SubaruForDan

I think selling it as is, but I have no idea what value to assign to it. what does a parts car go for these days?

She's dead, Jim blew the motor in my '99 legacy outback wagon. I'm not going to rebuild it, have another vehicle available to use. recommendations beside just junking it? 190 K, just turned last week, rode hard and put up wet the last few years, not exactly a lot of virginal sheetmetal, stupid bambi. window motors, defrosters, wiper motors, seat heaters, stereo, most dash lights, interior lights working. seats not ripped although driver's left bolster (?) worn from exiting and entering vehicle. headliner and all carpeting intact, driver's foot well carpet pretty much the only worn part, passenger side coffee stained. it was my work vehicle for the last 7 years, I've probably cleaned it thoroughly 3 times in that period, so it's dusty for sure. If I had a property that I could just park the car at until I get around to restoring it, I would. Liked that generation. If money ever comes my way, I'd get another one and combine the two for parts to get one or the other running. It might be sentimentality, I'm original owner, but I'd hate to see it crushed right away.

When I push in on the latch handle and toggle the key fob lock then unlock, I can open the latch manually. Otherwise, I have to use the key. Either way, it is a two handed operation, which defeats the purpose of the keyfob. Yes, that foot long plate is rusty, but is it the culprit in why my latch won't unlock? *edit* '99 OB wagon. I can remove the 6 plastic thumb pins/ 4-legged receptacle plugs. Now the interior panel can dangle. What are the next points of attachment/detachment? It looks like the bottom plastic surround of the rear windshield is attached to the interior panel.

I was just looking at the tweeter (its in the corner, right by the side view mirror. How do you get to that speaker? There are no bolts or screws, and the speaker grill does not appear flexible. I mean, I could really apply force to it, but I'd rather not break it.

The optional tweeter that I had the dealer install when I got the car, works intermittently on the passenger door. When it does work, man, does it sound good. When it doesn't, it really kills the audio experience. Any suggestions, and no, the dealer does not do any troubleshooting on the stereo stuff, I've asked. Besides, I need my arms and legs to pay for more serious stuff. PS - the driver's side is working fine, never a problem.

I'm on a roll. Last week, I fixed both my foglights, which the dealer once charged me 250, for one. My A/C this week, which they wanted 140 dollars before they would even charge it. I've nothing against the dealership. I'm at a stage (no real job in the last 6 years) in my life where I simply can not afford to keep throwing money at them. It is a 10 year old car, I need to learn to do some stuff for myself. Next items - fixing my tailgate latch, which is sticky and will only open with a key. I did ask about it, got the usual 'do a search, noob' reply. The other, which is actually a biggie for me, is to fix the tweeter on the right side of the stereo, the one that goes in the front corner by the side mirror. It was an optional speaker that I had the dealer put in when I got the car 10 years ago. For some time now, it works intermittently. When it works, holy moley, does it make a difference. And another fairly big one - the rubber seals around the bottom of both my front doors have deteriorated. last winter, after an ice storm (one of many), my doors were frozen shut. In the process of prying them open, my seals pulled away from their little mounting studs. I don't even know if you can get new rubber for a 10 year old car.

I learned about schrader valves from stuff I gleamed from searching here, saw pics of what they were in other applications (via google search, but never once did I find any pics in a car, let alone a subaru), bicycle tire stems basically, so I know what they do. I have a basic understanding of the working of air conditioning, research here discerned the difference between the high side and low side. I've just never, until today, ever actually put my hands on them, under the hood of my car. Or anywhere else, ever. What was frustrating is trying to search for visual aids in my endeavor and getting hundreds of pictures of cars' exteriors, mostly in for sale ads. Or putting 'subaru' '1999' and 'engine bay' and getting one blurry picture taken from 25 feet away of an '85 wagon with its hood open. So I spent about an hour and a half today, bending over the engine bay, poring over all the components. I knew the compressor had to be belt driven, but which pulley? I saw these plastic things, like oversized tire stem caps, one with an H, one with an L. Ah, there are the schrader valves. Followed the hose to the compresser. Anyway, I was successful, thanks to help I got here. I now know where my compressor is, how to recharge the system. Ice cubes are once again falling out of my dash board. I just wish I could have found this information 2 weeks ago when it was blisteringly hot, but better late then never.

woo hoo, I got one right. now bear with me. everything looks dry, I'm going to assume normal slow leakage due to expansion/contraction thanks to new england weather. Where does the new refrigerant go in?

thank you. Are the schrader valves under the blue plastic caps labeled Viking, one with an H, one with an L ? Are the O-rings under the blocks that the metal lines attached to the compressor by?

just how hard is it to find a simple question, where is the A/C in the engine bay of a 1999 subaru outback? Google shows page after page of pictures of the exterior of cars, mostly for sale, and precious little of the engine bay, and after 10 plus pages of hits, nothing showing WHERE THE DAMN A/C IS !!!! WTF? sorry, I'm getting frustrated. Can anybody point me in the right direction?

i have to use my key to open the rear hatch of my '99 outback wagon. While technically functional, I have to use two hands, one on the key, the other on the latch in order to open it. Parcels need to be put down before I can open the hatch. Winter is coming and there are parcels I carry that I do not want to put down in mud, slush or snow. How do I fix it?

where can I find out what is involved in recharging (just refilling, nothing more) my '99 outback wagon's a/c? Which refrigerant does it use? My dealer wants 129.99, I'm thinking kit from Pep Boys. Opinions? I tried searching Pep boys site, albeit inconclusively.

Not sure if its the bulbs or something else. Both the foglights have darkened objects in the center, leading me to think the bulbs are blown. There does not appear to be any fluid in them. And yes, I've checked all the fuses in the fuse box. Are these sealed bulbs or inserts like the headlights? How are they removed/replaced? Last time, the dealer charged me something like 180 dollars to fix one (it was definitely leaking, had fluid init, etc), and I'll drive without them before I do that again.

I just noticed something this week during some of our first icy weather. I started my car 20+ minutes before I took off (No lectures, please, its frickin' NH, and I've done this every winter). When I went to use the turn signal, the stalk moved, and there was no flashing indicator on the dashboard. Two or three tries later, it started to function, then went off before I even got to take the corner (at stop sign). It would either totally not go on, or blink 2 or 3 times, go off, and come back on when I started moving (say, left turn at a traffic light). It didn't really seem to be related to brake usage or not. That afternoon, it was working fine. I sprayed some WD-40 in the the switch recess in the steering column. This morning, it was icy again. I started the car, let it warm up for 20 minutes or so. Again, sporadic operation. I've checked the lights, they're all working. Do Subarus have those can caps that need to be replaced like the old ones on american cars from the 70s? My old dodge dart had one for each side.

I'm seriously considering removing the roof rack on my '99 Legacy Outback wagon. Will this necessitate some body work ie filling the holes with metal, welding, grinding, priming, painting, etc? Are there any aftermarket inserts to fill the holes? I've had this car 7 and a half years, and used the rack exactly once. I don't need it, and very likely never will. Since I plan to drive it into the ground, resale is not a consideration.