heartless

take it off, & leave it off - no more worries.

oh yeah - i forgot about that on the newer cars - just one more reason to stay with the older ones!! LOL but really? locking when you start the car??? that is insane - I can see having them lock when it is put in gear, but just starting it??? that would drive me insane! I would be trying to figure out a way to disable that little "feature"

if your key has a "chip" in it (thick plastic head), you should go to the dealer to get new ones If your keys are just plain old ordinary metal keys, pretty much any hardware store should be able to cut you copies - or, if you have lost your keys entirely, pull the passenger door lock out of the door and take it to a locksmith. it has a code on it that the locksmith can use to cut new keys. i didnt lose my key, but recently bent mine (have no idea how) and had to get a couple more made... because older Subarus are not that common in my area, I had to go to our local locksmith because no one else had the correct blanks! :-\ still only cost me $3 to get two double cut keys made. and how on earth are you guys locking yourselves out of your cars??? did they change the way the locks work? if i just push my door shut - even if the lock button accidentally got pushed - it "unlocks" when the door closes - I have to hold the door handle up in order to actually lock it (or use the key)

if the wheel bearing is indeed bad, i would be replacing that FIRST! no fun to be stranded somewhere because your wheel wont turn anymore (seized bearing), or worse... (had that happen with our pickup! and it happended very fast, too) I would also be comfortable using the Beck/Arnley part for the inner tie rod - decent quality at a decent price - yeah Moog is good, but inner Tierod ends dont fail that often...just my 2 cents there... and yeah, check around for pricing on the O2 - Carquest stuff is usually pretty decent. but also check at Advance Auto, Oreilly's and others to get the best price possible. I used a Bosch OEM style replacement on my '90 Lego - but I only have the one and mine isnt all that fussy about things...the newer ones with multiple sensors will be much fussier.

I also miss him - he was so helpful - and patient! - when my old Hildy was giving me fits one time - finally got it sorted out thanks to him. and, i miss his dry sense of humor. and anyone that does talk/email with him - tell him Heartless says hello!!

well somebody out there needs to put a USMB card on that car next time they see it!! that thing is awesome looking - love the custom bumpers w/built in tow hooks!

just a little update on this one - the ECU is slowly "relearning" the idle curve and the warm idle in park is gradually getting smoother - still wants to wander just a little when initially stopping & putting in park, but it smooths out much faster now I may force the issue by doing an ECU reset - but for the moment, it is much better than it was - would really like to get some of the bigger hoses replaced (primarily PCV system hoses) but cant seem to find those available for purchase anywhere - can someone point me in the right direction??? was told heater hose was not a suitable replacement - am open to other suggestions - 21 yr old hoses are getting pretty hard and not sealing very well...

dont know about the 99 version - but just did this with my 90 Legacy used carb cleaner, a little brake clean, and rinsed it all out with seafoam did use a few Q-tips to break "scrub" loose the stubborn stuff. hope that helps

And where can one get replacements for those particular pieces (both hoses and the fitting) I would like to replace mine as they are getting rather hard... to the OP - yes - the O2 sensor will cause a lot of the terrible running, no power, horrid mpgs issues you are describing. Start with the basics, an O2 sensor, and check those vacuum lines and you will see a dramatic improvement When i changed mine out, i went from an average of 26-27 prior to it really getting bad, to 29-30mpg after changing it - WITH AWD. the FWD version should go more like 30-32 when tuned up right.

idle level (when it isnt surging) is perfect - according to FSM, it should be about 700 RPM (+/- a little) for the automatic - i believe the manual version is just a little higher - so I will not be messing with any of the "adjustment" screws. cold start to full operating temp (no driving) it is dead on - sitting at a traffic light, in gear, it is dead on - sitting in my driveway after driving, in gear - it is also dead on - but the second i put it in "park" after having driven somewhere - that is when the surging starts. previously - i could not get it to settle into the 700 RPM range and stay there no matter how hard i tried, now I can (or at least i did last night when i got home - havent driven it enough yet to know if it will do this consistently or not)

a product we have recently started using is called "Freeze Off" - works pretty darn well IMHO. directions read something like this - spray rusted item for 10-20 seconds for maximum freeze action, then allow to sit for 1-2 minutes - tapping the item with a hammer or similar tool can speed up the process. I used it on the screws that held the electronic part of the IAC valve on - the car it came off of had been sitting for about 3 yrs - kinda nasty looking - thought for sure I was gonna have a hard time getting them out without stripping them - used this stuff, and they came off with no problem.

PCV was replaced - altho the old one did still rattle and fairly smoothly, too, despite all the gunk on the outer edges. i did find that using a heat gun breifly (and carefully) on the hose did soften it up enough to make reinstalling a little easier, but dang - when it was cold, it was hard as a rock.

thats kind of what I was afraid of - the one with that big bend in it - most of the others arent that bad, but the one that goes directly to the PCV... as far as cost - yeah, if I have to go oem on that stuff, then it is gonna have to wait a while. And Yeah - I would like to replace ALL of those lines back there, from the really short larger diameter peice, all the way up all of the small diameter vacuum line has been replaced...

wellll - not rust free (not even close), but definitely moved under it's own power - my 1990 AWD Legacy LS was purchased for $200 in Madison WI just about 4 yrs ago (yes, two hundred, not thousand) - had 152,000 on the clock at that time. the biggest price reducer was the blown air shocks. swapped in standard coilovers (complete sets with springs & tophats - $85-90), fixed the exhaust and been driving it ever since. might take a little hunting & vigilance on places like craigslist - but it CAN be done.

ok - IAC valve got changed today, along with a new PCV, new little vacuum lines, new radiator and a long overdue oil change... the verdict - WAY better than it was - but still not 100% cured of the wandering idle. after driving the 28 miles home from where the work was performed, pulled in the drive, & parked in my usual spot - as soon as i put the tranny in park, the idle started surging up & down again - gave it just a little bit of gas (brought RPMs up to about 1500 or so, then let off slowly, and it settled in at what it should be - around 700RPM +/- a little... I would really like to change some of the other hoses - primarily the ones having to do with the PCV - those are getting pretty stiff from age (not to mention kind of gunky). My question now is - what kind of hose to use?? can I use appropriately sized heater hose for these??

me too, Olnick - Me too!! nice thing on the parts car - didnt have to worry so much about the various hoses - they were so brittle from sitting the really awkward ones broke off! like the PCV hose & the little fella that just makes a U from the intake down to another fitting...SA-nap! and it was gone... oops that one is a vacuum hose, right? hope so...

well, IACV is off of the parts car, taken apart & cleaned - currently drip-drying in the garage. even managed to salvage the gasket - just in case. and I know others have commented about there only being 3 bolts? well, this one had all 4! and what a pain to get to them all! thank goodness for wobble extensions!! LOL Dang it is cold out there!! my poor fingers are numb! Tomorrow is supposed to be somewhat warmer - will see about tackling my car then. Need to go thaw out for a while

will definitely post an update when i do get it done - would really like at least a little bit warmer weather tho - sub 20* temps are just not fun for doing things outside. Supposed to be back in the mid 30's again tomorrow...we shall see. the CTS i figured couldnt hurt - it was only $26 and change after all, and the car does have darn near 220K on the clock, so yeah, it was probably due for a change... the one parts car we have only has 166K on the clock - we picked it up in Illinois & drove it home - am probably going to pull the IAC valve off that one - give it a cleaning, and then swap them out.

:headbang:thanks

ah, good point John - but if that is a factor it will show up with the circumference measurements. not gonna do it if there is a bigger than 1/4" difference. If it comes down to it, I will see about getting the leaky steelie fixed & run all 4 of those before i spend any more time & effort on the darn alloys.

I appreciate the offer, but I have 3 parts cars sitting here - at least two of them have decent IAC valves - the third may be a little iffy tho...

Ooooo - pretty pictures! Thank you for that link Dogbone!! so if i am reading all that right - the IAC is right above and ever so slightly behind the CTS i changed yesterday? oh joy... hmmm, maybe i will go yank one off of a parts car, clean it up good, make a new gasket - i have gasket material - and then tackle taking mine off... need to be checking the vacuum lines while I am in there too...pushin 220K i am sure they are due...

check your owners manual - it should give a listing of recommended brands/types of spark plugs. go with the first recommendation in the list - if you cant get those, then go to the next one and so on. there is zero reason to run an expensive, fancy plug if it isnt a specific recommendation for your application - unless you have more money than you need....

have a couple sets of steelies around, just too darn lazy to go pull them off the parts cars right now and more than likely the slow leak on the one steelie is probably the stupid valve stem - I'm just lazy enough not to mess with it when it is only about 20* outside... i figured to just swap out the non-leakers for the leakers and be done for a few months - at least until it warms up again. and hubcaps?? who needs hubcaps???

Thank you, Miles :cool: