heartless

and no monthly subscription fees either!!

just a minor quibble - but my stock 1990 Legacy radio had the aux input. It is my understanding that it was there for several years, then deleted for a few years, than put back in again. irregardless, since i have no experience with the "newer" versions, I cant say whether or not the stock radio's will do MP3 CD's or not. There are, however, many aftermarket units that will, as well as some having USB and/or memory card ports, too. I went with an aftermarket AM/FM/CD with MP3 capability unit that also has the USB port - I can load up a thumb drive with tunes, plug that thumb drive into the stereo and pound out some great tunes for hours. (and the thumb drive takes up a lot less space than CD's do.) The biggest issue when going aftermarket is getting the wiring matched up, but with a little digging, there are plenty of discussions about the subject.

i typically run 32 psi all around on my 90 Legacy wagon (14" wheel size, just slightly above sea level - roughly 200ft +/-) Ideal inflation will vary greatly depending on location, weather, load, etc. and is somewhat subjective - what works for one, may not work for another. to me, ideal inflation gets me good fuel mileage without compromising contact patch - which, as already noted, is rather small to start with. contact should be even all the way across the width of the tire tread overinflation causes more wear on the center part of the tread, underinflation will cause more wear on the outer part of the tread the trick is to find that happy medium where there is even wear across the entire width of the tread. for me, that happens to be right around the 32-33 psi mark - i can tell if i have a low tire (very slow leak) by fuel consumption. If i know i will be hauling more weight than "normal" (normal being the usual grocery trips, and the occasional home improvement project supply run), i will bump up my pressure by a couple of psi for the duration of that haul (such as helping someone move)

yeah, for the tab that the brake line goes thru - remove the clip & just cut the outer edge of the tab on the old one so you can slide the line out - then do basically the same on the new one to slide the line in - a pair of bolt cutters does wonders i usually take a file to the cut edges so they arent sharp anymore, mount the assembly, slip the brake line back in, secure with the clip and good to go, no messing with bleeding brakes.

ok, thanks for the advice guys - i knew i would get sound advice asking here!

ok, so we have finally moved into the world of OBDII vehicles here and I am looking for advice on getting a reasonably priced, fairly easy to use code reader. does not need to be anything real fancy - the vehicle in question is a 2004 Mercury Sable. . .yeah, yeah, i know, not a Subaru - couldnt find one we wanted in our price range near enough to us that didnt have a salvage title (the bank would not go for salvage, and to be honest, We're not too thrilled with the idea of salvage either) so, info on brands - who to look for, who to stay away from, ease of use, etc would be greatly appreciated.

assuming that fuse 2 is the correct fuse for the washer pump, then yes, that would be correct. the wire from the switch is the "ground" wire - circuit is normally "open" and completed when the switch is depressed (similar to how the horn works)

having owned both an 89 GL wagon, and, currently, a 90 Legacy wagon - i would go for the Legacy in a heartbeat. the GL was a great little car, dont get me wrong, but the Legacy has more space, more comfort, better ride, and still gets decent fuel mileage - and still pretty easy to work on. my GL was a FWD 5 spd - got 30-32 average my Legacy is an AWD automatic - gets about 27-28 average - i have broken the 30mpg barrier with it on a longer trip with everything being tiptop. the other half has a 90 legacy sedan, FWD 5 spd and he gets 32-33mpg regularly. (and he just hit 260K recently) the GL did have AC, but being an R-12 system, it is not easy to get it serviced and converting to R-134a on those is a bit cost prohibitive as the parts are very hard to come by. the early Legacy is also an R-12 system, but conversion costs are just a little better - parts are easier to get. just my .02 cents worth...

Hi Tom - the ultra grey is working very well on my car - no more oil slicks everywhere i go! LOL I am actually kind of glad to hear you will be putting Safariwagon away for the winter - you have done so much work on that car it would be a shame to let the salt monsters get back at her!

ok, this is a VERY simplified diagram derived from my 1990 FSM - wire colors can vary obviously. If you have the plug shown in the diagram (located at the pump itself) then you should be able to figure out what goes where. as was already noted - the pump recieves full ground thru the switch, completeing the circuit Hope this helps.

sorry to hear about your 88 - that is sad, but also very glad to hear the missus is ok as for anything close in a 2000 or better? um - nothing the newer cars are bigger, heavier and full time AWD on the plus side, they have more "creature comforts" and a better ride... the best I can tell you is go try a few on for size, so to speak. see what "fits" you best - what works for one person, may not work for the next. Good Luck on your hunt again, sorry to hear about the loss.

moth balls left in the car all the time - change to fresh about once a month

WOW!!! those cam covers look AWESOME!!!!!! i so want to see this car in person. :cool:

so you got this sorted out ok?? it was definitely the MAF?? my car was completely undriveable when my MAF went south - heck most of the time it wouldnt even start at all!! when i could get it to start, it ran like crap.

I would also suspect O2 sensor.... took a while for mine to throw a code as well - and when it finally did, the car was running like absolute crap! undrivable crap.... would be fine for about the first 10, maybe 15 minutes then bam - would start choking, coughing, bucking and just generally having hissy fits. New Bosch O2 sensor and we were golden once again, and fuel mileage increased as well.... prior to it going out i got around 28.5 mpg on the freeway - after new one installed i was breaking over 30 mpg on the freeway.

i just recently had to loosen the same little tiny nuts on my car (and a parts car) and i managed to do it without breaking anything...(north central WI, plenty of salt rust here...) soak with PB, let sit, soak some more scrub with a small wire brush to break up and remove any loose flaking rust soak some more with PB these are supposed to be 10mm nuts - due to the rust, i couldnt get a regular 10mm socket on mine, i used a 10mm extractor type socket (made by Irwin) to get mine loose. do NOT torque on these things! Gently, grasshopper. soak, try to break free, soak some more, try to break free, repeat as needed, eventually all of mine did come loose - without using any heat - work slowly, if it starts to feel stiff, back off a little, soak with more PB, hit with the wire brush, soak again...slow is key, if you go trying to torque them off quickly, you WILL break something. re the hoses - center one is the main line to the engine... small one i believe is the crossover line, and the other large one should be the return line...(i could have those backwards tho) there is not a lot of "extra" hose available, so if the ends of those hoses look bad (cracked, chewed up from the extra clamps, etc), plan on replacing the whole length of hose... if the metal line under the car looks pretty bad (which i will bet it does), buy about 6ft of 5/16 hose, run from the pump plate, down and across the car (zip tie the rubber line to the old metal line), and back up inside under the seat bottom on drivers side (if these run the same as my 1990 does) - cut the metal line inside, slide the rubber hose over the metal line about 2 inches worth and use at least 2 clamps to secure & prevent leaking. (place the clamp screws on opposite sides of the line) it does work, i have done it several times on various cars - both EA82's and 1st gen Legacy. Good Luck, and remember - slow and easy on those nuts!

disconnecting the battery for 10 seconds will NOT clear the codes - the computer has a "memory back up" so if disconnecting the battery is the method you are going to use to clear codes, you will need to do it for several hours (overnight) - not seconds....

just to clarify - everything shuts down? or does it stall out, but electrical items like radio, lights etc still work? if everyhting is shutting down i would be checking main battery cables, grounds, and probably the main fusable links - not just visually, but tug on things, make sure that there are good connections, no broken or damaged wiring... if it is just stalling out, that is a whole 'nother ball game...

that must havve been why it wouldnt load for me recently... Donation on it's way.... Done!

leave the rear seal alone! it doesnt look bad and you run the risk of making things way worse by messing with it. you definitely need to do that seperator plate tho (which i saw in your pile of parts pic :cool: )

Thats only because they dont know any better!

totally understand - no need to apologize. I'm not really "into" politics - just completely disgusted and frustrated with the current situation and I blame those that are supposed to be looking out for this country's best interests, but instead are looking out for thier own personal best interests, thier own personal little agenda's, and the common person be damned.

just one more reason i like my 20+ yr old vehicles...

and that is exactly why i wont go there - would probably get a lot more than just a wrist slap if i was to really get going!

yeah, 3/4 of the job is figuring out how to get the trim off - which piece comes off first...