Lightning Racer

The 1993 Legacy wagon is more to my taste. I would have considered bidding if it were manual. It needs RS Type RA wheels and the no-chrome grille though. No Reserve: 1993 Subaru Legacy L 25th Anniversary Wagon for sale on BaT Auctions - ending November 6 (Lot #126,529) | Bring a Trailer

2-3 times as much would have been worth it for me, especially seeing that video later and realizing that it's a common thing with Moog parts. Spent more than that messing around, getting it aligned twice with a weaker camber modifying camber bolt (wouldn't have needed an alignment at all with a good part). I should have just taken it off and thrown it in the bin and gotten the Subaru part. In fact, I might still do that at some point next time I visit my folks, just to do it right.

It's bad from my limited experience of one Moog part (one for one bad is 100% bad for me). I put a Moog front lower control arm into my dad's 2005 Outback, and immediately noticed that the camber was way off with the camber bolt in the same position. It couldn't be corrected to even close with the stock camber bolt. The lateral dimension of the part must have been way off. Here's a mechanic's long term experience with Moog parts:

Can anyone tell me what the likely problem is with the sound system? I've had the car for 21 years, and it's been bad like this for years. It's the Brighton, so just two speakers, one in in each front door. Sound cuts in and out, especially when changing the volume. Sometimes no sound on one side at lower volumes, tends to be better at higher volumes. I know it's not the speakers. I replaced them last year, and it didn't help. The speakers I got sound worse than the OEM, so I'll put the originals back in at some point, and maybe move the newer ones to the rear doors if the rear doors turn out to be wired (not sure). If it's likely the head unit, is this a common problem? I'd like to stick with a Subaru branded unit that will plug right in, but I want to avoid the same problem. I listen to the radio on it, and use a bluetooth FM thingy to listen to music from my phone.

Yes. I bought close to the same car, a 2003 Legacy 5MT wagon with 150K miles, a couple years ago before things went crazy, for $2100. But to get that price, I had to check ads all over the country for over a month, and then jump immediately and buy it sight unseen off internet. If I saw the same car now, if it were completely rust free and mechanically sound, I'd certainly consider paying $6K. Now that I have the car, I personally wouldn't part with it for less than $10K (not that anyone would pay close to that... but it's not for sale). I admit that Subaru wagons are cars that I would say are my favorite cars (also have a 1996, and used to have a Loyale), so I'm more willing to pay more. But it's also objectively a better car than my previous Prius that took me $10K to sort out (after buying for around $7K). I like it's driving characteristics, appearance/style, size, and utility (everything better than my Prius except gas mileage), and I have it basically close to perfect at this point (not a spot of rust, completely dry/tight underneath, refreshed suspension, sticky tires, new clutch). I expect it will outlast me (only 52, but I don't put in a lot of driving miles). I also avoid anything newer than 2005 (GD's influence on this forum a big part of that). For example TPMSs do no good for anyone that pays attention to things. It only annoys you with lights and then costs you a lot of extra money when you know the pressures are good and the sensors have gone bad. I'd pay to not have TPMSs on my car.

I'm guessing that the problem is similar to what Toyota had with the 2010-2011 Prius headlights: voltage too high at the bulb due to larger than ideal wire in the headlight harness. (Maybe the same supplier for the Prius/Legacy headlight harness?) The fix for the Prius, which had an extended warranty, was to add about 1 meter wire length to the original headlight harness to cause the voltage to drop closer to the 12V nominal at the bulb: My Toyota Prius 2010 caught fire | Page 5 | PriusChat Looks like Subaru is replacing bulbs for free for 10 years, and you can apply for reimbursement: MC-10182590-9999.pdf (nhtsa.gov) Microsoft Word - snet_announcement_template.doc (nhtsa.gov)

No head gaskets in this one:

Squeezed tight the seals on the door/window gussets of my 2003 Legacy using my fingers, a 3 minute fix. Driver's side's gaps were much larger than the passenger side's. Gaps and excessive wind noise are now gone. I heard this fix doesn't last vs. replacing with the updated version, but I don't close the door using the window, and it's probably the first time it's been adjusted, so probably not that much metal fatigue of the supporting structure behind the seals yet. Trying to fix now: My right fog light is aimed too low, bright part topping out just out of view below bumper level from driver's perspective. I popped the surround off, and saw an adjustment screw. Turned it both CCW and CW many turns, and the screw went in noticeably deeper, a clue that someone tried messing with it before without success. It doesn't seem like it's moving the light at all. I'll need to access the back of the fog light to see what's going on. Have been away from home for a long time, so I don't have tools or a jack/stands with me, so might give up for now. Or maybe I can get that small under panel off and have a look-see.

No personal experience yet with these, but I've been shopping tires and reading reviews and just ordered some BF Goodrich G-Force Comp 2 A/S+. It was between that and the Michelin CrossClimate 2 for me. I liked that the BFG was a lot cheaper and had a lot better dry and wet performance (Tirerack testing), while still having good snow performance (couldn't wait for the upcoming Tirerack winter tests on these). I didn't care about the treadwear difference (45K miles BFG vs. 60K miles Michelin) because I drive relatively low mileage, and the tires will probably age out, even if mostly garaged. The main pluses for the Michelin are the 3peak mountain snowflake rating if I need to drive through places that require that rating in winter (parts of Canada), and ice performance in Alaska. New England roads, at least where I am part of the year, are plowed and salted quickly enough that my GF has no problem with her cheap all-seasons on her Sienna. I keep my (rust-free) 2003 Legacy off the New England roads then anyway.

Here was the damage . The inside of the throttle body was corroded, with the throttle plate turning green too.

David M, thanks! I think I have the same problem. I just started up my 2003 Legacy L SE wagon for the first time since December today (had left it on the opposite coast). I did a 3.5 mile test drive around the hilly, rural block. At two points in the drive, the car floored itself. When I pushed in the clutch, the engine would go up into the red at 6500+ rpm, so I let the clutch back in and used the brakes to slow me down to prevent overrevving. It was then normal for a few minutes, before it floored itself the last mile to the end of my loop. There is evidence of animals living under the hood, nut shells and stuff - it had been completely clean under the hood when I had left it in December. I'll clean all the debris out when I get a chance tomorrow, especially the air box and throttle body where you found stuck wood chips. I think I might find more debris left by animals.

For the entertainment value of watching a massive undertaking, watch the Mighty Car Mods "Gramps" (Gen 2 Liberty/Legacy wagon EZ36 turbo) and "Supergramps" (same engine moved to a Gen 4 wagon) series on Youtube. After 5 years work:

Did you check the power steering fluid level?

For a few weeks of online research, I looked into youtube videos of people soldering stuff (bluetooth units, AUX) onto the back of stock radios as well as that iSimple thing that you recommend (based on your earlier recommendation). My goal was just to get sound from my phone to my 2003 Legacy's stock radio while keeping the stock head and having good quality. After reading/watching more reviews, my solution turned out to be an FM bluetooth adapter. Some of those units must have improved a lot in quality since you tried them, because the quality is essentially perfect (as good the FM radio coming through the speakers, haven't tried a CD yet in the stock deck) on my car with this $13-$17 unit. I'm now glad I didn't waste my time trying to solder stuff on the back of the radio head unit. It is as clean looking as what I had before (I had a USB charger plugged into the cigarette lighter already, this was just a simple swap). I selected FM107.9 for the frequency because that's always far from any station that I listen to (typically public radio on the lower end of the dial), even on road trips, and the higher frequency might (?) keep quality marginally higher than in the lower frequencies. In 6 weeks thus far, I haven't noticed any interference with FM. It's a 100% perfect solution for me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GJ7DHMP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That odometer is in kms.

I reused the springs and replace the top mounts with the KYB part (same new mount used on the LF without issue). I already disposed of the old parts. New parts and packaging did not appear to be bent or damaged in shipping in any way. Unlike for my own cars, I didn't download the pirate FSM for this car, and don't feel like searching hundreds of pages in a non-indexed pdf. No point in thinking about it more. Plus my long visit to my folk's place is ending soon. I'm just going to have the alignment shop put in the camber bolt kit to get the alignment in spec.

Well it's either the KYB struts or Moog control arms, because it was an immediate change in the camber after swapping those, which I noticed before I even put the wheel back on. More likely the struts just because of how they are made compared to how the control arms are made. They are the correct parts according to RockAuto (KYB 339098, Moog RK622030 if you want to check). The ride height is 1/4" higher on that side (RF), but that's probably within tolerances. Right rear is higher than the left rear by more (3/8"). It's not a matter of the struts settling or not (~100 mile driven). The camber change was reflected immediately in the first drive after the strut change in cocking the steering wheel several degrees to the left (CCW), when it was perfectly straight before the change and also drove perfectly straight. I know steering wheel alignment is more associated with toe changes, but I hadn't touched the tie rods at that point, and the car still drove straight afterwards, just with the steering wheel cocked to the left. The alignment shop corrected the rear alignment slightly, but couldn't really change the affected RF camber. The were able to move it from 1.6 to 1.5 degrees before hitting the adjustment limit. Thus the recommendation of a camber bolt kit.

Already replaced. I had a wheel alignment scheduled for the car today, so I stopped by Autozone and picked up a couple non-OEM outer tie rod ends, in order to get them on before the alignment. I know they are supposed to articulate/rock. I only mentioned that because I was changing a steering rack boot, trying to break loose the tie rod jam nut, and that's when I noticed the tie rod end didn't look ideal. I guess I could have stayed with the original tie rod ends, especially for a sunny California car for my dad. But they are replaced, and that's for the (marginal) better. I'll keep this in mind for my two Subarus though. Thread drift, but I needed an alignment because the camber was thrown off on the right front after I changed the struts/shocks/mounts/bellows all around (KYB) and also the front lower control arms (Moog, got them because of torn rear bushings). I noticed when I changed that strut that even with the camber bolt in the original rotational position, the camber at the brake disc was shifted by quite a bit (measured with a phone app unloaded with the wheel off, just as a quick before/after strut change comparison). That caused the steering wheel to be offset rotationally to the left after the strut change, even though the toe was good and remained good. Spinning the camber bolt all the way around didn't get the camber at the brake disc back to where it was before. The alignment shop couldn't get it there either (now at +1.5 degrees, spec is +0.2 to +1.2, left side is at +0.9) Said they would have to order a camber kit. Does it sound like KYB drilled the holes in the strut in the wrong place?Can't think of anything else. Oh well, I'll get the camber kit.

This is on my dad's 2005 Outback LL Bean, 113K miles. Are there supposed to be (exterior or interior) retaining rings on the outer tie rod end boots like I see on pictures of some aftermarket replacements? The tie rod ends have no play, and the boots are not torn (unless they are supposed to continue tight across the bolt at the top?), but watery brown grease (presumably contaminated) oozes out the top when you rock/twist the tie rods. I assume the boots were better sealed and secured somehow when they were new, but maybe they were open at the top to begin with. I'm inclined to just replace them, but if the gap is supposed to be there, maybe I should just get a grease gun and needle and inject grease through the gap at the top? Please advise.

Thanks. Sounds like this car will work for my parents then, and I'll get it fixed up for them. I'll add the serpentine pulley bearings to the to-do list

Gut opinions welcome too. I know no one can guarantee anything. The car is a second car (or third car if they keep the old Grand Caravan) for my parents, who are 81/79 and don't drive that much. This would be going maybe 3000 miles a year. They probably won't put in more than 50K miles on it in the rest of their driving lives. My opinion as a non-mechanic is that it doesn't look bad. If we had been long time owners, I'd say, just drive it until it becomes an issue, and then decide. But we just picked up the car this week, and I'm trying to decide if it's going to be a problem more near term than far. If it's not likely to be a problem for years (at 3K per year) or ever (meaning 50K+ additional miles to eventually 160-170K total in our case), we're going to go ahead and do things like replace the struts, front lower control arms, valve cover gaskets, power steering pump leak, etc. Informed opinions also wanted of course, such as do H6 head gasket failures first exhibit as external leaks or internal?

I know the Subarus with the H6 are often recommended here because they go a long way without head gasket issues. Looking at a 2005 Outback with the H6, is it typical for the head gaskets to have little seeps at 105-110K miles? Would that be a concern? Could I still expect to go to/near 200K without needing head gasket replacement? Here are a couple photos. These were first noted on service papers about 5K ago, and may have been around much longer, so not much movement of the seeps.

I have elastic straps sewn into my sun visors on my recently acquired 2003 Legacy. I'm going to cut them off, since they are stretched out, dangling, and useless as far as I can tell. What were they supposed to be used for?

I bought a new used Subaru. The car might be the deal of the year! Will keep my '96 for now, maybe keep it as a winter car since the new one is nice, 100% rust free. I ended up getting a 2003 Legacy L wagon, 149.9K miles in light green that had some extras - the snowflake wheels, dual sunroof, leather steering wheel/shift knob. I had a saved search on craigslist and was checking it every day, so I jumped on the deal and was persistent in trying to contact the seller, since I was guessing there was a line of people calling about it (there was). It was a good condition looking Legacy, passed CA smog, claimed to run great, for $2100. I was shopping from Alaska for a California car, so I took a calculated bet to buy it sight unseen (influence of having watched too much Hoovie's Garage on Youtube). The seller said he wasn't the original owner and didn't know much about the car, though he claimed it had a bunch of receipts/paperwork. I asked to see the certificate of title before paying, and it turned out to be from the original owner, signed by the original owner a couple weeks earlier. The seller was just flipping it. When I picked it up a few days ago, it had a unsteady idle (jumping in the 750-1000 range), but otherwise seemed like a good car. Interior was super clean. I dug into the receipts, and it looked to covered every single maintenance it ever had up to 149K, with good care as you'd expect from most original owners. The car had been a lifetime San Jose car (less than 5 miles from my folk's place) that sometime went to Tahoe (ice scraper, set of four new cable chains in the spare tire well, a Tahoe receipt). The head gaskets had been replaced/heads machined/valve job at 140K, the car had a lot of spark plug changes, coolant changes, trans/diff oil changed once, etc. Reading the records, I also had notes that indicated problems that I might have to address too. The main two were front CV axles first noted as needed 9K ago, and less than 1K ago, a slipping clutch. I hadn't noticed the clutch slipping on the first drive, so I thorough tested it, and it's definitely good. The CV axles are also good. My guess is that the original owner decided it was time to move on rather than pay for a new clutch and CV axles, and the seller is probably a mechanic that got it cheap from him, replaced the clutch and axles, and then flipped the car. The seller could tell that I really wanted the car, but didn't understand why someone would like an old car like this, LOL California people - this is a desirable car in AK and the Pacific NW. I just fixed the idle. It turned out to be a loose air box to throttle body hose clamp. I did an idle relearn as I'm writing this. Outstanding issues include needing new struts, and there's a dent on the RR corner under the taillight that is a good candidate for paintless dent repair. The car was lifetime sit in the sun car (it's parked in front of the original owner's house in the driveway and street on streetviews), so the paint is gone from the back of the mirrors and front door molding, so I'll probably get those repainted. Plus the headlamps are super cloudy and need some love. The rear bumper cover was replaced (have the receipt for that too!), and the color doesn't quite match the body, but probably not worth trying to get that to match at this point (unless I get a cheap estimate). Overall, I can't imagine a better car for $2100, so I'm really lucky .