intrigueing

I replaced my starter contacts ~ 8 months ago ~15,000 miles. They seem to be heading south again, whenever it gets below 20F the starter kicks a few seconds after the key is turned. My wife always drives the car, and never turns off the headlights - anyone speculate that having the lights on during starting kills the contacts sooner? Anything else that could cause them to die this soon?

Anyone ever get parts from http://www.all-foreign.com? Anyone ever used PBR-Metal Master pads or OPparts Front Brake Discs - advice? The prices are hard to beat, anyone have any cheap brake part recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Tires often are the cause of torque bind - don't go by looks, I have heard of brand new tires being off enough to cause torque bind. Measure the tire circumference before even thinking about digging into the trans. http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/RearAxleBindingInfoF99.pdf

Arnold, Here's my 2 cents. I went to UW Madison - and visited Mt Horeb many times. I know the terrain and weather there. When I was in Madison I had a 86 Subaru GL wagon, heck of a car with dual range 4WD, but no where close to the Legacy AWD setup for daily driving IMHO. My parents live in Eagle River Wisconsin, so I made many trips "up north". After college I lived in Duluth MN = tons of snow and big hills. I have many stories with my current 1995 Legacy, the car has always amazes me what it can do in inclement weather. I have gone up hills with oncoming cars coming down with tires turned into the curb brakes locked that couldn't stop. I have pulled out several pickups, and driven past many abandoned vehicles. I've made many trips through Hurley WI, with 8+ inches of snow on the ground, and snow plowed higher than the roof of the car. Bottom line the Subaru AWD will amaze you even without LSD. My parents have a Jeep Grand Cherokee AWD - also good in the snow, however it gets 10mpg less than I do and have spent more in repairs than I purchased my subaru for. You mentioned " What attracted me to the possibility of purchasing a Subaru was its reputation for ease of service,infrequent need for major drivetrain repairs, body panels galvanized on both surfaces, and ubiquitous all-wheel drive, plus the expectation that I could get such a vehicle with a limited slip differential." I am not sold on the 2.5 engine, headgasket problems, and an interference engine are not worth 30 HP in my book. I'd take a 2.2L, over a 2.5 any day.

Thanks for the Replies!

At 120 K my 95 Legacy wagon drivers seat is getting tired. The left side foam bolster on the seat bottom split and I can feel springs. Anyone ever pull off the seat cover and do repairs? I'm thinking I might be able to remove the seat cover, tape the foam back together and maybe add a thin foam back over the whole seat bottom. Or is there anywhere where you could buy new foam or have one custom made? Maybe a complete used seat is the way - what years would legacy seats bolt in a 1995 with no modifications? What prices do used seats go for at the junk yard?

Check Tires- Jack up the car and measure the tire circumference with a string. Then get new tires if significantly different, and get $ back for the duty solenoid. Insert FWD fuse if you are gonna drive it with the binding condition to avoid further damage.

When you disconnected the battery, you reset the ECU. After resetting the ECU you need to let the car warm up at idle, without touching the accelerator. If you touched the gas during warmup, the ECU will be lost and will cause the car to run weird. Try disconnecting the battery and let the car idle for 15 minutes then turn it off - without touching the gas! Cars often have extra connectors for options you don't have, it is just cheaper to make them all the same.

Cam/crank sensors?, try pulling the code, there can be a code even without a CEL.

The Fuse disables the transfer clutch solenoid, and makes the car 2WD - regardless of the cause, Put in the fuse to avoid further damage. Remember, just because it is binding does not mean it is the transfer clutch, it just means the AWD is kicking in when it shouldn't. How do the tires look? If you are replacing them anyway, do it before the trans, and see if the problem goes away. Bad tires will cause wear on the drivetrain. As WA says change the trans fluid (and also the diff fluid) and add some limited slip additive to the trans. And I wouldn't think of spending a dime on the problem without jacking up the car and measuring the circumference of all of the tires. See http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/RearAxleBindingInfoF99.pdf Don't expect the dealer to check this, they want to get an expensive repair out of you.

Check the tire circumference prior to doing any trans work, and you could always insert the FWD fuse and drive it 2wd. I think I have seen the job at 800 dollars or so, what prices did you get quoted? Make sure the person isn't doing their first subaru trans, search the archives for more detailson the repair - my bind was fixed by new tires.

If the noise happens when the brakes are applied, then I doubt it is the brakes. Check the CV boots for tears, it may be the early sounds of a failing CV axle. While you are under there look for any signs of rubbing. If the noise is not affected by turning left or right I doubt it is wheel bearings. Try jacking up each side and spin the tire (with the car in neutral) to see if the noise is evident. Try rotating the tires and see if that helps. Check the trans and diff fluid quality and level. Check the tire pressure. Is the noise coming from one side? Let us know what happens.

Try running the resistance check when the coil is hot immediately after the car showed the symptom?

Does the noise go away when you lightly touch the brakes?

What did the plugs look like when you changed them? Pull them now and look at them. Still leaning towards the cat or coil, can you borrow a coil from another subie?

When the coolant temp sensor goes it tends to make the car run extremely rich (flooding) when starting, giving you the hard to start condition - next time try holding the gas pedal to the floor while cranking (what you do if a FI car is flooded) This allows more air in, and it will sometimes start. The sensor is very important during startups.

Throw coolant temperature sensor into the realm of possibilities, Get the code pulled and that will almost certainly tell you what the problem is. Next time it has trouble starting try pressing the gas pedal to the floor and hold it down while cranking, a sensor is probably sending too much fuel during starting, holding down the gas often gives enough air to start.

It may act normal after getting new tires, however if the trans was whirring the transfer clutch was kicking in at high speeds on dry pavement, I doubt no damage was done in the long term.

Check your trans fluid, and replace it if there is any signs of it being dirty or burnt. You may also want to get a trans cooler - the SVXs weakest link is the trans - and you have most certainly tested it with different diameter tires.

Sorry, I'm not sure ir your car is a single welded unit, or bolted - crawl under and take a look-see. The cat can be removed (illegal), or replaced. Some pull the cat out and beat the innards out to improve performance, however I would never consider it (my state does emission testing and it is illegal). The cat is an expensive part and not something you wanna just throw a guess at. See if it unbolts.....if it does, run it (loud as all get out) to see if it is the problem, then replace it if it fixes the problem, otherwise bolt it back up and move to other possible problems.

Sometimes the backpressure can cause leaks where the block y-pipe come together. Look for exhaust leaks at the block. You could disconnect the exhaust before the cat, and see how it does. Otherwise emission test? Does the engine sound very muffled before it dies? Do you hear any rattling from the cat, like marbles , try tapping on the cat and see if anything sounds loose.

Sounds like it could be a clogged cat.

Dry - Liquid? Sounds like an oxymoron, anyway the black is most likely just carbon, and the wet is water, both a result of normal combustion.

This past weekend I did the trick that I saw posted (drawing some water into an intake vacuum line) - and sure enough it smoothed my idle and made the engine quieter - and made starting quicker. I was very apprehensive about throwing water in the cylinders, but dang it sure made a difference. Anyone else have good luck with it?

Make sure the tires all match and have similar wear. Mismached tires will eat the drivetrain on these cars. Take some slow tight figure 8's to make sure you do not get any binding from the AWD.