95 Leg: Left Rear Brake dragging?

[95LEGOBW]

My 95 Legacy OBW seems to have a lot of rolling resistance, and in-town mpg is just under 20 mpg. (The car is new to me, so this is my first measured mileage.)

 

I checked all four corners for temperature after a brief drive, and found the left rear rotor and rim to be warm, the other 3 were cool.

 

What should I check? (This car has 4-wheel disc brakes.)

[danz75]

My 95 Legacy OBW seems to have a lot of rolling resistance, and in-town mpg is just under 20 mpg. (The car is new to me, so this is my first measured mileage.)

 

I checked all four corners for temperature after a brief drive, and found the left rear rotor and rim to be warm, the other 3 were cool.

 

What should I check? (This car has 4-wheel disc brakes.)

 

You probably want to re-lube the calliper pins with calliper lube or replace them if it is seizing. The pins are fairly inexpensive.

[gbrand]

Also may want to check the parking brake mechanism, it is seperate-brake shoes that use the inside of the disc as a drum on the rear. Hope it's not a wheel bearing that is getting hot.......

[Novakaine]

I have the same car as you, and that is about the mileage I get. I do sometimes get a slight buring smell, but i think that is just oil (i have a slight leak). My rear brake are drum, which i hate by the way.

 

But back to mileage. I have changed all the plugs, fuel filter, air filter, and O2 sensor, switched to synthetic oil, upped tire pressure to 39 psi, even dropped in some greased lightning fuel system cleaner, and after all this I think I went from 19.5 - 20.0 MPG to 20.0 - 20.5 MPG. I might upgrade to platnium plugs in a little bit. But for the most part I am out of ideas. If you have any, please do share.

[95LEGOBW]

I have the same car as you, and that is about the mileage I get. I do sometimes get a slight buring smell, but i think that is just oil (i have a slight leak). My rear brake are drum, which i hate by the way.

 

But back to mileage. I have changed all the plugs, fuel filter, air filter, and O2 sensor, switched to synthetic oil, upped tire pressure to 39 psi, even dropped in some greased lightning fuel system cleaner, and after all this I think I went from 19.5 - 20.0 MPG to 20.0 - 20.5 MPG. I might upgrade to platnium plugs in a little bit. But for the most part I am out of ideas. If you have any, please do share.

 

Thanks to all for suggestions so far. I'll pull off the rim & rotor this weekend & see what I find.

 

Has anyone experimented with changing the differential gear oil to a more slippery synthetic (assuming it meets Subaru specs, of course)?

[frag]

Has anyone experimented with changing the differential gear oil to a more slippery synthetic (assuming it meets Subaru specs, of course)?

 

Since I have a manual, i put some in the rear diff four years ago. All I can say is it does'nt leak. Does it perform better? I have no way of knowing. I put synt everywhere I can (engine, trans, power steering, diff). Makes be feel good.

[cookie]

And by the way, the last couple of times I looked for a dragging brake on a Subie...One was the red silicon stuff to keep brakes from squeaking applied so liberaly it kept the pistons from retracting, and one was a maladjusted hill holder. You really don't need it so tight as to be a level holder.

The next time I am ready to change the diff and tranny fluid in the subie I will use synthetic like Frag. We have to try to keep up with our northern neighbors.

[subie94]

on the 92 i had an the 94 legacy i now have,i had the same probs(dragging brakes)but my prob was up front.turned out it was the H.H. which i've come to believe holds the brake pressure to the front.on the 92,i thought it was a seizing caliper.went to the trouble of replacing it an it.that's when i found out that it was the H.H.

 

senseless rambling

[monk]

on the 92 i had an the 94 legacy i now have,i had the same probs(dragging brakes)but my prob was up front.turned out it was the H.H. which i've come to believe holds the brake pressure to the front.on the 92,i thought it was a seizing caliper.went to the trouble of replacing it an it.that's when i found out that it was the H.H.

 

senseless rambling

 

I seem to be having the same problem on my right front brake of my 02 OBW. The rotor feels like it heats up and warps after driving for about 10+ miles. OK, dumb question: What is HH?

[cookie]

This is a device to apply the brake using the clutch on a hill. The adjustment is right on the cutch throwout fork.

It is a very clever device and makes it so you don't have to apply the emergency brake on a steep hill. A lovely thing in SF traffic. If the adjustment is too tight it keeps the brake applied.

[95LEGOBW]

This is a device to apply the brake using the clutch on a hill. The adjustment is right on the cutch throwout fork.

It is a very clever device and makes it so you don't have to apply the emergency brake on a steep hill. A lovely thing in SF traffic. If the adjustment is too tight it keeps the brake applied.

 

I know the auto-trans cars doe not have the hill holder, but do any "new" gen models have it?

[Meeky Moose]

after my 99' ouback sat for a couple months while i got all the stuff together to put an engine it. i drove it for a tank of gas before i gave it to the wife. just to make sure everything was ok)

 

well i noticed the right rear was squeeling when i let off the brakes, lol.. so i checked it and that wheel was hot compared to the others.

 

so i pulled the wheel, took the caliper off, lubed all the slides,backs of the pads, you name it with dielectric grease.. (does not melt unless its really really hot)

 

i just did the rear and that solved the sticking problem, although it still feels like the car has alot of rolling resistance, but i attribute that to the automatic tranny..

 

the first tank of gas with the sticking caliper i got about 200 miles outa the tank..

 

now were up to 260 and still got a hair under a 1/4 tank.. so i'd say thats a good improvement

[95LEGOBW]

after my 99' ouback sat for a couple months while i got all the stuff together to put an engine it. i drove it for a tank of gas before i gave it to the wife. just to make sure everything was ok)

 

well i noticed the right rear was squeeling when i let off the brakes, lol.. so i checked it and that wheel was hot compared to the others.

 

so i pulled the wheel, took the caliper off, lubed all the slides,backs of the pads, you name it with dielectric grease.. (does not melt unless its really really hot)

 

i just did the rear and that solved the sticking problem, although it still feels like the car has alot of rolling resistance, but i attribute that to the automatic tranny..

 

the first tank of gas with the sticking caliper i got about 200 miles outa the tank..

 

now were up to 260 and still got a hair under a 1/4 tank.. so i'd say thats a good improvement

 

Meeky - Thanks for sharing your first hand experience. It's right on topic. Before I bought it a few weeks ago, my car had been sitting a long time as well, in a very damp, but salt-free, environment. I also notice a squeel when I let off the brakes. I can stop the squeel with gentle pressure on the handbrake. I'll report back to the board after I get the wheel pulled this weekend.

[subie94]

dumb question: What is HH?

 

 

the way i see it there is no dumb questions,only ones that aren't asked.

 

H.H. is Hill Holder device that assists you when taking off when on a hill(facing uphill,doesn't work facing down) only on manual trans.

 

once you've mastered 5spd you really don't need it,unless you want that to fall back on if your not sure if there is a chance of rolling back.

[95LEGOBW]

End of story: with the return of cold weather here, the left rear started squeeling again. MPG dropped to under 20 around town. Off to the brake shop, where they said the caliper was sticking, NOT the E-brake. The shop replaced BOTH rear calipers for free, even though it was out of warranty and I was not the owner when the original work was done. MPG is back up to the low 20s around town. Still feels like there's too much rolling resistance, but hey, it only drives 5K miles/year, so I'll live with it.