four-fleet-feet

Here's your photo of the missing cap AND one of the cap close-up from Aaron's Auto. Aircraft-engineer says there's a way to blow it up in Firefox; since I don't use that critter, I can't tell you how. Still at 15? You didn't get that emission system demon out of your car yet?

Dragon's finally fixed, save the door handle (going to go get it after I finish typing). Rear pax bearing, $40, Fixed rear washer hose, $1.99, Rear taillight leak, free, Full timing belt service to fix oil leaks, $189. plus oil and antifreeze, NGK plugs, $10, PCV $8 new air filter too. All done with help of this board. I am not worthy... Anyway, after all of this I'm still getting 23.3 MPG. TBH, I had expected better! I was getting 23.3 with a missing cam pin and plugs so gone they were at least an .085 gap! I've been checking my tires daily, since I just threw on new-to-me wheels with my 2-month-old tires. Air checks at 32. Just passed emissions with flying colors, no codes, nada. I sure could use better mileage to Arizona, because Mom's paying for the gas as an incentive to get me down there. I'd like to save her some $$$$. I thought I'd hit 27 after all of this. Any ideas? Photos attached: #1 What tailgaters will see if they get too close! Yes, I have a hotel bottle of ketchup in Dragon at all times. *burp* #2 for Bigbusa, a shot of Dragon with the OBW wheels he wants. See the missing center caps? Yes, they exist. #3 Last, of COURSE every Dragon needs a tail... so I bought her a static strip. Next week, fixed MPG or not, if you see Dragon fly by you somewhere southbound, wave! Thanks to all who got her in fine working order. :banana: :banana: :banana: :clap: :clap: :clap: (Update: door handle and lock cylinder: $10. Also snagged a keyless entry, but they were closing. Need to go back for the wiring harness and the door actuators.) Bad discovery: now $25 more to have new lock cylinder keyed to match rest of car. If I had the key for the new tumbler I'd use it - Mom doesn't drive, just wants to get into Dragon and sit down while I'm busy at the store or a garage sale . I don't. Also having trouble getting the master keycode. I'm using a key made from a key made from a master, and previous owner didn't have a master or submaster to give me. Code's not in the maintenance schedule which was in the glovebox... grr.

If you ever drive a stick after a severe back injury, it'll hurt so much you'll PAY for someone to put you out of your misery. Believe me when I say for a long while I wished I HAD died until I got my truck with auto trans. That's why I no longer drive a manual (or get the 37mph in town and 51 on the freeway).

Where did you find the residue? In the overflow bottle, or the rad itself? Old fluid in a heavily-used car can get nasty in the bottle. You could always ask the closest dealer if they'd perform a 'safety inspection' for you, since you just bought the car. Mine did it for free, and included diagnosing problems. You don't have to get it fixed there, you know - but then you'll have their expert opinion from a Subie dealer mechanic. Uh, not to throw mud on you, but would you think it good karma to sell a car you 'think' has a serious problem without full disclosure? If you tell the potential buyer about it, you probably won't get back what you paid. If you don't tell, well... you might sell the car, but the next owner might be *really* unhappy with you when they find out the real reason you flipped the car so fast. Get an expert opinion before you do anything. Maybe it's just gunky water! Then again, if it isn't, you know what not to forget to check when you shop for your next Subie. Or go exgine shopping. Or hunt for a mechanic who would do the HG repair.

WHY is the dealer saying this? CEL code? Which one(s)? Dealers love to deal with turnips, that's why they always throw out the most expensive repair they think will fix the problem, IMHO. They're hoping the owner will pony up and not ask questions. GET A SECOND OPINION. Also ask for a full list of the CEL codes and tell us what they are. Hopefully this proposed repair is overkill, which will save you some money when you fix what's REALLY wrong. If you fix/replace the cat and the real problem is still there, you'll just kill the new one. Good luck!

OK, here's the other thing to think about: have you ever owned/driven a manual IN PORTLAND? Or ever? If you have no manual driving experience, it might come as a total shock the very first time you are on an icy hill. Hill-holder or not, you will be in for a surprise if you've never done it before. If you have any back problems, the manual will KILL you. I speak from experience here. However, if you have no back problems, have manual driving experience, and the thought of having future clutch work doesn't faze you, the manual will certainly avoid the automatic's penchant for thinking it knows better than you do when to shift going uphill or downhill (rant!). Manuals, also, have a higher resale percentage in the NW. Everyone wants one! You'll have no trouble selling it when the time comes (if ever).

Another thing to look at: I got up close and personal with a dual sunroof before I went looking for a used car. The front one should pop up, only, while the rear slides open. If the rear pops up only, someone added it to the car. If the front sunroof has at one time been a slider, and the mechanism was disabled, then voila! You have your answer. If the rear is for looks only (no pop or slide), same thing. Most people won't attempt installing a sliding sunroof. Year/month of make is on the door pillar. Any month after May I'd start thinking maybe that's an early 98. You do realize, I hope, that even in Oregon a dual sunroof is going to get HOT, right? If you're toting children or animals you might not want them dry-roasted in the summer.

Unfortunately, they do - and double if you're female. Thanks be, not to me, but I've read dealer receipts where it's been done.

Oh, they do. The round part in the center. If you want to know how to tell the difference, those years' OBW wheels didn't have a separate hubcap. If you can see the lugs, it's a center cap. God forbid you should lose one at the prices I'm hearing! If you ever find a spare, snag it at once. If you want to see one close up, look either at my post in the Wanted to Buy forum (as WTB: (4) 98 OBW Wheel Center Caps, currently on page 2, I think), or take a look at the photo I uploaded under my name to the Photos section. I'm not on my own computer, so I can't upload/link to this post. The scungy wheel is one from Aaron's - and he gets $50 for them! Mine, even honorably battle-scarred from humping over I-90 with chains, do look nice! Maybe I should post a pic of Dragon now that she's gussied up and passed emissions today. Fixed the rear wiper; now all that's left is the pax door handle, and that's not really something I need. However, since I'm going to visit Mom next week, she has a different opinion about that... guess we'll have to fix it this weekend. Or, to be truthful, I'll get to watch aircraft-engineer lose his mind while he does so. Doors... why did it have to be doors... At least I have the actual factory tech installation sheet for him. :-p

Also, if you find them, you'll be better off if all 4 have the $#(*&)% center caps! I found 4 of these wheels, with chain slap marks, 4 usable snow tires I didn't want, and a set of BRAND-NEW Les Schwab diamond chains, all for $75 on Craigslist. Thought I'd gotten a bargain. Heck, the chains alone are worth $59+ at Les Schwab! Alas, missing the center caps... which are selling for $15 apiece up here... when you can find them... boo! Even Aaron's doesn't have them. Aaron's also gets $50 a wheel, used, even chain-marked ones, center cap or not, tire or not. I would have given up the free chains and the tires I don't need (I just bought new ones in January) to get those #@$@#$^(% caps! Gotta find them this week, I'll never get them in Arizona...

The empiric test of a PCV valve is take it out and shake it; it it rattles, it's not clogged. You can put it back in. Most people on this board recommend OEM PCVs only. Also recommended is using Teflon tape to wrap the threads before screwing it in. I will admit I just yank the things once a year in normal driving (for me, about 18-21,000 miles) and replace them when I do the fuel filter. If I'm driving towing a trailer or in mountains nonstop, I do it every 6 months. They don't cost much and a clogged one will eat up your mileage. With gas so high now, it seems worth it more than ever.

A warning: if you plan on ever having to chain up, check what size tire is your maximum WITH the chains! Finding out you accidentally went one size too large when it's snowing, chains required, in the pass you need to get over is NOT fun. Already been there.

Some other things to try: Take it over a few speed bumps. If anything's loose underneath you'll hear it or feel it. If the current owner is not alone when you are looking at the car, ask the other person some maintenance and driveability questions once you can get them aside. Stories don't match? Hmmm. If you can, drive the car from cold. Some problems appear only until the car is warmed up. Others, of course (HG here) show up only when it's hot and run for a while, especially on grades. Look for the manual. Then look for the spare. Is it the same as what's on the car, or a temp spare? You can tell if the spare's had heavy use. If it has, casually ask the current owner to show you the fuse connector under the hood (I'm talking about the FWD box, here). If they don't have a clue what you're talking about, and the car has a temp spare which has had heavy use, or a used full-size spare of another size than what's on the car itself, RUN! You should also run the transmission manually through all the gears, even if it's an automatic. Clunks? Doesn't want to go in or out of a gear? If you feel like a trans repair won't mess up your life, it's your call. Want to avoid a trans headache? Check the fluid. Low? Dark? Smells funny? I'd say ixnay. Another minor expense you'll have is polishing up those cloudy headlights. It can be done, but you'll need to do it soon or the light loss will drive you crazy at night. I'd also check all the lights. Try the tail lights. Pull a bulb. Corroded? Water in the tail light? No signs of water trail around the light? It came from somewhere. If the car was a flood car, that might be how. We're getting our share of flood cars here in WA; you could always check with your DMV for a checklist of flood-damage to look for. You don't want a boatmobile! Good luck!

Ignore the guys who do oil changes and tell you your Subaru air filter is clean. The day I licensed Dragon I took her into JiffyLube to get her oil changed (it was nasty and it was too cold and wet to do it in a driveway). I had an air filter with me, and the manager told me 'looks new, you don't need to change it.' I should have ignored him! All he did was undo the two end clips and peek inside, not take out the filter and TURN IT OVER. When the dealer went over Dragon to give a definitive (and partially wrong) answer to the oil leak, the actually pulled the filter and I started to steam. See, the filter looks clean from the top, but from the bottom - yuck! It was black. Seems like a waste to many who know me (I include aircraft-engineer here), but I change my air filter no more than 6,000 miles apart. Especially if you're driving in a city, or in a dusty desert area, or even a place with a lot of construction (debris clouds). The price of the filter easily gets offset by better mileage and, ultimately, a longer-lasting, happier engine. I think it's worth it - my last vehicle had 348,000 miles plus on her original engine and transmission. It didn't get that high without a few more air filters, oil filters, fluid flushes, and fix-it-NOW-it's-broken than the manuals called for. Oh, I'm also positively ANAL about wipers. One chatter, one smear without debris on the blade, and I'm straight to the nearest store with Rain-X blades or Anco's. No matter what price. I doubt mine go 4 months before I'm ripping them off, whether I'm in Arizona or Washington, or anywhere in between. A whole 24k on your wipers and filter? ((shudders)) I also don't seen anything wrong with putting plugs in every year, but that's another bone of contention...

Have fun! May I suggest you NOT get a Pioneer CD, as they use weird color wiring in their harness and it's not worth the hassle to figure it out when so many other radios are out there? You can't choose Subaru-color-to-Pioneer-color wiring. Just won't work right. I actually ripped a DEH-1700 out in frustration when it kept reprogramming itself for no good reason. Then again, the mental capacity of the person (the previous owner) who installed it might have been the real reason. I don't think she could figure out a wiring harness to save her bum! Good old factory cassette works for me, just as long as I can plug in the old Pocket PC and play my 6GB of books-on-tape, mp3's, and the occasional CD with the external adapter! Only $20, too. Imprezas... love 'em...

So, what evil leftovers have you found? I've had to rip out panels aplenty to find things on Dragon - like the entire rear seat area when tracking down the water leak she had upon purchase. Also the trim panels to track down the rear window washer problem (still unsolved). In my buckets-of-hot-water, scrub brush, soap, toothbrush, gloves, and grim jaw cleaning time, I found what has to be a first - if I'm wrong please shock me with your tale. The seat area in the rear had to have at least $4 in change under it - I thought I'd found it all, then voila! I'd peel up another panel or vinyl cover and there'd be more... more... more. If it hadn't been black with crud I'd have been happier. Finished that, noticed the door handle could be cleaner. I coudn't see the screw at the bottom. Pulled out my latest scrub cloth and investigated. The pax rear door handle cup was literally an inch deep in several ossified layers of multicolored chewing gum. Yuck! I knew the previous owner'd had children, but nasty ones, it seemed. Took me forever to chisel them out with a flathead and quite a bit of solvent and cleaner. Then I found crayons in the seat belt mechanism. In a black car, even in Washington, yeah, they melt. Scraped them out and off. Pleased with my clean car, I moved the the driver's side rear door. Huh. It was clean? Oddly, the hand-cup in the door wasn't secured. I pulled it out to give it a swipe anyway, and what did I see? DOZENS of Tootsie-Roll Sucker wrappers, Charms sucker wrappers, candy wrappers, and things of that ilk. Double yuck! Took me over an hour of fishing with chopsticks and tongs to get them all out (I didn't want to pull the panel without really knowing how). Wish I'd had a camera before I cleaned it up. I still can't believe it, and I threw the mess out... Do I want to spank the brats who couldn't be bothered throwing their trash into a trash bag? Kinda, but not as much as I want to bi**h-slap the parents for not teaching them better! How they couldn't have seen the trash building up is beyond me. Maybe that's why she had Dragon 'professionally detailed' before I bought the car. I wish she would have told me who did it (asked several times without her telling me) so I could warn away potential customers. What I've had to clean up..... I've found money and other personal items in used things before, not just cars, but what's your I-found-it-and-can't-believe-it story? Please share!

Actually, now pretty certain the box is part of an aftermarket alarm (!) because it doesn't say Subaru anywhere. What's really fun is that I bought a manual off of Amazon ($8 including shipping) before I found out Subaru would have sent me one for free. In that manual folder is all the dealer prep info - including the entire installation instructions for installing (with pix!) the keyless entry system. And the dealer checklist for predelivery. Now if we can find the factory box at a j/y somewhere! Off to a j/y this aft to get a few things...

No chance of saving the original key tumbler. I went to the dealer's fave locksmith and he took one look and said there was a really frustrated car thief out there. You can also tell he tried to pry at the rear door (a mini trim ding) until the thief gave it up. The tumbler outside edge looks like a piece of meat a tiger chewed on - a lot. TBH, I'm surprised the door handle (even after epoxying) still works.

Well! Thanks, now we know. Anyone ever remove one of these, as to what holds it in place? I'm getting tired of finding it hanging around when I hop in/out of Dragon. I wonder if that means I have an alarm system installed, and/or the keyless entry? The manual states it was an option on my car, but the previous owner didn't mention Dragon had either. Then again, she didn't even have the original keys, just a slightly-trashed Master copy. Dragon does have an epoxied pax door handle and mangled key tumbler - although the door handle will open from the outside, and lock/open from the inside, you can't key the door open from the passenger door itself. Title was good, so it wasn't a stolen car, but... who knows what my poor car's been through. The door's the one last repair she needs to be a happy new Dragon - you're supposed to save the Maiden from the Dragon, not save the Dragon from the Maiden. I think my car is VERY happy she's been rescued from the dimbulb blonde who owned her - she had my Dragon FOUR YEARS and didn't know the rear seat base pulled up BEFORE you folded the backs down... wish I'd had a camera when I yanked it up during my 'shall I buy your car?' inspection! Obviously, she thought a manual wasn't necessary and never read one. First thing I got. Read it twice. Going to take off Dragon's pretty steal-me American Racing wheels this afternoon and slap on some OBW ones, you know, the ones with obvious chain-slap... :grin: Just hope I don't catch my foot on the assassin box again

Uh, same box as my 'Little Black Box Won't Stay Put' post, if you want to see pix... forum won't let me re-upload pix into this thread as well. We're actually on opposite ends of same house, did he ask me before he posted on the same issue? Nooooooo.......

This black box keeps falling out of my underdash. The brake pedal is just visible to the right in the photo. We have no clue what it does; does anyone on this board? Is there a bracket we should be slipping it into, or is there a missing screw which should hold it in? Thanks as always!

Does this only happen in Drive, or does it happen in Reverse, also? Are you driving a manual or an automatic? Any problems with the brakes? Any exhaust repairs? Was the vehicle recently repaired, just before the problem started? My old truck did this annoying *clunk* backing up (ONLY when in reverse with the rear end swinging to the right, never to the left), and it was tracked down to a combination of loose exhaust hanger, a very loose emergency brake cable, and one idiot mechanic at the dealer forgetting to properly bolt up my driveshaft after a rear main seal repair under warranty. With that many miles on, I'd look at everything as a safety precaution. One little thing could mean a big problem if it continues. After all, what's your life worth? Even more, what's your Subie's life worth? Fix 'em, drive 'em, keep 'em...

I'd like to thank everyone who helped get Dragon back to spec working order. :banana: THANK YOU ALL! I was amazed some answers came in less than three minutes! As far as things go, she's like new, save a non-spraying rear window washer (hose issue between the rear-seat and the hatch motor assembly), and a missing rear-seat ash tray (don't smoke anyway). I've become a real pushy advocate of this board to every Subaru driver I've met - and if I hadn't found it, I think aircraft-engineer would have lost his mind figuring things out without your expertise and help. I plan on driving a Subie for as long as I can keep driving, and as long as I do I'll use this site. USMB ROCKS! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Unfortunately, you'll need to have the code read, even if you must pay for it to be done. Call around and compare prices, then do it ASAP. That code will tell you what's wrong, and once you have it, and post it here, I know someone will be along to help. But we need the code first! Sorry about the cost, though.