uniberp

I had a problem with the right side shaft boot leaking because the inner band clamp on a brand new shaft gave up after a few months and leaked. That is the one exposed to the most heat. It was fixed by replacing the inner band clamp.

I have searched the forum already. I may be dim, but the answer eludes me. For MY'97 Legacy Wagon Auto AWD, in my case: Are Legacy Outback Struts a direct fit onto my '97 Legacy AWD wagon, using the original springs? Specifically KYB GR-2. These are a great deal, IMO, and they have sold a bunch of them: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170125720640 Is the seller OK?

Maybe since the locks are electric, and if you bought the car from a lot, where it had been sitting for a few weeks not charging the battery, the situation corrected itself when you started driving and the battery charged up.

Market forces that would require a change like that should have been ignored. I almost feel sorry for the designers.

I fixed my 99 by simply resoldering the little part on the circuit board that came loose back to the spot where it obviously loosened from. It's very tiny <5mm longx2mm wide as I remember, and if it falls out while you are working on it, you will probably not find it.

Car-part.com has a regional search.

I changed my mind, for the moment. I'm going to replace the front 02 sensor, just on a bet with myself that this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2492&highlight=hesitation is a lot of whining. I notice that my GF's Subie, Which she drives pretty hard, has no hesitation problems. I will bet she keeps the exhaust HOT. Likewise, the reports of seafoam improving response burns off excess deposits. I am a wimpy driver, on my 16mile-45mph-closely-police-monitored-commute-through-seven-West-Chicago- Suburbs. Any takers on this bet with myself?

For the Legato. The Haynes manual lists a few cases where adjusting the transmission band might improve shifting, like if a braking effect occurs between 2nd and 3rd, which is what I feel, I think. I was surprised to see that it is (they are?) are adjustable at all. Honestly, I have not heard of an adjustable tranny band since the 70's. I assume I will start with 1/8th turn adjustments to see what the change is, since the book says not to turn more than 3/4 turn. Anybody have any experience with these adjustments? I got a little worried that my crank pully had worn the keyway, since the engine really comes on at 3k RPM, but I changed the cam belt and didn't see any wear there. So I figure maybe messing with the shift points might be the next thing to do. mpergielelmhurstil99forester97legacyautolegato

The area to the left (counterclockwise) fromteh key is the worn area, correct? Seems to me the best fix in this case woudl be to grind the worn area square and fit a stepped one piece key , with part of it flush with the surface of the crank, OR making a second key that fit along side. My main worry would be that the crank woudl be rounded off or indented on the engine end, or if there is a taper, that the taper was rounded. That would prevent a solid or purhaps square purchase of the pulley to the shaft. I read that Loctite fix, and the time it took to make the crank-locking tool could have been better spent on hand filing the keyway. But in the worst case scenario, I guess I would just clean it up, squirt on the glue, and hope for the best.

Tach and speedo swapped places?

I think you have to break the seal with a piece of fine piano wire.

How about lower balljoints? I have had them freeze enough to make steering many times heavier, though not on a Subie. WIth wheels in the air it may be easier to tell, but then the balljoints are at a different angle and unweighted.

I love my 99. Bought at 85K, maintenance at 105k included timing belt and water pump. Did rear wheel bearings and one front axle and balljoint. Aligned once Good mileage, great driver, great in winter. Air wind water tight. Excellent overall.

Spindle? You mean what? On a front wheel drive car? What am I missing here? This makes no sense to me. If the spindle was BENT, then the bearings would misalign and possibly fail prematurely, and IMO long before the rotor would be affected. Maybe I'm missing the whole point altogether.:-\

On the Legacy the evap is EASY to get at, a handful of screws and it comes off in it's own separate case. (maybe just compared to a Volvo 240 or an S10: nightmares) I hope the Forester is just as easy, if and when the time comes. I'm kind of bummed I can't do it all myself. Man, what they charge to fix systems I could make a mint. And I have to take a bicycle to the shop with me to ride home and back to pick it up. It's through a crappy heavy traffic part of town.

All new HNBR o-rings. Everything not quite tightened down yet. The Schrader valve inserts I guess I can leave up the the shop. They shouldn't be too expensive. So far a VERY easy r&r.

You're right. I will use the gauges to test for pressure leak, but have the shop evac and recharge. I was shopping for tools/stuff on my lunch hour. http://www.aircondition.com/tech/questions/38/Air-Powered-A%7B47%7DC-Vacuum-Pumps Thanks all. I will update.

Been looking.... http://www.tirechanger.com/rti/OilChartCompressor.pdf This indicates about 8 oz of oil: 1 receiver, 2 condensor, 2 evaporator PLUS ? for compressor, looks about 3. http://www.firstfives.org/faq/AC/ac_charge.html is pretty good. Indicates I may need to get a real vacuum pump. That's ok. I can return the tools.

Couple questions: 1. How much oil goes into a brand new system? 2. How do I pressure test the system without using refrigerant? The new compressor came with 'assembly' oil only. All the new parts are installed: compressor, condensor, drier, evaporator, expansion valve. Lines cleaned, new o-rings, everything just shiny and new. I picked up a couple 12oz. cans of R134a refrigerant and a 3 oz. can of r134a compatible oil. Underhood label says 'Use 19-23 oz refrigerant'. I have a gauge set and venturi vacuum pump/ac compressor. Think I'm all set to get started when I get home tonight. Somewhere available is a Nitrogen/oil test charge kit that can be exhausted to atmosphere. Anyone use one of those? I think I cold just use some oil and air, and let the vacuum run an ahour or more to dry it out afterwards. Hoping that venturi pump works good enough. **********MP note. I will have professional shop evac and charge, after reading posts below. Thanks all. ************* mpergielelmhurstil97legato99forester

You drive in and be very polite. Simply say "The car is overheating because it has a leaking headgasket. The car cannot be safely operated in this condition. I bought the car in good faith that it did not need major repair. It needs a major repair. Can you help me?" If they give you a line, do not waver. Insist on repair or refund. The only acceptable repair is headgasket replacement. A Subaru dealer will confirm the diagnosis.

This is kind of scaring me. Sounds like something is caught on the tip of the plug preventing removal, or that you have only 1/2 of a good thread left, just enough to grip it barely. I would grip it with some sort of needlenosed vicegrip and turn it out of there, and be ready to do a helicoil insert. Buena suerta.

I am in the process of a total replacement of my 97 Legacy AC system. The parts alone are $800 so far. The old system met the "black death": compressor mechanical failure, spewing metal throughout the system. I will salvage the lines only. I will now recommend strong maintenance for the AC system: re-oil and recharge by a competent AC shop. I don't think it is advisable to do a "flush" on in installed system (cerftainly not through the drier), but a good shop may recommend some other procedures. I wasn't lucky. My AC seemed to be working fine one day and totally grinding and inoperative the next. Maybe replacing the drier/filter would ensure longer life. That's about $35 for the part. Whatever you do, don't just crack open the system. By law you need to recover the freon. Compressors that are open to atmosphere may have degraded seals. But I am not an expert. Oh, the Legato has 145k.

Let me! Me! Me answer! The ABS light bulb is burned out. "Idjit" lights burn out on these cars. My CEL light was burnt out at one point. Back to your original problem. Yes, replacing the rear bearings requires dissassembly of much of the rear brake and indeed, something could easily have been missed there during reassembly. The other thread just sort of died without report of resolution. That was from January. I would still return the car to the service guys and see if they could check out their work. After you replace the faulty light.

Bingo. The best oil is fresh oil.

As I understand it, you should do an oil change short after running seafoam, even through the gas tank. SeaFoam dilutes or contaminated the engine oil (from cylinder blow-by). Some people add it to the oil, I've heard, but that I would never do on an old engine for fear of knocking off enough sludge to plug the pump pickup. I've heard of some vacuuming it directly in to the intake while running, but I can't see that doing much besides washing the valves. For a quick fix that may reduce the life of the engine, use it injudiciously.:cool: