MR_Loyale

Yesterday a bridge on Washington State I-5 collapsed into the Skagit river after a semi truck collided with a support. Thankfully no one was killed in the collapse. However in the photos I can see that one of the vehicles that ended up in the water was an orange Subaru Xv. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2330069/BREAKING-NEWS-Bridge-collapses-Washington-state-leaving-cars-filled-passengers-river.html

They are already burning out clutches?

You put armor-all on switches? How does that strengthen the screw mounts behind the switches ?

You make a valid point. That is why I let it go after a day.

Just stating the facts ma'am. I think you are implying more into what I wrote. Did I not state that the truck has less than 36K miles? This was in response to the theory that not using a vehicle will result in faded cracked plastic. The Dodge was offered as a counterexample, not to incite a religious war of the who's plastic is better or worse. In fact the Dodge doesn't get driven much (it is a toy and trash hauler) but is not a garage queen as it sits outside unsheltered enduring the slings and arrows of Wet-stern Washington weather. If we accept your premise that Dodge plastic is junk compared to Subaru plastic, then the fact that the Dodge has not crumbled buttresses my argument that inactivity should not have caused the superior plastic of the Subaru switch to crumble. Thanks for helping. Furthermore, I am not saying all Subaru plastic is junk. And in regards to the switch, I am not even sure I can say that particular plastic is junk. I can say the design of the switch is junk, the way it was assembled was junk. Had it just been my switch, well that is one thing. But there is a reason all the specimens at the junk yard are stripped of their window switches don't you think? It probably isn't because they are just so darned reliable right? That they looked kind of like they were from Radio Shack, from the factory, well I can live with that. Like I said, I am not cool or hip so no problem there. I bought the car for reliability, not style or coolness. Though the automatic seat belt are still very very cool to me even after 20 years. So if that means a fatwa will be issued for my destruction, then so be it. Subaru Akhbar!

Great topic GM. I have holes in my carpet of my loyal where the drive rests his feet (that would be me). I foolishly thought that molded in rubber thingy would work for a floor mat. Now i have holes that go to the metal. I know I could just slap a new floor mat over it, but has anyone cut out a section of carpet and replace it? It looks like there is an underpad beneath the carpeting. I have bed liner in my Dodge RAM and don't regret it for a second. This coating helps keep out rust too.

The car has almost 147K on it, so to me that isn't low miles. Now to others here that may be low miles. However if you saw my driver seat, you would not have any confusion as to whether or not this car was a garage queen. The only time it sat unused was in 2002 when I got a brand new Dodge Ram 1500 to pull my speedboat. Just sitting, the tires became out of round and when I drove it again I got terrible vibrations at higway speeds as if the front end was shaking apart. My Dodge has less than 36K on it. Nothing faded, cracked or warped on it and it doesn't get half the care (washing, waxing etc) as the Loyale. It is a more luxurious ride than the Loyale, though it is more fuel hungry and less nimble. I do think there is something to Gary's theory though especially when it comes to the engine. I make sure to drive my Ram Truck periodically on long highway runs to keep the moisture out of the fluids. But for the switch, just looking at the pieces and where it crumbled, I lean to a poorly made switch. Or maybe just a "budget plastic" switch as others have suggested. I noticed the manufacture name on the switch was Koite. I wonder if Subaru still uses them as a subcontractor. At any rate, I filled the voids surrounding the extrusions where the screws attach with some epoxy and this switch will probably outlast the rest of the car.

Well sonny at my age I know exactly what both are. Google fillet and learn how it helps reinforce molded structures.

***WARNING*** RANT AHEAD **** WARNING *** RANT AHEAD *** This is just a whining rant so if you cannot stand that I am about to blaspheme the hall of Subaru, don't read this post. Please don't tell me I am a whiner or a cheap bastard, I already know these things. Hell I embrace them. Last weekend I was installing a new stereo/video head unit (93 Loyale Sedan), needed the speaker wiring layout so decided to pull the panel on the passenger door. While I was there I decide that lubing the electric window tracks and mechanism would be beneficial. It was very much so. It glides like new now, not top end slowness. Then I said to myself, hey why not the other doors as well? Not as if more use will make them glide easier right? They have been slow like this for years and this is a "to do" job that somehow life takes precedence and you never get to it. So I proceeded to work my way around clockwise, trying the window, removing the panel, lube reassemble and good for another 10 years. So I get to the rear driver side door and before I have even removed anything, I go to press the rocker switch and it crumbles and all the bits fall off the side of the door. WTF? I have never used this switch in the 20 years I have had the car. It shouldn't just crumble. What kind of cheap POS !$@$#%@!!!!^^^##@!!@##^@%@$%#%@^@^# crap did Subaru use for a SIMPLE thing like a rocker arm switch? I cannot roll the window down at all even with the driver side master panel. Good thing it was UP and not down when the thing fell off especially given all the rain we had recently. Must be a one off oddball right? WRONG! I just got back from the Pick and Pull Tacoma where the white 91 Loyale Wagon is at(row 26). I walked up to it, opened the driver side passenger door and there was a grey panel on there that the owner must have got from a junk yard because the rest of the interior is blue. My interior is blue aand I am not going ghetto with a grey switch. I notice that someone before me had got the same window switch from the passenger side front as the entire panel is sitting on the back seat with the switch removed. So I found the passenger rear panel still there. The switch is filthy as hell but I can clean that up. I remove the switch and as I am walking back toward the checkout office I notice the posts that holds this switch are cracked just like mine were on the door. The only difference is that the inner part is still attached and * I HOPE* this switch still works electrically. It is then that I realize that this switch is just a crap design. Probably they used screws too big for the holes they had in it and over time the stress cracks them. Now if this was just the face plate, that would be annoying but not rant worthy. Clearly when these cars were made, Subaru decided to use the wrong screws figuring as long as the cars made it out of warranty, it was the owners problem. Sorry folks, I cannot drink anyone's kool-aid. If I won't drink the US car maker kool-aid, being a vet, with a flag thrown in my face, I sure as hell won't drink Japanese kool-aid either. I am not cool, I am not hip. All I want is my vehicles to last. Frankly crap switches like this are the type of "engineering" I expect out of crapola Chevy, not Subaru. If the switch had seen some use at all, I could let it go, but this part never saw a day of use in its entire lifetime and I have owned this car since day one brand spanky new. I always used the driver master panel. So for today it is CRAP-aru, Screwbaru and IamPissedatUbaru. Tomorrow I will be over it. Let's see, eight paragraphs, over 500 words, yeah I think I am ranted out. Got my money's worth in rants. Now please excuse me while I go buy some epoxy to fill in the switch plate, so I can then redrill new hole of a size proper to the mounting screws. Should eat up my entire day.

Yeah, but you'll die with a smile on your face.

Now THOSE are the balls the car should have had all along.

Plus when they got where they were going they had a tasty venison dinner and new buck skin clothing!

You are supposed to drill the hole when you first get the car. You did keep the included bit didn't you?

Ok. I took the door panel off anyway. Took the opportunity to lube the parts for the automatic windows, they work much better. Looked at your thread asking the question and just one thing. I found the pink connectors and since I had the door panel off I traced the negative to the white wire, not the blue. Also found out that the rear doors have the physical mounts and space for speakers, they were just never added. I will just cut the the other pink connector side and splice into it there. This will ensure each speaker has two distinct wires going to it. I doubt I will ever be installing any stereo in the future that will require me to revert to the old wiring. Thanks for the help.

Does anyone have the correct wiring diagram for the front door speakers in a 93 Loyale sedan? I traced back the wiring for the rear speakers (which I don't have) and they appear to have two wires for each speaker. However I cannot determine which wires are for the front speakers. After eliminated the power wires etc there are only three wires and none of them matcch the diagram in my Haynes book. My new radio unit requires each speaker to have two seperate wires. Short of taking the door apart, I don't know how to determine which wires are running the front speakers in the doors.

Get a louder sound system?

Wow. I feel like such a loser. I have had just one Subaru. It was my first brand new car and I still drive it.

+1 on the advice about tightening the crank bolt. Ask me how I know.

A rope might break. Use a logging chain so you can make sure the Honda reverse gear gets completely stripped.

I pulled the engine out of the car to do my timing belts, oil pump eplacement, water pump, clutch etc. Never had to unhook the air conditioning. Just unbolt the compresssor and set aside - unless you really need more things to fix in order to occupy your time.

Tell him his Honda hates him and wants him to die. Ask him how many times it tucked him in his seatbelt automatically like your Loyale does for you every time you get in.

Checked out the threads on this. Sounds like the starter is being engaged before the fuels pump is fully charged. I can make the same thing happen with my 93 Loyale if I hop in an immediately crank the key to start. Instead, I turn the key to ON, not cranking, while the automatic seat belts strap me in (about 4 seconds). While this is happening I can hear the buzzing of the fuel pump charging. Then I crank. I suspect in the new Impreza the fuel pump doesn't make any noise when charging the pressure. So try this: Turn the key to "ON" (not just "ACC"). Wait 5-7 seconds. Buckle your seatbelt or just watch the lights and gauges waving and greeting you for a couple seconds.(or listen for the fuel pump to cycle) Do not under any circumstance touch the accelerator on a first attempt. THEN crank the car.

Give you one?? You got two already according to your signature.

I don't know. I'd have to see pictures first.

That screw that holds the rotor on is very soft. I had one that would come out every 50 miles or so. I had to replace it. Couldn't find it anywhere but the dealer.