teppichkopf

I notice some dampness on the drivers side carpet ('96 OBW). I also notice the bolt for the seat has some rust residue where it sits on top of the carpet. I couldn't see any place for moisture to come in. Door seals look good. Any one ever see something like this?

Cars101.com gives a towing capacity of 2000# for the EJ25. But I couldn't find a number for the EJ22. Anybody have a figure?

Well I'm glad I just got my new '96 OBW two days ago. Worked like a charm. We had steady snow all afternoon in Mukilteo. I had to go down to Lake Forest Park to pick up a coffee maker. The guy told me not to drive down his street as it is too steep to get back up. Of course when he saw me in his driveway he said, "oh, you have a Subaru, no problem driving down here then." And he was right. Off to Mt. Pilchuck tomorrow to get a xmas tree. Should be plenty of snow up there.

A friend of mine's dad bought new a mid 80s Mercedes 300D and racked up over 350k miles. When it got wrecked he bought the same model year even though it was 15 years old. Of coures up here diesel fuel cost a bit more than gas at the pump.

Is there other pull-a-parts around this area besides Lynnwood?

Gary- I have been snowmobiling before. But it's been a few years. Sounds like you're as busy as me for the rest of the year. Maybe we can touch base in Jan and se how the snow's been. -chris

Just drove home the new '96 OBW. Clutch takes a lot more effort than our Honda. Is this indicative of Subaru clutches? In high school I drove my parents '87 GL10 and I remember that clutch was a chore to work once I got a '83 Mazda for my own. My two Legacy's have been auto so I haven't delt with a subie clutch in years.

Is this a EJ25 or EJ22?

Gary- I don't have a snowmobile but I'd love to go riding sometime with you. I'm on the west side of 90 but am always looking for good reasons to cross the passes. -chris

How much snow is on the Mt. Pilchick road? I was planning on going up on Sunday to get a few permit xmas trees. Just wondering what to expect. I guess were about to get snow tonight down to 500 feet.

Seems that I've heard/read before that cable chains and AWD don't mix. But wouldn't they work on the 50/50 manual trans as long as all tires have them? Is it any different than running four studded tire? Any body have experience using chains on their AWD system before?

I just bought a '96 OBW. I've had '91 and '93 wagons previously. Both automatics. One acted fine. The other was developing serious shifting problems before I sold it. My new OBW is a 5 sp so I look forward to never having to worry about how the previous owner(s) drove it. Unless you have full service records it's always a gamble on the autos. (Unless you figured a possible rebuild into the price.) I'm also looking forward to the extra clearance on the OBW. That'll come in handy everytime I head into the hills. And of course I look forward to doubling up the miles on the EJ22 at it's 130k mark.

Anybody get a measureable mpg gain by removing the belt for the a/c compressor?

Just bought a 96 OBW. It has the switches for heated seats. During the test drive I didn't seem to notice if they heated up. (The light indicator light didn't go on.) My question is: Did the switches come in all models regardless of if they had seats?? Or only with models equiped with the heated seats??

It's a '96 5 speed. The light comes on but doesn't engage. Smpol19 - I'll try your method. The price is right at least.

When these go out what is the likely problem? Switch on the steering column, or switch on the dash? Or something else?

You can thank the highway department for putting road salt down in the winter. I was looking at a 96 outback today and noticed that plate was comepletly rusted out I thought it was odd. Then when the carfax report showed the car lived it's first six years in Boston I knew why. Since in the northwest here road salt isn't used we usually don't have rust problems like this.

Anybody have any good methods/products for getting rid of dog odor???

So I'm looking to buy a late 90's Legacy and of course don't want a Phase 1 EJ2.5. How will a 2.5 be visually different from the 2.2 in all my previous Legacy's.

One of the studs on my brakes is bad. If I take this to get a brake job how much would a mechanic charge to replace the stud? Just a few dollars or quite a bit more??

My front brakes squeak often on my '90 Legacy. Is the wear on the pads even? My front inside pads wear much quicker than the outside pads. I believe the cause is a sticky lock pin or caliper guide pin. This in turn causes the inner pad to stick and squeak. At least this is my theory. In the next week or so I will pull it all apart and rebuild with hi-temp grease. And hope the squeak is gone.

That says it all.

Go with Haynes. Written more clearly and the layout is better. I guess one could have both but I always turn to Haynes.

Most will say the split boots are really worthless. They may save a little labor upfront but they only prolong the need to replace the cv axle. I've used one before but found that its rubber didn't last as long as a closed boot does. And the other issue is that the whole cv joint has to be fully cleaned and regreased before the split boot goes on. Well, this is hard to do when the axle is on the car. Even if there is a little grit in there the wear on the joint will greatly increase. Most will agree: get a rebuilt cv axle.

Watch where you install your stereo. As I found out, people who watch you put it in will know your stereo is worth stealing. About a week after putting one in, it was stolen. Basically I figured my neighbors watched me put it in since from my driveway they and only they had a clear view. (My neighbors were very seedy, and ran some shady businesses out of the house.)