Wayne Boncyk

Call "Car Talk?" Sorry, I don't have a clue (but I couldn't resist the dig). Somebody here will probably have heard something similar in the past.

Guys, the old audio engineer in me is crying out, "Don't Do That!!" By That, I mean using a 9V battery to test for continuity to your speakers. It would probably be OK for a brief tap across the leads, but if you connect a 9V battery for a sustained period of time across an 8 ohm speaker, you're flowing more than an amp thru its voice coil. That is equivalent to about 10 watts continuous power -- and that is using the higher AC value of impedance for the speaker's voice coil. The DC resistance is usually much less than AC impedance, more like on the order of 1-2 ohms. For a 2 ohm load, you're dissipating over 40 watts into that poor boy. If you leave that 9V battery connected for more than a fraction of a second you'll likely do some damage to the speakers since the stock stereo speakers in the Subes of that generation are rated at only 25W peak power -- more like 12-14 watts continuous. The test that you propose is more safely done with a 1.5V D cell, and 1.5 volts is more than enough to give you some audible scratching noises.

If you've polished it to a mirror finish, it won't be foggy -- but that's really hard to do with just sandpaper. Smooth mirror finishes almost always need a final "lap" polish with something like jeweler's rouge. I read on one of these threads that someone else wasn't able to get it "mirror polished" and some foggines was left. They also recommended doing at least 2 coats of the clear-coat, with the first one being very light. They also said that the lens finished smoother if it was cold before the clear-coat was applied (they threw theirs in a fridge for a while before applying the first coat. I can see where that would allow the lacquer to set up much more slowly, and that might prevent the shrinking that you see as alligator cracks. I don't know this from firsthand experience, though, As always, YMMV.

BTW - Your clearcoat is "alligatored," which usually means that there was a very fine layer of oil or of detergent left on the plastic before you sprayed it. If the stuff comes off with alcohol, then the alcohol will probably take off the oil film as well. I'd finish up with a hot water rinse, followed by a quick dip in distilled water, which then should leave absolutely nothing on the surface of the lens.

You maybe can even find some of that 3M product called "finesse it" that the guy on your other thread mentioned. It is water based, so it will come completely off the lens with a simple water wash after you're done with a final polish. I imagine that "finesse it" is probably something like 6000 grit particles suspended in water, which makes it a little like the "jeweler's rouge" that metalsmiths use for a final mirror finish on metals.

Depends on the plastic. Usually, the polycarbonates are pretty impervious to most solvents but the really agressive ones like acetone will eat thru the plastic, so I'd try a "high proof" rubbing alcohol first. In some states you can't find 90% rubbing alcohol, but if it is there in PA I'd give that a try. My experience with 70% rubbing alcohol (isopropyl or denatured ethyl) has been less than great. Also in some places, you can buy 90+% methyl alcohol at hardware stores.

Everything that Nipper says! Also, the HG problem is over-emphasized, IMHO. I have one of the "cursed" '96 2.5L DOHC engines, and I did have a HG fail at around 160K miles. The new Subaru HG material in the replacement gaskets is fundamentally different from the original, I have personally had no problems since I changed them, and I have heard no one reporting subsequent failures. So, bottom line is to ask the seller if there ever has been a HG problem with the car you're considering, and if he/she says no, then do the checks that have been so very thoroughly discussed here on the board (i.e. check for oil in coolant, bubbles in the overflow tank while the engine is warm and running, watch the temp gauge while you're driving it and make sure that it is rock-steady at midrange, etc.). If you see no signs of problems, then you most likely are looking at one of the 85% of those vehicles that won't fail. Consider the first 100,000 miles on these cars, or ANY subaru, to be the "infant mortality" period. Get past that point, and it is ikely with good regular maintenance you'll push well past a quarter million miles before the car is totally worn out!

Either one -- any auto parts store, most hardware stores have wet sand paper under a variety of trade names. YOu can generally tell if a paper is water compatible just by what it says on the backing of each sheet.

cookie's right - most people do this so seldom that we have to "re-learn" which one does what by trial and error. If you point the car at a shady wall (or do this at night), mark the bright spot from your headlights on that wall with some tape, you can then see how each spot moves in response to each adjustment and figure out where you want the re-aim point to be.

Oh yeah - use wetsand paper. Its grit is bonded to a paper that won't dissolve in water. The reason you use water to begin with is partly as a lubricant/coolant, and partly as a way to carry the bits of stuff that you've worn away from the surface away from where you're working. Without water or some other lubricant, the area that you're sanding will heat up (friction - remember) and those particles that you've successfully worn off will begin to melt and stick back on the surface. Not good, since they don't stick back on smoothly.

Here's the deal -- nothing in this here world is really "smooth." At a molecular level at least, everything is somewhat bumpy. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, after you remove all the "oxidation" (i.e. the grey and yellow crap), is to progressively wear away the high spots on that roughened headlamp surface with smaller and smaller pieces of grit -- until you're finally left with a surface that has scratches too small to be seen. Then it appears all smooth and shiny! Usually the grit on 2000 grit sandpaper leaves scratches that are so small, you need a magnifying glass to see them. Although when I was polising steel, I'd often finish off the polishing with some 0000 brass wool (like steel wool but softer) before putting on a clear coat. I don't think that step is necessary for the plastic, since with steel you're actually burnishing (really rubbing off the high spots by smoothing them back into the surface of the steel) and I don't think you can burnish plastic.

Carl, Those bad boys are really out there! But, at nearly 10x the price of an economy set of chains, I don't think I'd go there. :cool: BTW - I've driven my Outback on and offroad thru the nastiest winter weather South Dakota, Colorado and California have to offer, and I've never needed a set of chains. Just a little practice in an icy parking lot every year to remind you how it "feels" to be driving without much friction -- and you're good to go.

:lol::lol:

Sure - it's from the Legacy Central BBS: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=739

Thanks, Gents! I found Josh's writeup and I will have at it shortly. It really doesn't seem too involved -- but then I spent some years as a medieval armourer and have done my share of mirror-polishing metals. Aside from the softness of the plastic relative to steel, this doesn't seem difficult at all. It's just the usual kind of time-consuming task that drives my wife nuts when I take it on!

Hey -- you could be driving my car! While we're on the subject, does anyone have any solution short of replacement, to take care of the headlamp lens fogging on these mid-90's vehicles? There's gotta be some kind of polish that would take out the fogging, I would think.

Well, those symptoms that you describe sound AWFULLY familiar... (My HG swap was done at 165K miles). I feel for ya!:-\

Well I didn't realize that it was that far gone! Sorry to hear that -- you'd think that people would be more sensitive to things they can actually FEEL while driving. Anyway, there is a slight chance that you don't need the full clutch pack. A replacement Duty Solenoid, and a thorough cleaning of the modulator manifold that the Solenoid switches, might be all that's required. you won't really know until you pull the rear housing off. Then, if all the clutch plates in the pack are fused into a solid piece, you'll know for certain that... Good Luck!

We've had people on the forum try this several times in the past, and all reports indicate that there is little if any gas mileage improvement. It doesn't save you enough to even measure.

You are indeed correct. The 1996 2.5L DOHC engines are "interference," in the sense that both intake and exhause valves cannot be open simultaneously. They hit each other in that mode, with nasty consequences. Still, if my memory hasn't completely failed me, there is enough clearance in that DOHC design so the valves don't actually contact a TDC piston when they're open. Bottom line - there are different flavors of "interference."

Yup - there's only one caveat to this. The Duty Solenoid C will be "ON" full time when the FWD fuse is in. That means it will run a little hotter than in the normal AWD mode. This should not be a problem if you're not pushing the vehicle to extremes, and if you have reasonably new tranny fluid in the AT. But if you plan to drive a desert rally course with AT fluid that hasn't been changed for the life of the vehicle, then all bets are off with respect to the life of that solenoid! Of course if you're planning on completing a desert rally in 2WD mode, then you're even crazier than me!

Actually, you don't need to pull the rear driveshaft in order to temporarily disable AWD. If you just put in the FWD fuse, the "Duty Solenoid C" will bypass hydraulic pressure and the clutch pack won't engage. You can drive around like this for quite some time -- I did it for nearly 2 years until I got around to fixing my '96 OBW!

Hey, Nipper! You ever figure out what was going on with this one? Inquiring minds want to know....

Hey, it didn't dawn on me until just now to pull your profile to look at the year and model that you're driving! If this is related to your '96 OBW, you might not be aware that there was a factory recall of late '95 thru mid '96 Legacies (including Outbacks) due to a poorly designed alternator. I know, 'cause I had mine fail BEFORE the recall was made and I had to go through the hassle of submitting my receipts for the replacement in order to get reimbursed. As it turns out, the diode circuit in these offeding units wasn't properly designed, and they were prone to heat failure. Since it was a heat-related failure, often during testing (when the units didn't get as hot as they did during normal road use) the problem couldn't be seen. The symptoms came on gradually -- first a lower than usual voltage output at idle, followed by no voltage output at idle. Eventually they even fell below spec voltage at higher RPMs, and that is when we all started seeing things like the dimming headlights, radios that would mysteriously quit for a while and then come back on, etc. Finally the units just failed outright and eventually the battery couldn't supply enough charge to keep the car running. I'll never forget when and where that happened to me - as I tried to make a left-hand turn across 3 lanes of opposing traffic! Bottom line, if you have one of those few remaining vehicles with an original alternator from this period, check the recalls and see if your VIN is within those vehicles affected. You may be due for a new alternator, at Subaru of America's expense!

I use Michelin Arctic Alpins for winter on our AWD Chrysler minivan, and I concur -- they are a sweet winter tire. Long lasting tread, great grip in snow, and relatively quiet running on dry pavement. That's another tire that I'm not sure is still available, at least here in the USA. I remember looking for them for the Outback about 2 yrs ago, and I couldn't find a local place that sold them.