Strakes

Thanks guys. I wasn't able to find time this weekend to go to advance auto. However, the check engine light went away in (I think) 3 starts over 2 days. So what hondasucks said is correct. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks. I'll go by Advance and see if they can help me.

Sorry...this is for my 2002 Legacy GT Wagon

Alright...I knocked the PCV tube off (accidentally) when the car was running and it sputtered and almost died. I stuck it back on as quickly as I could, and it ran smooth again. Now I have a CEL light. What should I do to turn it off?

You won't go wrong with either engine. It comes down to if you like the 4 cylinder turbo's fast/aggressiveness or the 6 cylinder's smoothness/refinement. If I were shopping for a car, I'd love to get the 6 cylinder with a manual tranny...but I don't think they have that combo available. The 4-turbo will most likely have more aftermarket mods available. So if you want to mod your car, then go for the 4-turbo.

Welcome! WRX...cool! got pics?

$92 just look at it? Will they deduct this "look at it" cost from the total bill, if you elect to have them fix it? Airbags could save your life, so I'd definately have it fixed...but I had a similar problem with another car of mine and the dealer didn't charge anything for them to figure out what was wrong with the airbag. I did have to pay for the repair.

Do you have a state inspection or something like that? An airbag light being on can fail an inspection in certain states. $92...what did the dealer say was wrong with the airbag? Why did the light get triggered?

Sometimes there can be a break in the in-window antenna. It's actually like the rear window defroster and a conductive paint is applied to the inside of the window. If you have a volt-meter, you can check continuity of the antenna pretty easily. When you find the "break" in the paint, circle it with a china marker and go to the auto store and get the defroster/antenna repair paint and brush it on the affected area. That should fix it if it's the antenna. It could also be something internal to the radio, or the wires leading from the radio to the antenna.

I agree with the lexol suggestion. Pep-boys carries Lexol around here.

I installed a new stereo and speakers in my wife's 1993 Legacy about 2 years ago. I got the system from crutchfield and it didn't require any re-wiring. It took me a couple hours to put the entire system in. The directions they sent me were great. I really doubt that your 1997 Impreza would be any different.

Axxis (PBR) Metal Master pads are awesome. They are semi-metallic and I've got them on both of our cars. No squeals or squeaks. On my previous cars, PBR brake pads were very rotor friendly as well. Subaru brakes pads are real easy to replace by yourself.

The muffler shop that I went to for our '93 had the "we don't recommend, but we will put it in if you insist option" of standard cheap non-aluminized/galvanized pipe that they could weld on if I wanted to be real cheap. I'm sure that would have rusted out in no time especially after a couple snow days with lots of salt on the roads. I had them weld in the galvanized stuff and it has been doing fine for 6 years now. We don't have as many snow days with salt on the roads though. Maybe the replacement pipe wasn't aluminized?

My opinion: KYB GR2s are awesome. There seems to be two levels of stiffness to these things...the initial shock is dampened at a stock like rate. It isn't until you lean into it that the secondary 15% stiffer than stock kicks in. So as a result, my wife, who drives the 1993 Legacy with the GR2s, loves that these shocks absorb bumps so well and not get to mushy in the turns. She's not into stiff suspension settings and has been very happy with the GR2s. Plus, the GR2s were cheaper than the dealer stock struts.

This is what it was like to own a Volvo 850 (one of the Volvos I had): Routine stuff: Brakes-DIY, very easy to replace...the best part of the car Tune-up: spark plugs and wires, easy and not so expensive. $1000 for timing belt, and other related service. $600 for steering wheel airbag failure $500 for most routine dealer type services It seemed that everytime I needed routine maintenance, I was throwing at least $500 at it. 95% of the time, I was taking it to an independent Volvo shop with a very trusted local reputation. In my experience, the shop was always cheaper than the local dealer. The straw that broke the camel's back: $3700 to replace failed steering rack. $1500 to replace the infernal self-leveling front shocks. I then saw the wisdom of what my wife was driving around. She had a 1993 Subaru Legacy and you could pretty much pee in the gas tank and it would keep running. So I sold the Volvo (as is) and now I have a Subaru. I'm glad I married someone way over my league.

I got the stuff from 1stsubaruparts. They included everything needed for replacing the lift gate struts for a great price. (Including the ball studs). They were very heplful on the phone answering questions that I had. The replacement was very straight forward and only took 30 minutes to accomplish. Thanks for the help!

I reused my old strut mounts on our 1993 Legacy because they were still in decent shape. Haven't had a problem with them. Make sure that the strut mount bolts aren't corroded and the bearing on top for the front one's steering mechanism are in good working order and I think you'll be fine. The upper strut mounts could be bad if the car's ever been damaged from a wreck, or if you live in an area with really rough roads.

When I went shopping for GR2's, the best price I got was from the tire rack. If this price is less than the tire rack, it's probably a really good deal.

I've owned 2 different Volvo's. My opinion is that the later model Volvos are definately reliable, but very expensive to maintain. Now that I've owned 2 Subarus, my personal experience is that they are a lot cheaper to maintain, and just as reliable if not more.

There is a service bulletin on clutch judder. It's basically a replacement of the clutch and maybe new flywheel. Your warranty runs out at 60000 miles, so you don't have much time to get it covered under warranty. (That's if that forester has the original clutch and hasn't already been replaced under the same service bulletin.) Service bulletins are fixed for free if under warranty and someone complains of that problem stated in the bulletin. Do a search here on "clutch judder" and see what you get.

googled it and here's what I got: www.gpmototech.com www.gpmototech.com/forester.htm check it out!

I think it was GPMoto.

That oil filter part number is made by Fram. Many here in Subaru-land (including myself) don't like Fram filters. Is there an independant Subaru shop in your area that you might be able to take this to so they can listen to it and fix it? Without listening to the sound, I really don't have any idea where to proceed.

Awesome! Got a pic?

15W50 will not hurt your car in any way. The owner's manual actually recommends 10W30 or 10W40 (slightly thinner than 15W50) for your car for most cases, but it also recommends 20W50 (slightly thicker than 15W50) for heavy duty uses like towing.