mikeamondo
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Posts posted by mikeamondo
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Here we go.... 4 pics attached of the interior side of the strut towers...
thanks
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hmmm.. tried attaching a pic to that last one from my phone, but no go... I'll try to post some pics of the towers later this eve....
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Strut towers are rock solid on the inside :...! Shiny like new! So can I assume the old boy's got at least a couple years left in him?
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Thanks for the responses! I'm gathering that this is quite typical, but there seemed to be a contradiction in the replies... one suggested it's not structural, and another suggested it is..... What we really would like to know is whether the car with the more minimal rust in the area (still a hole, at least the width of my four fingers) will last 2 or 3 more years... if we can get that out of it, we're good. I'll try and see if I can get a the strut towers on the interior or not....
m
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So, I've got the same issue in three of our family's Subies, all wagons. At the rear wheel well, reach up under the fender and into the strut tower on the outside of the coil, under the window and you can stick your fingers thru a nice, long rust hole... guessing along a seam in the metal from the way it feels. You can push and feel weakness in the metal around the hole. Reaching around to the areas in front, behind and to the inside of the strut / coil feels solid.
A mechanic has said maybe he could get us a year on the worst one, a 97 Wagon GT. Others speak similar doom and gloom. But then I discovered the same issue on our 1995 L Wagon, which is in excellent condition otherwise. Our 1999 L Ann. Edition is a rust bucket anyway, and it's similar in the towers. Both the 99 and 95 have been good, regular daily drivers, and the 95 in particular should have a lot of life left in it otherwise.
So.... from the experts here, I seek prognosis..... Doctors? Tell it to me straight.....
1) How long have we got? 1 year, 3 years?
2) How can we tell how bad it actually is? Is the fact that it seems only outboard and not all the way around the tower a good sign?
3) Is this something that can be fixed, or is it normally too expensive to be worth while
Thanks for your input.... as always!
Mike
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Hi Gary! Thanks for the advice! It's nice to come back here after a hiatus and see a lot of the same good ole' folks still around! We just had Insane Cycles do some rust work on our 03 Outback... incredible job, by the way..... so we'll be keeping that one on the road for a while! I'm sure there will be plenty of bugs to work out.
dessertsubaru... thanks for the offer. I'll check with my brother and see how he wants to proceed. I've been down to Gassaway a few times... we do the Auto Expo mag and we deliver as far south as Sutton... so I get down there every now and again....
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Cool! We'll take a look at that option. The real question is whether the car will be worth that work and cost... rusty in all the usual Northern-Subaru places.
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Thanks for the replies! We are in Morgantown, WV.. not PA. Not certain about the drops / leaks in the system... I'll need to ask him. And we can certainly run the bubbling test when we get it back from the shop it's in. With everything else that's been done, if the cap doesn't fix it, I'm guessing there are very few potential culprits left... Interesting thought about the 2.2... although last time we bought one we had to pay closer to $600 for it.... still likely cheaper than the head job.
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Hello... been a while, but my Subie's have all be doing pretty well! My brother is having an issue with his 97 Legacy GT, 2.5, auto, AWD. It has around 140k, I'm guess....
Here's what's been tried....
Thermostat (2X's)
New radiator
New water pump (with timing belt job)
Here's what it continues to do.
Car will run fine and cool for days or weeks... no prob. Then overheat unexpectedly under normal driving conditions. Up and down hills, in town, no major traffic. My brother pulls over quickly, as the temp will shoot up rapidly. Upon opening the hood, the jug is full to overflowing. As it cools, it will eventually (fairly quickly) suck back into the radiator and/or engine, in a matter of a few seconds to half a minute, leaving the jug empty, which he then refills. Sometimes, the car can then be run again with no problems... other times it may repeat itself a few times before he can drive it staying cool. There is no discoloration or frothiness to the fluid.... nice, green coolant.
The only thing not yet changed is the radiator cap itself, though that suggestion was met with skepticism from the mechanics looking at the car. I had that be the issue on one of my '95's a while back.
Thoughts? Thanks! He is trying to decide whether to fix the old boy or not, and any help would be appreciated!
Mike
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I'll take a look at the motor mounts first... see if I can track it down.... and thanks for the exhaust tips... I think I'll use the exhaust clamps... a little heavier they should last longer under there than the hose clamps. I'd be happy if mine was mostly gone... thing rattles constantly now. I had thought it was only while idling in traffic until I passed a truck in the interstate with the window down and heard the old boy rattling away at full speed!
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hose clamps... would do the same thing, but do you think they would hold up to the heat of the exhaust?
The original bolts / connectors for the heat shield are gone / stuck / corroded / rusted away. The ends are bent up a bit, like someone other than me had it jury rigged as some point... not sure. Anyway, I don't think it can be fixed in it's original configuration.
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Hi folks... been a while! I've got 4 question on my O3 Subie Outback Wagon, 2.5L, auto. A guy who owed my a small bit on money did a job in trade on the car. He's a backyard mechanic and worked in his hard. He changed the head gaskets, timing belt, pulleys and water pump, and cleaned and reset the valves, replacing one that was bent. To get the heads off, he had to undo the motor mounts and lift the engine up and move it side to side a bit. Car is back together and runs like a dream... no leaks, quiet... seems like the job itself went fine. However, I'm left with 4 issues, 2 of which are particularly curious.
1) The easiest, I'm guessing... I now have electrical feedback in the radio that I did not previously have. An annoying buzzing....
2) When cold, car in park, starting the engine, as soon as it cranks over, there is a mild, but audible 'thunk' from the engine compartment, and you can feel it in the pedals and steering wheel. One time only, very mild, but definitely there. Once it starts and warms up, it will not repeat on a restart.
3) Possibly related to 2... also when cold, after restarting, there is sometimes a vibration and low rumble in reverse, when backing up. Again, you feel it in the pedals and wheel, and hear it.... perhaps more when the wheel is turned as you back out. Again, once warm, it will not do it.
4) The various exhaust shields on the Y pipe before it comes together and on the catalytic convert and lead in pipe, are loose and making a hell of a racket. I think I can quiet them up with a normal exhaust clamp tightened down around the end of each one.... anyone see any problems giving that a shot? Anything else work better?
Thanks in advance for any and all help on these questions! Good to be back lurking on the forum again!
Mike
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Advance Auto shows two parts... a single diaphragm booster with 2 bolts thru the firewall and a dual diaphragm with 4 bolts. I'm not at the car..... any idea which one it should be?
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Makes sense.... can you see the rust, or is it hidden from view.... in other words, can you visually confirm that's the issue, or do you just guess....
And.... is the booster something a guy could change with an afternoon's worth of time in a parking lot? I've bled brake lines, and done calipers, rotors and pads... never touched the MC or the booster.
Thanks
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My son and his 95 Legacy 2.2 auto wagon, AWD, are in New Hampshire. The car sat for a few weeks and battery is now dead. But worse, the brake pedal will not depress. He says when he steps on the pedal, it will wiggle side to side with a little play, like you'd expect, but as for pushing down.... it's like if you put a brick on the floor and stepped on it... it does not push down at all.
This happened once before, when a tow truck driver dropped off the car... he ended up leaving it in neutral, because the brake pedal was stuck and he could not shift the car into park. When my son got in later, the pedal moved as normal. In both occurrences, the outside temperature was warm to hot... so nothing is freezing due to cold, as indicated in other threads.
Is this a failure of the master cylinder? I can't think of anything else that would mechanically stop the pedal from moving.
Ideas? We are going up this weekend, and I should be able to do some repairs.....
Thanks!
Mike
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Perfect! Thanks Gary! You always seem to have all the answers!
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My daughter's 1995 Legacy 2.2L auto AWD is having the issue described in another thread, about a stiff brake pedal when extremely cold and normal operation after the car warms up a minute. So I'm guessing the check valve in the vacuum line to the brake booster is freezing shut and needs a good shot of cleaner and / or WD40. Problem is that she is in Colorado and I'm in West Virginia... so she's gonna have to try this fix on her own. I'm sure he's quite capable of the fix, but I could use some pictures and specific instructions for her so she can easily find and remove the line and spray in the WD40.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Mike
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So can the relay just be replaced?
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Well, Boreas is that rare rust free old Subaru... 95 with only one spot.... We are in West Virginia and spend all winter with salt dust coating every inch of our cars. Anyway, the old boy only needs to last a couple more seasons. Any recommendations for service or parts in Hanover? His abs light came on today and the pump is buzzing even with the ignition off.... Guessing we will need a new pump.....
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Hello all! We have sent our two youngest off to grad school, each driving a decent 95 Legacy, and we'd like to find a trusted mechanic in each of their areas....
Our son, driving a 95 Wagon, 2.2L, named "Boreas" (the car, not our son), is in Hanover, New Hampshire. Our daughter, driving "Gus", a 95 Legacy Sedan, is in Fort Collins, Colorado, about an hour north of Denver.
Does anyone have any recommendations about local subie mechanics who are knowledgeable and fair? Our daughter's car in CO has an oil leak we'd like to diagnose, and our son called today with an 0x Sensor check engine light and something about flow being low.
Thanks!
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Sounds like it comes from the front, but couldn't pin it to wheels or engine. Not quite like a starter grinding.... Not really metal on metal.... Its "softer" ..... I am going to get the from him next week sometime to drive it a bit more. He said today it is becoming more frequent....
Glad to hear Chuck found a good home.... Hope you made out ok on it!
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Hi Gary!
As far as I know, the tranny has never been out. I assume my son has been checking the fluid... but I'll double check.... didn't realize it would make a chirp noise. What ever happened with our wrecked "Chuck"?
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Wouldn't that continue for the duration of the higher rpms? This is certainly a singular event.... The sound occurs, for a second and then stops.... Even as you continue to accelerate. That's why its so hard to corrolate to any particular driving mode or event. The next time you acceleerate the exact same way... Nothing. I might be able to do the injector test in a day or so.... This is my sons car....
Thanks!
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Really hard to describe this noise.... First of all, it is of short duration... Couple seconds a most, often just a half second or less. Normally presents at the moment of shifting from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd during hard acceleration, and may be more prevalent if that acceleration is in a turn..... But it does not happen often enough to tell under what conditions it "always" occurs..... We drove about 30 minutes and it happened a few times.... Most I did not hear with my old man ears, but my son would say "there it is!".... Finally it gave a longer one that I did hear. It is not, obviously, super loud, but it is high pitched and can be heard over the engine and radio.
I called it a chirple in the title.... if you'd like to try and make the noise and you are reading this in an area where no one will hear you and think you're a mental case...... then do this: purse your lips an blow out so your lips flutter and you make a sort of fart noise (with your lips... not your farter) .... you've got to keep your lips really loose...... now, if you whistle at the same time you do that.... you would get a chirple sound. That's not exactly like the sound, but close. I would try and record it, but honestly, when I tried to make it happen, I couldn't make it replicate.
Any ideas on this? The car has 145,000 miles, 2.2L, auto, AWD. It's going to be doing some long distance runs soon.... 1,000 to 1,2000 miles.... as our son heads for grad school in New Hampshire. I'd like to know that there are no major problems.
Thanks!
Mike
Help with shift lock / ignition issue, 95 Legacy
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
Posted
My brother's 1995 Legacy wagon has an issue... 2.2L AWD auto, 180k. It both would not start, and then not shift out of park. I suspected that perhaps the shift lock release solenoid was gummed up from spilled coke or what have you.... so we took off the console parts and had a look.... the solenoid is clean and moves instantly when it does work. Turns out the issue is intermittent, so we began some testing and discovered the following....
Sometimes the ignition will not function, and the solenoid does not operate.
Sometimes the ignition will operate, car will start, and the solenoid still does not operate and you can't shift.
Sometimes the car will start and the solenoid will shift and operate fine. Put the car in park, shut if off and it may or may not start again.
NOTE ... in it's non-start mode, turning the key to the start position yields a humming sound, but the engine does not turn.
CLUE ALERT! We discovered that in the non-start mode, if we simultaneously held the brake, turned the key to the start position and pushed FORWARD on the gear shift rather hard, it would often go ahead and turn over and start.
Pushing in the button on the gear shifter does result in a click in the ignition switch.
The solenoid works intermittently.... so even when the engine does start, the solenoid may not operate. The car can of course still be operated by using a screw driver to push down the release lever to allow shifting, provided we can make it start....
SO...... the system seems to be a combination of the ignition switch, switch on the brake pedal, the solenoid, the manual button on the shifter, and a tiny switch on the passenger side of the gear shifter. Which of these makes the most sense as the culprit and how should we proceed? Also.... solenoids tend to work or not, correct? So does the fact that we see it work occasionally rule it out?
Thanks for looking!
Mike