charm

First off, I did a search and came up flat on this one. I have my new GR-2s and was assuming that this would be straight forward. What I'm finding is that the nut holding the lower end of the shock in place is stuck. If only I had a lift and the space to put a 5 foot long breaker bar on the end of it! From there I got to wondering if the spring doesn't need to be compressed? If these are shocks, I assume that the springs are not under load, but if they're more strut like, then I would need to compress the spring and that would help take tension off of the nut and bolt on the bottom. I think I noticed a little black body filler button what seems to be in the right spot to remove the nut on the top of the shock. Assuming I'm correct on that, once I get the bottom, the whole thing should drop down and replacement will be the reverse. Am I even close? If anybody knows of a thread that would better explain it, please point me in the right direction! Thanks.

Don't apologize, I'm the one seeking help with this! Thanks for the suggestions. So is the general thinking that it's from the crazing? I've seen stranger things turn out to be true. From what little I know of these things, it's either the crazing or the foam. I assume the foam is in place to slow the water down, when there is enough of it, while it goes down the drains. If the foam isn't doing it's job, wouldn't it allow water to back up into the cabin? At the same time, if there is a TSB about the crazing, it could be that too. I guess I'm looking for a definitive answer on a message board when really the only place where I can find the answer is from the end of hose directed at the roof of my car. Thanks for the help.

I've looked for areas that are really seeping heavily. I'm hoping to be able to see it with my interior placed conveniently in the garage. I may have to do the hose thing since it's decided to finally stop raining for a few days in Seattle. The only thing I've seen that looks like a possiblity is the crazing mentioned previously. By pouring in, I don't mean it's like standing in the shower. It's more like a couple ounces of water. It tends to pool in that little depression in front of the cup holder but it's not enough to fill it up. Of course that depends on the angle that the car's parked at. I am also aware that sunrooves (or is it roofs?) are designed to leak. My first guess as to the source of the problem was a clogged drain. It was the first thing I ruled out. I still think that the foam strip, not the rubber weather stripping, is part of the problem. But, we'll see when we get a fare bit of water on there.

O.k., just took a look based on the direction posted above from gbhrps. What I'm seeing is, on the rear sunroof, from each front corner back about 4 inches, is some brownish crazing up near where, if the sunroof were closed, it would be outside. Are you saying that that crazing is enough to pour water all over me after running through a carwash? It seems so minor. In fact, it seems minor enough that I imagine the eopxy is unneeded if all you were to use is a good automotive paint with a primer under it...assuming it's been dried out properly. Am I looking at the right thing?

The front end looks like an Audi, the rear (in that photo) like a Mazda 3. I like Audi's and Mazda's but if I wanted one of those, I'd buy one of them. If I want a Subaru, I want it to look like a Subaru and this looks too much like other cars. It's not that I dislike the looks of this car, it just lacks orginality. I've not liked what they've done to the Impreza line the last two iterations, I can't stand the Tribeca, and if they build this they will ensure that I won't buy ANY Subaru built after whenever they release that. I guess that's good for me since I'll be buying nothing but used Subarus from now on.

I'll look at it a little later this evening. If I understand this correctly, I need to look for an almost invisible crack along both sides of the rear sunroof, not the front one. My car is also white, it sounds like that may help me see this. Curious how TSBs work. Do they function like recalls where SOA pays for the repair? Could I still get the dealer to pay for this repair? Heck, I've already done most of the work for them by disassembling the interior of my car! It is certainly not the drains, I've blown them all out. While I haven't done the hose thing, I can blow air through all of them easily and therefore am certain they're clear enough to run water through.

There are a few threads on this but none answered the question for me. I have 2000 Outback wagon with the two sunroofs. Or is it one sunroof and one moonroof? I have leak that appeared to be coming from the panel in the headliner with the two lights and the sunroof controls. Pulled that out and, well, more water came out. Still no clue where it's coming from. Today I removed the headliner and the frame that holds the sliding cover for the front sunroof. My goal is to hopefully actually see where the water is coming from now that I have nothing imparing my vision. So far, it appears that the foam seal that goes half away around the forward portion of the front sunroof is kinda thin and compressed. It was very wet when I removed the glass. I read something about a TSB in another post. Is any of this potentially related to that? With nothing in my way visually, if it is that TSB that the previous owner did not take the car in for, what should I be looking for? Other suggestions for a solution or clue as to the problem are always welcome.

I ended up going to AJUSA. Oh, and dumb question, on the rear of the 2000 Outback, are those considered shocks or struts? I've seen them described both ways but want to know which is technically correct. The fronts are clearly a MacPherson strut.

KYB's? Running over to NAPA would make things nice and easy!

Tire rack has no ETA on my new shocks and they're clunking worse and worse every day. I want this done sooner rather than later so, does anybody know of any retailers in the Seattle area that sells KYB products?

I must be the one person who has lost in a Subaru. I had done a snow camping trip to Mt Rainier on x-country skis. On the way to the trailhead, up the snowy logging road, I had to pull aside for somebody to pass and picked up a HUGE spike of somesort in my right rear tire. Got to the trailhead and heard a hissing sound and decided to leave it until I got back to the car. Well, it was warm when we got there and got real cold that night and stayed cold the next day...ice. So, I change the tire, load the car, and venture down the steep icy logging road. I got maybe 100 yards before I lost it doing all of 3 miles an hour (which was hard to do without severe braking). Get the car out with the help of some others. I would have chained up the rear because what I needed was not steering, I needed to slow the rear end of the car down. As it was, to get the car out of the snow bank, I needed the chains. I had access to 3 wheels and one of those wheels was the donut. So, the chains went on the left side of the car. They weren't on long, just to the bottom of the hill. It was a strange feeling though. The hill was so icy that the right side of the car was sliding while the left side was in control. The result, the car went down the hill sideways, but in control. The morale of the story, if you're driving in mixed conditions, up and down, side to side, put 'em on the front. If you're going down a steep icy logging road and plan to take them off at the bottom, use the rear. Speaking of which, I need to get chains for my Outback, the above story was in my Impreza.

I have never used any other rubber that weighed that much. Dynamat is incredibly dense stuff and that's why it works. The others on that last are not as dense, they do not appear to deaden as well. I have sat in cars with other materials and comapred similar systems with different deadening materials, there is a difference and dynamat really does work. The simple test is to buy the 10" x 10" of each and place them in a sub box...see which one sounds best. Hint: It's the one with the Dynamat. Personally, in a car as underpowered as a NA Subaru, the added weight of the dynamat is not something I'm willing to deal with...I'll deal with the road noise. I have used Dyanamat to deaden a Dodge Dakota and '63 Nova with a small block V8 in it. They both had the power to move the added weight without impacting their already terrible fuel economy...and gas was cheaper then! If I were to deaden my Outback, I would sooner consider adding a layer of carpet padding. Not as effective as Dynamat, but MUCH lighter.

Ordered front and rear bars from Rallitek this morning. They should arrive tomorrow or Wed. I also went to take off the dangling chuck of swaybar (and the end link). I discovered that I did not just break the drivers side...I also broke the passanger side! I took both end links off and will take the middle piece off when I install the new bar. I'm very impressed with the level of damage I appear to be capable of inflicting.

Replace front or replace front and rear swaybar(s)? I snapped the front swaybar on my 2000 outback in the same place everybody else does doing something inoccuous...like almost everybody else who has done this. Happily, this is the excuse I've been looking for to upgrade to bigger bars. The question is, I can easily justify the front bar. The Rallitek front bar and the OEM front bar are virtually the same price. Is there a handling consequence from putting on a beefy front bar and leaving the little dainty bar in the rear? Or, do I replace them as a matched set? I'd prefer to spend half as much money but also want to be safe. thanks all!

I told him what I wanted for it, he never responded. With this set up, all of those things will fit on the car. The bars sit a little higher than the stock cross bars. I had originally bought the rack so that I could carry a small sailboat on the roof (which I never got around to buying). I got lucky when I went in to the car rack store in Portland, Or. I got a saleman who was, um, creative. He had seen it done on another 97 Imp and had remembered it. I thought it was widely known that this would work until I started reading the board here. Seems this guy knew something unique, something a lot of other owners would have loved to have known. I'll still take $200 for it with a nice assortment of attachements...but I don't want to even think about what it would take to ship something shaped like that.

Although Yakima does not make feet for the '97 Imp, they do make feet that fit. I wish I could find a stamp on the feet to tell you what they are. I bought them about 5 years ago so I don't recall exactly, but I think they're made for some model of Jeep. They fit well enough. These might be the Q-clips, but I'm not sure. The fight are designed to slide on and off of clips more permanently fastened to an existing rack. The trick is, the angle has to be right. In this case it's really close but not perfect. Close enough that to get the front bar on, you need to loosen the allen head screw that clamps the cross bar to the feet a little so it will wiggle just a tad. Then, once on, you tighten the screw. The rear goes on without loosening anything. Works great! I stand corrected, there is a stamp on the bottom and it's real hard to read. I think it says... PA66-GF14 They're for sale along with the rest of the rack...but you might be bidding against somebody else.

Oh happy day, an opportunity to bad mouth Les Schwab. But first, a complement. I bought a set of Toyos from them with somewhere in the neighborhood of 70,000 miles and still going strong...I assume, I sold the car. Now the bad...I went to get my struts replaced. I had done my homework and new I wanted KYB GR2s...I think those are the ones a tad better than stock. They had the car on the rack, tires off, ready to go. They clearly didn't have the GR2s in stock so they tried to sell me the next model up. I'm still o.k. with this; I understand the need to make the sale. Here's where I vowed to never enter a Les Schwab again (and to tell people how much I don't like them). I said that in a 1997 Impreza L that an adustable high performance strut is pretty pointless. Their response was, this strut is not adjustable and is the stock replacement. I told them to put the tires back on. They did not readily do so and I insisted. They finally put them on, but I was starting to think I was going to have to call the cops to get them to do so...it didn't go that far. What this means to me is that they either were lying to me to make the sale or, they don't know their product. Either way, I don't want them touching my car ever again. I replaced my own struts. Since then, my mechanic strongly recomended Discount Tire and I've been more pleased with their service and honesty.

I suppose I better find some time to get in there and check it out.

I was doing some fuel system maintenance a couple weeks ago and when I added seafoam to the tank, more of it ended up on the ground than in the tank. Is there a potential relation between these two events?

So where is the evap control valve and what exactly does it do?

I've done a search for this code on the site and it seems to have something to do with the venting of fuel gases. I have no idea where the parts are for this or which ones to replace or test or inspect. Any direction would be much appreciated.

Second Smart Service. Either shop will work, Mukilteo or Shoreline.

I've tried several wireless ones and have never had good luck with them. My experience would be that other drivers could not pick up the signal...and neither could I. If it worked as advertised though, I think the other car would have to be right next to you and tuned to the same obscure radio station that isn't prodcasted on. The inline ones work well, I have one right now. The hardest part is finding a nice place to put the power switch and the plug...otherwise, no complaints. My FM modulator though is a temporary thing. The real best way to do this for all around best sound quality is to replace the stock radio. The one I happen to want hasn't bee released just yet.

No auto start. I'm taking it in this late this afternoon. And, if they can't fix it, I'll have them pull it and refund my money.

Do buy from Crutchfield, but don't start your shopping there. You MUST handle the unit to find out if the controls work for you. What sounds good on paper may feel terrible when it's in your dash and what sounds terrible on paper may feel perfect in your dash. Go to the big box electronics stores, or, better still, your car audio shop. Personally, I prefer to buy from my local shop. I do my homework and know what Crutchfield and others sell the same unit for and I haggle to get that price. Having said that, Crutchfield is a great source of knowledge and I do not discount it as an amazing resource.