gbhrps

AVK, You're right on the money! The Radio Shack microlight bulbs #7219 are exactly what's inside the seat heater switches of my 02 OBW. They come with inch and a half long pigtails and are just wound around and through the rubber light socket/shields, no soldering needed. Robb1, Got the switch out of the centre console, and holding it upright (so no internal parts could spring out or get dislodged before I saw where they are located, I used a small thin bladed screwdriver to pry out the BOTTOM of the switch that has the wiring harness blade connectors on it. When the bottom dropped out, there was a white centre section that had copper spring contacts just floating around on top of the bottom section. This thin white block had a white vertical pointer, that fits into a set of fingers that extend down from the rocker switch in the top of the switch. (Obviously the pointer must be positioned to fit between the fingers upon reassembly.) Coming up from the bottom of the switch base that was just removed, the blades rise above the white centre switch contact assembly and have 2 rubber light shield/sockets for the illumination bulb and the seat heater on bulb. The rubber sockets and bulbs just slide right off of the blades. Using a magnifying glass and toothpick or dental pick, unwind the bulb pigtails to remove the burned out bulb, and replace same with a new bulb. Put the bulb and socket assembly back onto the blades, and before you put everything back together, test the bulb using long pigtail wires from your battery. If it lights, reassemble the whole switch, and again before you install it in the car, plug the switch into your wiring harness connector, turn on the ignition and lights and see if it works. If so...put the car back together. It worked for me. Total cost was $2.99 CDN plus tax and an hour of my time. Good luck!

BlueSoob, I've been around awhile and have owned Many vehicles over the years. Every so often you get one that just seems to nickel and dime you to death. All the problems on a new 73 Chrysler were traced back to being built on a Friday afternoon by a bunch of "can't get out of here fast enough" auto workers. A 77 Vette required shares in GM until sold 10 years on when wisdom finally set in. Later on a 81 Cordoba was fine up until its first tuneup, and was never the same again, a real pain where you couldn't have an ache. I believe the dealership was responsible for the problems they could never find nor correct. Since then I've bought only Japanese vehicles and had basically only very good experiences with all of them. Yes, once in a while something will go south that you wouldn't expect should, but they are all very compex mechanical devices that will sometimes let you down. Its the nature of the beast. But once in a while you get a lemon. Only you can decide whether to make lemonade with it, or turn it out to pasture and move on to another vehicle. But I sure wouldn't jump ships because of one bad experience with a particular make, ....if it was built on a Friday......but after a second one.....GOODBYE.

My experience.......................... 97 OBW 2.5 DOHC 128 000 km when traded, annoying piston slap from 23 000 km on, but no head gasket issues. 02 OBW 2.5 SOHC 83 000 km today, slight piston slap from new, slight external leaking head gaskets replaced under warranty at 48 000 km ( couldn't see leaking coolant, but could smell it in the car), Subaru special headgasket lubricant added to cooling system at 67 000 km under recall, no other concerns to date. When I replace this car....I'll buy another OBW with either the turbo or the 6 cylinder.

Tiny Clark, Its not a big deal to take the panel off the inside of the rear hatch to get to the source of the problem. Its pretty intuitive. My guess is the the lock selenoid arm has come disconnected from the lock mechanism (its just held on with a clip and maybe the clip has broken or come undone), or the selenoid has come undone and can't put any pressure on the unlocking rod. Five minutes after you start removing the panel, you'll have your answer. Good luck!

Robb1, I took the centre dash panels off my 97 OBW Ltd to install the woodgrain pieces that were available fot the 98's on (vanity I guess). That was quite awhile ago, but as I recall, and it will be similar for your car, that there was a screw or 2 to be removed, after pulling out the ash tray. I think that I had to pull out the rectangular tray that can be used for sunglasses, etc. as well, and there were 2 screws behind that. From there, you tape up a flat bladed screwdriver (to prevent scratches) and carefully pry out the surround panel along its sides and top. As I recall, the hazard switch and any other switches were just screwed to the back of the surround panel. Take your time, don't really force anything, and you'll be able to get things apart without any damage. Good luck!

Robb1, I have a similar problem with the one seat heater switch in my 02 OBW Ltd. The switch works fine, as do the two high and low indicator bulbs, but the illumination for night use bulb has gone south. Dealership wants $43 CAN for the switch, and by the time you pay labour and taxes we're about at the same kind of wallet hurt that you've been quoted. I too refuse to pay for a switch that I'm pretty sure I can take apart, locate another bulb source, and then solder in. I like a challenge as well. I'm not familiar with where your rear defogger switch is located (lower dash, left side?). If it can't just be popped out using a taped up flat bladed screwdriver, you will most likely have to pop out the dash panel that it sits in to get at it. You may have to take the speedometer inside surround out first to get at its fasteners. To be certain, you really need someone who has your particular model, and has had the panel off before, to jump in with the proper procedure. Good luck.

Two thoughts.....bad wheel bearings can sometimes be identified when the car is driven at speed and swerved side to side. Putting a load on the bearing from straight ahead driving and turning left and right should make the sound you're hearing change volume and pitch. If it doesn't, then the bearing most likely isn't the culprit........a sticking caliper could give you the same uneven rubbing sound. On a 9 year old car, if the brake fluids haven't been flushed regularly every 3 years, its a possiblity as well. The caliper piston rusts on one side, enough to stick slightly, and doesn't fully release back into the caliper when you lift off the brake pedal. The piston may actually be able to be seen not protruding straight from the caliper, but more on an angle. Hope this helps.

BE CAREFUL! Disconnect the battery and wait at least one half hour before you mess with an airbag. Disconnecting the battery kills the juice to the bags, but there are capacitors that store enough electrical charge to fire the bags for at least 15 minutes after the juice is cut. This allows the bags to fire in an accident where the battery source has been cut on initial impact. As far as removing the bags after this, maybe someone else has the answer, but safety first! If you're too close to one of these things when it goes off it'll kill you.

Jtendzone, No need for you to make any apologies for not knowing much about engines, etc. Why do you think so many of us are on this forum? We're certainly not all experts. As a group we're only too eager to help out. Keep the questions coming. As for your headlights being dim, why not start another thread on the topic and see what suggestions you get? Welcome!

Check List for used OBW's: - are all tires the same make, size and especially the same tread wear (one out of size tire will ruin the driveline) - timing belt replaced at 60 000 and 120 000 miles? Verified? - check rad when cool engine is running, any bubbles in radiator indicating blown head gaskets? - road test and swerve back and forth in a safe location at speed, any wheel bearing noises? - brakes, including parking brakes, how new? - rear wiper work, or seized from lack of use? - front and rear washers work, or electrical contacts need cleaning? - power antenna work?(easy fix to replace mast) - front leading edge of hood, rust bubbles? - heater/AC lights work, bulbs burned out? - metal bracket that holds licence plate lights, rusted out? (new one is $11) - car history, timely oil changes, fuel filter, plugs, clutch, shifts well, etc.? Maybe someone else can add to the list for anything I've overlooked. Good luck! Hope you find a gem!

I agree. If the belt squeals, particularly a new one, then it is loose. My Nissan 300ZX is notorious for doing the same thing. I end up retightening its belts at least 3 times whenever I replace the belts, before I can eliminate the squeal.

My 97 OBW leaked oil into the spark plug wells on 2 cylinders on one side. It was more annoying than anything else, and yes its mainly a labour expense, removing plumbing for the air intake, windshield washer tank, plugs and wiring to get at them. It appears to be pretty common as the gaskets age. Why do you want to replace fogs and headlights? The lights in your AC/Heater controls are a fiddley/time consumming, but not impossible job to do yourself. Buy the bulbs from the dealer (very tiny, not too expensive, and exclusive to Sub's), and search archives here for threads on the subject. There are some good step by step outlines on how to do it. They work, because I used them to do my own successfully. Good luck!

My 97 OBW had the same symptoms at about 87 000 km. Everything checked out fine, even though the code said a misfire on #2. Checked a second time, same results. Service Tech said only solution was to pull or change one item at a time. The first thing changed was the ignition coil, and BINGO...no more code or misfire. Is it possible that your used coil pack is bad as well?

I tow my 18 foot inboard/outboard with my 97 and my 02 OBW's, so a snowmobile trailer should be a snap considering it will weigh a whole lot less. Both cars are automatics, I only towed the boat 18 miles from storage to water at the season's start, and back again at season's end, it is as flat as a table top where I live, I never went over 50 mph, and I started stopping long before I needed to to keep the weight from overpowering the Subaru's brakes. No problems at all. But....if I were to go any distance with the same boat/weight on behind, I'd put on auxillary brakes and a tranny cooler, and if I was trailering the same package in hilly country....I'd buy a heavier vehicle with the drivetrain to haul it. Take it easy and you should have no problems hauling a snowmobile with what you have.

Lostwater, I had a rear wheel bearing replaced in my 97 OBW years ago under warranty, and was able to watch the entire operation in the dealer's service department. As I recall, they removed the wheel and the links to the rear hub, removed the axle shaft to the rear hub, and left everything hanging on the lift. They then put the rear hub assembly in a 10 or 20 ton press and just pressed out the old bearing assembly, pressed in the new one and reassembled the car. It wasn't 45 minutes on the hoist. I suggest that you get the job done to the point of taking the hub off the car, then take it to a shop that has a press, and get them to press out the old and in with the new. It shouldn't be too expensive, and you don't get stuck buying a special tool that you may never need again.

PAezb, Is your passenger side wiper parked correctly when the wipers are turned off? If it could be lowered in its parked postion, then it wouldn't sweep through your driver's side as much. Its easy enough to do. Just undo the nut on the wiper arm with the system off, wiggle the arm off the shaft and reposition the wiper blade lower down the glass, and retighten the nut. Then again, maybe its already as low as it can be positioned.

I would agree on the wind noise issue as being intake related. I also concur with the oil consumption and leak situation. If the car is running well otherwise, with all of those miles on it, it becomes the law of diminishing returns. A quart of oil between oil changes sounds a whole lot cheaper than replacing a whole pile of gaskets on a high mileage engine that has how many more miles left in it?

"Never buy a pig in a poke". If you've not seen the car and inspected it, or had a reputable mechanic inspect it and get his verdict back to you, regardless of what the seller says, don't buy it. The seller has given you the perfect out.

You'll really like that there is no longer any white-knuckled driving with all wheel drive and good snow/ice grip tires, as long as you don't get overconfident. In bad weather our OBW has been the car of choice since our first one in 97. I'll keep buying one as long as Subaru keeps making them as well as they are now. To those with the newest generation of OB's with the 16 inch 225 tires,.....consider a narrower tire if you buy winter tires. My 97 had 205's that cut through the snow better, rather than riding up on top of it like these 225's do. I could drive faster in snow with the old OB with narrower tires than I can with my 02 with the wider tires. I can't wait to wear out the winter tires I have now, so I can replace them with something narrower. And, no, I'm not going to sell them so that I can get something narrower. I'll just slow down for the meantime.

Some ideas on how to track down your problem. Check your owner's manual for the fuse that the washers work on. Is it burned out? Pull the connectors to each of the washer motors located on the washer tank up front (I think I remember that my 97 had 2 of them, one for the front and one for the tailgate washer, I could be wrong) and clean the connectors and the blades that they attach to on the motors. They are most likely all corroded. Use a spray electrical contact cleaner and a small wire brush, and see if they work then. If not, run test wires right from your battery to each motor and see if they spin. They may be corroded inside and seized up. I have taken apart one of them in the past and cleaned it up enough to get it going again, but it was time consuming and fussy. If this is your problem, just buy new ones or check the junk yards for something better than what you have. A lot of Japanese car makers use the same suppliers, so check Toyotas and such. Over and above that, it has to be either a bad switch or somewhere in your wiring from the switch to the washer motors. Maybe some else can jump in with anything they think I may have missed. Good luck!

My 97 OBW developed the slap at 23 000 kms and got a little louder over the next winter or two, stablized and never got any worse all the way to trade in time at 234 000 kms. The block heater helped tremendously during winter startups, drastically lowering the noise and length of time that you had to suffer it. I traded up to an 02 OBW that now has 82 000 kms and a little bit of slap. Haven't had to use the block heater yet as temperatures haven't nosedived yet. This new car had the leaking head gaskets (external leaks onto the exhaust manifold) replaced at 46 000 kms, and about 15 000 kms ago had the Subaru recall work done, that adds a special head gasket sealant to the coolant system. Love the car, and knowing that the piston slap issue will just be an annoyance that I can live with, and won't hurt the car, or cost me any money to fix, I'll own another OBW when this one serves its time. In my opinion it really comes down to whether or not you can live with the annoying noise or not. I'll accept it because everything else about these cars is so darn good.

Perhaps you should reread your first post again...because I just reread it for the 3rd time and nowhere in it do you say that you purchased a five year extended warranty...which would have changed my comments on your problem substantially.

My two cents worth.........I have a hard time spending $1400 on something I may never need. If I have a concern in that department, I'll take the $1400 and put it into a bank account for car repairs, and add say $25 a month. If I need it for repairs, the money is there. If I don't, then when I replace the car I can put the saved money towards winter tires, accessories, or another repair account on the new car. By the way...say you buy the $1400 warranty and one week later some idiot runs a red light and totals your new car. Where is your extended warranty money now? Again, just my two cents worth, because if having the warranty gives you peace of mind, who am I to say that you're wrong?

Tire size, if close to manufacturer's suggested size, isn't a real issue. What is an issue is that all four tires must be the same size, meaning that they must all be the same make, size and have the same amount of wear. Having three new tires and one with only 20% wear left on it will destroy parts of the all wheel drive. Your howl may be a wheel bearing. If it is, you should be able to identify whether its a front or rear one, but not necessarily which side. While driving at speed, on a road where you can do the following safely, swerve from one side of the road to the other. A bad wheel bearing howl should change pitch, depending on whether driving straight ahead, swerving right or swerving left. If it doesn't, your best bet is that your problem lies somewhere else in the driveline, and a good Subaru mechanic should track it down for you before something major strands you with a bigger repair bill. Good Luck!

I reread your post twice....and I'm still not 100% sure what you're driving at. Are you saying that your overflow tank needs to be refilled twice a month, and yet the dealership says that during their first investigation that there is no problem, and the 2nd time around that they found a loose clamp and you don't believe them? If they did a pressure test and nothing bubbled up into the radiator indicating an internal leak, what do you expect them to do? Why don't you believe them? They've got nothing to hide. Your car is over the standard warranty period and they aren't responsible for your repairs. I don't think they were suggesting that you are an idiot. They can only diagnose what what shows up at the time of the test. If you feel you may have an internal headgasket leak...have them pull the heads, or take the car to another dealership. But watch your temperature guage closely until you're satisfied that you no longer have a problem.