in was a bit of a hassle. The bolt didn't want to catch the threads. It goes in at a sight angle relative to the socket extension. And there is no way to really get your hand(s) down in there (unless you start removing the air box, etc.) After some fiddling, I finally got it. Snap the connector together and back up and running. I put on over 300 km yesterday without an issue. The old sensor had 3 hairline radial cracks in the top of it. Commuter