snoutmeat

FYI, if anyone was wondering the outcome..... I've been driving it without a hitch for the last week. My guess is that the incessant rains (or girlfriend driving thru a monster puddle) got water somewhere it shouldn't have gotten. We'll have to see how it does in the next rainstorm, but so far so good!

I had the same issue, with a different solution. The handle you squeeze to open the hatchback was getting sticky. When I squeezed it to open the hatch, the spring didn't return the handle to its original position -- like it's still being squeezed part-way. When you close the hatch, it shuts and locks, but won't unlock. The solution is to stick your finger up under the handle and help the spring return the handle to where it belongs, then you can lock and unlock. Some lubricant would probably fix the problem forever -- I just give the handle a little help when it doesn't return all the way. Hope you haven't ripped your door apart yet!

I've seen an '89 (someone parked it in front of my house a couple of months ago) -- the area above the rear license plate (on the tailgate) looks different, too -- did '90 Legacys have the "Legacy" hunk of plastic running across the tailgate like my '92? The '89 didn't have it (plus it had the gray bumpers).

I think I remember holding my '84 skid plate up under my '92 Legacy and noting that it lined up pretty well and that I could just drill a couple of new mounting holes (drilling holes in the plate, not the car) for it -- I thought 2 of the bolt holes lined up with the tranny, but maybe I dreamed it. I have an '84 skidplate sitting in my garage that I was keeping because I'd planned to drill it and bolt it up under my '92. I remember looking under the '92 when I got it and thinking "jeez, why doesn't this thing have a skidplate under it? Subaru's in decline!

OK -- '92 Legacy Wagon. 235K miles. Love it -- most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. In the past week, it's started misbehaving. Driving home at night, the car will suddenly die -- tach goes to zero, dash lights and headlights go off, car starts to slow down -- and then comes back to life. Total outage is < 1 second -- just enough to freak you out. There's also an audible "click" from behind the dash, which I'm assuming is just a relay for the headlights or some other system. It seems pretty clear that it's electrical in nature, but it's a pretty major electrical issue to make everything go out -- it's as though I'm turning the key off and then on again. I was wondering if either the ignition switch or (if there is such a thing) a relay tied to the ignition is failing. However, if I really do turn the key off and on again, all the dash lights (fasten seat belt, etc) light up again (like when you're starting a car), and this isn't happening when the car "hiccups". --If it were a bad coil pack/something in the engine electrical system, then the headlights/dash lights wouldn't go out. --Anyone else had these symptoms? Other than a CV joint and regular maintenance (belts/hoses), this is the first time I've ever had the vehicle act up on me. --Probably totally unrelated: my girlfriend mentioned that the ABS light occasionally comes on when she starts the car, and stays on for the duration of the drive, but the next time she starts the car, the light's out and stays out for weeks. Does the ABS light indicate anything other than ABS? Thank you, Shane

What a relief. I bought a set of seats off Ebay today. The guy called to ask if I needed any more Brat parts. I asked what year his Brat was, and he told me he had an '80 and a '78 -- both Gen 1! (My Brat is an '82). I was a bit worried that the seats had changed from generation to generation. I'm much happier now. --Shane in Seattle