heartless

just an update - got 2 new knock sensors - part #22060AA031 - one for my car, one for the other half's (same year) havent installed yet - been making emergency repairs on our skidsteer used for snow removal...too darn much snow this year!! did do a temporary fix to the old sensor using some super blue gasket maker - filled the cracks, let it cure up good (24 hrs in the house) and reintstalled in the car - CEL went out, car has been running fine, but will be replacing it very soon. Thanks for all the help/suggestions guys! USMB is THE place to be!

steal them from parts cars!

I am just wondering how warming the interior of the car is going to help the fuel pump, which is in the tank??? just doesnt compute? there has to be something else going on here... also, correct me if I am wrong, but isnt the "defrost" function tied to the AC system? if this is true, then using the "def/heat" mode would help reduce the moisture problem as well??

disconnecting the battery, at best, is a temporary fix. if there is a problem, one needs to find out what it is, and the best place to start looking is the stored codes. then, if you must, disconnect the battery... you say the wiring is a mess - did you find the connectors at all?? and how much of a "mess" is it really? my new to me FSM for the 90 Legacy shows the connectors to be just to the right of the steering column, when in fact, on my car, they are in the far left corner...had a heck of a time getting to mine - dont think they had ever been used before and were taped up in the main harness. took a bit of effort to get them loosened up enough to be able to plug them in.

is the check engine light on at all?? or has it been in the past? have you tried to pull any stored codes?? that would be the first place to start...

didnt see any mention of which tranny you have - manual or auto??? manuals tend to get better mileage than the auto will... would also check into doing the things suggested by GD

"prone to cracking" - yeah, no kidding - has a couple of nice cracks in it, altho from searching I have seen a pic of one worse than mine... Is the angle shown in the drawing that much of a big deal???

thanks gary - have already decided to go new with this item and save some headaches later. besides, might be needing 2 of the darn things...1 for my car, 1 for the other half's... well, may have found my answer - according to "subarupartsforyou" all 90 to 96 models use the same sensor...whoo hoo.

it seems I need to get a new knock sensor for my 90 Legacy. just wondering what year(s) are compatible? found some on feebay, but they are listed for 95/96 - pic looks like it is identical to mine, but will it work?

i know it isnt the coldest ever - but still....this deserves some kind of prize, doesnt it?? actual temp was around -15 or so, with winds 30-40mph - wind chills about -45 or so... I really wish I had thought to grab the camera before I started digging out the snow!! oh well...

been to the land of the wet - wishing i was there again at this point!!!

hey miles! we got to miss out on that big dumping you guys got down there last week - but the high winds & drifting snow have more than made up for it, believe me! We got about 5" of the stuff last night and now the wind is picking up again - oh wonderful! BigB - yeah, it is crazy - makes me wonder why in the &*%% i stay here - have I mentioned that I HATE WINTER!!! more and more every year... as for a name - beginning to think this one is gonna be called the "Icemaiden" in spite of being flame red!

johnceggleston - only have comprehensive in my dreams - it is an 18 yr old, bought and paid for semi-rust-bucket after all. nice thought tho. Evil - yes, it was parked tail to the wind with the majority of it getting packed in from the left (drivers) side - doesnt help that i just discovered that the door seal is loose - will be getting something to glue that down permanently as soon as it warms up enough... Porcupine - we have a garage, but not "heated" so to speak - only heat comes from a kerosene turbo heater, and I am about of that, too, with no way to get more till the other half gets home. oh, and surprise! the price of the stuff just went back up to $3.79.9 again! looking at getting some #1 "off-road" diesel instead - at least it is a little cheaper at about $3.45 a gallon & the heater will burn that too. but anyway - spent some quality time with my Sube, a wet/dry shop vac and a hair dryer (less chance of melting things than with the heat gun) and I think I have it pretty well dried out. unplugged countless connectors, pulled the fuse panel out to get behind it (and to all the stuff at the top) lots of hairdryer time...heck, i think i used the hairdryer more today on the Sube than i have drying my hair in the last 6 months!! usually just let it air dry.. next problem - the code 22 - knock sensor... I located the bugger - got the bolt loose, and the wire unplugged, but when i tried to get the plug loose from the bracket - it broke...just the outer housing, but still...grrr. the sensor itself - eh, not so pretty. outer housing is cracked pretty bad with corrosion showing here & there, wire is stiff as a board... will the knock sensor from a 91 work on my 90??? have a 91 parts car, but it is pretty buried at the moment, so I would like to know for sure before i go digging it out to try to get the sensor...it should work, right?? please tell me it will work...

ok, a little back ground for those that havent seen it already... a few days ago we had bone-chilling cold & high winds with severe blowing and drifting snow. as a result of this, and where my car sits in the drive, the engine bay got cram packed full of snow, what joy. (more info & pics in the "why i love my Subaru....snow carnage" thread get the car into the garage (under it's own power i might add), get 90% of the snow removed, car will start when stone cold, but as soon as she starts to warm up, she dies...check engine light is on... today 2/14/08 (BTW - Happy V day everyone) brush off the snow we got last night, shovel the drive out behind the car so I can get it put back indoors (tried to do it last night before snowfall, but no go) start car (yup, stone cold, starts fine) back in the garage... Pull the lower dash panel so I can get to the check connectors...un-oh - things are worse than I thought...this is what greeted me behind that dash panel... but wait! it gets even better!! as i investigate further by removing the kick panel... and further yet by removing the door sill and pulling back the carpet... right now all i want to do is kick, scream, and cry! but big girls know that sort of thing doesnt really help in the long run, so we suck it up, put on the big girl panties and get busy attempting to clean up the mess... good thing i am unemployed at the moment - somehow I dont think a boss would really understand all of this... thanks to everyone for letting me unload - time to go put on my big girl panties and get busy.... oh yeah, before i forget - got my code - 22 - knock sensor...guess i need to try and dry that out some more - after i clean up the other mess....

boy, that is a subjective question... had a whole lot of fun with my old '89 GL wagon, but am also enjoying (altho not at the moment, but that is another story) my '90 Legacy wagon.... hmmm - I think I would go with '90-94 Legacy wagon myself, preferrably in a 5 spd...much more comfortable than the GL/Loyale line(more leg room, better ride, etc), but still pretty easy to work on and still non-interference, still has the reliability factor...has to be the wagon for me - need that extra cargo space...

that is the best place to start - you can do it yourself, but it is easier to have a freind that can do the wheel wiggling so you can get under there and really see what is happening and where any movement might be located. sounds as if you may have several things needing attention from your description...key things to look at - ball joints, tierod ends, & the wheel bearings of course, but dont forget the obvious things like lug nuts and castle nut... also check mounting points for the control arms and other componants as well for cracked, worn, or missing bushings.

thanks for the suggestions so far guys. will be trying to get her back into the garage here in a little bit (if she will start this morning), pull the code(s) to see what it is thinking and go from there...will update later.

well, not real sure if that is the problem or not - air intake doesnt seem to have gotten stuffed full of snow - and prior to the snow pack it ran fine...(please see the "why I love my Subaru...snow carnage" thread for background info) not to completely discount your theory, but more inclined to think that things are still iced/damp where they shouldnt be - ie: thawing out and getting wet - which leads me back to my original question... My question is this - do you Subaru gurus think that if I take her out immediatly after restarting that I will have a better chance of keeping her running (ie: rpms up and getting up to full operating temp) or should i be worried about her stalling out on me going down the road???

no, havent checked the code - honest truth, not even sure where the plugs are in this car! somewhere under the dash is all I know... have only had this one since last May and havent had any real problems with it till now... so what is a code 23 anyway? oh wait - just got some FSM's the other day - gonna go see if I can find out myself!

OMG! well, good thing these cars are so tough! think I would have been looking for another place to park tho! LOL

sorry evil - no disty on these cars...but if it did have one,yeah, it would have been checked...

ok, this is in regards to my 90 Legacy LS...the one that got the engine buried in snow...please bear with me - this might get long... got most of the snow cleaned out the other day - still semi frozen from that adventure! checked all wires, connectors, oil, air filter, etc before trying to start again. everything checked out good - didnt look like I had knocked anything loose other than snow. turned the key and she fired right up! yeah! pulled her out of the garage to clean up the mess and left her running while i tackled that job (check engine light was on, but not overly concerned - kind of expected it after all that snow, and she seemed to be running nice and smooth) figuring i would take her for a run when i finished cleaning up to really dry things out. several minutes go by, just about have all the snow and ice cleaned up and i hear the one thing i didnt want to hear - the car died - no stumble, no cough, just quit like the key had been turned off. so I pop the hood again, grab the air compressor blow gun and try blowing out moisture from the top the block, around spark plugs, wire connectors, etc - easier to remove water than ice... Still no start at this point, but I am confident that she will start again once she cools down. My question is this - do you Subaru gurus think that if I take her out immediatly after restarting that I will have a better chance of keeping her running (ie: rpms up and getting up to full operating temp) or should i be worried about her stalling out on me going down the road??? we are expecting another snow storm late tonight/tomorrow and she might very well be needed in the am (only one with AWD at the moment) so the other half can get to work/home again....Really need her to be running reliably again...

preparation is THE most inportant part of any paint job - without good prep even expensive paint will look like crud. when wet sanding it is VERY important to KEEP the area you are sanding wet at all times to wash away the residue or you will end up with some nasty looking scratches that will be difficult to remove. using a spray bottle, a sponge or even a hose just dribbling water over the area is key to a good wetsand. That and using the correct type of sandpaper - there is paper made specifically for wetsanding - usually black in color, and comes in a wide range of grits, from 100 to 2000. the closer you are to the final finish, the higher the number you want to use.

ROFL - Great pics All!! lovin it! Durania - I did have a heater pointed at it while I was digging - would have taken a week to melt all of that out using just the heater - and with kerosene at $3.69.9 a gallon around here, that is a rather expensive option... Kevin - how long did it take you to dig out your car??? LOL looks like the bulk of that came off the metal roof?? Evildead - I did start it and left it running, but when the stuff started melting she died & would not restart until things had frozen up again... and yeah - all that snow packed into the wheels does screw with the balance! had to dig all of that out too...

yeah, a '78 doesnt have nearly the electrical stuff the '90 Legacy has - she did start, but once it started melting off, stuff got wet that shouldnt get wet and she died... still amazing she started at all with that much snow crammed in there!