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jamal, You are the man! Thanks for your input. You even answered the questions that I had, and it wasn't even my thread starter. Maybe you young whippersnappers can teach some of us oldsters a thing or two... or three or four!

simbey1982, This may be a dumb question on my behalf, but did you get the emergency brake cable from front to rear from the Legacy L? I'm thinking that the cable ends at the rear wheels may be very different where they attach to the actuators for the shoes that are inside the rear rotors. As well, have a chat with a brake specialist to see if there will be a different bias between the two systems, rear rotors as opposed to rear drums. There may be a porportionaling valve (correct word?) that puts less or more pressure on rear discs than it would on rear drum brakes on the same car.

Andyjo, From what you ask it is obvious that you are in over your head on this one. If you've worked on cars for years, have installed or repaired numerous cruise control systems, then you will be able to scavenge all you need from another wreck and install it successfully, because you will know how they work and where the parts are located. For instance, besides the on/off/set switch, you'll need the under hood cruise control module and cables to the throttle body, any relays and switches, switches on the braking system and clutch (if separate), speed sensors either at the tranny or prop shaft, and if on the prop shaft, the matching magnet, not to mention the appropriate wiring harness which will not be separate, but will be part of the main harness through the firewall. Its quite daunting for the inexperienced. Your best bet is to take avk's advice and buy an aftermarket system and try installing that. Good luck whatever way you decide to go.

spideyz, Tunered had the best answer. Make a template of the mirror's shape (the actual glass) out of paper and a glass shop can cut you a new one for a few bucks. You then use clear silicone to glue the new morror over the old one, tape it in place overnight, and then remove the tape. Problem solved. I've used this method on several customer's cars with complete success, and few bucks.

For several years that licence plate light/tailgate handle mounting bar was a problem for Subaru. I remember reading a thread where someone explained that it was the result of poor primer and paint, as well as the exhaust gases that are swept up around the tailgate when driving. I removed the one on my 97 OBW, blasted and repainted it. It wsn't a big job, just time consuming and fiddlely.

teppichkopf, Try Mequiar's Car Odour Eliminator. It comes in a transparent pump spray bottle that is yellow in colour, and even has a picture of a Golden Labrador Retriever on the label. It works! I purchased a car that the previous owner had smoked in, and within three applications you would never have guessed that a smoker owned it. I even use it in my garbage can when it gets overly ripe, and instantly no more odour!

Marx, Unless you are an avid environmentalist, or your jurisdiction insists on it for an emissions test of some sort, why replace the charcoal canister? To my knowlege it won't hurt your car's performance in any way. It just prevents gas fumes from getting into the atmosphere. And Subaru wants WAY TOO MUCH MONEY for the darn things as well. Personally, I refused to allow my dealer to replace the one on my last Subie (sometime about 1999), and saved about $65 as I recall. I imagine the darn things are worth even more now.

axgutt, I've watched the last 3 cars I've owned being tinted by a professional, and its not rocket science. It is very doable for the average person, if you're fussy, and take your time to do it right. First, you don't need to order anyone's kit, just good quality tinting film of the correct darkness for your jurisdiction, and a very sharp utility blade knife, and small squeegees for working out the bubbles. The job requires that you clean the inside glass carefully and well, and the same for the outsides as well. Wet the outside glass surface of one door, using a water and mild detergent solution with a spray bottle, and place a sheet of tint on it (with all of its backing sheets still in place) and rough cut it to shape oversize. The spray will hold the tint in place for you. Then open that door, and using a putty knife, push the rubber strip that rests along the bottom of the glass, along the top of the door panel, down into the window channel. This is to allow the installation of the tint below that rubber strip, so that when the tint is finally dry and you crank the window down and then bring it back up, the rubber will flip up on its own giving you tint below the rubber strip's top edge, so the tint won't be peeled off by the rubber strip whenever the window is wound down. Now, spray the inside of the glass to get it wet for sliding the tint into place, peel the backing of the tinted sheet, making sure you get the glued side to the glass, and position it on the window. Work the bubbles out from the centre of the tint to the edges of the glass, and squeegee at least an inch of tint below the rubber strip referred to earlier. When all bubbles have been worked out of the tint, all that remains is to trim the edge of the tint to the shape of the glass, but back from the edge by a quarter of an inch, to prevent its peeling back when the glass is lowered and raised. Do the same process for each door, then tackle the rear quarter windows (no rubber to push down here and no need to trim back a quarter of an inch from the edges either). Leave the back window/tailgate to last, as you'll have some experience at the job by then. Do the same rough fit on the outside of the tailgate, but to get the tint to fit the compound shape of the glass, use a heat gun at a safe distance to shrink the tint to the shape of the window. Then do the install on the inside of the window. I even had my sunroofs done on my 02 OBW LTD, for all the time and material it took. Then leave all of the windows in their up position for at least 24 hours to give the glue time to set. Good luck, and I hope this was of some help.

Stinky, I've moved on to an 02 OBW but my previous 97 OBW was a great and dependable ride. Things to watch for: the headgasket and coolant cautions given by the other 2 respondents. As well, mine developed a rust-through area in the very leading edge of the hood, right at the grill. I stopped it by shooting oil from the underside of the hood into the leading edge openings, and with the hood down and latched the oil spread and stayed in between the sheets of metal, and stopped any further growth. Do it now and forget about it. Lubricate that power antenna now, if so equipped, and save some grief later. That particular year had a rust problem with the mounting bar that holds the two licence plate lights and the latch handle. The factory paint just didn't do the job. Lift the tailgate and look at yours. If its rusty, its not a big deal to pull the inside tailgate trim, disconnect the outside latching handle, remove the bar, sandblast, prime and paint it with a rattle can, or get a new one ready to bolt on from the dealer ($11.00 USD last time I saw a thread on this issue about 3 years ago). There was a recall for certain cars that year (mine was one) to replace the lower front control arms. Apparently they would develope cracks?Mine were replaced free of charge, I believe it was even after the warranty was over. Take your VIN number to a dealer and see if the recall affects your car, and see if the repairs was needed on your car, and if it was ever done. Other than that, if the previous owner didn't beat the daylights out of it, you should have a car you can be proud of and depend on. Best of Luck, and welcome to the club!

raybo, Chances are that you have no line blockage, but rather that a rust buildup has semifrozen the caliper piston in its caliper body. Been there/had that! Before you buy a new caliper, pump the piston slowly out of the caliper, and see if you can't clean up the rust on the piston, and inside the caliper with 0000 fine steel wool. Flush and clean both parts well with brake cleaner, lube everything with fresh brake fluid and push the piston back in. Obviously, if the piston is badly corroded... replace it. Then, bleed the caliper... and all of the rest with fresh brake fluid. You can prevent the same thing happening again if you put fresh brake fluid in the car and flush and bleed the system every 3 years. I did the same work on my wife's 97 Lexus just in the last 6 months and my problems were solved. Good Luck!

eastwestboy, Its been a while since I removed my rear wiper motor, but I can't visualize the bolt you're referring to, that's held on by the 20 mm nut. On my 97 OBW the motor/gearbox housing end was threaded, and the 20 mm nut threaded onto that. If yours is loose, will turn, but won't come off, you'll have no other choice but to cut the 20 mm nut with a nut splitter or similar. BUT you'll have to be careful or you'll split your rear windshield glass. Another choice might be to split the nut using a small cutting wheel on a Dremel Tool. With this method, you'll have to watch heat buildup, or the glass may crack. Try using cold wet rags around the nut area to dissipate the heat. Good Luck, and be very careful!

rachie_a, Obviously check out the wiring and plug to number three first, but if that doesn't do it, this may be your next step... My 97 OBW had the same code and everything checked out fine. The service tech was stymied. Then he started pulling electrical parts and replacing them one at a time. The first thing replaced was the ignition coil, even though the old one tested out as fine. No more trouble code, and no more miss, problem solved. It may be a possibility in your case as well. Good Luck!

84wetsoob, Before you go and buy anything, pull the wiring connector at the pump on the reservoir and see if the contacts are corroded and just need cleaning. Been there, done that, more than once! Good luck!

alexk02, I would definitely source out a caliper seal kit and replace just the piston dust seal, if the unit is fairly clean, free of corrosion, and a candidate for a positive seal after the job is done. You'll find it much cheaper than a new caliper, particularly if you can do the job yourself. If you have doubts, replace the caliper. Good luck!

Tubeamp, Buyer beware! Unfortunately the dealership in question took you for a ride, and purposely had the engine warmed up before your test drive, knowing full well that the engine had piston slap. Obviously you'll want to be dealing with a more reputable dealership in future. That's the bad news. Here's the good news. My 97 OBW developed the piston slap at 23 000 km, and I went the route of every possibility with the dealership to get to the bottom of the issue. The end result was that at 169 000 km I traded the car on an 02 OBW, (that at present has 104 000 km on it and no slap). All of the time that I owned the 97, it never once let me down, nor did I fear that it would. The slap noise never got any worse from 23 000 km on, and always went away when the engine was warmed up. If you check the archives here you'll find that the slap is an annoyance, but will not affect engine longevity. You'll have to decide whether you can live with it or not, but the dealership you purchased the car from has demonstrated that their business practices are less than honest. Sounds like they need a whole lot of free advertising.... all of it bad!

Dr. Rock, I've had the coolant additive put in my 02 OBW and no change has occurred in my gas mileage. From the list of things that you said were changed on your car, at the same time as the additive was put in the coolant, logic tells me that your problem has got to be one or more from the list. A bad plug? Bad coil? ( My 97 OBW had an ocassional miss firing plug that was traced back to a bad coil, even though the coil tested out fine, but when changed with a new one, the misfire was cured. ) I sure would start there. I can't see how the coolant additive could have any effect on gas mileage.

mccrary666, My 97 OBW had the AT and never in 169 000 km shifted hard. I would suggest that you have a tech you trust, check yours out. As for the wireless door locks, I assume that you mean that the remote can address the receiver module, but that the doors themselves do not lock and unlock? Do the power door lock switches activate the locks? I assume that they do. If so, it sounds like you need to get to the wiring of the remote receiver and trace it back to the power door lock circuits. There's got to be a broken wire or corossion somewhere. Hope this is of some help!

97OBW, For years I've followed what the maufacturer of the car has determined was the proper tire pressures for that vehicle, and I have followed them religously. The car manufacturers have spent the time and the money to know what pressures will give the maximum performance and safety for their paricular application, and vehicle weight. The tire manufacturer doesn't know any more than some mechanic or tire jockey would, as to how a particular tire on the front or the back of a particular car will behave with a particular load, etc., etc., when so many cars can be fitted with the same tire, some safely, some not. Yes, my 02 OBW has the pressures 29 psi front and 28 back, my wife's 04 ES330 Lexus at 26 all around, my 90 Nissan 300ZX at 36 front, 33 rear, and so for my other antique cars as well...just as the manufacturers have stated in their owner's manuals. Do what you want, but it seems to me that the people who should know are the same ones who can tell you what kind of oil to use, what fuel octane is needed and what type of transmission fluid is required, etc., to get the best performance and longevity from the vehicle you bought, and still protect your warranty.

neil mc, You've touched upon your own solution. Finding the 2 loose bolts and reinstalling them back into the window mechanism, suggests that the mechanism had shifted inside the door. They are designed to allow for changes in angles and height of the glass to the glass seals on the body. It is a hit and miss/try loosening of the bolts/shift things in one direction a bit/tighten the bolts/close the door/try the power window/check for proper fit in the up and down glass positions. You can try to do the job yourself and may get lucky very quickly, or take the car to a glass installer and have them adjust it. Their experience will have the job done in short order. Good luck!

neil

logie231, I've installed factory trailer hitches on my 97 OBW and my 02 OBW, and both were a snap. Using standard sockets and tools, I had both hitches installed in an hour, by myself, without needing a hoist, or jacking up the car. Yes, parts of the install were awkward by myself, but no drilling or cutting needed to be done. The only problems I had WITH BOTH KITS was that the instructions said that the new trailer wiring harness just plugged into the car's wiring harness plug, that was in behind the rear interior wheel well panel on one side of the car. When I couldn't find the plugs as described, a quick search of the same location on the other side of the car located them. Must have been a change in specifications from the original by the manufacturer. As I recall, there was some fiddly stuff with a blind nut that was attached to a 3 inch long metal finger. I had to put the nut/finger assembly through a frame hole and hold it until I could put a bolt through another frame hole and thread it into the blind nut. As I recall, I developed a new blue language for about 5 minutes until I held my tongue just right, but that was it. Its a DIYer, if there ever was one. Good luck!

Pwilly, All of today's cars are about the same. My OBW shows plugs that must be pulled up and out, when you open the hood, since the grill is attached to the hood. If the Forester's grill isn't attached to the hood, then you'll have to remove it first to be able to get at the plugs. I suspect that there are more under the headlights, meaning that the headlight assemblies must be pulled as well. Then, along the bottom of the bumper cover (you'll have to pull the bottom splash panel first) and finally, any that are in the wheel opening, attached to the inner fender liner. There is nothing difficult or magical about any of it, you'll just have to start lifting out each plug's centre pin and its surround expander, and keep pulling off parts of the front of the car until the cover is free. Thankfully, it'll take much less time to reinstall the cover than it did to take it off. A thin bladed screwdriver is about the only tool you should require to pull the plugs, a phillips screwdriver and a 10mm wrench for the other fasteners. Just jump in. Its all pretty straight forward. Good luck!

Vic, My 90 Nissan 300ZX (and 300ZX's from 1990 to 1996) has 5 of the same check valves in it, one to the rear hatch, two for the windshield, and two for the headlight washers. I've never had to replace any of them, but from the forums that I follow, others have, and have been able to buy just the check valves themselves from Nissan dealers. Why not check with the Nissan parts guys and see if they'll fit your Forester application? Its worth a try.

BostonSubaruGuy, The best advice you could possibly get was made by Sydfloyd44. Pay the extra to get what you want. To not do so will have you kicking yourself for a long time to come. I can say that.....as I sit in my Outback Wagon Limited.....and my bride sits in her Lexus. (She deserves to be spoiled more than me.)

Midwst, No one will be able to give you a definitive answer as to when the engine will croak for the last time. A couple of things to consider: change to a thicker oil that will not go past the rings as quickly. If you're using a 10W30 weight oil, change to a 20W40 weight. I wouldn't think that an entire oil change to do so would be necessary, as the engine seems to be doing that on its own. As well, driving the car in its present state is taking a chance at getting stranded, usually at a very inconvenient time, requiring a tow, overnight accommodations, rental cars, etc. The problem needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.