axxiom

The posted tire pressure for my 2000 Legacy GT is 32 front and 30 rear. I keep the tires at 35 front and 33 rear, since I became aware of faster tire wear(an AWD trait, it seems). I've had no problems resulting from the increased tire pressure. The 3 extra pounds of pressure per tire also seems to give me better handling and a slightly firmer ride. For my taste, the GT's ride(at least for the 2000 model) is a little too soft and bouncy, which makes for slightly unstable handling at higher speeds, especially when going over undulating patches of asphalt. (I'd really love to have a firmer, more performance oriented suspension.)

I've had a K&N air filter in my Legacy for the past 25000 miles, installed at 15000 miles. I can't say, definitively, that I've noticed any improvement in gas mileage or power, but, so far, I've noticed no problems. I've read some tests claiming to demonstrate that more dirt particles pass through the K&N filter element than with other filters. I've also read of and talked to people claiming to have used K&N air filters for as long as 200,000 miles in their cars without problems. Can anyone point to evidence that these air filters actually cause or contribute to reduced engine life/greater engine wear? I know that some people believe they do, but I'm looking for actual evidence, something more than just people's opinions. Is anyone aware of any contemplated or pending legal action against K&N for issues around their filters? I would think that since K&N air filters have been around for a number of years and selling many thousands of them, something concrete would have shown up by now regarding causality between their filter use and engine damage. I'm not at all committed to using a K&N air filter, but if there's, in fact, no hard evidence of problems, I'll probably just keep using it, cleaning and reoiling it at 50,000 mile intervals.

I chose the Legacy GT over the Outback because I wanted more stable handling at higher speeds. The higher road clearance of the Outback makes for poorer handling and stability, especially on the freeway. Which is not to say that the Legacy GT's handling/stability at speed is all that great. While it's handling characteristics in an evasive maneuver are downright nasty and dangerous, the Outback's are even more so.

The plastic shield underneath my Legacy's engine/gearbox is breaking apart. A while back, someone posted the URL for a company selling aluminum shields for Subarus(and other makes, too, I think). I did a search here but couldn't find it. Can anyone steer me to that URL?

I'd love to remove the airbag warning stickers from my Subie's sun visors. Has anyone successfully done so without leaving any marks? What would be a good procedure for sticker removal?

I'd like to try Mobil 1 0/40(European Formula) synthetic oil in my 2000 Legacy GT. I've been using synthetic oil, 5/30 and 5/40, (Castrol and Valvoline) since 5000 miles. The car has 39k miles on it. Does anyone see any potential problems using the Mobil 1 0/40 in my Suby?

Hey there, Sea#3, Your suggestion worked! The alarm now functions normally. Thanks so much! Axxiom

My 2000 Legacy GT wagon's alarm no longer works. The red blinking alarm LED in the instrument panel stays on always now when the ignition key is removed or when the key is inserted and turned to the first notch. Rather than blink on, off, on, off, on, off, as was normal, the LED now blinks twice, pauses, blinks twice, pauses, etc (blink, blink, pause, pause, blink, blink, pause, pause, etc. It stops blinking only when the key is turned to the second notch or the engine is started. When I use the remote to lock or unlock the doors, the car's front and rear lights don't flash as they did when the alarm was working. I tried reprogramming the alarm as per the instructions in the owner's manual, but no luck. Does anyone know how I can fix the problem?

Any recommendations for a good independent Subaru garage for my 2000 Legacy GT wagon in the San Francisco-Bay Area?

I've got a 2000 Legacy with 36000 miles. In light of the apparent prevalence of blown headgaskets/serious gasket leaks on late model Subies, often well before the 100k mile mark, I'm guessing that there's a good chance of the problem showing up, sooner if not later, on mine. Would having the car's headbolts retorqued every so often lessen the chances of headgasket problems?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I once installed silicone fluid in a previous car(not a Subaru) that did not have ABS. Had the fluid in there for about 50 or 60,000 miles with no fluid leaks, and never experienced a problem with it. I got smoother and faster brake response, probably because silicone is so slippery. The fluid never showed any evidence of black sediment accumulation that one eventually sees with regular brake fluid, a result, I think, of the breakdown or wear of the neoprene seals in the car's hydraulic system. Silicone seems to be far kinder to neoprene than standard brake fluid and provides much greater wear resistance/lubrication to the internal hydraulic parts, and freedom from corrosion, possibly because the silicone fluid will not absorb moisture. When I would bleed the car's hydraulic system from time to time, I found the bled fluid always to be as clean as the day I installed it. The matter of water accumulation in the calipers is something I didn't experience, but perhaps some folks did. I've just never come across that particular issue. But if/when I change my Suby's brake fluid, I'll consider either the Castrol SRF, or the Motul unless I learn, definatively, that silicone fluid is totally ok in an ABS system.

At 30,000 miles, I decided to replace the brake pads (both front and rear) on my 2000 Legacy GT wagon, even though it still had another 15-20,000 miles of use left. I wanted something that would offer improved response/greater stopping power. I ordered PBR/Axxis Ultimate pads http://www.importrp.com/pbr.html They're Kevlar/ceramic and are made by an Australian company. These pads are extraordinarily good! They've got noticeably greater stopping power, and you can feel that they have a superior "bite" when you use your brakes. Highly recommended! The front stock pads, after they were removed, showed evidence of cracking and crumbling. The brake guy who replaced them for me said they were not of the highest quality Some Questions: If I want to replace the front rotors with the larger ones made for the 2001+ Subies, will I have to replace the calipers as well? I'd like to replace the brake fluid with a DOT 5 silicone fluid. Are there any valid counter-indications for doing so with an ABS system? I have heard that silicone fluid causes the ABS to malfunction because it's so slippery, but don't know if that's bogus or not.

I've got nearly 35000 miles on my Legacy with no problems, yet. Well, except for a defective front wheel bearing replaced under warranty at about 17000 miles (wheel bearing noise began much earlier and grew progressively louder). Since recently joining this forum, I've learned that Subies, particularly the later models, are not nearly as trouble free as I had thought. One area that concerns me is the matter of headgasket failure well before 100,000 miles(actually, I would think that a car that's designed and built with overall high quality control standards, durable parts and well maintained by it's owner should likely go well beyond 100,000 miles, and even 200,000 miles, without headgasket failure (at the 30,000 mile dealership service, they put some sort of additive in my Suby's radiator along with theanti-freeze/coolant change. Was that to reduce the chances of a headgasket failure?).Approximately what percentage of 2000(and later) models would you folks estimate can be expected to experience this problem? And how many of you year 2000+ Suby owners in this forum have experienced it? Also, what kind of clutch life can be expected on these cars? I had an '86 Peugeot 505, a very trouble prone car....it cost me many, many thousands of dollars in repairs and countless trips to the Peugeot mechanic during the years that I drove it, but the original clutch was still going strong when I got rid of the car at 180,000 miles (why did I keep driving such a trouble prone car for so long? Masochistic tendencies, I guess. Actually, the handling characteristics of that car was absolutely outstanding). As with the bastard Peugeot, my driving is mostly on the freeway. I've been hearing about late model Suby's getting new clutches as earlier as 30-40,000 miles. Is brake fluid level in the clutch master cylinder a good indication of clutch wear? The level has always remained virtually constant; I've never noticed any perceptible drop.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When the anti-lock brake system is activated, the characteristic sound is a repetitive clanking from the front end. When I first got my 2000 Legacy GT wagon, I did some hard braking in the rain and heard this sound(yep, the car stopped straight and true on the rain slicked road). The service advisor at a local Subaru dealership said it was the normal ABS sound. Since, I would assume, you are using your brakes normally, perhaps your car's ABS(if, indeed, your particular Subaru has ABS) is malfunctioning.......activating when not necessary. You might want to get this checked out.

Tire wear on my 2000 Legacy GT wagon w/5 speed and 34000miles on it is also high. I replaced the stock Bridgestone RE92s at 17000 miles with about 4-32nd inches of tread left, a touch early but I never really liked Bridgestone tires' handling. My Yokohama Avid tires also with 17000 miles on them have nearly 5-32nd inches of tread left, and these have a higher wear rating(360) than the Bridgestones. Tire wear is even and smooth and I've always maintained tire pressure at 32-35 lbs. They are rotated every 5000 miles. I do mostly freeway driving. My previous car was rear wheel drive, weighed about same and always had all season performance tires(size 205/60/15) on them as does my Suby with its larger diameter tires(205/55/16) With tire wear ratings much the same as my Yokohamas and the same type of driving conditions, I got about 38000 miles on those. Friends with AWD vehicles(Honda Element and Subaru) get about 23000 miles on their car's tires. So, I think that higher rates of tire wear just goes with the territory of AWD, sadly.