Dr.Outback

Well, they might. I'll ask a Subie tech when I get a chance. But from my knowledge of Subaru's, if all 4 wheels are spinning at the same rate, there is really no way for the TCU to know the car is not simply accelerating forward. Yeah, all it's used for is sarting the car in 2nd when the selector lever is in 3rd, or for holding 2nd when the selectors in 2nd.

One feature that many don't know, and should know, is that on auto trans Subies to get the best hill climbing power and traction you have to manually shift the trans into first gear. This locks the torque split 50/50 and prevents the trans from shifting through gears in response to wheel spin. If you just leave it in Drive when the wheels start spinning, the trans will shift from 1st through 4th because it simply thinks you are accelerating.

Subaru's AWD on non VDC models only transfers power from the front axle to the rear axle. But not to only one wheel. So the system does transfer power from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip. But not from the wheel that slips to the wheel that grips.

I've had a few interesting experiences with the parking light switch. I was making a parts delivery to a small car dealer and noticed he had a couple of Impreza's sitting around. Since I was delivering Mitsubishi parts, I mentioned that we also handle Subaru parts. The guy said, "does your dealership have good techs." I said, "yes we do, but why?" He said that the one Impreza over there, "has a wiring problem because the tailights won't go off." Here he spent hours and tore apart the lower dash to fix this "problem", and I went over and just flipped the column switch off. He just couldn't stop chukling to himself. It helps to read your owners manual somtimes.

More info on this story. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aW1MYAx8B5Yc

This guy is thinking like I'am. Subaru is not going to let go of their engineering viewpoints anytime soon. Japanese automakers seem to be gentleman like then american automakers. They have, or used to have, an "agreement" on listing max horsepower. They seem to work together by owning little parts of each other. Nissan used to own 5% of Subaru and supplied some of their parts. I think that Toyota has the Synergy drive perfected and Subaru has the best batteries. All automakers have there problems. But Consumer Reports consistently lists the best manufactorers as, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru. Toyota has had it's fair share of problems with the V6's in the older 4Runners. Honda is having problems with some of their auto tranny's. Nissan has some really reliable cars, and some really unreliable cars. (Nissan Quest). So all in all I'm not worried about Toyota's interest in Subaru. It's just big business. Love'em and leave them. I have to admit that I'm proud that Subaru didn't let GM make them another dead groundhog on the side of the road. GM seems to run everything it touches into the ground.

Well, the only thing I can think of (and this is strictly theory) is that the HG tore at one edge and is swinging like a door. The material "swings" open with compression from cyl. 3, but "swings" closed with compression from cyl. 1. Just an idea........

I talked to our sales manager the other day. The Tribeca is selling steady retail, but like hotcakes to exporters. Russians are buying them and taking them down to Baltimore to ship them to Russia. We've been selling like 50 a month. Exporters are also shipping them down to South America.

Well, first get some baking soda and water and wash the acid away throughly. You can't use to much. Battery acid is very corosive. I would inspect the wiring that was hit by the acid very carefully. You should find the reason the battery exploded. It could be the voltage regulator in your alternator has failed and overcharged the battery.

I work at a Subie dealership and all I see are the problem cars. So it's a little hard to look at the HG issue objectively. I would say that it affects between 2%-6% of the 2.5L engines. The fair to poor engine rating could also have been given becuase of owners reporting oil leaks. Subaru changed there cam, and crank oil seals in '96-'98 and they leaked before 100K. The revised seals are just fine. They are what they used before the switch. The other reason for the rating is owners reporting normal 90K maintence, which includes replacing the timing belt. I receive CR, and never understood why in the survey they didn't mention that timing belt service is normal, and to only rate this area as a problem if the belt broke or wore out early.

It's your cam seals, and maybe your crank seal. The oil pump bolts can loosen also. No big deal. When you do your timing belt at 90K they take only a few extra minutes to replace and tighten. Most places would probably only charge for the parts, and maybe a little labor.

Your third manual trans? The only blown manuals I've seen are out of WRX's that have been speed shifted into 2nd, and second gear has blown out. I agree that the orange peel is pretty shabby, but have you seen some of the newest Mercedes? I might just stop down Sunday, it's only a couple of mins from my place. I'm looking to sell my SVX once I get new front axles for it. I've gotten 3 remans from Snavely's that are just as bad as the ones I've taken out. I'm going to make them give me my money back, and go to NAPA. Other then needing a new paint job, it's in great mechanical shape. Only 98K. If you know anyone interested let me know.

benebob.......Amercian Subaru's suck for quality Why do you think your '03 is trash? I think you told me once before, but i forgot.

I think it looks pretty good. Definetly the best version of Subaru's new styling "direction". I still like my '93 SS better.

If you look at Consumer Reports repair histories for the Legacy and compare them to the Camry, Accord and Maxima, it definetly falls short in a few areas. The '96-'98 2.5L engines do have a problem with HG's and oil leaks. Subaru used a plastic rear separator plate that warped and started leaking from the between the trans and engine. Now what did Subaru do? Replace the plastic rear separator plate with another plastic plate. No, they upgraded the part because there was a problem. Now the plates are made out of aluminum. Almost all '95-'98 Subaru engines leak oil from the cam and crank seals also. So Subaru upgraded the replacement oil seals. They aren't expensive to do when you have to do a timing belt changed. My dealer only charges for the part. Basically what I'm saying is that if Subaru finds a service issue, they fix it. The headgasket issue mainly affects the Phase 1 2.5L. Subaru has changed the part number several times for the headgaskets. Now I'm not sure if that's because they started making them somewhere else, or that the revised them in some way. The areas that Subaru falls short in the Consumer Reports history ratings for the '96 Legacy are, electrical and engine. the electrical is because they recalled the the '96 & '97 for an alternator problem. I'm not aware of an major electrical problems other then that. And of course the combination between the oil leaks and headgasket leaks for the poor engine rating. Certainly I would be careful of the '96-'98 2.5 Phase 1. The '85-'90 GL and DL's were also a splotch on the compaines record. I saw an old CR from '93 that gave the 1.8L engine a poor rating . Those engines leaked oil and had a tendency to snap the timing belt, leaving you sit. And they rusted to nothing in a time when Toyota and Honda weren't rusting quite as fast. Toyota's and Honda's still rusted out, they just took longer. I do have to say that I barely see many Camry's older then the '88 generation, and for a car that sold well, that's not very good. I do see a lot of '87-'90 Accords though. And quite a few older Corrola's, but not Civics. And all the older Acura's are rust buckets. Toyota had a lot of problems with the V6's in the 4Runner's also. So basically I tell my friends that Toyota/Lexus are the best, followed closely by Honda/Acura then Subaru. The reliability differences are only a few percentage points. And every manufacturer makes booboo's. Have fun shopping!

I thought it was rather ugly from the press pics. But I just saw one at the Harrisburg auto show, and it looks better then I expected. It was smaller then what I had thought.

The "piston slap problem" was mentioned in an earlier post, but I would like to add that the noise being described is totally normal for the 2.5L. Subaru redesigned the pistons, making them with shorter skirts and coating them with Molybdenum to imporve gas mileage. The shorter skirt contributed to some knocking noise at cold start that would quickly dissipate as the engine warmed. Sometimes the sound can be traced to a bad timing belt tensioner. We have had a couple of customers cause enough of a problem to replace there pistons or short block just to get them to shut up, but it didn't take care of the "problem". Look up www.endwrench.com, they have a lot of service issue related material.

I pm'd you.

cool. those underside brush guards look even better then in the picture in the accessory brochure. now all you need is the diff protector. Matt

Yep. That's done to create a non directional finish to the cylinder bore.

I just saw a Phase 1, with 140K, torn apart for a HG, and it still had the original honing marks on the cylinder bores. The Phase 1 2.5 did have problems with the stock seperator plate leaking. The revised part is an aluminum plate as opposed to the stock plastic plate. Which cures the problem, though a little late.....

About the door problem. Make sure that when the door closes it is flush with the front edge if the passenger door. If for some reason the passenger side door is out a little, it could cause the door jamb switch to ground the interior light, turning it on when the body flexes around a corner. The other thing causing this could simply be a defective door jamb switch.

Well said. Subaru's, mostly Legacy's, did have a clutch shudder issue that was resolved with a kit containing a new clutch disc, pressure plate, and flywheel. Apparently the problem was a defect in the way the flywheel was constructed. The headgasket issues affect far less Phase 2 2.5's then Phase 1. Clutch life really depends on the driver. I just saw a new '05 with 400 miles on it, with the clutch disc burned down to the rivets and into the flywheel. A customer did this on a "test drive".

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