spideyz

FIxed it! Turns out it was a blown fuse under the dash after all. Thanks for your help! I feel like a rookie.

Is there a relay related to these lights? I don't see anything labeled as such in the fuse/relay box under the hood.

I forgot to mention that the license plate lights do not come on either when the headlights are turned on. Keith

The wagon was rear ended 10 months ago. The back hatch will not open. In order to re-register the car with a salvaged title, I had to get an official lights and brake inspection done. The garage that did that replaced the combo tail/brake light bulb on the passenger side of the hatch. As I followed my wife home from the garage with the light certificate in hand, I noticed that the driver side hatch brake light was not working! Some inspection! The certificate indicates that all the bulbs are functional. So, I bought another bulb and went to install it and discovered that the tail/brake bulb socket on the driver side hatch was shot. the round plate that holds the two contacts in the socket was melted. While doing that, I noticed that the tail lights were not coming on either side when the headlights were on. I tested and re-tested for voltage on the sockets and the tail light contact was dead on both sides. I removed the 4 prong connector that connects to the tail/brake bulb and the reverse light bulb, no power for the tail light at the connector either. Brake lights work normally and there is voltage at the melted socket for the brake light. All fuses look and test OK. Parking lights do not seem to work. I looked under the dash and found one cut wire that had very dusty electrical tape, so I don't think that is it. I'm wondering if the mechanic messed with it in some way, so I would have to come back. I honestly have no idea if the tail lights were working before we took the car in, because we almost never drive that car at night, and definitely don't follow it around at night. Advice is humbly requested as what/where to look, test, etc. Thanks for reading this long post! Keith

My 16 year-old managed to avoid a head on last night, but scratched the plastic trim molding on the rear door and fender of my 2006 Outback wagon. Anyone parting out a car of the same color with good, undamaged parts? If so, let me know. Looks to me like I need three parts: the silver midline and lower gray moulding for the door and the render arch molding. See the pictures. Thanks for looking. Keith

Haven't gotten this fixed yet. Now, I am noticing that there is a "click" happening. Yesterday, the car wouldn't start for about a minute of turning the key, and I was hearing a click each time I released the key. I whacked the starter a few times while my wife turned the key and it started. So, are we thinking starter? The elec. connections at the starter are not corroded at all. Keith

My 2001 legacy wagon (not Outback) has been doing something weird for some time now. On some, but not all cold starts, there is a lag of a second or two (sometimes 5-8 seconds) from when the key is turned to start the engine and when the starter starts cranking. The first time this happened, I thought it was a dead battery, because I didn't keep the key turned longer than normal. I hooked up a jump and it started. Then after this happened more frequently, I realized what is going on and just waited longer than usual with the key turned to start. Seems to do this more when the weather is cold outside. After the engine is warm, it starts right up with no delay. To be clear, when this problem happens, the key is turned and the engine doesn't start right away, there is no sound at all, no clicking from the starter, etc. Once it does start to crank, it is strong and the engine starts right up. Any ideas? Thanks. Keith

I've got a 2001 Legacy wagon. Automatic. For some time, a random "ping" sound would happen from under the floor boards when shifting into reverse or when starting to back up and sometimes when starting forward from a stop. Now, not every time, but often, when starting forward from a dead stop, there is a clunking felt under the center of the car as if we are going over a cattle crossing grate for a second. Doesn't last and the car handles fine once moving. The rapid clunking definitely not coming from the front or rear. I used to be on this site all the time with my old GL-10 and Brat, but not recently since I got the '01. Hope you guys can steer me in the right direction. Thanks. Keith Sorry for the double post. Not sure what happened.

I need to find a cheap repair manual for my newly acquired 2001 Legacy GT wagon. Ebay has Haynes for about $20. The local parts place has Chiltons for $25, but I hate chiltons. Anybody know of a cheaper alternative? I am weary of the $5 FSM downloads. Keith

I ended up with the 2001 Legacy. Turns out it is a GT with more options than the 2000 (my kids love the dual sunroofs). In addition to all the other work he did, I talked him into doing a tranny flush on the car and he gave me the y-pipe I need for my 1994 Legacy, so maybe I can sell it for a grand or so. Any takers?? I haggled as much as I could and got the car for $6895. Let's hope I can get a 100k more out of it. Thanks for the advice. Keith

My 94 Legacy wagon is on its last legs. Valves, clutch, exhaust all going. So its time to get a newer one. A very experienced local subaru shop has several for sale. These cars all have New Headgaskets, New Thermostat, New Timing Belt, New Tensioner, New Bearings, New Heater & Radiator Hoses, New Spark Plugs. Interior and exterior condition is very good to excellent. So if you had to make the choice, which would you pick? 2000 Legacy Wagon 103K $7190 2001 Legacy Wagon 142K $7180 1997 Outback Wagon 109K $6695 1998 Outback Wagon 141K $5950 2000 Outback Wagon 151K $6190 All seem to be in line with KBB dealer prices although the 2001 is about a grand high. I could throw a dart at the list but I like the idea of low miles, so the 2000 with only 103K is seeming to be the choice so far. Thanks for your input. Keith

Anyone done a Y-pipe recently to give me an idea on costs?

My 94 legacy wagon is at crossroads. Several problems have built up and I am wondering if maybe it's time to say goodbye. 1) Six to eight months ago, it developed an exhaust leak that makes the wife embarrassed to drive it. I did the add-mineral-spirits-to-the-air-intake-trick and found the leak where the y-pipe connects to the exhaust manifold on the passenger side. There is some tack welded heat shield right there, so I can't tell if there is a rusted out pipe or a bad gasket. I have not taking it apart to find out. I think the y-pipe is a real pricey part because it has the Cat on it... 2)A few months ago, I started getting intermittent blue/white smoke blowing big time out the tailpipe on cold start ups. We're talking spy hunter video game style. Lasts about two blocks then goes away completely for the rest of the day. I added some head gasket junk to the radiator (the expensive kind that said you could add to the coolant.) But no noticeable change. Sometimes it doesn't smoke at all. The car is due for a SMOG check (N. California) and I am weary that it will fail. 3) Yesterday, I saw the engine temp gauge go above the 1/2 way mark for the first time ever, and pulled over to find coolant all over the place. I made it home to find a sizable crack in the plastic side of the radiator. So I must decide if I order the radiator online, spend the $100 and 2 hours to replace it, then take it to the SMOG shop and spend another $50 to see if it passes smog. If it does pass, then I've got to pay a years registration then deal with the y-pipe exhaust noise for who knows how much, so my wife will drive the car. If it fails smog, then they'll probably tell me I need a head gasket job (which I am not going to do myself) or who knows what else for who knows how much. With 250K on this car, I am seriously considering just calling Pick-n-pull to come pick it up and look for an Outback. Any thoughts? It does have nice new tires. Keith

Hi Guys, 1994 Legacy wagon. I replaced the passenger side halfshaft a month ago. Took about an hour. Now, working on the drivers side, the shaft will not come out. I tried the hammer routine first. Sprayed with lots of liquid wrench. No luck, just damage to the end of the old shaft. Took the spindle housing and halfshaft out of the car together. Brought them to the auto parts store to see if a hub puller would get it out. Tool connected good but the halfshaft wouldnt budge. The threads on the tool started to strip and the parts guy asked to stop. I took my torch to it suspended between 2x4s on my sawhorses, hit with my hammer: stuck. Hit it with a 5 lb. maul: still stuck and mushrooming shaft end. Hit it with a 10 lb. sledge: still stuck and really flat mushroomed shaft end. See the attached pictures of what I'm dealing with and what I think I need. So, I think I'll need to get a new/used spindle housing/hub bearing assembly. Anybody got any other ideas? Anybody have a parts car that they could ship me the whold assembly, minus the half shaft. Zip code is 95472. I'm going to post this in the marketplace also. If you can help with a used part ASAP, please give me a call at (707) 829-3826. Thanks. Keith

I was thinking that adding too much oil caused the problem, not running low for a while. Any chance there? I will do the carb cleaner test. I did not see any obvious vac hoses popped off, but I'll double check and report back my findings if I can't get it fixed. Thanks for all the input so far! Keith

Hi Guys, My 87 Brat had been running fine. Just passed CA smog check about two months ago. I checked my oil two weeks ago and it wasn't even registering on the stick. It took almost two quarts of oil to bring it back up to half way between low and full. Next day, I drove the car and it stalled out about 6 or 8 times over 15 minutes of stop and go. This type of thing lasted another 2-3 days. I thought maybe I put in too much oil, despite the fact that it wasn't even reading full (and yes, the dipstick was in all the way). So I drained out a quart of oil. No change. I increased the idle to 1500RPM to help things out, but it was still stalling occasionally. When it does stall, it is always when putting in the clutch to brake (and often when cornering). It had always started back up... until this morning. Today, it stalled out 4 or 5 times and restarted. Next stall it wouldn't restart. Luckily I rolled off the road in a safe place. As I cranked and cranked, the check engine light would flash. Occasionally, it would stop flashing briefly and the engine would start to fire up, only to crap out and not really turn over. I called the wife and a friend who came to help. Just as my friend was driving up. I cranked it one more time and it started right up. I increased the idle to 2000RPM and it drove the rest of the day with no stalls. So now, I ask you knowledgable fellows: did I screw something up by adding oil? How do I trouble shoot this problem. I am wasting precious fuel at 2000RPM idle, plus I don't want to get stranded again. Thanks for any input. Keith

I've got a 1994 Legacy wagon, manual. Today, while driving around, the ABS, Battery idiot light and Brake light started coming on together. These lights came on together and would come on steady under hard accelleration or at freeway speeds. If I coasted down a hill in neutral, the lights would go out and sometimes stay off until I really hit the gas. I tried tightening the alternator belt (which seemed nice and tight before I tightened it) and no change. The car ran great all day, with no hesitation or roughness. Just the lights. Two days ago, the battery was dead (I figured the dome light got left on or something, but now these lights come on) I jump started it then (from my 87 brat of course). So, Alternator going out? Or maybe a gunked up elec. connection somewhere? What should I be looking at? Its my wife's car, so I'd hate to have it break down with the kids in it. Thanks for any suggestions. Keith

I picked up a new thermostat and will put it in when I have time and inclination... or when I over heat. I'll report back if the sypmtoms don't go away. Thanks for the advice. Keith

When I am starting up the Brat in the mornings recently, the temp rises normally at first, but keeps on going until almost in the red. I turn on the heater and feel warm air at first, but then it cools off after 10-30 seconds and the temp gauge stays near red. This all usually happens in the first 10 minutes, then I get on the freeway and after about a minute cruising at 65mph, the warm air comes from the heater and the engine temp goes to normal. What do you think? Sticking thermostat? Water pump going out? Clogged radiator? Coolant level is fine. Any advice is appreciated. I'd rather replace a water pump or something small than do a headgasket job. Thanks. Keith

Update: Put the fuse back in last night and no more humming. Pulled the ABS relay cover off and found the right relay to pull this time. Anyway, looks like an intermittent problem. When it happens again, I'll pull the relay to confirm the "sticky relay" theory, then replace the relay. Thanks guys for all your input. Keith

After looking at an exploded diagram of the ABS unit it looks like the relay I pulled out was probably the Valve Relay and not the motor relay. The one I pulled was in the rear position under the relay cover. See the attached diagram. There was a relay-like box in the forward position, but it didn't look like an actual relay. It looked more like a hunk of plastic with a raised "+" mark protruding on its top--like a filler or something. Hard to discribe. I think I'll take another look at it later tonight and see if it is, in fact, the motor relay. Thanks for the help. Keith

Thanks for the replies. If you click the diagram on the Autozone page it will open in a larger view so it should be readable. I'll try searching for the TSB. I haven't had any work done on the car at all recently (except topping off the oil). Any tips on trying to locate a short in the power? Thanks again. Keith

It looks like from the diagram that the relay switches the motor to power. Or please correct me if I am wrong. See the attached .gif (hopefully it is viewable, if not check out the center diagram here: http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1e/76/7a/0900823d801e767a.jsp How can the motor still run if the relay is pulled? What type of short or other fault could cause this? Thanks for the help! Keith

So the ABS light comes on while my wife is driving around town yesterday. When she gets home, I look at it and I pop the hood with the engine off. The ABS unit is humming like the pump motor is running. Pulled the neg. terminal on the battery and of course it stops. Put the neg terminal back on, humming starts up. Read the ABS trouble code under passenger seat and found number 9 which is: "Faulty motor and/or motor relay or broken or shorted harness circuit." I took off the relay cover on the unit and pulled the relay. Humming continued. Put relay back in... humming continued. Then I pulled the ABS fuse from the main fuse box and the humming stopped. So now I have disabled the ABS system. What is the best way to troubleshoot this problem. My first inclination is to replace the relay in the ABS unit and see, but I hate wasting money if that turns out to be something else. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks. Keith

I guess I could try tightening the drive belts, the sound just doesn't seem like its coming from them. Worth a try though. I didn't notice the noise when I started the car after the new timing belt was on, but before everthing else was put back. Any other ideas? Keith