cfrench

Yeah.. taking out the unit is a pain. Connectors all look pretty solid, so it's either the unit, or.... something else? I hate electrical problems.

I have an intermittent (though growing worse) problem with the AC control panel. It doesn't seem to be getting power (lights on the buttons not coming on), and thus I have no vent/AC/heat control. Occasionally, it will work, though that seems to be getting less and less. It sounds electrical (loose connection-ish) to me, but before I embark on taking the bloody thing out, I'd like to know if there was something simple I can look for. Thanks in advance, Chris

Interesting. What was it that failed? I'm pretty sure this was an original axle, new boot though.

Yeah... its a bit of puzzle to me... No noise, no smell... odd. If I remember right, there are a few pins in the cv assembly holding things together. Possible one of them snapped?

Yes. Mostly. Doubt it, this was a one time deal. He says it happened during normal driving, and really don't have a reason to doubt it. Until there is a massive amount of evidence to the contrary, I'll assume he wasn't misbehaving.

Long story short: Let friend drive car (an 90 Legacy, 2.2 AWD). CV boot and axle on the passenger side front looks to have exploded and the axle has seperated from the wheel. Now, the repair is pretty obvious. My questions are this: 1) There was no clacking or banging to suggest the CV joint was going bad. Seemed to be driving just fine. Are there any other symptoms for a CV going bad? 2) Assuming nothing was wrong with it in the first place, what would cause this sort of sudden failure to occur? 3) Anything else I should have looked at when I take this to the shop? (Possibly related to question 2) Thanks in advance, Chris

Ok... an update, and a few more questions. I've replaced the radiator and the thermostat, which has taken care of the leak, and (for now) the overheating. I haven't given it a good run on the highway yet, but at least it isn't overheating while sitting on the driveway idling. By the amount of coolant I've added, I'd say that I still have air in the system. I've read a few posts concerning the proper bleeding of the system, but I'm still a bit confused as to the exact procedure. Do you run the engine with the bleeder cap off, adding fluid as necessary.... or run it, then bleed it and add fluid while its off?

Thanks for all the background info. Good, in a way, to know that these are fairly common problems. Good, also, that this forum exists. You guys rock... but you already know that. ;-) One of my previous autos was a 88 Isuzu Trooper, which due to a belt failure overheated (not nearly as dramatically as the subaru), and within the space of about 5 minutes (about how long it ran overheated) it blew the HG... turned the contents of the radiator into something resembling a chocolate milkshake. This is the my previous experience with overheats, so I've been rather pessimistic about the state of the subaru engine after this overheat, as I probably ran it about that long in an overheated state. Interesting that you say this is one of the best engines Subaru has ever made. This car is something of a hand-me-down, and I know little about it. Its good little perfomer for the size, I take its rugged as well then? Thanks again, you guys have been a huge help. Next time anyone of you is in Bozeman, look me up, I'll buy you a beer.

Thanks guys, I'll check out those previous posts. Some (probably) important info I left out due to the late hour (never post past your bedtime). The car has around 170K on it. The hoses look like they've been replaced, but other than that, its probably all the original parts I'm dealing with here.

I have a 90 Legacy, 2.2L engine, 5 speed manual, and this problem... I pulled into my driveway a few days ago and was greeted by a great deal of steam coming from the radiator, as a well as a coolant leak coming from the passenger side of the radiator (hard to say exactly where... I'll get to that in a minute). Topped off the remaining coolant with water after letting it cool down for a few hours, and nothing leaked out. Ran it again. After about 10 minutes at idle, occasionally gunning the engine, I again notice the leak from the passenger side, accompanied by a little steam, as one would expect. I could also hear boiling in the upper passenger side of the radiator and the upper radiator hose. So I'm pretty sure I have a smallish leak in the radiator that only shows itself under pressure. I've yanked the thermostat, and it seems to functioning, though I'm not sure I'd know a bad stat if it hit in me in the face. Cheap to replace at any rate. Hoses seem fine, they weren't source of the leak. So I need to replace the radiator, but I have doubts that this was original cause of the overheat. I was leaning toward the thermostat, but this one seems to be functioning (opens up at about the right temp). Any ideas/suggestions? Also, how likely is it that I've blown the HG? I've had rather bad experiences with overheating aluminum heads before.... No readily visible signs of oil in the coolant or vice versa... any simple tests I can do on my own to find out? Thanks in advance, Chris