eastwestboy

Forester 2006, the buzzer has to go, no matter what. Under the steering wheel behind the plastic, I found a black box about 2 x 2 x 1”. There were 2 connectors to it, when I unplug one, the buzzer is gone, but so are all the indicator lights. The other plug, I don’t know, nothing happened, however I wasn’t driving with it unplugged. This box is plastic, I removed it and tried to open it, no success. I could hacksaw it, but what would be the next step? I deactivated the buzzer with several Subs of MY90-99, but this one is tougher. The fast plug/unplug of the buckle does not work on mine, I tried it many times. ( With instructions of this forum) Note: Me and all the family always wear the seatbelt, always, always. And we had had the safety talk here already, as far as I remember. Thanks a lot

Any business in Europe? Go to Eastern Switzerland, where I grew up. Subaru Country since the mid eighties.

I might be a little late here but here is my report. Legacy Brighten 98, bought new, manual, 195000km, crossbar always on, never missed to note at fill up: 8.6 L / 100km. 70% rural, 30% city.Was more than 10 L till 12000km and I almost panicked back then. Sounds like a Diesel. should I try Diesel ?

Question is: Is the transmission toast? :-\

Hello everyone On the 95 impreza 5MT, I have got a grinding noise from the transmission. I have removed the plastic boot from the stick and it is now very loud. It is loudest in 3,4,5. When I was up north the whole last winter with temps around –35, it was already noticeable in 1 and 2, but not in 3,4,5. I can influence the sound a bit (higher/lower pitch) when pushing the stick left or right when in gear. Its at all speeds and doesn’t change when pushing the clutch. I went under the car, the transmission on the left side in the rear half is full of oil. I have no idea where this is coming from. The transmission oil has been changed a few weeks back. Anyboy an idea?

Thanks for replying, With the backing plate I mean the protection plate for the inner side of the rotors. It’s the diameter of the rotor and has an opening the size of the caliper. It’s right behind the rotors. They call it like that at the subaru dealer (which doesn’t mean very much). These thingies were totally rosted and a lot of material was missing. So I got new ones. About the play. I mounted the calipers in position without installing the rotors/pads. Then I slided the “sliding half caliper” back and forth. This slide should be very smooth. In my cases, the sliding pin was a bit too small. Thus the sliding part not only traveled in the sliding direction but could also wiggle. This leads to uneven pad wear, I have had this before. Why do I have to replace the bearings? I think they are still ok.

The brakes on the Impreza 95 were in real bad shape. On one side only a bit of the backing plate was there, so these have to be replaced. To put the new backing plates on I have to remove the tone wheel and to remove that I think I have to remove the hub. Or maybe not? I loosened the tone wheel but it still stays, of course, behind the hub. I was not able to slide the backing plate in position that way. I once tried to remove the hub on a legacy. Unlock the soft metal in the nut opening, unscrew the axle nut, pull with a puller on the hub. I pulled so hard that I was afraid the puller arms could rip. I gave up on that. Would I have to increse the pulling force no matter what? I have had already 2 rebuilt calipers installed. Both had too much play on the sliding pin. Both shops said that this is normally acceptable. I returned all of them. It’s difficult to test for the play if they are not mounted in position. There was also no Subaru dealer here around that could get brand new ones, except for Subaru of Mississauga (biggest in Canada and Headquarters) but it would have taken 2 weeks for them to get it. I orderd them in Buffalo NY and went over on the weekend to get them. Yep, Canada is always a problem for auto parts, if Canadian tire does not have it, trouble is looming. Don’t say Napa, that gives me the fit of laughing. Thanks everybody

this is a classic. If it cranks over and no fire when it's lukewarm, it's the cam or crank sensor. Dont try to clean it, you have to replace it.

Here is a problem I have with a 1995 impreza. The check engine light never came on during the time I had it (7 years). Even when I take out a cam or crank sensor, no CEL. Any other Subaru gives a CEL with that. The CEL light is working, I see it when the ignition is just before starting (to check all the bulbs). I thought maybe there is a code in the ECU, I have a OBD2 reader. I cant find a OBD2 connector, so it is probably a OBD1. I connected the 2 green plugs together (diag plugs?) and switched on. I see no blinking light but I hear many relais clicking on and off in a weird rhythm. Also, both cooling fans switch on and off about once every 2 seconds. Anybody knows whats going on here? Thank you very much in advance.

somebody tell me what you re talking about?

On my 98 Legacy, the rear wiper has stopped working. As I see here, this is quite common. I removed the arm and the nut cover. Then I loosened the 20mm outside nut so I could remove the motor from the inside. The nut came loose, I can turn it as much as I wish, it is not coming off the thread. It is frozen solid to that bolt, and holding the bolt is impossible. Do I have to drill out the whole thing. The gear box would be destroyed by this. Is there a cheaper fix for that? Thanks from Yves

Thanks for the replies. The legacy has 170000km, around 110000 miles. Selling it privately is probably the way to go, although not so easy for me because I m out in the rural. But still, a dealer like that scares off not just me. I don’t hope it but from the stories I hear about dealers I expect this dealer is not the only one who tries to steal a trade in.

I testdrove a 2005 Forrester X and I liked it and I am really eager to get one. It was the dealership in Oakville, canada. I asked for a trade in value for my 98 legacy manual shift. The lady said it’s in the range of $1000 to $2500. Now that’s the lowball of the century, where am I? Asylum for the insanes. Took me a while to recover. Not even for $5000 I would talk about a deal. Or am I insane. That’s all even less in US$. For a very well maintained legacy. I guess I know their sequel. They would after some time generously give $3000 or 3200. I know I should just go to the next dealer, there are many around Toronto, but for now this has just put me off.

Problem is here in Canada the cheapest axle I can get is $166. Order from the US and customs/agents will have a new trick to get more money. Other problem is I don’t understand the principle of axle removal (for just boot replacement) Remove axle nut, diconnect control arm from steering knuckle, then (says Haynes) pull the driveaxle out of the steering knuckle (do they mean out of the hub?). THEN I guess I could remove the outer boot and slide a new one in? They say “disengange the inner end of the transaxale from the transaxle”. Why should I do this for replacing the outer boot? Thanks from Yves.

Hello I just discovered a broken outer cv boot on the 98 Legacy. In the Haynes manual they say I have to unstake the axle nut. Not sure what exactly this means. There is a metal ring on top of that nut that at one point is pushed into a gap of an inner circle. Do I have to force that part of the metal ring out? Somebody in this group in a past post wrote: “ remove the crimp on the axle nut”. Does he mean the same thing as “unstake”? Also a question about the boot clamps installation. The Haynes mentions a special banding tool to do it. Do I need it? How else can a tighten the clamp? Thanks a lot. Yves

Thanks for your answers. It sure has nothing to do with the exhaust pipes and the cat. The car and the wifes Impreza had both had the infamous heat shield rattle and I fixed both (Anybody interested how?). For the tensioner: When I had it out, I examined it very carefully and there was no wear at it or in that area. Also, the noise was no different when the side covers were on as when they were off. I am pretty sure it's coming from inside the engine. Yves

Hello I am brand new to this group and already have a question I have a 97 Legacy 2.2L that has that banging noise. When I stand right beside the hood it sounds almost like a diesel. When I open the hood it seems to be something with the belt. I ran it without the outer belt, no change. I read a lot about piston slap and timing belt rattling and the belt tensioner. So at 128000 km I replaced the timing belt. I examined the tensioner, it looked like new and was in perfect condition, having lots of force and good hydraulic damping, so I didn't replace it with a new one. Still the same noise after the timing belt change. I then removed the two outer timing belt covers and let the motor run. The timing belt rolls perfectly, at least everywhere I could see with a flashlight. And the noise is still exactly the same as with the covers on. That makes me believe that nothing is wrong with the the timing belt and everything around there. The noise is most prominent when cold at idle and around 2500rpm. At around 4000rpm, it's never there. When warm, most of the time it's gone at idle and pretty lound between 1000 and 2000 rpm. But sometimes when warm the noise comes back at idle. Do I have the piston slap? Impossible with a 2.2L? Thanks for reading this. Yves