swi66

They do afford some protection against salt and corroding the lugnuts. If your clamate is like mine, you are better with them. Buffalo, road salt capitol of the World. You could always replace the open ones with "acorn" style chrome ones......... swi66

I have collector cars. When I store them I simply disconnect the battery. If the battery goes bad, it was ready to anyways. Don't start a car just to get the fluids moving, it creates condensation both internally and in the exhaust system. Just leave it. I use moth balls to discourage mice. 2 months is not long at all. My collector cars sit for 6 months, though indoors, with car covers. Some people suggest getting the motor oil changed before parking so moisture in the old oil is out of the motor. swi66

I never heard of doing it by loosening the lower control arm. Popped the ball joint when doing mine, easy enough for me. Got my re-mans from NAPA for around $60 each, with lifetime warranty. I'm sure the Subie ones are way more. swi66

You can keep it south of Buffalo, I'm north and I had to give the wipers one swish this morning..........enough for me for the whole winter. swi66

Regarding driving through floodds, not real recommended. My son drove his Neon through a very deep puddle too fast. Water sucked into the air intake and hydro-locked the motor. Pushed a rod through the block. How lucky do you feel................. swi66

About 10 years ago I had a LOT of problems with Exide batteries. It came out later that they were knowingly selling bad batteries instead of removing them from stock. I had 2, bought on sale. Lasted barely over a year. When I went to exchange them, the "pro-rated" policy was based on the list price of the battery instead of what I actually paid for them. It was less expensive for me to buy a different battery from a different source. There was also something going on at that time with Sears using Exide as a supplier and someone accepting payoffs to accept the inferior batteries with the Diehard name from Exide........I try and avoid Exide. I like interstate, have had luck with those. My 96 Dodge Ram with the heavy duty electrical system had the battery go dead in just under 3 years. Supposedly it was a 5-year battery.......BUT, the truck had only 3 years 36,000 miles warranty so I could have got a mopar pro-rated battery at a cost to me of over $100. I bought a NAPA battery for $49. My 98 Legacy battery lasted 6 years...........pretty good in my book. swi66

Not to offend anyone, but there have been several times I have had to refer to mine as "Screwburu" When something broke, or went wrong. There were a few other expleletives along the way............ Mostly though...............Subie! swi66

My wife has used our 98 Right Hand drive legacy to deliver mail. she has plenty of times had to "plow" snow along the side of the road to get to mail boxes. One problem we did have was thowe little plastic inserts (cooling vents?) in the front facia. The snow would push them in. these were just normally popped into place. A drill and a couple of screws solved that problem. Once those were pushed in though, the inner plastic fendewr well would fill with snow and push down on the tire..................actually had one come off! swi66

You said you were in NY, where in NY? Buffalo area? I had trouble with BOTH Buffalo area Subaru dealers. I have no trust in them anymore. So I get work done elsewhere, or do it myself. I don't know much about the 2.5s but mine is a 2.2, I paid $1200 for a motor with only 88 miles on it at Vinces Junkyard in this area. Of course that was 4 years ago. They get cars used in crash testing, so has some low mileage stuff. swi66

Most insurance companies will want to send "their" people to replace your windshield either at your home or where you work for your convenience. I generally avoid the insurance companies choice. The insurance company will then try and tell you they cannot "guarantee" the work of your chosen shop. But they will not provide you with a written guarantee of their technicians work either. Insurance companies contract with low bidders for windshield replacement and you will not very likely get the best most experienced people. Last windshield I had replaced my insurance company, Progressive, gave me a fairly hard time, and wanted their guy to do it out doors where I worked. It was winter time, about 10 degrees out, with a possibility of snow. Not the best conditions in my opinion to seal a windshield. My guy did it in his shop, vacuumed the car, cleaned the car and dash, and transferred both stickers off the old windshield onto the new one. He has a very good reputation, and it is well earned. I was happy with his work. swi66

One more question on the Evap situation! Does this car, a 98 Legacy with a 2.2 have a carbon canister? If so, where is it? Thanks............. Swi66

Changing the oil at 3000 mile intervals is something my father taught me in the 60's. Oil may not have been as good then as it is now. In any event, we routinely got well over 150,000 miles out of a motor with no major overhauls. I even got 280,000 out of a Ranchero I bought at 120,000 miles, which I can only attribute to frequent oil changes. Now I wouldn't lie awake at night worrying if I went to 4 04 5 thousand miles, but for the most part i change mine at 3000, except for my wifes jeep which I have syntrhetic in, that goes 6000 miles, but is used for mail delivery so that is still quite frequent time wise. We regularly had the body fall off the vehicles before the motor went bad.............I know a lot of it is in "selling" you on frequent oil changes, as there is money to be made by a lot of people there. But in the long run, cheap insurance. swi66

Jiffy Lube and their like are like mosdt "other" repair facilities. They do not make money unless they SELL additional services. Had a gift certificate for a free oil change at a Valvoline 0il change place. I took my wifes jeep in during the winter instead of doing the change myself. They wanted to upgrade the oil to synthetic, change the differential fluids, flush the motor, flush the pos=wer steering, flush the transmission, flush the radiator, told me I needed a new battery, and windshield wipers to boot! I imagine the less mechanically inclined fall for their sales pitch. They wanted me to fork over like more than $600 extra to get all their "recomendations" taken care of..............I'll do my own oil changes from now on......... swi66

I will have to look through my spare parts box as I have left overs from the original motor. Before I turned the core in I took all the sensors I can find. Yes it did give a code which I cleared, don't remember what it was, but it was for evap. I have a snap-on scanner with the import package.........still learning how to use it. Probably won't get back to this thing until the weekend. I have an EGR code up too, but that cannot be fixed due to it being a motor which came without an EGR, installed in a car which originally had one. I actually can get away with two "not ready" codes to get it through inspection, but the trouble starting problem just developed recently, and I would like to solve it before it really becomes an issue. Occasionally the car stalls as well, but does restart. It stalls when letting off the gas after pulling away from a light, then having to back off. swi66

98 Legacy 2.2 with auto trans. Not Ready code on my scanner for Evap. The actual code was on for evap, but I cleared it, and "not ready" stays on according to my scanner. I have to depress the gas pedal to make it start in the morning. After filling the gas tank on the way to work, I actually have to "pump" the gas to start it, and depress the gas to keep it running, or it will stall before I put it in drive. Any suggestions??? If you are going to tell me a sensor needs replacing, please describe to me where it is swi66

Speaking as a mechanic, and as a person who should know better. I have had 4 battery explosions. Only once was it in a car when the hood was shut! that one I figured was caused by a loose terminal which sparked. In any event, baking soda is cheap, buy a LOT of it and wash everything down. several buckets full, and let it flow everywhere. then rinse out with garden hose. Blew one up on one of my "show" cars. motor compartment was awful. Had to pull the motor out to refinish the red color on my 66 Dodge. Acid discolored everything, and ate right through the paint in some areas. swi66

You aren't by chance using the car as a mail delivery vehicle? 7500 miles is about right for my wife using the 98 legacy. 600 stops a day tears the hell out of brakes. Are you by chance a 2-footed driver? Using the left foot for the brakes. People who do that tend to "ride" the brakes a bit. swi66

Nothing wrong with telling everyone which dealership it is..............Any complaint as long as truthful should be perfectly fine to post here. Next step is call Subaru America and complain about the dealership, and follow up! Then try the Better business Bureau, does a local TV station or newspaper have a consumer hot line? Sometimes the squeeky wheel gets the grease........... Don't back down..............Maybe even a note to the Attorney general of your state. On my 94 Sub which I bought new, it took me several trips to the dealership, and finally a meeting with a factory Rep to be vindicated that the dealership screwed the car up, while they told me the vibrations and grinding noises were "normal". Just trying to get me past warranty..........took the threat of invoking the Lemon Law to get the car fixed. swi66

Happened to me on my 98 Legacy with 90,000 miles. It was so bad the crank was toast. For me I had the motor changed, rather than change a crank. Very expensive! swi66

I know I should but I generally don't use the parking brake, a NY car with all the salt here, it doesn't release all the way, and I kept it well lubed but it would drag if applied. I don't think it is a fuse because I heard a solenoid clicking, and it finally did release, I had even tried bracing myself in the door jam and rocking the car, didn't work right away. And yes I stepped on the brake.......been driving this car since it was new, and it has balked on occasion, but never like it did yesterday......... Thanks for the info on the override lever, I bet I can find it if I need to. swi66

Hava a 98 Legacy with the 2.2 and the automatic. Yesterday I was parked on a slight hill, started the car, tried to put it into drive. Release button on the shifter would not go in! at least not enough to release the shifter. I could hear a solenoid clicking, but it took me about 15 minutes of playing with it to get it to go. I still don't know why it finally decided to go. Is this a common problem? It has balked once or twice before, but not like this swi66

I had an 83 AMC Eagle, around 88 I had the exhaust replaced from the Catalitic converter on back. Had that car for over 180,000 miles and had to take it back about once a year for pipes rotting out. They charged me for the pipes, but replaced the lifetime muffler for free.....................Had to watch them like a hawk cause they would always walk under the car with a hammer in hand. Had to let them know in no uncertain terms if they smacked that converter with the hammer, I would take it and smack their kneecaps. Then they would "get" me by pointing it out the car needed all 4 shocks. I'd tell them to replace them as well, the warranty was in the glovebox and those front shocks were a bear to change...........don't know how they could always forget they were warranteed............. Some places like Midas, or Cole uses lousy parts, and you will be back for more..............of course, I live in NY where they salt the roads heavily. swi66

I've split nuts with an air chisel before, on tie rods. Then had to find a replacement castleated nut............. Snap-On makes a bolt extractor set like that as well, at least 3 times the price! swi66

I don't always replace the rotors as I pretty well know when to chage before metal on metal. When I do I use NAPA, though the last set I put on were off a junk car out of the boneyard. 88 miles on it! Bought the whole assemblies with bearings, hub, rotors, and pads still together and shiney......... The junkyard just happens to pick up cars which have been used in federal crash testing! swi66

There are too many variables on brake wear. Some people are just brutal on brakes. City driving is rough on them, too many stops! On my Dodge Ram pickup I went 70,000 miles before changing front pads, some say that's unheard of! I finally changed them just out of principal though I probably could have gotten another 10,000 out of them. On my wife's Subaru, we got the best mileage out of the original pads, replacements we got less. Driving style has a lot to do with it........2 footed drivers tend to rest their foot on the brake pedal, some people always in a hurry charge up to stop signs. swi66