freekraz

Hi all, Just bought a 2020 Crosstrek. I can't stand the engine start-stop feature. How can I disable it? Happy New Year, Jeff in Boston

Hello, I just bought a 2020 Crosstrek. I like the car but I can't stand the Start/Stop feature which turns the car off when you're stopped at a red light, and restarts when you take your foot off the brake. Does anyone know how to disable the feature? On earlier models I think it was a matter of taking out a fuse..... Thanks, Jeff in Boston

Hello, I would appreciate any tire recommendations for my 2018 XV Crosstrek which is fitted with standard alloy rims. My priorities are: Decent but not superlative handling Low tire noise on the highway Good performance in snow (I go skiing a lot in NH and Vermont) Thanks in advance! Jeff in Boston

Thank you Ferret54! I'll take the car to a tire dealer.

Hello all, The tire pressure warning light is illuminated on my 2013 Impreza hatchback. I have checked the inflation on all the tires, and they are all OK. Does anyone have a suggestion for getting the warning light to turn off? Really trying to avoid a trip to the dealer. Thanks, Jeff in Boston

FYI, this car is equipped with the California exhaust system. I live in New England, but don't know if you can swap for the 49-state version.

Hello all, My wife drives an '05 Outback Wagon base model, 2.5 H4 non-turbo. 100,000 miles, barely broken in. Exhaust leaks started a few months ago. Brought it in to my local mechanic and I'm not sure what to do. He says the entire exhaust system is too rusty to salvage anything. So, I'm not sure what the heck to do. $4,000 for a catalytic converter? $6,000 for the whole exhaust system? I'm not an idiot, I fix old Citroens for a hobby. But I just don't know what to do here. I understand that junkyards are forbidden to sell catalytic converters. Can anyone suggest a way I can keep this car on the road? Really don't want to drop $15k for a used car which will be no better than the '05 Outback, which is pretty much perfect as a family car. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE! Jeff Boston '05 Outback/'16 Forester/'72 Citroen SM

Hello all, My '05 Outback 2.5 5 speed needs a complete exhaust system, including the catalytic converter. Not sure what to do. Would like to spend $2k-$3k. Can anyone suggest a junkyard to get a used cat? Can anyone suggest a decent aftermarket exhaust system? I want to give my mechanic some ideas so we get this done properly and at reasonable cost. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Jeff in Boston

Hello all, I took my wife's 2005 Outback to the dealer about 2 years ago for a recall-mandated swap of the passenger-side airbag. Ever since then, the dash has been super-noisy -- creaks, squeaks, all kinds of noises -- when it's hot outside, when it's cold outside, just about any time. I'd like to figure out what's going on and fix it. Theory: the dealer takes the whole dash out to do the job, and they didn't tighten things up properly when reinstalling the dash. Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Tired of the creaky dashboard in Watertown, Mass. Jeff

Hello all, I recently purchased a '16 Forester that had been in an accident and was totaled. The car was repaired and inspected by the State Police and now has a Massachusetts "reconstructed" title. The Forester has 11,000 miles on it, and lately I notice a bad whining sound from the passenger side front wheel -- sounds like a bad wheel bearing. My question is, if I bring this to my local dealer for repair, are they going to look up the Carfax or title history and say to me, "This car was totaled, your mechanical warranty is void"? Or will they cover mechanical problems under the warranty? I would love some feedback from anyone whose been in a similar situation. FWIW, I find the local dealer to be a real pain in the neck. Other than the wheel bearing, the car runs and drives as new. Thanks in advance, Jeff in Boston

Situation resolved. Thank you to Subaru Fanatic for the information.

Hello all, I have a 2016 Forester base model. I had to take the driver's interior door panel off to replace the bulb in the puddle light at the bottom of the door. Upon replacing the door panel, none of the electric windows work. I have checked the LOCKOUT SWITCH and that is not the problem. Can anyone tell me if there is a FUSE or CIRCUIT BREAKER I should check before I take the door panel off again? I have an electronic copy of the factory manual. It shows a power window circuit breaker, but not where it is located. So I don't know where it is. anyone know? Anyone know if any of the fuses under the dash or under the hood control the power windows? None are labeled for power windows. If it isn't a fuse or circuit breaker I suspect the connections got loose. But I'd rather check obvious problems before I take the panel off again. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! Jeff in Boston

In response to Brus, I just tried to match the gauge with what I had. There were a few thick wires, maybe 16 gauge, most were quite small, I used something that was larger than them but better bigger than smaller. So, perhaps a bit of a hack job but I just wanted to get it done rather than get points for beauty. To Texan, if I recall correctly, the backup lights were working correctly before I began the job. I will check the bulbs. Unfortunately, I checked the underhood fuse for the backup lights, and it was still good (darn!). Thanks to all.

Thanks to all for the help. Here's the full report: THANK YOU for the links to the diagrams for removing the trim. Couldn't have figured it out otherwise. So, I spent about two hours Sunday and and hour today making the repairs. With the rear quarter panel trim out of the way, I was able to disconnect the wires cluster where it splits into three separate connectors, near the taillamp. Then, I had enough slack to pull some extra wire to the boot area. I also pulled extra slack from the door side. I dropped the headliner, just in the rear, where three plastic clips hold it in place. Then I could disconnect the lead to the luggage area lamp. When I finally pulled up the lower part of the rubber boot, it was MUCH WORSE than I had seen before. Of the 12 or so wires in the bundle, four were broken, several had shorted out, others had brittle spots and missing insulation. A real mess. I had to cut halfway through the boot from the tailgate side to get extra access. So, I just got my soldering kit out and started soldering in sections of wire, one end at a time, covering the connections with heat-shrink tubing. It was kind of awkward but not terrible. I think there was only one wire that I didn't have to make some repair to. Today, I put all the wires back in place, put the trim back in place (only lost one or two connectors in the process, and it looked fairly ship shape. The two ends of the boot fit into place, and I put some electrical tape around my cut, it really doesn't look too bad. How'd I do? Rear window defroster: back on. Door locks. back on. Rear wiper now parks itself properly, instead of stopping in the middle of the glass. The only thing that's not working are the reversing lights. I checked the fuse (under the hood) and sadly it wasn't blown. So I'll have to see if the wires, accessible through the little popout panels in the tailgate trim, are getting juice. I don't know if I could bear to take everything apart again if the wire to the reversing lights got pulled off or otherwise screwed up when I was pulling the wire bundle back into place. Thanks again for your help, and the super-useful diagrams. Jeff in Boston

Hi everyone, I have further diagnosed the situation, and the problem is the bundle of wires going from the roof to the hatch on the passenger side. They are REALLY MESSED UP at the flex point. So, how to get access so I can splice in some repairs? I pulled off some trim on the hatch and the rear, dropped the headliner a little and...I'M STUCK! It seems the only way to get enough slack in the wires to repair them is to disconnect them at a junction that lies under the interior rear quarter trim on the side of the cargo area. For the life of me I can't figure out how to get this piece of trim out. It seems very large and it seems to cover everything from the rear door opening to the tailgate opening. There is one exposed screw, and then I don't know. Any suggestions you have on removing this piece of lower interior trim, so I can get to the junction on the bundle of wires, so I can disconnnect the bundle and move them a few inches to solder in some patches -- would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!! As you know, this weekend is our first cold snap, too! Thanks, Jeff in Watertown, Mass.