trxeslr66 Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Hi, I just joined the site today. I spent a few hours browsing through it and think the depth of what is covered here is fantastic. I was able to find answers to questions I had immediately. I have a random starting problem and SmashPDX described the exact symptoms I had so I replaced the contacts and plunger in my starter solenoid. The contacts were worn quite a bit but theres only 62000 miles on the car. Only time will tell if it corrected the problem. I am currently having a problem with water getting in the drivers side headlight of my Legacy. I took it off and blew it out with the shop vac over a month ago and just this week it has water again. The junk yards want $100 per light and there is a poor selection. The online stores are pricy also. When I took the light off I tried to take it apart to refresh the seal but couldn’t get it apart. I would like to avoid buying a new light. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Another thing I am wandering about is gas mileage. I am surprised and jealous of the 25+ mpg some of you are getting. My 99 2.2L Legacy gets less. I don’t know the exact mpg because there seems to be 1/4 tank left when I hit E. When I was doing out of town highway driving I got 400 miles to the tank. That was the only time that happened, probably because it was all flat driving. Around my area it is not very flat and lots of stop and go so I get 300 miles to the tank which I think is somewhere around 20 mpg. What are you guys getting per tank? Any suggestions on how to improve gas mileage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 by gallons used and mileage traveled over a period of a couple of weeks. Divide gallons into miles and record it. Do the same for a couple of weeks and you will have a pretty good idea of your particular use. Gas guages are not that accurate so miles per tank is iffy if you are going by that. Your mileage may vary quite a bit depending on weather, fuel, and the area you drive in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtsmiths Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Trexsel, you'll prolly never solve the leaky headlight. Those of us who have suffred from this problem (and there are many) have tried everything from silicon to bear grease, with little success. Use the search function to find attempts. Advertise on the board Marketplace for the exact light unit you need. Someone will have or find it, and make you a good deal ... we all feel your pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT95 Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 95 Legacy LSi wagon here... Luckily I have not had the leaky headlight issue. I did have to replace my driver's side headlight though. (I bought my car wrecked and rebuilt it.) I am always shocked at headlight prices for any car. I lurked on eBay for a couple of months and finally picked one up for $65. It looks better than the one on my passenger side, but I'm not fooling with replacing it... If you do get one from ebay or anywhere used and sight unseen, make certain to ask specifically if it has ever leaked. Or you could just cover all of your headlights with black paint except for two little holes like these teenagers do on their Hondas. :cool: As far as mileage, you sound pretty on. I average 24 (mixed city and highway) and sometimes 25. I did get 26 on a trip two months ago, but the stars were in some sort of magical alignment that day or something. I do have a roof rack and I do usually drive 70 or 75mph on the big road. My car is a 2.2 as well--automatic w/ overdrive. Yours a wagon or sean? I track my mileage by resetting my odometer at a fillup, then at the next fillup I divide the miles that have accumulated by the exact amount of gas it took to fill er up again. My gas gauge is a weird one, so I don't put much faith in it--sometimes I'm at 3/4 tank after 75 miles and sometimes after 150. The car I was driving before my Sube was a V8 Caprice Classic and I averaged 24 mpg on the interstate in that thing, so I was a bit disappointed with my Legacy--was hoping for 27mpg. If there is a Subaru secret for getting better mileage, I've yet to find it... We do have 14 gallon gas tanks, don't we? (I'd have to go out to my car and check the manual and I'm too lazy to do that right now...) Anyone ever tried those gas mileage gauges they used to have in the JC Whitney catalogs? I've always wondered if they worked or sort of worked? It'd be interesting to compare current mileage at different driving conditions. Might slow me down a bit on the interstate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 15.8 in my '92 Legacy Wagon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT95 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 15.8 in my '92 Legacy Wagon I'm assuming you mean 15.8 gallons and not 15.8 MPG... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If it were 15.8MPG, I'd be really pissed. . . As it is, I'm not too happy with getting just about 20MPG right now. . . No CEL (so no codes) but the car has a boatload of miles (well average for the folks here), so I'm guessing that it is time to start looking at replacing sensors. I'll have to decide which ones to start with later, as it is not bad enough for me to really worry about, and may be bad gas. I've been buying gas at the cheapie station close to me as they are selling it for $1.75/gal and everyone else is going for a lot closer to 1.90. . . Is there an issue with MTBE and Subies, BTW? I know some cars have real problems with this stuff. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportsterbrat Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Hi I work in a body shop and some headlamps have a drain hole in the bottom maybe you could try that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killashandra Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Mine's a '91 Leg wagon and it has a gas tank that is 15.9 gallons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spazz698 Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 hmm well I assume my gas gauge is off since it takes about 16 bucks to fill it on a 1/4 tank...and my calculations means that's roughly 12gal (manual says 14 or 14.5 I cant remember, either way bigger than 12gal) Still averaging about 22-25mpg tho Im not sure if this'll help you but a friend of mine's accord had the same problem with his headlight, he finally handed me his keys on his way to work so I could fix it and I replaced the seal around it. Hasnt leaked since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trxeslr66 Posted January 17, 2005 Author Share Posted January 17, 2005 Ok so my new calulation is about 21-22 MPG which is better than I thought I was getting but still not fantastic. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Combination city/highway driving and I average around 22mpg. I used to get 26mpg and I suspect my O2 sensor is the most likely culprit. I have a '91 Legacy wagon with manual transmission and 138K miles on the odo. I have spare used headlamps that don't leak, but they are for the early Legacies and not yours. Sorry. As for bad gas, I've learned not to buy any of the cheap gas...Arco, Tesoro, whatever...since it makes my car knock noticeably. I stick with the regular grade of Unocal 76 or Shell since that's most available in this area. If it were 15.8MPG, I'd be really pissed. . . As it is, I'm not too happy with getting just about 20MPG right now. . . No CEL (so no codes) but the car has a boatload of miles (well average for the folks here), so I'm guessing that it is time to start looking at replacing sensors. I'll have to decide which ones to start with later, as it is not bad enough for me to really worry about, and may be bad gas. I've been buying gas at the cheapie station close to me as they are selling it for $1.75/gal and everyone else is going for a lot closer to 1.90. . . Is there an issue with MTBE and Subies, BTW? I know some cars have real problems with this stuff. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 i noticed light hesitation and reduced gas mileage from a local cheap gas station in my 4 cylinder XT about 10 years ago. my 4 XT6's i've owned since then have not had the same problems (that i noticed). the XT, eventhough i got it at only 3 years old would not get very good gas mileage from this gas. being only 3 years old, the car was in fabulous condition at the time. i believe us northern folks have to deal with manipulated gasoline in the winter, i believe it's chemically different in the winter to reduce emissions but also gives decreased gas mileage. i think it's mandated on a state-by-state basis. shouldn't make a huge difference though. driving style will definitely make a huge difference in gas mileage. city/highway. go easy on the accelerator and your gas milage will change as well. if i'm getting on it in my Ford Truck i get 15mpg, if i drive lightly i get 18mpg. that's a substantial difference - 20 percent. any recent tune ups? ignition components? O2 sensor? fuel/air filters? best just to replace all these low dollar items all at the same time and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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