lekmedm

Not true about the Nokians anymore: http://www.tirefactory.net/Hakkapeliitta%202.htm I had Nokian Hakkapalliita 2 winter tires on my wife's '98 OB, and they were absolutely phenomenal. But then again, I would expect that kind of performance from a tire designed in a country that sees so much snow and test their tires in the Arctic Circle! :cool:

Try ejecting the DVD under the driver's seat and then putting it back in again. I think the nav system has to reset itself when that happens. Maybe that'll do the trick!

Well, if anyone is interested, someone over at legacygt found a very simple and elegant solution to unlocking the navigation lockout while driving. Have a look http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63678

Your 5 year old car has 170,000 miles on it? That's almost 37,000 mi/yr someone was running. I'd say at the very least a general tune up is in order.

Whatsa stage 1...?

Hey all, I recently bought an '06 Outback XT LTD with the OEM Navi installed. The Navi has one downside that gets to me. It won't let you program destinations while the car is moving. Now, I know this is a safety feature, but what a PITA!!! It's just not practical while on the road to pull over every time you want to program something in. Does anyone know of any way to get around this and disable this feature? I've been reading a thread on legacygt.com about this, but they haven't come up with anything yet.

Nah, a new (used) motor from a salvage yard costs around $1200, and that's if you can find one in good condition. Plenty of them already knock! Then, have that motor broken down, cleaned out, and resealed, and we're talking $3500 - $4000 in repairs. Now, I'd have to keep that car for, what, 4-5 years for it to pay off, and that's assuming that nothing else goes wrong with it in that time (or it doesn't get totaled). We would have been looking for something newer sooner than that anyway.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, the ol' wagon gave me the death rattle on the way home from work and spit up a rod! It broke my heart to see her go... Anywho... In comes our new(er) '06 XT Limited with Navi! We love it so far. Fast as all get-go! Mmmmmm... The king is dead. Long live the king!

I currently have a '98 OBW with 2 sets of 15 inch rims. I am considering buying a newer OBW from maybe 2002-2004, and I know these come with 16 inch rims. Since my extra set is for winter tires, I was wondering if I could hold onto them for the new Outback. I just don't know if they will clear the brakes and what-nots

Thanks to everyone for their help. The radio is great! It's a Kenwood KDC-MP832U. I really like having the USB cable so that I can plug in a memory stick with tunes to listen to. It's easier than burning CDs all the time. I got it on eBay for a pretty good price, too.

I was touching the little metal doo-dads (how's that for technical?) on top of the fuse, and it showed 12V. Actually, you got me thinking, so I went back to check. I tested the fuse, and there was 12V there like before. But something possessed me to pull the fuse, and it was blown! Holy cow! I checked that fuse visually before and it was OK. So now I replaced it, and everything is as it should. I think this is really weird because I swear it was fine before. And why was it showing current just before I pulled? Anyways, problem solved. Thanks to all for all the input. This site is an incredible resource.

Thanks for the offer. I have a full wiring diagram already for my '98. Does this mean that these 2 plugs plug into each other, and will I find them on the firewall in the engine bay? I have emailed to you my wiring diagram.

I do not believe the 15 is a fuse. It doesn't make sense to run 2 fuses in series with no components in between. Besides, in the rest of the diagram there are also the same kind of boxes with different numbers on them. I also wonder what the F45 and B62 ovals mean. I would like to point out that my interior lights went out as well. On the wiring diagram, it looks like both the lights and radio memory work off this same circuit. The fuse in the driver's kick panel is the switched ACC power to the radio, and it is fine. I thought of the trick you mentioned about the red and yellow wires earlier and confirmed that the aftermarket radio is fine. I'm still trying to get some information before I'm only left with digging into the car and tearing out the electrical so I can check it at each junction. Stay tuned! Anyone have any ideas?

Can anybody shed some light on some parts of this wiring diagram? I'd like to know whats in between the fuse and the radio harness (and where I can find it). Also, does anyone think I could, as a last resort, just run a new wire from the fuse, through the firewall, and to the harness if all else fails?

Okey-dokey... Well, I checked power at the car's radio harness. Both ACC and ILLUM wires get power, but pin #6, MEM, does not under any circumstances, which makes sense since the Subie radio loses its memory. The thing is, the fuse that powers that line (which is under the hood) is running power. The wiring diagram does show something that looks like this running backwards: radio wiring harness ---> some other intermediate harness ---> another connection that I suspect (with the number 15 on it ---> fuse under hood. I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to dem dar fancy symbols on wiring diagrams, so anyone, HELP!

I have a wiring diagram that shows power to the radio (for different functions) running through 3 fuses: 2 under the hood and 1 under the dash.

I hate to be a PITA, but I need to resolve this issue by the end of the weekend, so all ideas are welcome. I have 2 issues: 1. my aftermarket radio doesn't show any signs of life at all, and I don't know why (and don't know if, perhaps, the radio is at fault) 2. my interior lights don't work I've checked and replaced the fuses as I mentioned above. Is there some way I can check if the radio powers up at all without blowing it up? I can send it back to the vendor for a replacement, but I wouldn't want to go through that trouble if the radio works and the car is at fault. Help! :-\

Well, I've looked at (and replaced) the radio and illumination fuses inside the car and tested fuse #25 under the hood with a multimeter (it's fine). Even the interior lights don't work. Any suggestions where to look and what to test and/or replace?

A bit of history first... my '98 OBW came with the original Subie radio/CD combo which worked fine. I replaced it with an aftermarket radio I had from another car I was getting rid of. That radio worked fine except that the tuner did not work. So now I decided to get a different aftermarket radio. I did a nice, clean job soldering and insulating the wires for the harnesses, but when I plugged it into the car's harness, nothing happened. I checked all the fuses, and they are good. I checked the harness for power, and it's also there. Am I missing something, or is the radio a dud? I put the original Subie radio back in, and it works except for the fact that it loses the station memory, which it never did before. One extra thing I've noticed is that the interior lights are out, both dome and map. Is there something related here? I can send the radio back for a replacement, but I first wanted to check out other possibilities. It just seems too strange.

Holy garbanzo beans! You are a lucky man!

What condition are your rims in? I have a set of aluminum rims that have a bit of corrosion around the inside bead which makes them leak slowly. I have my winter tires on those right now. I have a second set of the same kind of rims (6 spoke) that are in much better condition with all season tires and they don't leak at all.

This is true. I bought Denso instead of NGK, and they have been doing just fine. Actually, I also bought their ignition wires, and they have been running just fine as well (...don't hit me, anybody! ) for the past year.

Your Dad never did any maintenance except oil changes?!?!?! ...and you're at 400k km...? Changing the spark plugs was an excellent idea, but those ignition wires need to go, too! If your problem persists, replacing the coil pack may be in order as previously mentioned. BTW, has the timing belt ever been changed? What about the tranny fluid and the oil in the front and rear diffs?

Thanks for all the info, guys. That's a pretty comprehensive write-up, OB99W! When I find out something concerning this problem, I'll write back to let you all know.

Hi all! A simple (I hope) question. Where is the switch on the hatch of a '98 Impreza Outback that will turn off the door ajar light on the dash? The door ajar light on my friend's dash is on all the time, and from what I've read here, I guess there's a good chance it's due to the hatch. When I was looking around it today, I couldn't find any switch for the life of me. Actually, I couldn't find in on my Legacy Outback either! Anyway, I'm trying to find out why that light is on in her car and it's the kind of light that doesn't show the exact door that's open, it just shows that one of them is not completely closed.