gemologist

I hate breaking plastic stuff too. Here's one I learned by accident. You know how Armor-All makes old plastic shine—don't like that look. One day, trying to help some old plastic along in an area that was hard reach. Taking a 'chip' brush—natural fiber disposable paint brush—and cutting the bristles to about 3/8 an inch. Used it to lightly 'scrub' the Armor-All into the plastic. No Shine! Tried scrubbing other pieces, looked like new. Looking for a natural—soft-ish bristle finger nail brush, so it will be easier to work larger areas.

Hope I didn't send you on a wild goose chase, looking for a video—I'll try. As for the intermittent functioning, that's what mine did. The A/C would run get cold and stop. It would get hot and the A/C would come on. I think the cracked solder would expand or contract with heat and cold. /////////////////////////// Looks like it was a goose chase... 1990 was before YouTube was invented. Take a look at this; a couple of posts down: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/can-replace-radio-head-unit-my-first-gen-wagoni-165289.html

My Legacy LS has this problem. With the gate open I tested the current at the bulb with the switch in different positions. I believe that I am reading a short. Where is that short likely to be? In the gate, as described above, or behind / above the headliner. Could the sunroof have abraded wire?

$ vs. Octane vs. MPG discussions have many variables, aka, opinions; including, but not limited too, the laws physics, driving style, vehicle maintenance. Years ago I had a motorcycle that very clearly ran better with high octane Chevron gas. That started me paying attention. The further you drive in a stretch without stopping the better your gas mileage. The more constant your speed, the better your gas mileage—with caveats. Slow down on up-hill grades and gently return to your original speed. Yes the cruise control is used, but I watch the engine speed more and adjust the cruise control accordingly, not allowing it to bolt up hills. The numbers will average themselves, no need to run the tank dry—very bad. Record the gallons and miles every time you fill up. Divide the miles into the gallons. Take those MPG add them up and divide by the number entries on the trip. This equals you mean average. If you are a fanatic—like me—or just bored, you can record the time. My '90 Legacy LS got 37.1 MPG at 62.4 MPH average speed; mostly flat terrain over 1229 miles; high octane fuel; stopping only to refuel. More recently, on a shorter trip, it got 35.2 MPG, high octane fuel. Long coasts to a stop; accelerating slowly. The most expensive part of your drive is accelerating from 0 to 1 MPH. Once you are in motion you tend to stay in motion—it does not cost as much gas to go from 1 MPH to 2 MPH. Accelerate as slowly as traffic will allow. Coast to the limit line; do not rush it. Remember the 'Speed Limit' is a Limit not a Prescription. Coasting = Positive Infinity MPG vs. Stopped / Idling = Negative Infinity MPG. Apologies for the Rant.

Hmm. My experience with electronics is limited. Generally, when a short occurs, the components on either side of the short take the hit—that is the 'why' of the fuse. And why it is a bad idea to just replace the fuse without looking for the source of the issue first. Footnote – I have heard complaints about the quality of Subaru Sound Systems before. I can not agree, my LS has the most natural sound. What I do find is that there are many 'bad' and even 'very bad' recordings. I installed both an 'Isolation Transformer' and an 'iPod with remote control.' The Subaru Sound System more than adequately handles the dynamic range of the digital recordings.

Hey there, I'm sorry, don't remember where the screws are. Have you looked at YouTube? There are many Subaru how-to's there. Nice because they are videos. As for the A/C control. Had my '90 down at the A/C repair shop having it serviced. The guy came back and told me that I needed a new 'electronic control unit' and that the unit was $600. Driving down the street with the A/C shop in the rear view mirror I started thinking. The most detrimental stress on a car is 'cyclic loading'—the vibration from driving. Electronic components are soldered together; Solder has a lot of 'lead' in it; lead work hardens with vibration; hardened metal cracks because it is now brittle. So I drove up to my friendly 'car radio repair' guy. Al looked at it through his magnifying glass and told me that I had some cracks. Can you fix them? I asked. He said, "yes, I can re-solder the whole thing for $20. I said, "you can't even buy dinner for you and you wife for $20." So I gave him $40. I've got close to 80,000 miles on that 'electronic control unit.' Hope that helps.