virginiaham

so the other day when i went to park my 97 Legacy wagon, and put all the windows up, the Right Rear window would not go up straight. I've taken the door panel off to investigate what broke, and i found that one of the little plastic bushings where the window regulator arm snaps into and slides in the rail bolted to the bottom of the glass had broken in half, and so only one of the two regulator arms is actually attached to the glass. my question is, is this bushing available separately anywhere, or am i forced to just replace the entire regulator? a regulator is not too expensive, but two little plastic bushings have to be even cheaper, right?

Ill try listening outside the car when i can get someone else to help. it doesn't rattle in park or neutral, and i certainly don't want to end up as a Darwin award nominee by trusting the handbrake to hold the car still when its in gear.

i suppose i shouldn't complain too much about a little ratting form a $700 car, but the tailgate on my 97 Legacy Wagon is driving me batty. at idle in gear, and over rough roads it rattles and buzzes like crazy. does anyone know of a way to adjust the latch or the rubber "bumpstops" in the doorjamb to stabilize the tailgate more when its closed? when i used to work at a volvo dealer, the tailgate bumpstops on the wagons were threaded so they could be made shorter or taller to slightly adjust how the tailgate sat when it was closed, but the bumpstops on my wagon seem to be solid. i should mention that if i really put some rump roast into it and slam the tailgate closed it still rattles a little bit, but not as much. any tips or tricks to cure this annoying problem would be greatly appreciated. thanks

if you go on rockauto.com, and look up thermostats for your car, you will see listed "OE type" and "OE exact". They also have pictures. You want the OE Exact. They are a few bucks more, but it is money very well spent.

almost forgot, if you are noticing the engine temp creeping up alot, it won't hurt to toss a new thermostat in there. Make absolutely sure you get a OEM style thermostat. It will be bigger that the aftermarket ones, and is the only way to go.

not to worry, none of these code are terribly serious, so long as you get them remedied soon. The misfire is likely fairly straightforward, you probably just need a tune-up. I.e. New plugs and wires. If the misfire persists, you might have a bad ignition coil. If so, its best not to cheap out on that, I've gotten cheap aftermarket ignition coils that were bad right out of the box. The P1325 code is for a fault in the Knock Sensor. This is a very common fault in Subarus, and is usually (as in 98 times out of 100) just a bad sensor, and that's very easy to replace with a socket extension and flex joint on your ratchet. the cooling fan problem could be nothing, or it could be a failing electric fan, or the control relays for high/low speeds. The code will come about when the ECM commands the fan on, and then doesn't see a corresponding drop in engine temp in a certain amount of time. This could be due to a blockage in airflow across the radiator from leaves or something, or the fans not coming on. If the fans seem to work, and the radiator isn't blocked, it could just have thrown that code because it was a super hot day and you were in traffic and the fan was just pulling the hot air from the car in front of you over the radiator. So basically, fix the other stuff, clear the codes, and see if the cooling fan code comes back. happy fixing!

So i'm relatively new here, and new to owning a Subaru. I've previously owned several older Volvos, which obviously enjoy a similar type of enthusiast following as Subaru. my question is if there is a Subaru equivalent to the volvo-based parts/accessory website IPDusa.com? they sell both OEM, NOS, and direct fit performance parts for a lot of old Volvos. Clearly there are parts sites like RockAuto and PartsGeek, but those are basically just a factory replacement parts source. If you browse through the IPD site, you'll see what im talking about. they sell stuff you cant find elsewhere, like 'problem solver' parts for those nagging issues only the owners of a specific vehicle might be looking for. i know there are several sites i could go to where some dude is making lift blocks for my wagon, and another place where another dude is making a brush guard or skid plates, but is there a one-stop-shop for all that stuff, plus the regular maintenance stuff? thanks for the help

my 1997 Legacy L Wagon has a new issue. Intermittently, the dashboard and instrument panel backlighting will not come on when i turn the headlamps on. when i got this car about two months ago, the lighting for the climate control didnt work, and i figure that is just the bulbs behind the panel. but now the instruments and the radio lighting will fail to come on when the exterior lights are turned on. however, a solid strike to the dash seems to make them come on. anyone have any ideas?is it worth chasing this electrical gremlin, or just let it be?

Was the O2 code description for a "stuck lean" condition? if so, you may have a weak fuel pump. this is especially likely because you say it takes a few tries to start, like you are priming the fuel system. a lean condition will cause hotter combustion temps, and could cause overheating. If the fuel starvation is bad enough, it will cause a lack of power under load, but may run fine at idle. if you have a fuel pressure gauge, that's the best way to check pressure, but a simple and crude way to check is to squeeze the fuel supply hose between your thumb and forefinger and have someone turn the ignition on. if the hose gets rock hard instantly, you might be ok, if it stays soft or takes a couple of seconds to get hard, you may have a suspect fuel pump. also, the overheating may be a completely separate issue, like a faulty thermostat installed when you replace the water pump. it has been my experience, that if you dont use an OEM or other very high quality thermostat, you're taking a big gamble.

as a mechanic, I'll accept some barely perceptible play in a customers CV joints, IF it isn't making noise or causing a vibration. There is always play on any mechanical joint, but it should be so slight that you can't feel or see it without a dial indicator.

i believe a legacy takes just under 2-Lbs of refrigerant, which is about two 12-oz cans. during normal operation, the low side pressure should be 20-45 psi and high side around 150 psi but could be as much as 250 psi depending on the outside temp. when i perform A/C services at work (i'm a mechanic) i almost always replace the schrader valves. Also, the Low-pressure cut out switch will cause the compressor to disengage below 10 psi on the low side to protect the compressor. If you have a vacuum pump, it is best to pull a vacuum on the system for at least ten minutes before charging, both to verify the integrity of the system, but also because its easire to charge a system that is under a vacuum that one that has 5 psi in it because the refrigerant will actually be "sucked" in.

whichever parts site you are using will probable have a filler neck for "federal" emissions and one for "california" emissions. under the hood should be an information sticker** with engine size and designation, a vacuum diagram, and emissions control info. it will say if your car meets federal standards, or the stricter california standards. this will tell you which filler neck to buy. **if your hood has been replaced for any reason, that sticker may be from another car and could be inaccurate, or it might not be there at all.

yeah, if you have injector pulse, and the plugs are fouling or the smell of gasoline is coming from the exhaust your injectors are firing. weak spark could be your culprit. trying a known good coil would be the route id go if i didnt have an inline spark checker. as for how much oil to put in the cylinder, i personally like to use trans fluid, because i feel like it spreads out along the cylinder walls a little better (although i have no proof of this, its just a gut feel thing) and i would put about a half- to no more than a capfull of oil (from a standard bottle, not a mobil-1 bottle with a comically large cap) into each cylinder, and then use the starter to spin the engine over for about 5 sec with all the spark plugs removed. that should coat your cylinders sufficiently enough to bump your compression up.

make sure you have injector pulse. if you have fuel pressure, but the injectors aren't firing, then no fuel actually gets into the cylinders. unplug one injector, it doesn't matter which one, just and easy one to get to, and plug a test light into the connector. you may have to use two paper clips into the female terminals to get a good connection. if you have a noid light, that would be preferable, but most home mechanics dont have those. anyway, make sure your test light leads aren't going to get caught on any moving belts or anything, and crank the engine over. if the light flashes, you have injector pulse, if you dont see any flashing, check at least one other injector or pulse. if you find you dont have any pulse to all your injectors, now you have to figure out why. camshaft and crankshaft position sensors would be the most likely culprits. the injectors are "ground-side" controlled by the ECM. that means they have a constant supply of 12V when the key is on, and the circuit is grounded by the ECM to allow current to flow and the solenoid valve to operate. the ECM uses the CKP and CMP sensors to determine when to fire each injector. if the sensors are good, then either you have a wiring problem, or bad injector drivers in the ECM. in my experience, bad ECMs are rare on subarus. most likely, either you have a bad cam or crank sensor. hope this helps.

Im looking to swap Forester struts into my 1997 Legacy L Wagon, so i can clear some bigger wheels/tires. from what i gather from reading a few threads on here, the forester struts will either bolt right in, or i will have to use the forester struts and springs with the legacy mounts. So which is it? Thanks in advance for your help.