gbhrps

canoe2, If its possible to pry the moulding away from the door skin without undoing any other clips, you may be able to insert a section of two-sided sticky tape (the good stuff for installing emblems on cars, like the front and back Subie logos) and press the moulding back on. In some cases, due to the needed extra thickness, you can put two or three layers of the stuff on top of itself to bridge a wider gap if needed. The mud flaps on my 07 OBW LTD use this doubled sided tape along their back top 3 inches, right from the factory. Good Luck!

91 subaru, I'd steer towards the 06 Forester. The head gasket issue is pretty much a non issue by 06 for the 2.5 engines. If it drives as good as it looks in the pictures, and you can verify that the seller and the car are on the up and up, then it gets my vote. Good Luck!

99legwag, I've done many of these on lots of cars over the years, and I advise that you take several digital pictures of the lock rod placements on the lock assembly and the door handle, etc., before you start unclipping the rods and removing bolts. Put them back incorrectly and you'll have a nightmare on your hands. The door glass must be fully up before you start pulling things apart, and disconnect the battery if you don't want nasty fuse and wiring problems. Once the inner door panel is removed and the plastic weather shield underneath, you'll need a trouble light or flashlight to see where things come apart. Hint: place a small piece of masking tape over the open end of the 10 mm socket before you put the scket onto the 10 mm nuts that hold the door handle in place. The masking tape will fill the gap between the socket and the nut, preventing it from falling out of the socket and getting lost in the bottom of the door. Use the same plan when reinstalling the nuts on the handle. Good Luck!

Imdew, Other than its not extending all of its sections when up, the antenna sounds to be just fine. There is a clutch assembly that kicks in when the motor drives the antenna full up or down. It allows the timer to run out before shutting off the motor. This slip clutch prevents damage to the mast and antenna gears when the mast is fully down or up but the motor is still running on the timer. If one section isn't extending fully, you may be able to help it out by pulling it out as the motor runs. If not, I suggest you take the unit apart and clean and lube it. I've done several over the years, and they're fairly simple to fix. Some motor/gear assemblies unbolt and others are riveted. To open the riveted ones, either grind off or drill out the rivets. When reassembling, use small machine nuts and bolts, pop rivets or small zip ties. When you get the unit apart, you'll see where the whip coils up and is stored in the antenna's down position, and you may discover broken sections of the whip that need to be removed (they'll jamb the unit up eventually). If you find broken sections, a new antenna mast/whip assembly will be required. The easiest way to install a new one is to start the antenna motor in its retracting direction, and feed the geared whip end into the motor assembly, with the geared side pointing towards the center of the assembly, in order to be properly aligned with the gears. Don't forget to put new grease on the gears in the gear box before reassembly. I would pull the antenna assembly from the rear quarter panel, fix it on the workbench, and then place it inside the rear storage area of the car with the mast pointed out the tailgate/trunk opening. Connect its wiring harness and the cycle through several on/off sequences to ensure its working properly before reinstalling it back in the car. good luck!

sparkyCNY, The manual I have shows that the air bag comes off first (you'll need a Torx #30 bit for that) and then the top and bottom covers of the steering column. After that the cruise switch assembly is simply two screws and a wiring connector from removal. As for the scary air bag .... it isn't. Disconnect the battery and then wait 30 minutes for the saved up electrical current that fires the air bags to dissipate. At that point the bags are perfectly safe to mess around with. They can't accidentally fire after that length of time. We do them all of the time at the shop. Good Luck!

charm, Either you are not getting the clips into their mounting holes, or the clips (really a plastic plug) are not the correct size, and don't allow them to grip securely in the holes of the steel tailgate inner frame. Pull the tailgate cover and remove one of the plugs from the panel. Pop it into one of the mounting holes to see if it attaches firmly. When properly installed they have to be yanked to come out, and likewise almost hammered back in with the heel of your hand. to attach. If you find it secures firmly, then your problem is not getting the plugs properly aligned when attaching the panel. If the one plug doesn't grip properly, then you'll need to get the proper ones to solve your problem. Good Luck!

What you are doing is the correct way to go about removing it. I, too, have used needle nosed pliers to remove the nut, but went one step further. Insert the needle nosed pliers tips into the 2 notches, and then turn the pliers using an adjustable wrench at the pliers pivot point. It'll give you more torque on the nut. If that doesn't work, I'd use a dremel tool grinder to put flat spots on two sides of the nut that would allow an adjustable wrench to get some purchase on. Good Luck!

It sounds as if you have a sticking piston in the caliper of that wheel, or the brake pads are sticking in their mounting bracket, or the slide pins on the caliper are sticking. All three circumstances will result in a screech/squeal situation that can be made to stop momentarily when you apply the brake pedal. When you apply the brakes, the pads clamp onto the rotor, but are released immediately and move away from the rotor, when you take your foot off of the pedal. In your case, the pads are clamping onto the rotor, but can't completely release, causing the noise. You need to get them attended to immediately, before you have that wheel lock up and strand you. At this point it will be far cheaper to correct than if you wait. Good Luck!

mwynne, First off, there is something worn on the inside of the tranny that is eventually going to get worse and require repairs. That said, you may be able to forestall the repairs for quite some time. I have a 1954 MG TF roadster that has a four speed that would grind going into 3rd, or gearing down from 4th into 3rd. It was doing this from the first day I owned it over 20 years ago. About 10 years ago I found a thread on another forum (1990 - 1996 Nissan 300ZX's) that a member had a similar problem and simply changed his tranny fluid to RedLine MT90 and his grinding problems disappeared. I replaced the fluid in my MG to the RedLine MT90 (Manual Transmission 90 weight) and immediatedly the tranny was much quieter and, if I didn't rush the shifts up or down, the grinding was eliminated. That was 10 years ago, and granted, the car is just a toy and doesn't get a lot of miles put on it, but it may make a significant difference in your case. It certainly won't be expensive to give it a try. Good Luck!

Get the car in the air, with it in gear and the motor running, use a stethiscope and check the rear hub to be sure. I recently had a mechanic diagnose the rear diff was the cause of my noise. A second mechanic used the method I described above, found the problem was the rear hub, replaced it, and the problem was solved. When you're in the driver's seat and there's noise from the rear of the car, its very easy to be tricked into thinking its coming from certain areas when its somewhere else.

Its been years since I owned that 97 body style, and I remember having to replace the flat bar that the license plate lights and the rear hatch lock handle are attached to. You will definitely have to climb into the back of the car and pull the inner panel off to get at the lock mechanism. The panel just pulls straight off as it unclips about a dozen plastic plugs. There may be some plugs or screws in the very bottom of the panel that you may not get to unless the gate is open. That said, you should still be able to pull the panel off far enough to be able to unclip the control rod from the lock handle and pull or push it to unlock the gate. If that doesn't get you anywhere, you may have to just pry the lock mechanism open and then replace parts from a wrecking yard. Good Luck!

That rear drain tube exits BETWEEN the rear quarter panel and the rear bumper cover, just back of the rear wheel. You need to remove the rear mud flap and then remove the 10 mm bolt that fastens the rear bumper cover to the steel quarter panel right at the rear wheel arch. (Its at the top of the bumper cover, right at the seam between the cover and the body, just inside the wheel arch towards the rear of the car.) Be prepared for the bolt or its blind nut to break off from years of road salt and corrosion. If it does you can get a body man to spot weld a small metal tab back onto the quarter panel. Drill a hole in it first for a new bolt to go through and just put a nut on it. I'd suggest covering it with underspray to ensure it doesn't rust out again. Anyway, after that bolt is out, you should be able to pull the bumper cover away from the body far enough to slide your hand in and find the drain. It comes straight out from the side of the car about 6 inches back as I recall. Slide your drain cleaning snake in from there to clean it out. Good Luck!

Do a search under the topic and you'll find the specifics of how to squeese/close up the rubberized gaskets right at the door mirrors. That's where your noise is coming from. Easy, no cost, fix.

grossgary, I'm embarrassed to say that the less than one month old hubs that were discovered to be noisy, were brand new, an internet purchase, and were made in China. Total cost to my door for the two of them was $110.48. That should have been a heads-up. I must say that they looked perfectly fine out of the package and felt good when hand turned prior to installation. I installed them myself and torqued everything according to specs. They were noisy from the start, and not much of an improvement from the original hubs that I removed. Anywho .... the new hubs have solved the problem. As far as seeking a refund on the internet purchased hubs, I won't bother. I was trying to cheap out a fix for a car I'm going to trade in a few months' time. I'm sure that the return shipping, the phone calls, and the resulting runaround won't be worth the frustration. I'll chalk it up as a learning experience ... and know better next time.

Gentlemen, After more research of the problem, I discovered that the rear end doesn't have any leaks, and that the fluid level is correct and the fluid looks virtually new. So, I got the car up on a hoist at an independent garage and had the mechanic use a stethoscope on all moving parts on the rear of the car. Both rear hubs that had been replaced recently were noisy, particularly the driver's side. After their replacement today with a premium hub replacement (non Subie) the noise problem has been fixed. For those who had said that they had never heard of a Subie rear differential going bad .... well, I guess you still haven't. Thanks for all of the input guys!

edrach, The tires are all OEM's that came on the car when new (I swap late in the fall with another set of rims that have snows). All the tires have the same tread depth with no unusual wear patterns, and all have the recommended air pressures and are checked weekly. (My wife says that I'm too fussy and particular.)

grossgary, Just what I wanted to hear. I suspected that putting in a used rear end was going to be the way to go. And, yes, I'll do the job myself. Thanks for taking the time to pass on the advice! It is much appreciated.

Gentlemen, The patient is an 07 OBW LTD with 2.5/auto and 130 000 km (78 000 mi). A rear end noise/howl (constant, does not change in pitch, but varies in volume at speed) has been identified as coming from the rear differential. ( both rear hubs replaced within the last month) I will remove and replace the differential myself. Down time is not a problem, as I have 5 other cars to drive in the meantime. Within the next year I will trade the car, I suspect. One option is to drop the diff at a Subie dealer and let them find the source of the noise and repair it. The other is to source a used diff from a wrecker. (The chances of getting a used diff with a problem that would show up in a year, I predict as very slim.) The last time I visited my local Subie dealership, their shop rate was $92/hour. What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Fairtax4me, I climbed into the rear of the wagon and had my wife do a short run up to speed. Duh! The noise now appears to be isolated more from the passenger side. I ordered another hub for the other side today. It'll be here in 2 days and into the car 2 hours later. If that doesn't cure the whine ...... I'll have to tear more apart. I'll keep you posted.

Gentlemen, The patient is a 2007 OBW LTD 2.5 with 130 000 km (78 000 miles). Slowly over the last 3 months a medium pitched whine/howl has developed from the driver's side rear area. It is speed related, gets louder at highway speeds, but does not change pitch when loading up the wheel hub bearing by weaving the car side to side. I replaced the rear hub yesterday and found the old one had a small amount of slop in it, as well as a slight roughness when turning it in my hand. It needed replacement by my judgement. However, the whine/howl is still there but has changed in pitch somewhat from the original annoyance. While just as loud as before, it does not sound the same. While it is possible that the new hub is bad, I'm assuming that my next course of action is to check out the axle shaft and the rear differential. Has anyone else experienced the same sort of circumstances?

Husker4, Logic tells me that you have a short somewhere in the wiring of those vanity mirrors, if activating one drags the engine down. Remove the sunshade from the ceiling and check the wiring and connector at the A pillar, and then further down at the kick panel. Check both sides, since they may be wired together, or both may have their own route down the A pillars to a power source. Good Luck!

monk50, Somewhere in the info that came with the car at delivery, will be a code/serial number for the wheel lock set on your car. Check the owners manual for a card with the info or where it may be written in the actual owners manual itself. Then contact the wheel lock company for a replacement lock. Good Luck!

awdfreak, As for the jack stands ........ place them under the suspension so that the weight of the car is on the suspension. Under no circumstances should you place them under the body/frame and let the wheels hang down with no weight on them for a long storage time. Yes, you can have the tires off the ground (I do with my antique cars, when in storage) to prevent flat spotting. Depending on where you are storing the car, consider some rodent prevention ... moth balls, Bounce Fabric Softener sheets, a mean starving cat, etc.

bstone, Yes, you can drive the car with the compressor removed. The only concern would be if the drive belt for the AC compressor also ran your power steering, water pump or fan. If not, you're good to go.

Go to site "subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/" and view the first thread "02 OB sunroof screen". Its been going for several days now and I think you'll find your answer there.