Cherry 1993 Legacy

[Jshoffbuhr]

I just received a garage kept 1993 Legacy with a 2.2 and its FWD from my family.  It was my Grandparents car.  70,000 original miles and only very minor cosmetic issues.  I replaced both half shafts, drained and flushed the radiator (it sat for 5 years), changed to oil, and had to do a massive cleaning of the interior just because everything smelled stale.  My son just turned 16 so he’s driving my Volvo-XC-90 because it has a bunch of air bags; safe and such.  I’m using this gem as a daily driver.  Now that I have it in good running condition, the cruise control doesn’t work.  I commute 40 miles each way to work.  This car after two weeks of commuting has averaged 31mpg compared to my Volvo’s 19mpg.  

I really want to get the cruise working because not having cruise sucks.  I’ve put a little work in thus far.  When you press the CRUISE switch on the dash (it’s a huge switch), the light comes on, but it’s red, I always thought this light should be green.  Obviously the fuse is good, Subaru requires you to pull a 5 screw panel to check basic fuses.  

I inspected the throttle body, the cable moves as freely as the accelerator.  Both spindles have the same tension.  Both cable have no slack.

All of my brake lights are good, there are three on each side minus the one in the rear window.  

I put a penny on my brake pedal contact because the cruise grommet had a hole in it from the plunger.  The plunger is now depressing normally

The grey area in my understanding of this system comes with the vacuum lines coming out of the back of the actuator, although they are nice and tight, they have just kind of settled in their old rigid state as rubber does.  

Any thoughts or troubleshooting tips would help.

#firstworldproblems

 

Hoff

 

 

[heartless]

definitely share some pictures!

for the cruise... if the vacuum lines are hard, replace them.. just get some vacuum line of the correct inside diameter - outside diameter makes little difference.
and the color of the switch light means nothing.. If i recall from my 1990, it was a kind of orangish red - it is simply to let you know it is on, nothing more.

also take care of the timing system... unless you know for a fact that it *all* has been done recently, it is probably overdue (by age). at least with a 93 - EJ22, it is non-interference, so not a huge deal if the belt does let go, but could potentially leave you stranded. by *all*, i mean idler pulleys, water pump, timing belt, and tensioner, if needed (ie: leaking oil)

generally speaking, timing is due every 105,000 miles, or 105 months (8.75 yrs) which ever comes first... so, even tho it only has 70k on it, it is WAY over 8.75 yrs.
on the early models, i believe that the mileage, at least, was actually lower but this gives you a ballpark to work in.

[el_freddo]

Do you have ABS? And if you do is there an issue with the ABS system? I don’t know if this applies to the Gen1 - I know of some later model vehicles that will disable the cruise if there’s an issue with the ABS system. 

Also, if your Speedo isn’t working your cruise won’t work either. The cruise uses a reed switch built into the instrument cluster behind the speedo. I don’t know what circuit this operates on but it would be worth checking all your fuses too. If your legacy has an electronic speedo as found in the higher end Gen1s, it’ll use the reed switch at the gearbox for speedo and cruise. 

Make sure all your brake lights work too. Some vehicles will disable the cruise if you have a stop light that’s not working! 

Hopefully it’s something simple. 

Definitely share some pics! You’ll need a third party hosting company to post pics from. Imgur is a popular choice these days. 

Welcome to the forum  

Cheers 

Bennie