gbhrps

I've used Bosch Platinum single electrodes in all of my OBW's, a 97, an 02 and an 07. All of them ran like tops with the platinum plugs.

This is a no brainer that I should have fixed a long time ago and never got around to until today. Bought an 07 OBW LTD new, and shortly thereafter noticed that I was constantly having to open or close the dual sunroof shade by a small amount, to get rid of a small squeak when the car vibrated over uneven pavement. The solution was so simple I slapped myself twice for not figuring it out sooner. From inside the car I opened the sun shade completely by hand. Then I sprayed a very small amount of WD40 (silicone spray) using the tiny tube extension that comes with the spray bomb into the Aluminum channel that the sun shade slides in on both sides of the car. Don't use very much as it may well find its way onto the headliner and develope into a stain. Open and close the sun shade several times to distribute the lubricant, and Yipee, the squeak is gone! Hope this helps someone else.

I have the original Bridgestone Potenzas that came on my 07 OBW LTD and they are absolutely fine. I see no reason to change to anything else when they've run their course.

If you've got everything properly lubed for the slide pins and the thin chrome pad holders, I would wonder if your rear pistons aren't sticking in the bores of the calipers, and not releasing properly when you let off the brake pedal. If you haven't flushed the brake system with new fluid every 3 to 4 years as indicated in the owner's manual, and then bled each caliper, you may well have pistons that are slightly rusted into their bores. If the rubber seals around each piston is ripped the same thing will occur. Definitely worth checking before you burn up the new pads or warp the rotors. Good Luck!

The ECM is the engine control module (the engine computer). Apparently they had the circuit board resoldered or reflashed the computer with newer software. This is a common fix on many different cars. As for the AF sensor, that's a new one that I'm not familiar with.

My last OBW LTD developed this same problem in the same location. I also found that at speed, pushing the rubber gasket towards the glass right along the tweeter silenced the noise. I simply lowered the glass all the way down, and with my fingers, I squeezed both the outside and the inside of the gasket together somewhat. You'll feel its steel support inside of the rubber and all that's required is a slight bending of it towards the outside of the car. Don't go too far overboard with the squeezing to deform the steel inside the gasket to the point where the glass has difficulty raising. With a little experimentation you should be able to solve your noise problem. Mine occurred about 20 000 km and after fixing it as described, it never reoccurred for the next 100 000 km when I traded the car. Good Luck!

Check the bulb socket and the wiring harness to be sure that the bulbs are getting all of the juice required. Many cars today will double and triple their flash rates on one side of the car if there is even a slight resistance in the circuit somewhere. Just a hint when you go to replace the turn signal switch assembly: tie a string or wire to the old connector after you undo it and before you pull the wire back up through the steering column. It makes it so much easier to attach the string to the new connector and then pull the string to get the new turn signal wiring harness back down through the column. Good Luck!

wannasubaru, "without the incentive you can't afford it", suggests that you may be aiming too high, particularly in this current market. Its your money and your decision to make, and you certainly don't need me or anyone else to tell you what you should be doing. But I would wonder if you you wouldn't be better off taking your time, searching the various dealerships in your area, to find a one or two year old, low mileage, Special Edition, or even a Limited. You can get far more car for a lot less money than a new one would cost, and with careful shopping, find a real creampuff that puts you in the driver's seat, rather than the dealer. This is the way that I've done things for years. At present my wife is on her 3rd Lexus ES, and I'm on my 3rd OBW LTD, all since 1997 and none of which we bought new and had to pay the long dollar for. The best of luck with your new purchase which ever way you decide to go!

outdoor, I feel your pain and I think you realize that you are between a rock and a hard place. You did what you were supposed to do, and the dealership did not, and now it appears that they are trying to crawl out from their responsibility. I was in a similar situation with a Toyota Cressida years ago. Rather than blow my cork and lose everything, I wrote a firm but polite letter to Toyota Canada explaining the situation, and suggesting that I would be replacing the car in the next 2 years, and that their attention to this matter would help me choose whether to buy another Toyota or change over to a similar model of Nissan. Two weeks later I had a call from my dealer to ask if I could bring the car in to repair the problem free of charge. I did, and we have been loyal Lexus owners since that day (had to go up to a Lexus ES as the Cressida was no longer being made). I has a similar experience with GM over a problem with a Corvette I had bought new, just after the warranty had expired. A similar letter to GM Canada got me the parts for free but I had to pay for the labour. At the time, although not completely satisfied with the results, it was far better than having to pay for the entire repair. (I've never owned another GM since). My point is stay pleasant but firm, write some letters, and maybe this will work out as you would hope. If not, then its time to switch dealerships and give the old one all kinds of free advertising and all of it bad. Good Luck!

wannasubaru, For years I have dark tinted all of the windows of my cars for the very reasons that you mentioned. Here in southern Ontario, Canada, it is against the law to have the driver's and front passenger's windows tinted beyond a certain percentage, but you can go as dark as you want on the rears. I have had all of my vehicles completely dark tinted this way for over 25 years. Granted, my tinting is illegal, and I'll have to face that probability someday in my jurisdiction, or some other province or state that I'm travelling through if I'm stopped by the police. Whenever I have been approaching a border crossing or a sobriety check stop, I have lowered all of the windows on the officer's side of the car before he can approach my car, just to take the tinting out of the attention zone of the officer. To date I've never had a problem. BUT...... be aware that after dark you must be doubly sure to do more than just glance through those side windows when making a turn, particularly when it is raining. And for over 25 years I've always had a professional apply the window tinting. That way there is no bubbling to mar the job. In fact, all of my last three OBW LTD's and my wife's Lexus models have even had the dark tinting applied to the inside of the glass sunroofs to cut down on the glare and the interior heat transfer. My advice would be to check your local traffic laws before you do the tinting, and then use your own disgression from there, as well as locate a professional window tinter in your area. Good Luck!

My first was a 97 OBW LTD. It just looked like nothing else, caught a lot of attention in its black (really a deep garnet) and silver paint scheme with the polished and gold accent wheels. I bought it because there were none in the area where I lived, and it stood out. Little did I know that with snow tires the darn thing was unstoppable. Later in the great ice storm of 98 (eastern Ontario and the northern US) I was one of the few able to get through the worst hit areas that were under 8 inches of ice on the roads and everything else. No white-knuckled driving. I was then completely sold! Traded it on an 02 OBW LTD which was even better, and then onto an 07 OBW LTD which is prooving to be the best of the three. And when the urge strikes again ... I'll own another one .... and then another one ... and then ... Along the way their reliability, bad weather capabilities, versatility and my praise have brought another 05 Forester and a 98 Forester into the family fold. I've been told that there will be another OBW in the extended family very soon as well.

I need to remove the top of the dash storage compartment to fix the spring assembly that keeps the lid open. As well, I'd like to remove the in dash cup holder that's just under the centre dash vents. It's had coffee splilled on it so many times it is just gummed up. I've removed the two screws that are are on both sides of the cup holder (seen once its opened fully), and the two screws behind the rectangular plugs on both sides of the top of the dash storage compartment. The top storage compartment is now loose to some extent along with the centre dash grills, but I'm missing something somewhere, because the entire assembly won't come out of the dash with gentle but firm coaxing. I'm afraid that something is going to break. Has anyone been there and done this before?

Urban Coyote, To track down your leak I believe you'll be forced to drop the gas tank from the car. Once down you'll be able to see where the problem is. I work in an antique auto restoration shop, and more times than not, gas tank leaks can only be diagnosed and fixed after the tank has been dropped. Good Luck!

blondy, I believe that you've already done the worst part of the job! Getting those multigripping fasteners that hold the grill in place all undone can be a nightmare. Now pull the headlight assemblies and along the top of the bumper cover you'll find plastic pushpins that need to come out. Some simply pry out, others either have a centre section that you pry up a half inch before the entire plug comes out, or they have a Phillips screw head, requiring a quarter turn anticlockwise until they pop up, and then the plug pries out. You'll find the same thing along the entire bottom of the bumper cover, but you may need to remove the 10 mm bolts that hold the plastic bottom splash pan first. The only other usual thing is the removal of 1 or more 10 mm bolts along the bumper cover/fender seam between the wheel well and the headlight on both sides. The cover simply pulls forward off the car, but only a few inches, before checking to see if the fog lights are attached to the bumper cover, in which case disconnect the wiring harnesses to both fog lights before the complete removal. I've not had to do any Subies, but have done many others, and they're all much the same. Good Luck!

bgambino, I've had no reason to ever remove the bumper covers on any of the OBW's that I've owned, but in the restoration shop where I work I have done dozens of makes over the years, and they're all pretty much the same. Typically, along the top and along the bottom of the cover will be push plugs that go through the plastic cover and into the metal or plastic bumper frame underneath and expand. Some plugs simply have fins that spread out and grip when pushed through the securing hole. These type are simply pried out with a screwdriver or such. The second type are a two piece plug. The larger part of the plug fits through the mounting hole and then its centre portion is pushed in till it bottoms and expands the larger portion into gripping. This type are removed by lifting the centre portion a half inch until the entire plug pulls out of the hole. Some of these type have a centre portion that a Phillips screwdriver fits. These require a quarter turn anticlockwise until they pop up, then the entire plug is pried out. To get to the plugs along the top of the bumper cover requires the headlights and the grill to be removed from the car. The plugs on the bottom of the cover are all visible, but the lower splash panel may have to be removed first, if the car is so equipped. The only other fasteners will be 1 or more 10 mm bolts that are along the seam between the bumper cover and the front fender, in between the wheel opening and the headlight. Once all of the fasteners are removed the bumper cover simply pulls off straight forward. Good Luck!

Armorall is an absolute "no..no" in any of my vehicles. I have worked in 3 different automotive restoration shops over the years and in each one the stuff was banned from the shop. Forget about what it may or may not do to your dash and various interior panels. The real nightmare turns up as fisheyes in the paint of freshly painted cars. I've seen several cars needing a complete stripping and repaint because the owner didn't tell the shop that they used armorall on their interiors. The paint fisheyed right in the spray booth. If forwarned about its useage (which almost never happens) the painter could have prepped the paint with a fisheye remover before he painted the car.

mattri, Several years ago I bought a 97 OBW LTD that developed the dreaded piston slap at 23 000 km. The dealership I frequented at that time said they suspected that my problem was a bad internal weld on the Y pipe and nothing more serious. I then did some research on my own, found out they knew what the problem was but blew me off. I then switched to another dealership and have been with them from 02, and very happily so. Regardless, the piston slap that my car exhibited sounded as a "pock-pock-pock" while accelerating when cold. As the engine heated up, the noise disappeared or almost entirely, up until I sold the car 5 years later at 263 000 km. During that whole time the noise was annoying, but had no effect on the drivability of the car. If your car sounds similar, then you have an annoyance, but nothing more serious to worry about. Good Luck!

Bmm001, Subaru360 is most likely correct. Open your tailgate and look straight up at the headliner, about a foot in from the rear opening and dead centre of the headliner. You'll see a plastic plug, that if removed, allows you to access the sunroof motor to manually close the sunroof should it fail to do so electrically. The motor is at the extreme end of the sunroof rails, right where the sunroof drain channels end and plastic tubing is attached, to drain the water down the various roof pillars. Since your roof mounted shoulder harness is very close to this same area, and lower down, a leak will show up at this point. It may be possible for the water to have been blown in past the wiring gater located just right of the tailgate hinge in the roof, if its ripped. If this area is intact, water can only get to where your leak is from the previously mentioned sunroof drain, or one of the mounting bolts holding the roof rails. The only way to track it down for sure will be to remove the headliner from the car. Your dealer may be able to blow the plugged drain free, provided the drain tube hasn't come detacted. I've removed the headliner from my last OBW LTD (an 02) to repair the sunroof mechanism. Its not difficult, as much as it is time consumming. Should you decide to tackle it yourself, get back to me and I'll give you a step by step as I remember it. Good Luck!

Since I started driving Subies, in 1997 I think, I've always disabled my car whenever I've been in an area where I had doubts as to it still being there, if I parked it for the night, in airport parking lots for the most part. It does require you to open the hood, and isn't as simple as throwing a hidden switch from somewhere in the car. I disconnect the wiring connector from the MAF sensor on the air intake tube and just place the connector back in place, without allowing the plug to make any electrical connection at all. If someone tries to hotwire the car, or has another set of factory keys, the engine will crank but will not start. And with the connector sitting in its proper place, unless the thief looks very closely after popping the hood, the required fix will go unnoticed. Its already saved me one stolen car several years ago after returning from a March Break holiday. The thieves got into the car at an airport hotel parking lot, but abandoned it when it wouldn't start. They did leave the driver's door open a bit when they left, and I had a very dead and frozen battery to replace. But I still had the car!

lostinthe202, I have been fortunate (married the most wonderful woman in the world who helped make it possible) to have acquired a small stable of cars, and consequently follow a separate forum for each. Two of them have quite a few members who sing the praises of RedLine MT90 as a replacement tranny fluid. Many of the users claim that it entirely eliminated the noise that troubled them, and many others claimed that it greatly aided their shifting and all but eliminated grinding the gears in some cases. I have it in what used to be a very balky tranny of my 54 MG TF. It got rid of the horrible noises that plagued the tranny when I first bought the car, and has made shifting the 55 year old tranny much nicer. Very seldom does it grind a gear now, where before it occurred on almost every other shift. I also have it in the tranny of my 90 300ZX, and while that tranny has never been a problem, it does shift much nicer with the RedLine MT90. It may be all that you need to get your tranny through to a more convenient time to repair it, and there is the possibility that you may change your mind on making the repair at all. It may sound like snake oil, but for what it'll cost you to find out, you won't lose much by trying it. I'm a convert for sure. Good Luck!

subuhoot03, If you've changed a door speaker in a Cavalier you can certainly do the one in your Subie. It ain't rocket science, and its done almost the same way.

86subaru, The problem is most likely the bumper cover itself, rather than the bumper bash bar. Typically the solid metal bash bar is a heavy steel unit bolted to a metal extension or shock from each side of the car. Onto it a thick styrofoam shell is fastened, usually with plastic plugs, that fills out the shape of the rear bumper cover. The rear bumper cover is fastened with plastic plugs all along its bottom and top. They are of two types typically. One just pulls out if pried, the other has a centre push pin that must be lifted out about a half inch, and then the entire plug can be pulled out of its hole. The only other fasteners may be one or two 10 mm bolts at the seam between the bumper cover and the rear fender just back of the rear wheel opening. If your bumper cover has dropped a half inch on one side, it bears looking into. It may not be just a broken plastic plug or two, but rather a rear bumper bracket that has rusted out, leaving you unprotected in the event of a rear end collision. Here's hoping its an easy fix rather than the alternative. Good Luck!

I've owned 3 OBW's over the years, a 97 with 195/75/15 snows, an 02 with 225/60/16 snows, and my present 07 shoed with 205/60/16 snows. The 97 would absolutely fly through just about any snow conditions with rock solid grip. I was talked into going with the same snow tire size as the stock summer tires were on my 02, and what a mistake. The 225 tires were just too wide to get anywhere near the same traction and speed as the narrower tires on the 97. They felt like they were aquaplaning when you got up too much of a head of steam, and you were forced to slow down dramatically. Well I kept the 16 inch winter rims from the 02 when I purchased the 07 OBW. And I went with the narrowest winter tire that would fit correctly on the rims, a 205. I'm back to the same winter driving experience I recall that I had on the 97. The narrow winter tires make THAT MUCH difference. Just make sure that your tire dealer knows his stuff, and doesn't put on a tire that is too narrow for the width of the rim, worse than dangerous.

gritle, I've owned 3 OBW's and there is another Forester in the family stable. If you're after AWD that is proven and bullet proof, you have to go Subaru. No other manufacturer has their entire lineup totally AWD, and its has been that way, totally bug proof, for more than 20 years. Eveyone else is just a player in the field, albeit there are some good players out there that even I might consider (Matrix AWD/Vibe AWD, RAV4, CRV,Audi Quattro). If you find a Legacy wagon too pricey, but still want the cargo capacity, for sure try out the Forester. Same drive train, same motor, same mileage or perhaps a little more than the Legacy, and about the same cargo capacity, in just another body style. Do some searching here to find the Subie years with the best motor that avoids the piston slap/head gasket issue that was the motor's only weakness. I believe the issue was finally addressed starting with the 05 models, but I'm sure their are others on the forum that can give you some other areas to be aware of. Good Luck on your car search, and get back to us with what you decide to go with!

AllMotorLover17, The best way to get the horsepower you want without sacrificing the integrity of the engine, or overpowering the braking and handling and safety of your car, is to sell your car and buy a WRX or an STI. They were designed by the factory to do correctly and safely, the same thing that you're trying to do on the cheap. You will spend good money trying to hop up your ride and will never get to where you want to go with any reliability, or without a lot of head aches. Time and again this same question gets asked on the Nissan 300ZX forum I follow. "How can I up the horsepower on my normally aspirated 300ZX?" And the same answer comes back every time from the knowledgeable experts running the site. "Sell your car and buy a 300ZX Twin Turbo." I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but those are the facts. Save your dollars and do it right way.