sios

Just saw this still being talked about and wanted to stop in and say that a short time after my other reply here I had checked the oil level in the morning before driving. Was amazed to see the stick covered in oil about 2/3 the way up from the end. Somehow the tube had trapped it there and it never settled back into the pan. I wonder if things would change for the better if I turn the dipstick around 180 degrees so that the handle's oilcan icon is facing the opposite direction? Guess I'll just have to give that a try. Haven't been checking it as often as I probably should be because of the annoyance of double and triple dipping to get a decent reading. Well, that and I'm not one to check it more than once a month for any other cars I've had.

alldata.com mentions "ABS - Relay sticking", circa 1996, but nothing elaborated about that. Doesn't say if the light will be on or off. It's in the service bulletins list generated for the 1991 Legacy Wagon but also shows up for other MY's. If you don't know anything about ABS stuff, like me, then not sure that will help much.

Wow, Connie, hope you don't mind a stranger calling you by your name but I just noticed you are exactly 11 years younger than me. That is, if you stated your birthday as your real one (Halloween). I was trying to see if you were female (in the profile, not by other means). Must be because of an old Twilight Zone episode I know of, The Grave, where Lee Marvin was called Connie Miller, and he's been bounty hunting a guy that townspeople kill first and they pester him about possibly being a coward (sorry, telling the whole show!) until he goes to the guys gravesite to prove he isn't. Perfect Halloween episode. Anyway... same sentiment here, I dread going to parking lots. Good for you Connie, just be careful. Luckily I have a driveway that would mean somebody would need to take an extreme detour from the road to bump my Outback Sport. Oh, and happy birthday soon to you--- and myself too.

Hmmmmm. I got confused over all this while getting my '04 Impreza Outback Sport because of the different types Subaru uses on different models and transmissions. I finally understood mine (with AT) to be Active AWD and nothing more, nothing less; meaning 45% front 55% rear power to wheels, normally, until a slippage is sensed and then changes to 50/50. No side to side changes. {EDIT} All this time and I'm still confused (was doing searches for types of AWD info). Even read an old post telling how only one wheel each for front and back is actually "powered". How can that be? I don't know and I think I'll just be sitting on the sidelines waiting for official word of what AWD in my Impreza Outback Sport really is.

Chiming in, on that note... I've had trouble checking oil level of the '04 OBS. Obviously has one of those difficult to read dipsticks, as others here have already pointed out. I hadn't looked at the actual tube itself, down by the oil pan, before. I see now how it does bend and go in at an angle. The stick also has a notch out, above the Full mark. I probably should look into this, but I'd guess it is an overfill or hot oil mark. With the angling I'm thinking maybe it wouldn't be too big a difference in levels between the low, full, and overfilled (hot) marks, yet apparently about a quart from low to full like most dipsticks I knew of in the past. After changing my original (new car) oil out at 1442 miles with Mobil1 I noticed I might have gone over the Full mark by a little bit. Drained half quart out and it looks like it is at or below full, just that the oil on the stick is very different on both sides. So I was glad to read about the troubles with that here and maybe there's a better way to check it. I added 4.25 quarts (filter changed too), approximately, judging by the 5 quart jug's visible level gauge. OM calls for only 4.2 Qts, so it's conceivable there was some oil left behind during the drain. It's just very difficult to tell what the dipstick is telling me, would be nice if the manual told how much to add when it shows to be right at low. Anyway, I'll run it a while with mine somewhere between low and full until I can figure out where Full really is.

I always change my own plugs, distributor cap, etc. and one day I noticed the engine of my GMC Sonoma was running badly. Checked the plug wires and sure enough one of them wasn't on the distributor cap tight. That fixed it right up. Thing is, it didn't happen anytime near when I had been doing anything to it. If I didn't live alone, and this weren't an inside remote hood latch, I'd suspect someone was fooling around. Must've just not been completely clicked into place and eventually worked loose. Reminds me... I also had a loose sparkplug once, too (the Sonoma again). One of those in a difficult to reach spot and not quite torqued down good enough. Now, I'm a new Subaru owner and I've seen that the plugs and wires and all are somewhat different from past vehicles I've had. Looks like the boots over the plugs could be better than any others but probably still able to be dislodged. Won't know until I go about working on it.

Yep, you figured it out alright. Mine is round and yellow-orange, but also below the fuel gauge (2004 Impreza Ouback Sport). If the car isn't level or in motion it can be a little sporadic. Makes sense that it would start showing at around 1/4 tank, however I haven't seen mine go on until almost touching the E mark. Owners Manual explains mine should be lit with only 2.3 gallons left, which sounds more precise than I'd trust. I figure on it being at approximately 2 gallons though. This is actually my first car with a low fuel warning. I think I'll like having it, maybe you will too. Except, it probably would be best if it got down to 1/8 tank on the gauge before seeing it. I tend to run the gas low, out of habit, and I wouldn't want the light flickering real soon. Then again, it's better for the gasoline (and all else concerned) to not let too much airspace exist in the tank for long periods of time. P.S. Welcome me! Yeah, I just joined. Had this place bookmarked in Favorites for a few weeks and only now registered to begin posting and replying. Already been using the subaruoutback.org, scoobymods.com, forums.nasioc.com sites.