Red92

With some help from the folks at LegacyCentral, I found the ABS computer. But even after replacing the ABS fuse and letting the system act up again, there is still no dash light, and no codes blinking on the ABS computer. :-\

There's probably thousands of different shots of blue rally Subarus jumping. ... but this one is just insane! When you watch the video, you get a sense for just how far back behind the camera the launch was!

I figured that someone had to start it eventually! We were outgrowing the 'Old Gen' thread for sure. If you have more, keep 'em coming! Here's a nice clean white Legacy wagon, belongs to bmxkelowna's brother: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47339 ... and another clean white/gold Legacy from the same thread:

Thanks for the tip! I found three stations in my area that sell the ethanol-free gas. I went to one of them yesterday, and you would never know it when you pull up. There's a HUGE sticker on the pump that says "CONTAINS UP TO 10% ETHANOL", but then there are super tiny stickers under the buttons that select the grades, which say "10% Ethanol", "10% Ethanol", "No Ethanol". When I hit the end of this tank, I'm going to go check out the other two stations.

Ok, so I got this project finished up today. To answer my own questions, and for anyone else wondering: YES, the hatch latch IS a two-stage latch, YES, the bottom striker is adjustable, and YES, the latch on the lid is adjustable. I used a screwdriver to flip the latch mechanism a few times, and could definitely tell that it was a two-stage latch. So once that was established, I then knew for sure that the latch wasn't at fault, but the adjustment was. So I adjusted the striker plate, and moved it all the way forward (toward the front of the car), which helped, but it was still loose. I then loosened the latch itself in the lid, and found that it could move "up" (toward the rear of the car when closed) just a touch as well. I'm pretty sure that the striker plate was intended to be the main adjustable piece, and there are alignment marks stamped into it, but regardless, I got just a touch of adjustment out of the latch mounting too. But that still wasn't enough. I couldn't find anything else that was adjustable, and the hatch gap looked correct up at the hinges, so... time to get creative. zzz With the help of a round file, I ovaled out the two holes in the striker plate just a touch. ... and that did the trick! The hatch now closes completely, and doesn't rattle anymore. Problem solved!

Wow, that looks great! $300 is scrapyard pricing! You got an awesome deal on that!

Hmm... Pictures of awesome newer Subarus, but nowhere to put them? That's easy enough to fix. zzz If you have any pictures of awesome NEWER generation Subarus, there is now a thread for them. --> http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=128494 <--

Ok folks. We already have an awesome picture thread for the "Older Generation", but now it's time to pull out and share those pictures you've been stashing of *NEWER* generations. The "rules" are the same as before. If you think it's "awesome", post it up. If you have any info about the cars (who owns it, links to build threads, etc, post that too! On to the pictures! MConte05's rally Legacy. Build thread: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=47869 Subafreak's "Monster Wagon" Build thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81629 A Toyota V12 swap in a '99 Legacy jzk25's Build thread (work in progress): http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2275426 MikeyMeyagi's Legacy Build thread: http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17226&sid=2ba003aa040989fed1b0f03e5e762255 A few misc:

Also, I have read a lot about the ABS relay going bad. From what I can tell though, the car doesn't have those symptoms. The pump doesn't run when the car is off, and the battery isn't going flat when I leave it for a while. I'm not sure that this completely rules out the relay though...

So my '94 GT has a strange issue with the ABS... and although there are tons of threads on this and other message boards about ABS, none of them seem to be the same as my problem. :-\ When I start the car, with my foot on the brake pedal, the ABS pump will kick in a few times in short bursts in a somewhat random fashion, and then quit. After that, when driving the car, it will occasionally kick in again, but only when the car is stopped and with the brake pedal held down. The ABS light on the dash is not on, and it does not come on when the system is acting up either, but it does light up with the ABS fuse pulled so I know that the light itself works. I tried to check for codes, but I couldn't find the controller? It's supposed to be under the front passenger seat, right? For now, I have pulled the ABS fuse, and the car stops completely fine. But I would like to fix whatever is wrong. The pedal moves down a bit when you first step on it, so I suspect the brakes might need a bleeding. Would air in the lines cause the ABS pump to cycle like this? Is the ABS activation triggered by how far down the pedal is? Thanks

I also took the opportunity to partially polish out my yellowed headlights. I've had great luck in the past with a pair of products from "Blue Magic"- Headlight Lens Restorer, and Headlight Lens Sealer. In this case, I wasn't able to use the sealer because it was too cold to apply it, but when I have a chance, I'll put it on. The polish just goes on with a pad or cloth, about 20 minutes of elbow grease per light, and you're done. The lights need to be cleaned and thoroughly dry before the sealer goes on, otherwise the sealer won't coat evenly. This polish does a great job I think, especially since I've never wet-sanded any lights before I've used it, and I've never used any drill attachments or electric buffers. I'll give these lights a quick re-polish and a coat of the sealer next time I can borrow someone's heated garage. They get one more notch shinier when the sealant is on. Driver's side headlight, before: Driver's side headlight, after: Passenger's side headlight, before: Passenger's side headlight, during: I use blue painters tape on the bodywork, so that I can just polish like crazy right up to the edges of the light without having to worry about the paint. The bottle says to do even strokes in the same direction, but I just go every which way and it works great.

I scored some parts at a local junkyard, and replaced my battery hold down clamp. The old one was pretty rusty and corroded, so I suspect it was not original to the car. There really wasn't much holding it together! Old: Old vs New (used): New installed, with a cover over the positive terminal now as well:

Yeah, no kidding! Looking at the photos, it would have been a completely different story if you had had a passenger, or rolled it the other direction.

So seeing that your post count is just 5 now, what two cars are you going to build up next? That's interesting news! Do you happen to have a picture?

What is the typical life span of an O2 sensor on the Subarus? My Legacy needs one too, and I was wondering if it is worth it to grab a used one (or a few) from the junkyard the next time I'm there...

There actually isn't that much rust on the rear hatch... the latch itself and the underside are very clean, and just a touch of rust on the black pieces around the handle. I gave the handle a good look, and it fully returns until it his the rubber stop when you let go of it (you can't push it in any further). Would I need to pull the interior panels off of the hatch then to check the mechanisms from the back?

Ugh. What a pain. Hopefully we can figure this one out.

Yep, I keep the doors locked. The windshield seal looks great, I can't see any place there that I would question at all. I also checked the headliner at the very front edge, under the sun visors and along the map lights - still completely dry there. So I don't think it is the windshield that is leaking. The only thing I can think of are the rain gutters that run the length of the roof on the sides of the car. Where is the water supposed to go when it goes into the gutters (under the black trim) ?

Yep, the two cone-shaped rubber bumpers on the hatch lid are still there, and I can tell from the dust that they do make contact with the body. They're nice and firm, and don't look squished down at all. They don't appear to unscrew really, that I can tell... It has two spring-loaded wedge shaped things as well, just up and inward a bit from the tail lights... the one on the right is OK but the spring isn't very strong on the one on the left. Either way, I can't imagine that the two little springs would be enough to keep the hatch lid from bouncing around, even if they were brand new... I should also add that the hatch appears to be aligned correctly. The body gap is uniform and everything looks right.

On my '94 Legacy GT wagon, the rear hatch closes and latches fine, but if you pull up on it, it lifts just a touch before the latch stops it. It's not a huge problem, but it's enough that it rattles when you go over bumps. Does anyone know how to best adjust this? Is it the latch mechanism in the lid that needs to be adjusted, or the metal loop on the bottom? Also, can anyone confirm if this is a single-stage latch (either latched, or not), or a double-stage latch like the doors (where they will stay closed if you gently shut the door, but not be "fully closed" unless you close it harder)? Thanks

So I got into my '94 Legacy GT this morning to run some errands, and found out that the front seats were both damp. :-\ We've had a few days of rain lately, which was supposed to be snow, but it stayed just a few degrees too warm for that. This car does not have a sunroof. The bottoms of both seats are damp, and the drivers side seatback is damp with perhaps a bit more toward the outside of the car. The passenger side seatback is completely dry, and the passenger seat bottom is less wet than the drivers side. The drivers side carpet seems damp, but less so than the seat. The passenger side carpet might be a touch damp, but not as bad as the drivers side. I had suspected the window seals at first, but the fabric door panels are completely dry on both sides. There are no smells (coolant, etc), and it is too much to be condensation. The rear seat is dry, as are the rear door panels. The headliner is completely dry. Any suggestions on what this might be, or what to look for? Thanks

x2. Sometimes you have to be persistent with CL sellers.

This one? It's still there for me...

If you do that, be sure to put an inline fuse holder in the loop as well.

Also... I wouldn't worry at all about these repairs. Most of them are wear items or things which have a finite lifespan anyway (ie: tires, batteries, starters, belts, etc). If you drive the car regularly, then you *will* have to replace them eventually, and the same would hold true for any other used or new car you purchase. You can also rest easy knowing that every part you replace, is one less thing to worry about.