Strakes

The traffic was light and I got to use cruise control a lot and got similar gas mileage on my 2002 GT wagon (5MT) of 32 mpg on a highway trip to D.C. and back last year. I was doing about 70 mph almost all the way. I was also using 89 Octane for the whole trip. I typically average about 26 mpg between tankfuls with combined city/highway driving. Oh yeah, I use Mobil-1 15W50 too...are you my evil twin or something?

JBRIII: Thanks, that's good news. I've wanted to go to Mobil-1 5W40 for a long time now, but just couldn't find the stuff anywhere...I'll keep an eye out next time I go to the store.

We love our legacies...and prefer them over outbacks. However, if they don't do a lot of snow plowing in your area, then an outback may make sense for ground clearance if and when it snows a lot. Also, some older retirees who have trouble getting in and out of vehicles (like my parents because of knee and hip arthritis) prefer the higher ride height in outbacks and/or minivans because they don't have to bend down or climb up (like into an SUV) when getting in and out.

Asking for oil opinions is like opening a can of worms... I've been using Mobil 1 15W50. Very little oil consumption at 30000+ miles. In my manual, it states that you can use a 10W50 or a 20W50 if use use your car for "heavy-duty" applications. I had a similar oil consumption problem to yours in a turboed car that I used to have. I tried Castrol Syntec 5w30 and Mobil 1 5w30 had to add a quart every 1500 miles, until I switched to 15W50. I've heard that if you can get a heavy duty diesel synthetic 5W40 (which are also approved for gasoline engines) that the oil consumption goes down considerably and you benefit from better fuel efficiency also. Some people like Mobil 1 Delvac 5W40 Synthetic a lot....it's just harder to find where I live.

I've used both "goof-off" and "goo-gone" and found it worked great for the glue residue left over after old bumper stickers were removed.

I've got a Fiamm horn that I got at the local auto parts store and all I can tell you is it's really crazy loud...and manly. It has two horns and has a low tone and a high tone at 120 decibels and it bolted right in into my wife's 93 Legacy and my 2002 Legacy. It took very little effort to install. It sounds like those freeway blaster horns in Europe. They were $25 per car (a low tone and a high tone for each car) plus tax.

We have 2 kids, but my daughter's friend likes to tag along with us when we go to the zoo. We have a 2002 Legacy GT and as far as I know it has the same interior dimensions as the out-going model (MY2000-2004) outbacks. 3 car seats are possible...if you get car seats that do not have built in side items like arm rests, cup holders and etc (some of them can be removed). The only way to find out is when you go test drive a car, take your car seats with you. I wish car seats weren't so crazy bulky and wide. A friend of mine found and bought car seats in Europe that were really nice and trim and put them 3 across in his 1994 legacy and that car is a little narrower than mine. Good luck!

Maybe the diff ran low on oil for sometime because of a small leak and now it's toast. If it's toast, you really can't put it off for long. The diff is usually something that a lot of owners don't look at because it's location on the car. Are there any good subaru mechanics in your area that can give you a second opinion and a better price? Also, I thought that the old style oil separator plate was plastic and that the new one is metal and there is a recall on it? Maybe someone here can tell us if I'm mistaken or not.

I also had my 2002 Legacy clutch replaced under warranty. It was great for the first week or so and then it returned. It turned out that the dealer had forgotten to replace the engine pitch stop bolt (located under the air cleaner, at the top of the engine/drivetrain). They replaced it and the judder disappeared, and hasn't returned for over 8000 miles.

They didn't put ATF in your front differential did they? I'd check that also because I've seen it almost happen at a quick oil change place on somebody else's subaru. Running any of the components very low on their fluid damages the internals very quickly. The only way to tell how much damage is by a tear down and rebuild. Some people get lucky and refill it (like a guy I know's leased Honda Accord) and it keeps working...but I wouldn't want to be the person who'd be buying this car used later this year after he turns the lease in.

To theotherskip: Thank you!!!

I had a similar problem and it turned out that I hadn't tightened the plug enough. I tightened it a little more and the leak stopped. Maybe someone here knows what torque it should be tightened to...now that I own a torque wrench.

My 2002 GT came with Chumpions and developed a misfire (and rough idle) at about 16000 miles and I replaced them with NGKs and haven't had a problem since. I got a whole set of NGK V-power copper cores at O'Reilly's Auto Parts for 6 bucks. Really cheap fix...and it even resulted in an increase in mpg's.

ditto what frag said. I use a shop that has one of those machines. It can tell you if the tire or the rim or both are bad.

Use a good quality Dexron III and you should be fine. I've been using Valvoline Maxlife Dexron III on my wife's automatic transmission services for over 50000 miles and it has helped smooth out the operation of the tranny considerably. That's been my personal experience. (Her car has about 154000 on the odometer now.) Good luck.

My wife's car did the same thing. We had a/c work done at the dealer and they forgot to re-connect the electric cooling fan plug/connector. It's located under the front passenger side near the radiator. One side of connector was easy to find because it was just dangling...the other was pinched on the metal plate that supports the radiator. Hope this helps.

Dont know what to say about the seatbelt...sorry. About your muffler, I assume that Midas put it on last time. They are notorious for cutting the stock muffler and tailpipe and its connection to the main exhasut pipe off and welding on an universal fit muffler and pipe together making a seemless pipe from the catylitic converter to the muffler. (they did this to my wife's 93 legacy). If that has happened, then it may be impossible without the right removal and fabricating tools to replace it. If they replaced it like sevensisters has, then you should be able to do it in your garage pretty easily.

Hey guys...thanks for all the responses. To answer some of your questions: Heikki: I replaced the stock brackets and bushings with a new kit that had greasable bushings via zerk fittings. I got these new polyurethane bushings and brackets at the local autoparts store. They are made by "Energy Suspension". I kept the stock end links...I may upgrade that next. I got the bar from ipd at www.ipdusa.com ... they don't have it posted on their site yet. But I just called them up, talked to Chris Delano and he said they had a few in stock and shipped one to me. Blitz: that's great advice. I have already "explored" the limits and have settled so far on the 20mm setting, giving me almost neutral handling at the limit, as long as, you're on the throttle. I may go to the 19mm if I upgrade to beefier endlinks. At the limit, I have noticed the back end likes to come out if you're not careful (even with the 14mm stock bar, I had that happen). It seems that with legacys that throttle=stability when near the limits. I love the lack of body lean...I love the ability to change lanes immediately...this car is a joy to drive.

I just installed an adjustable (19-20-21mm) ipd rear sway bar on my 2002 GT Wagon....WOW! What a difference! Boby lean is virtually gone. I love the way it drives now. Anyway...I have the old stock sway bar and was wondering how you properly measure the diameter? I cleaned the bar and put an open end wrench on it until I found the right one that would fit around it with out any gaps and it was a 14mm. Does this sound right to you guys? Thanks.

You benefit from less sidewall flex and better response with lower profile tires on larger diameter wheels. Another area of benefit/performance: consider the total weight of the new wheel and new tire versus the old. My opinion is that a lighter than the stock 15 inch tire/wheel in the 17inch size would be ideal for performance.

My owners manual states that the brake fluid should be replaced every 30000 miles. I own a $30 pressure bleeder called EEZI Bleed...and it works great. It uses pressure to supply the brake (or clutch) fluid reservoir with brake fluid and all you do is go the each wheel and loosen the bleeder valve/nut and let the fluid come out until the old dark stuff is gone and the new clean stuff comes out.

My mechanic uses a kit/apparatus from BG (I think) and it comes with a fluid that is used to completely saturate the ducts and supposedly get rid of the stench. I also saw something on Motorweek on PBS a couple years ago saying that many shops have kits available to reduce or eliminate the stench in your air ducts.

My opinion: I don't like the greasiness of Armorall. It seems to catch and hold all the dust instead of repelling it. A drive on a spring day with the windows open and your whole dash turns green with pollen. I prefer using Vinylex (by Lexol). It's a whole lot less greasy and makes the dash look like satin-finish new from the factory. Armorall's shine bugs me to when you're driving and the sun reflects off of it and you get a lot of glare, reducing visibility. I buy Vinylx at the local PepBoys.

I bought a set of tires last month from the tire-rack. The guy on the phone mentioned after learning that I had a Subaru, that they have a tire shaving machine and that a previous caller, (also a Subaru owner) wanted his 1 tire purchase shaved to a specific circumference...they were happy to do that for an all-season passenger tire even though they usually use that machine to shave competition tires for racing.

I've read that places where DRLs are mandated saw an initial decrease in accident rates followed by a rise to pre-DRL times. Why? the researchers said that with DRL's everywhere, people fail to notice them because they blend in with all the other cars. In other words, people get used to them. Keep in mind I read a newpaper article and the media isn't known for thoroughness. They failed to mention/show the break-down of the study(s). I'm sure if you looked at the details, there would be some situations where DRL helped and some where they made no difference, and some where they made things worse. Anyway, I agree...some people have a need to have their DRL's off. I bet the best solution would be to have a switch under the hood (fuse realy box) that would disable the DRLs for those that need their DRLs off. My old Volvo had a flat screw on the dash that you turned clockwise to turn the DRLs off.