paladin_w

I have a 1997 Outback wagon 2.5L 5 speed. I have to get my good winter vehicle to my new house which is over 100 miles away, and can not start it. I have checked and do not have flow of fuel at the filter. I can't hear the fuel pump kicking on for the couple seconds after I turn the key to on. I have checked all the fuses under the dash and in the engine compartment. None of them seem blown, but I havn't pulled all of them out to see. My manual is packed in a box buried somewhere in my new house. The owners manual doesn't tell me anything that helps. I could use some help to try and figure out what is going on, it started last week and ran just fine. I don't know which fuses, or fusable link runs the pump or if there is a fuel pump shut off switch anywhere. I have taken off the covers behind the back seats and don't see any loose wires. Any suggestions would be appriciated, Thanks.

All this hill holder talk, got me so nastalgic for my 92 legacy, my 97 outback doesn't have HH on it, and I miss it soooooo much. Have had to do the hand brake routine several occations.

I am not very knowlegable about inner workings of engines but I thought a higher compression was a good thing, gave more power. am I completely off or just a little confused?

Still looking for a good wax/polish, tried Nu Finish, and something 3000 came in a green bottle, would not recommend either. both left white residue that I kept finding in areas I could not buff well months after application. Good luck

I had a similar problem on my girls pos 98 ford ranger, it would click, or just slowly rotate for a couple of seconds and then start. would not give problems unless it set for a few hours. I still think it something to do with the starter, but had it checkout at autozone and it was good, had the entire system checked out there too on their machine, and it showed a huge amp draw which suggested a minor ground fault somewhere. Unfortunatlly did not find any fault execpt the battery would drop majorly in voltage. I replaced the battery, with a bigger one not that it mattered, and have not had a problem since, seemed like it was a bad cell, or a cell going bad. So ya might want to get your battery checked out or if it is 5 years old or more, might just want to replace it anyway.

Changing the height would mess with your speedo too, would go further per revolution, but I would love to get em bigger. I wonder if it would completely screw things up putting larger tires in the rear and smaller in front on awd systems, it sure would make the wagons look mean though.

I am too cheap to get anything other than the green cool-aid. lol and good for you to change em before there was a problem, I wish I had that much initiative.

I would definatly take this opertunity to learn brakes, they are really easy to replace and most all shops try to snow you, and leave your wallet very dry. Majority of the charge is labor, I have been doing my own brakes for 5 years and saved tons of money, before I spend $550 on brakes for a surburban that would have cost me 1/3 if I would have just learned it myself. I agree with the lubrication, and maybe even bleeding the system would be a good idea, one man brake bleeders arn't expensive and will pay for them selves quickly.

I have still got chips in the windshield with em on other cars, but I like the looks of so they still have my vote. As for the clips, I am assuming they are the attachment clips, and I would suggest autozone, or checkers for possible replacements, or if you were careful you could probably drill and put small bolts to make sure it would not vibrate or fall off. just my 2 cents

I am a constant oil changer, can't help it, it was beaten into my head throughout my childhood working on 75' Chevy's and Dodge trucks. I do mine around 3500, and since my outback's filter is only $2.67 at walmart, I include it everytime, gets all the old oil out that is possible without engine dissembly, and gives me a little peace of mind. Which I need pushing 200k.

Update for my problem sorry it took so long, I have done the water test sea#3 suggested, tested the knock sensor, and tested the coil pack. The coil pack was <.2 ohms above max limit on primary resistance, .9 instead of .74 ohms. That was the only anomaly that I found, no corrosion present. The knock sensor tested ok from what the book told me to do. Would it test ok when cold and cause a problem on the road? I wish I had the software to monitor that stuff in real time on my PDA. So basically I am still at square one, going to give it a tune-up and clear the codes in the next couple days. Also I have a high pitched squeal when the engine is under hi load, like hard acceleration but not at normal acceleration or cruising speed, replaced both belts with gator backs, and that did not fix it, does that sound like the water pump going out? Thanks

I do my tune-ups about every 3500 - 4000 miles. I will check the spray bottle thing here after I get off work, and give results tomorrow, coil is what I was thinking since I got misfires on all cylinders. Others thought it may be a timing issue, but as far as i can tell the car does not run differently or rough since the CEL was flashing. The only other thing has been a decrease in milage of about 1.5 to 2 MPG over the last month. The EGR problem has been a huge headache, I have done all the tests in the book on all the componets, and all of them checkout individually. I have cleaned the valve, checked movement with vaccume gage, resistance on relay, and replaced transducer. I have cleaned the pipe, checked for other blockage and reset the code more than once. dont know what else to do.

sae#3 OK Answers! 1) miles appr. 190k 2) not raining, although we have been getting alot of moisture lately 3) last service about 3500 miles ago with that last trip, I do the servicing myself, basic tune-up filters, plugs, oil. Timing belt replaced somewhere around 120k, and just replaced the belts two days ago.

I have had my 97 OBW for less than a year, the EGR has been an issue constantly, but yesterday on my way home the CEL started flashing. I pulled the codes this morning and got PO301 thru 304 all cylinders misfiring, PO 325 Knock Sensor 1, and my old PO 400 EGR flow malfunction that has been there for about 6 months, can't figure that one out. Could not stop as I was late for work and on the interstate doing 75, I slowed to 60, and while driving it today it was just on steady as it has been with the EGR PO 400 problem without flashing. I am not sure where to start looking for my main issue, and am quite worried I have to take a 2500 mile trip in a week and a half for my kids and right now my OBW is the only operational vehicle. I just got done with putting about 1500 miles in a road trip two weeks ago without any similar issues. I could use some suggestions on where to start working, the last thing I need is to have my car break down going up the continental divide or taking my kids back to Kansas. Thanks.

I have a problem that I have been dealing with with several vehicles for years, but in my OBW it is the worst. I have the AM/FM, Casette, 6 disk CD changer spliced into a hi to low converter going to a kenwood preamp 7 channel EQ going to three aftermarket amps. I have installed stereos for years, and have Alt Snd Suppressors on all of the units seperately to match there amp ratings. As long as I have the lights off I do not hear any whine, but as soon as I turn my parking lights on, the whine comes into the system greatly, and increases to a level that is fairly painful to the ears when the headlights are on. I have good grounds on all pieces, run my power directly from the battery, same size wires on input and gnd, and have not messed with power wires on the factory head unit. This has resulted in not being able to listen to music after dark, or turning the boost off the EQ and turning the volume all the way up to hear anything, which starts crackling my speakers! :madder: It is definately alternator whine as it changes pitch with RPM. I would appriciate any suggestions or thoughts on this matter, I have noticed throughout the years headlights increased the whine, of course due to the additional amprage draw, but I am going deaf with this one. My all nights trips are not easy to make without music to get me through late at night.

Good luck with finding info on that, I have one of those on my 97 OBW, nice, but I really like the individual insertable head units. Mine is a panasonic, and I have not been able to find any information on it. I would like to get a hold of another magazine for mine as well, since I do not know how to hook up a head unit with a single cd, and still be able to have my 6-disk, which is what I reall would love to do. Again good luck!

I agree with him, on the stars, but I am cheap, and did some comparisons based mainly on looks. and I bought "Super Blues" from walmart for $18 USD for a pair and I have noticed better illumination and distance out of my headlights. Sorry I can't add much about the fogs I just adjusted mine up a bit and am happy with them so I left them alone.

Ringe, Hey Roy where in FTC are you I am a couple miles up the road. What a small world man, I love SVX's by the way and would love to see one with a bit of mods on it. Later, Karl

MilesFox, I went from a hand brake to the floor on my Ford Taurus, and I was too used to doing 180's when I missed my turn, so I just locked the mechanism open for the release with a small zip-tie. It was an auto anyway so I really didn't need the brake on an everyday use, I could cut the zip tie if I really needed it. So 180's were still there just stomped on the brake spun the wheels and floored it, sometimes included dropping the tranny into 1st or 2nd. Worked easier than a hand brake actually, both my hands could work the steering wheel.

The hill holder was not in the Legacy "Outback" edition, much to my dissapointment. :boohoo: I really miss that feature, one of my favorite in my 92

Ha, don't ya love that, did your parking lights blink too? I did the same thing with my 97 OBW and was very confused. There is one way to do it, although I think in the manual they suggest using the remote, but by that box that was clicking, around the hood release, or somewhere in that vacinity should be a button that is the bypass/remote programmer button. Before I got the factory security upgrade mine was zip tied behind the square keyless entry module(clicking box). That button should take care of your problems in the future.

You don't have to pull the unit out if you have small and very flexable hands, I know I had to pull it out to do any work on the back. If yours is like mine the antenna jack is tight in there and I would suggest pulling it out to get it plugged into the modulation unit.

I must agree with all the posts for pro's and cons. The only thing that I have in extra would be, I feel so much more in control of driving and the car with a MT. I drove an auto in a ford for several years while my 92 was down and I hated it. I did not feel I had the control I wanted, most often when I needed to get through some intersection I didn't see another vehicle coming and pulled out, my 5sp I just punch it and get through, my old auto I would hit the gas and it felt like an eternity before the speed would pick up. Same goes for passing I can down shift to 4th and pick up speed fast, I felt like I was in a long line with my auto.

You may try leaving it disconnected longer than 15 min. I did that and it did not clear my codes, however after about hour and a half it did while I was working on the stereo. You could leave it off overnight and that is a gaurentee. I have heard one thing on that however, let your car idle for about 10-15 min to let it relearn without pushing on gas or driving it. I have heard of others having problems and have experienced them myself with connecting and getting in for a test drive.

Do believe I know what that one is, I have one on my 97 OBW, it should *maybe* be the switch that resets your keyless entry/alarm system. I If you ever take your battery out, or disconnect the posts that button can be pushed to reset the system so it won't think someone is trying to steal it/or reset the door locks. and that also can program subaru remotes to work with your system. Hope that helps, and that is my best guess by the description and location.