86GLScooby

We'll see what happens... will get back when this is over

Yeah, it's a little steep... he did a kitchen renovation job and traded the car for the job and i guess didn't really know what he could get for it. So he cleaned the car nicely and sticking his guns to $2400. I just sold my car for $2400 and I'll have to pay $300 up for title and transfer, rental car... it's pricey for the year. He's meeting me half way on the road, so at least I save some gas money. I just want him to come down a couple hundred dollars and I'll be happy. He's not willing to though, he claims that the car is in mint condition, but it's going to need work. I can do the work myself, but still. He's just trying to sell me the car, first said it had the timing belt and water pump done and then said his mechanic said that the timing belt only needs doing at 140k, which is wrong. I told him... Well... it's the 1.8 engine FWD. It's what I want, in the color I want, just a few things I don't like is the price, abs brakes and no cruise. But I could live with that. I already asked him to come down twice, perhaps I should go down and wave cash in his face, 6 hour drive though. Thanks for the replies.

Hey Guys, I'm looking at buying a different subaru, I have a 97 legacy gt wagon and I would like something smaller and more gas efficient, but would like to stick with subaru. I'm looking for something to work on myself... I'm looking at this one: http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/3206229675.html This guy selling this car just won't come down from $2400 on this car. Things I'm concerned about, that should bring the price down is, no anti-lock brakes, no cruise control, steel wheels, 90k miles major service has not been done. Other than that it looks good. 12-R AC? I appreciate your input as you guys know best... thanks. I would like to buy something I don't mind putting some money into when I do repairs, my 97 became a project car I can't sell until I fix this or that... Regards, Kevin

Hey Guys, hope you are all doing well. I have a 97 Legacy GT wagon and the other day I noticed that my check engine light was on. I took note and then the next morning when I started my car it was off again. Today I drove into town and after 20 or so miles I smelled a chemical smell, it smelled like epoxy, kind of burning smell coming from under the hood. I noticed that the check engine light was on again and since I was right by an advance auto zone I had them read the code. It was the knock sensor code... I let the car cool down not knowing what in the engine could cause that smell, did laundry and had some food... when I restarted the car, the light was off again and it stayed off all the way back home, 20 miles going 35 mph... I just read a whole bunch of info on the knock sensor. What I don't understand is how do I know if replacing it would fix the reason it is being triggered? It's a sensor, doesn't it tell me when something is wrong in my engine, not that there is something wrong with the sensor? This might not be related, although it would be a big coincidence... for the first time since I replaced my head gaskets last year and did a lot of work to my subie (thanks again for all who helped me, that was quit the project) I put in cheap fuel from Walmart and not Shell fuel. My check engine light came on close to the end of the tank being run out... Could it be bad fuel? Now, should I use a fuel cleaner or seafoam to see if that fixes the problem before I go and replace the sensor? I appreciate your input and help, Thanks all and keep cool out there, this heat is dangerous...

Thank you for your replies, I've been out of town. I took my car to the shop and they did a test drive and balanced the tires... (they were all balanced and they didn't have to re-balance any of them) They said the inner tie rods have some play at the end of them and they need replacing, both left and right. The vibration is still at the front left wheel and I actually noticed that the tire is wearing way on the outside of the tire. I had the tires rotated and the wheel that was on the front left previously is also worn on the outside of the tire. Could the alignment be that much off that it's causing a slight vibration and flat spot? The previous alignment was done in a small town down south (people there told me that they don't like Subaru's here? weird...) and ever since then I've had this problem. Might get it re-aligned?

So I took my subie on the highway to see if the vibration shifted to the right, and it did. I'm going to take it to the shop for a professional balance and see if that does the trick, maybe the other place didn't quit balance it right. They do a quick balance, not sure if it's all the same... Then I thought I would rotate the front tires to the rear and see if another flat spot develops on the left front tire.

I guess the vibration did start after getting the wheels aligned... the guy said he had to do one side twice. I'm wondering if he was able to get it right? He did the alignment before the tires were balanced, not sure if that would affect the alignment. He did however let me know that my car is rusty underneath... lol

Okay, so I rotated the tires and as I was doing it I checked a couple things. With the car jacked up, I held the wheel at 3 o clock and 9 and it doesn't move back and forth, it also doesn't move up and down. There are some movement on both front tires when I push and pull them in the directions that the wheel would steer if that makes sense. Driving the car after doing the tire rotation, it did feel better and vibrated less, but then the steering seemed off and I pulled off the road. It comes and goes, I went to the store and back and it didn't happen again. There's no sound, but it feels like the steering is different when it happens. I believe the tire will start creating a flat spot on the rotated tire as well. A squealing sound is developing on the wheel that is getting a flat spot, so perhaps it's the bearing. I'm not sure. Any ideas? Thank you.

The sound is as if a nail is stuck in the tire... slows down as the car's speed slows down and speeds up when you accelerate. The old tire had a visible flat spot. I remember being able to hear the slapping sound best around 45 mph and almost go away at highway speeds. I did replace the caliper on that side due to it seizing up right before I made the trip to NC. Before I did the brakes in FL, the balance was way out and I had to drive 30 mph in order to drive in to town. My dad wanted to take my car in to get it fixed and so I let him, told him to balance the tires... he came back after getting an alignment done (he was certain it was an alignment issue) and obviously that didn't fix the problem. So he drove it into town again and had it balanced. I was too busy to take the car myself and told him to drive slowly, but I don't know if driving with off balanced tires for too long damaged anything... So, after my 500 mile trip to NC and hearing the vibration as I drove up, I got new used tires put on (quick balanced, but not aligned) and it drove better for a while. I can still feel that something is off and it's getting worse. Perhaps it needs an alignment again and a professional balance, I'm not sure. Last time I felt this, it ended up being that the drive axle bent slightly and the mechanic only saw it after putting it on a lathe and spinning it to see if it's straight. Would that create a flat spot? Perhaps an inferior drive axle was installed and it bent again from driving with unbalanced tires? I know the axle cost was $160. I will rotate the tires and see if the vibration shifts as well as the other tests. I'm not sure if the place that put the tires on my car kept the wheels in the same place, but it's possible. I looked underneath the car and the steering gear boot is broke on that side, but that is probable unrelated. On a side note, the mechanic that aligned the wheels mentioned to my dad that something is up with the steering. The steering is a little loose, but he didn't specify a fix for the problem. I'm thinking since I'm not at home it might be a good idea to take it in to an alignment shop and see what's up? Or should I take it to a local mechanic, I have been recommended someone... Thanks, I hope this information helps a little better...

My '97 Legacy GT's wheels were really off balance a couple months ago and so I had them balanced... I drove 500 miles from FL to NC and started hearing and feeling a vibration on the front driver's side tire. I went to the local tire shop and had 4 rather new tires put on and I can still feel the vibration and can start to hear that something needs to be worked on. I try to do my own work, but I'm not really sure how to diagnose this problem. I looked in my manual and it looks like it could be the Tie-rod? Any help in diagnosing this would be appreciated. Thank you.

There's a subaru for sale here, but the guy says that it won't move since he changed out the ATF... he wants $550 for the 1992 legacy wagon. Thought I would ask if it's something simple... lol. Thanks guys!

Hi, Seems like the driver's side front brake is sticking to the rotor while driving my 97 legacy gt wagon. It heats up and you can smell it after driving longer distance. I'm not driving it until serviced. I have the haynes manual, but any advice from you guys would be great. The brake pads have a lot of life left on them thickness wise at least, so I'll take a closer look at the caliper. Do I need a repair kit or do I just replace the grease and clean it up? Thanks.

Hi, My brother in law and sister has a '05 Impreza RS 2.5L that is using coolant... They drove down from NJ to FL for the holidays and at one point the car overheated and when they checked the engine, the coolant reservour cap was off and it was low on coolant. They filled it up and continued down to FL and now, a couple days later, the coolant level seems to be lowering. Has anyone here seen this problem? I just did a head gasket job on my '97's 2.5L and read up on some of the 2nd generation problems. The fix seems to be an additive added to the coolant. Anyone know if you can try bars or something similar? Thanks

Went driving this morning and still something is slipping, a high screeching noise and loss of power. Could a bad tensioner have symptoms like this? Can anything by the timing belt slip to cause this? It is an interference engine and it is still driving. I drove about 40 miles today and it started doing it by the end of the trip. I would like to fix whatever is causing this, any advice would be appreciated. I installed a gates timing belt kit... maybe I should have gone subaru, trying to save some money. ZZZ - I'm not really sure what happens to the engine that causes it to hiccup...

I referenced my Haynes manual and the 2.2l engine takes NGK BKR6E-11 plugs, but my 2.5l engine takes NGK PFR5B-11 plugs. They ended up being the premium platinum's at $10 a piece. So I'll end up doing that. Just wondering if I should order a tentioner while I'm at it.