Urban Coyote

I need some thoughts on a gas tank issues that has cropped up recently with my Legacy. I swear my car has decided to fall apart on it’s 11th birthday :/ Anyway, back to the issue. I’ve started to smell gas after I fill my car up and it persists until the tank goes down past the ¾ or ½ mark. Originally I thought it was coming from the front of the car abut it’s actually the back at the tank. I do not notice any puddles under the car or any ‘dripping’ when I look for an extended period. What I did find was gassy smelling condensation with a small drop holding on to the seam at the bottom of the tank on both the drivers and passenger side. Any thoughts? Is this tank rot or could it be something else? I’m not going to be able to fix this on my own, but I would like to be able to locate exactly what is going on so I can take my car in to be fixed without being ‘taken for a ride’ by the mechanics. I don;t want them to tell me I need a whole new tank when it might just be a seal somewhere. Thanks! Urban Coyote

Thanks! I'm going to try to take it apart sometime soon to take a peek. I have to revise my initial symptoms though, the passenger side door lock switch does work to lock and unlock all the doors, so it's just the driver side door that is mucked up.

The switch for my power door locks on the driver and passenger side doors does not unlock the doors anymore. It will work to lock the doors from the inside, but not unlock them. The manual buttons still work a-ok. I do not have a keyless, or remote to unlock the doors, and the key still works in the locks. My car is a 98 legacy L, 2.2. Any thoughts?

Sometime you just have to get it fixed. I don't have a garage, or a lot of tools, or 'mechanical intuition'. If I tried and something went wrong, or I made it worse then what? Unfortunately I don't have another car to use in case something happens to the roo I have. I do the best I can with what I have and am learning.....what more can I say than that?

Ok, I bit the bullet and took my roo into the dealer for the thermostat change and to have the radiator filled up properly. I don't have enough confidence in my abilities just yet to do the whole procedure with the draining and re-filling on my own, so I took it in and told them exactly what I wanted done. On the drive home everything worked perfectly! The temp went to the just below half way and stayed there rock solid. Whether is was a bubble, or the t-stat is anyones guess....I'm just glad everything is working properly again! I'm definitely printing off all of this info and stashing it in the car though.....you guys are the best!! Urban Coyote

I checked when I got home and the upper radiator hose was warm and the lower one was cool.

*Sigh* Nope, no change from yesterday. It is strange though, if I only drove in the city I wouldn't have a clue in the world that something was not quite right as the temp behaves perfectly. It's only once I get onto the highway and specifically go up rather steep hills that the temp starts to climb, and almost as quickly when I go down a hill it drops again. Oddly enough, when I put the car in neutral and coast down a hill, it starts to climb again. If I put it into gear again on the same hill, the temp drops. Once I hit the city and start doing the start, stop. and wait at lights, the temp looks perfect. Go figure......

I don't notice any gurgling and such, but with the winter tire on and road noise I may not be able to hear it. I did check the overflow chamber this morning and some fluid had been drawn off so I'm hoping this may be a good sign. When I tried the burping last night the car had not completely cooled off as I had let it sit about 2 - 2.5 hours. When I first went to squeeze the radiator hose it sent a spurt of fluid over the top of the radiator fill port...so I may ahve missed a bigger bubble there. Anyway, if the issue persists I may just bite the bullet and take it into Subaru for a radiator flush and replacement of the aftermarket t-stat. If it still acts up after that then I'll get really worried! UC

I gave this a try and didn't see much of anything in the way of bubbles....maybe a few. How much air is enough to cause problems? I will check the level of fluid in the morning. UC

Excellent! Thanks! I thought that was the one being referred to, but wanted to make certain. I watched my brother working with that one so had a pretty good idea. I have a pretty steep gravel ramp at my place that I will park the car on when I get home tonight. I will give a few of these ideas a try.

Thanks guys. Yup, made the cardinal sin of putting an aftermarket t-stat in....I'm going to pick up a Subaru one after work today on the way home. Excuse my ignorance, but what does the top radiator hose look like, and where abouts would I find it? Is it a large hose, or a smaller one? Again, excuse my ignorance, I know just enough about cars to get myself into trouble UC

Hi Guys, I’ve been searching the form for an answer to my question, but am not sure if I’m using the right search terms to find what I need. I just had the timing belt changed on my 1998, 2.2 Legacy. My brother did the work for me and everything seemed to go great until we started the car up. It ran great, but then started overheating. To make a long story short I think it’s because there still some air in the radiator system somewhere. It seems to run great around the city, but when I get it out onto the highway it starts getting too warm. Specifically the reading would get up to about 2/3 when the temp normally sits at just below 1/2. This would happen when going up long hills and when I turn the heater vents off. When the temp starts to go too much above the halfway mark I turn the heaters on and that seems to help bring the temp down. I certainly would not call it stable though. This morning when I looked the antifreeze reservoir was empty. I added some antifreeze directly to the radiator through the cap. It took about a cup of fluid, and then filled the reservoir. It seemed to help a little on the drive into work this morning. There was not as much overheating….but then the trip into work is much more downhill. I did not have any overheating issues at all before the timing belt change...this is completely new. I also initially replaced the old TStat with an aftermarket one. I'm planing to get an OEM one after reading some posts here. Ok, onto the question. I think there’s still some air in the system. Would you guys agree with this?? If there is, can I park the car on an uphill overnight and then check in the morning to see if some air works its way up to the top of the radiator? I did do a search for burping but it only came back with three posts for slightly different engine types….mostly 2.5’s. Are the techniques the same for the two different engine sizes, or does it not make a difference? I don’t want to waste you guys time if this has been asked a million times over….just point me to the correct search terms or to an older thread if it’s available. Thanks! Urban Coyote

My brother is going to change the timing belt on my 1998 Legacy L 2.2 wagon this weekend and I was just wondering if you guys had any tips and tricks to keep in mind when he's doing the work? What should I also consider changing while I'm at it? What other parts do you guys consider quite important? Is the really a difference between a genuine Subaru belt and an aftermarket belt? The price certainly is different!!! Thanks! Urban Coyote

Uhg, the only thing is I HATE going to the dealer for parts....they mark them up so much it's ludicrus. Ahhh Haaa....just called the dealer and found out that the "Subaru" brand plugs and wires they sell out of the dealership are NGK brand Soooo.....I'm on the right track

Thank for the feedback everyone! I bought NGK v-notch plugs the other day but the predominant wires available around here seem to be bosch. I can't find NGK wires. Is it going to be a big deal to use bosch wires with the NGK plugs? Urban Coyote

Thanks! Plugs & wires are on the to-do list as is a fuel filter which I already have. I've never changed these myself yet so am waiting for a time when my brother can come out and give me a hand and show me how it's done. The stumbling/bucking on acceleration is not something that has started gradually. One day I went to go to work and there it was, out of the blue. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that a tune up will cure what ails my roo. Urban Coyote

I was hoping someone could help me out with this. My ’98, Subaru Legacy, 2.2, standard transmition has been stumbling a lot lately on acceleration when running cold. It’s not noticeable or present when the car is warmed up, but it stumbles in all gears when cold. I recently changed the air filter and the problem went away for about three days, but now it’s back and just as bad if not worse than before. The gas mileage does not seem to be effected that I have noticed. Oddly enough I did notice a stumble/backfire? …once while on the highway… Any ideas? No CEL or other lights so far. Urban Coyote

The sounds really just started today, so it's not very prominent yet, but what I found when I was driving home was that it's most noticable when shifting up to second gear, and still present in other gears but not quite as prominent (this could be from other road noice masking it). No clunk when going from stop into first and then starting out though. It's almost like the whole gear shift mechanism has gotten a bit louder. When driving in first I press in the clutch, just when the clutch pedal gets to the floor, clunk. I then change gears (which seems to be a slightly noisier transfer) and proceed in second. Oddly enough I've also noticed that when driving at low rpm's there is a slight rumble that goes away when I push the clutch in again. I don't hear it at higher rpms. It also got very cold very quickly, could this have an effect on things? Urban Coyote

The clutch plates were done around 74k, but the adjustment has not been checked in a looong time....a.k.a, not since 74k. How do you checkt he adjustment and can I do this myself? Same with the gear oil. Is this something that is hard to check/change myself, or should I leave to someone more exoerienced? Thanks! Urban Coyote

I just noticed today a slight clunk when I go to change gears on my roo. It’s a ‘98 Legacy L, 2.2, standard transmission with approximately 180k. There’s no noise when I push in the clutch pedal, but when I shift the gears there is a slight clunk when it goes into the new gear and when I take my foot off the clutch pedal. His only happens under load. If I hold the clutch in and shift between gears there is nothing. Any thoughts? Thanks! Urban Coyote

If it is a cv axle, will it be a big job to replace? What cost(ish) would I be looking at?

The last few weeks I've noticed a knocking from the center, front of my roo on acceleration. I thought at first when the sound was faint that is was coming from the driver side wheel, but I now believe it’s more in the centre of the car…under the engine and a bit further back toward the driver. The sound is a hollow knocking that doesn’t speed up a whole lot with acceleration but is loudest when the cars is under load….accelerating from a stop, going up hill at lower rpms. It’s loudest at around 2000-2500 rpms and gets quieter as the car speeds up, but it is still there. It’s not 100% consistent either. The instant I take my foot off the accelerator or even lighten it up a bit the sound decreases or goes away. I don’t hear it in first gear at all, but in 2,3 and a bit at 4th. My roo is a 1998 Legacy, standard with about 160,000km. Any thoughts? Thanks! Urban Coyote

Just got back from a road trip from Nova Scotia to PA and back. On the highway my '98 Legacy 2.2 was getting between 32-34 MPG at speeds of around 60 & 70 MPH. Not bad if you ask me....I'd make it better if I could though Urban Coyote

No, I never hold the gas down when I start the car. My old Loyale went through a period where it was very hard to start due to a engine temp sensor being bad. I had to give it a bit of gas to get it going. I almost thought I would have to give it a bit of gas this morning, but it eventually started up. I went out at lunch today and started the car and it was a-ok. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'll be going on a long road trip in two weeks (NS to PA) and don't need something like this starting so close to the trip Urban Coyote

Went to go to work today and my '98 Legacy almost didn't start?!?! The starter was working, but the engine wouldn't turn over, or catch. I recently changed the air filter (last weekend) and did an oil change 2 weeks ago (synth with fram synth filter). It did finally start, but it was a bit disconcerting. I didn't have to use use the gas pedal at all. When I got into work (50km drive) I turned it off and started it twice without any problems and my gas mileage doesn't seem to be effected. The car ran normally during the drive. I had just been on a long road trip over the weekend and had let the car sit all day Monday without starting it. Any thoughts? Could this be random, or the beginning of something more serious? Thanks for any imput! Urban Coyote