paul-n

Hi all More annoying problems with this car. Subaru Legacy Outback 1997 first model in the UK. Almost all the interior gauge/control lights have stopped working , initially if you bashed the steering column shrouding they would come on for the rest of the journey but not any more. So I gamely remove the only 2 screws I can find in the steering column shrouding only to find it won't come off ! Anyone had this fault before ? Anyone any idea how to get inside it ? regards Paul

Hi all Closure on this finally and why do I get obscure faults ? My local backstreet garage where convinced that the gaskets were ok but decided to change the thermostat , before I took it in to them I had fitted a new radiator cap. Two things I noticed with the new cap it took alot more effort to get it on and off than the old one and it had a shiney orange label stuck on it with japanese writing and the pressure 9 bar written on it. When the car came back there was no orange label on it [ odd ] but all seemed well. Anyway as it was driven only 6 miles each way to work by my wife it was clear it was still not well.I could never get the air out of the system for long and there were often water splash outside the filler area even though the cap was tight. So I took the old cap and squeezed the tabs tight in the vice till it was a tight a fit as the new one had been and eventually got rid of the air and stopped the water splashing. So what was wrong with the new cap , the missing orange label ! the centre part inside the cap rotates so the cap can be tightened without damaging the rubber seal and the label seals this rotating part from water getting out and air getting it ! regards Paul

rd I had the same problem when my garage had to remove the washer bottle to change the spark plugs at the service. Strangley you could hear the pumps running but got no water out. What they had done was put the wrong pipes on the pumps , don't ask me why but with the rear and front swapped over neither worked. When I took it apart looking for the problem I saw they had connected the pipes the easiest way [ least struggle ] and on my car [ OWB 96 ] that was the wrong way around. regards paul

Sorry ! 1996/7 [first year the outbacks were sold in UK ] 2.5l and 101,000 miles serviced by subaru all it's life I am only it's second owner I have probably done 10k of those miles. regards paul

Hi all I have read thread after thread on coolant problems and burping my Outback Legacy estate till my head is spinning and still unsure what to do and what is wrong with mine ? I noticed one day when the wife came back from a 40 mile run the car smelt hot and felt it from the front, it had also started gurgling when cold [ like almost straight off the drive but at that time I was blissfully unaware of burping and HG problems ]. When it had cooled down I look into the radiator and there was no visible water it took about 1.5 litres and I had to fill the expansion tank. Some googling later I came across the ' remove the top radiator bleed plug and the radiator cap and run it for ten minutes till the bubbles stop and you have burped it , well after 20 it was still bubbling up and sending small puffs of steam out of the bleed hole so I gave up. I then decided to sneek up on it and every morning before the wifes 6 mile run to work and every night when the wife brought it home [ 6 more miles ] I removed the rad bleed [ on the top opposite the rad cap ]and rad cap and filled the rad up and made sure the expansion bottle was filled to the top above the max mark ]. After a week I seemed to have it cracked I was puttng no more water in the rad and the expansion bottle needed no more topping up HURAH YOU SAY . Then she took it for a 50 mile run where it could be driven at 60-70 mph for some stretchs , and when it came home ....I had to put 1/2 a litre in the rad and the expansion bottle was completely empty :-\ !! It has started gurgling again as well. So I suspect I had finally got it burped by my unconventional method but I have a HG leak that shows once the engine gets to do some work ? The anti freeze looks ok a nice blue colour and I cannot see any bubbles in the expansion tank , also before I attempted to bleed the car the top hose never felt as though there was water in it just air that seemed better after my bleed. Is it worth a new rad cap ? I am definately at a low point with it , I have just had to pay for the fuel filler pipe to be replaced [ rusted through ] then 3 days latter the battery died it cost me £4500 26 months ago and I have just been offered <£700 to part exchange it can't afford to keep it and can't afford to sell it ! Sorry for long rant regards paul

Hi all Thanks for your help , i may have found the cause of all my woe ? Pulling all the fuses one at a time out of the inside only 2 made a small reduction to the current the Radio and the Cigar - electric mirrors looking in the handbook none of these should work without the key being in the ignition in the ACC position. But i was able to turn on the radio and adjust the door mirrors and turn on the mirror demist. time for a cup of tea ! [ well I am english and you need to distance yourself from the problem to help the brain] i then realised I was testing for this fault with the key in the ignition and it was in the ACC position , but that was the postiion the key was removed from when i drove home from the battery test. THE LOCK IS SO WORN THE KEY CAN BE REMOVED IN THE ACC POSITION !! we are new to the car and had not realised we were not leaving it in LOCK !now I [ and you ] can see why there is anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 amp discharge at all times ! loads of accessories were live ! quizzing the wife she had noticed that sometimes she needed to turn off the radio before leaving the car and other times she did not , obviously last night i removed the key with it in LOCK and so the discharge was 10 - 20 ma but when the wife came home it was removed in ACC and we were back to 1/3 amp same when i took it for the battery test. just removed key properly and we are back to 10-20 ma , need to keep a eye on it for the rest of the week but the diagnosis matchs all the symptoms regards paul

Hi all done a little more diagnostics but only more confused ! this moring battery is a healthy 12.6 volts and the discharge is only between 0.01 and 0.02 amps [ 10 - 20 ma ] imobilzers led i assume. wife comes home lunch time discharge back to 1/3 amp , removed all fuses in engine compartment fuse box one at a time , only one made any difference and discharge went up to 0.8 amp and something chirped when fuse put back in discharge then went back to 1/3 amp. took it for a battery test , it tested ok [ not suprised really ] discharge still 1/3 amp removed alternator earth and feed wires on it still 1/3 amp. So tackle the dashboard fuse box next. keyless system is a infra red one not radio and handbook warns of poor performance and it may not work at all with tinted windows ! it says Paul

Hi all Nice forum , hope to find some help here for my problem , and maybe help someone else in the future ? Story so far Bought a secondhand Outback 1997 with 80k on clock [ in UK] auto Drove it home Sunday last - 40 miles wife drove to work mon - 8 miles tue - 8 miles and wed 8 miles in garage till Sunday [ yesterday ] battery to low a voltage to start car. charged it Sunday 9am - 9pm 2.5amps to 2amps so left on overnight disconnected mon 7:30am still taking 1 amp but now bubblying gentle. quick look with amp meter in neg lead before connecting battery showed 0.5amp discharge. car started ok when back home from 8 miles to work battery a healthy 12.8 volts and alternator giving 14.5 when engine running , self discharge now showing 0.3 amps. so at 0.5 amps a 48 ampere battery would be flat in 96 hours [ 4 days ] and at 0.3 amps a 48 ampere battery would be flat in 160 hours [ 6.6 days ]. neither of these figures look good ! as a uk car the only things i can think that are active with no key in the car are the keyless entry system and the imobillizer ? by the way the car is left unlocked in the garage ? questions:- 1) what should the self discharge be ? 2) can i disable the keyless entry system as it the old one that only works from < 3 ft and so is useless ! sorry for long post can anyone help ? Paul