mwatt

I know you mentioned "oil slick on the exhaust pipe and a slight "oily" look to the X-member" but are you certain the P/S pump isn't leaking where the reservoir attaches to it? There's an O-ring there also and it's a frequent cause of slow seepage, but the P/S fluid collects on top of the engine block right below the pump....

OK. I'll give that a try. I was just downstairs thumbing thru the factory shop manual. (purchased it new in 1998 with the car) Why am I reading the shop manual AFTER doing the job, you ask? Let's not talk about that. There are two pages on removing/reinstalling the fuel pump module and one of the instructions is "always use a new gasket".

Yeah, I made it a point to tighten them evenly. I'm concerned about those three hoses. They required quite a bit of force to slide them off of the ports on the tank cover. I'm figuring if I damaged the center hose (the high-pressure one), I should see a fuel leak when the pump is running, but there's no liquid fuel leak there....just the strong fuel odor. Today I re-removed the two smaller hoses (I think they're evap hoses) and checked them for cracks; both of those hoses look fine. How did you remove those hoses from the ports?

Well, I'm the guy who started the "But the fuel guage read 1/2" ('98 OBLTD wagon) thread last week. So this Saturday, I was determined to fix that damned fuel guage......and I did. Now the fuel guage works correctly. I was ready to give myself a pat on the back, but nooooooooo, the story doesn't end there.... I removed both driver and passenger side fuel modules and gently cleaned the guage contacts with a soft pencil eraser (suggested in previous posts) and rinsed them with Gumout spray. As you folks probably know, the passenger side fuel module is a combination fuel pump and guage float assembly, and it takes careful manipulation to get it out and back into the tank without damage or pinching wiring. Now that I've reassembled the passenger side module into the tank, there's a strong odor of fuel right where the pump module bolts to the tank, AND the "check engine" light is on. Although I haven't checked the code yet, common sense suggests it's probably an "evap" code with that strong odor of gas present. The three hoses that connect to the pump module are secured correctly with the original clamps. Has anyone else out there tried reassembling the pump module back to the tank, only to have this occur?

'98 OBLTD wagon; hard lesson learned: I said "the heck with that 'low fuel' lamp glowing brightly....that thing has always come on a little too early or a little too late anyway". So when it came time for my wife and I to go out to dinner with five other couples on Saturday night, 40 miles from home, and the "low fuel" light was on with the fuel guage reading 1/2, I figured "I've really got to clean that low fuel probe". Yeah, right. So along we went. And that damned car made it all the way to the restaurant, 40 miles away, just fine. On the way home at 11:45PM on a nice, chilly I70 west just outside of Ellicott City, MD with NOBODY around we learned that the low fuel light really does work well, but the fuel sending unit contacts are what actually need cleaning (as suggested in many previous posts)..... I'm just glad the MD State Police will answer "#77" at all hours because they dispatched a flat bed tow truck to us in about 20 minutes. Only $75.00 and four miles later we were deposited at a local gas station. Filled the tank and, gee whiz, away we went.... And then my wife said to me "you know, if I were alone I would have filled it up just because the light was on". What could I say? The drive home was VERY quiet......

Yep, even the owner's manual of our '98 OBLTD w/dual roofs makes a point of saying "do not open both at hiway speeds"....

replacing a brake rotor requires removing the caliper bracket from the spindle (the spindle is basically the component at the bottom of each strut. It's what the wheel attaches to). It's really a pretty easy job; there are two bolts (I believe they're 14mm but someone else chime in if I'm wrong) that attach the caliper bracket to the spindle. The entire bracket, with the caliper still attached to it, can then be lifted upward and the rotor (sometimes) just slides off of the hub. There are no bolts holding the rotor to the hub, but there are small threaded holes in the rotor where you can insert a bolt which will help to force a rotor off of the hub, as they do tend to seize into position on the hub. By the way, you mention "Given that new rotors are only $28 ea. at my local auto parts store..." just remember the old addage "you get what you pay for". These aftermarket parts are not up to the quality standards of OEM components. Buyer beware..... I'm glad you're aware that these places like Merchant's, Midas, etc are all about SELLING service. To a certain extent, a little bit of scoring on brake rotors is normal. Did they comment on the condition of the brake pads? What I'm getting at here is: did worn out pads lead to this scoring or did the scoring occur from normal road dirt and brake pad particles that get caught between pads and rotors?

You're right---I didn't pay attention to the "loosing the station presets" part of the concern.....

Did you check the owner's manual yet---specifically about CD player function in very low ambient temps? I know I'm comparing apples to oranges here, but besides our Subarus, we have a Dodge Caravan, and the owner's manual specifically states in temperatures below 20 degrees "CD player will not function and CD display will show "Cold" until vehicle interior warms up" Our 1998 and 1999 Legacys do not have that feature to my knowledge, but I wonder if Subaru incorporated it into later model stereos?

Thanks everyone for advice---will keep you posted.

I'm beyond anal about maintenance on our Subarus. Brake fluid is flushed every two years since the car was new.

OK......buuuuuuutttttt......I still don't think the booster or vaccum supply to the booster is the issue here. Remember---the pedal remains easy to press----it just goes down too low. OK---OK I'm sitting here thinking.....I should not be simply dismissing any of this advice. I'll do the booster test the porcupine suggested.....and I'll look at the booster check valve......

Besides porcupine73's suggestion, this is a good one, too. While they don't use much road salt here, they do use some.... It's easy enough to remove the lower caliper bolts and tilt the calipers upward for pad inspection. So this weekend I'll check the sliders and pistons to make sure they're not seized.

Well, no---I haven't done the booster test yet, but I still don't think it's a booster issue because the pedal is easy to press, it just goes down too far on the first application. I think I'm correct (and believe me, I'm often wrong---just ask my wife) when I assume that a booster problem would result in the brake pedal being too difficult to depress. But what is "putting the abs unit through sequence control". I used to work at a dealership for years, and I thought I knew about brake bleeding procedures (including bench bleeding a new master cylinder) but that's a term I'm not familiar with......

on our '98 Legacy Outback. We've owned the car since new and I've replaced the master cylinder twice. Additionally, Subaru replaced it once because of the recall involving the brake pedal possibly sinking to the floor in cold temps. Well, it's happening again---in warm or cold weather. The pedal sinks down too low on first application but feels normal again after it's pumped once. It isn't a booster problem because pedal effort is normal.The brake fluid level never changes---we're not loosing fluid anywhere. I've thoroughly inspected pads, lines and hoses on this car and there's nothing obvious wrong, although the rear pads are getting a little thin---but that's not gonna' cause a low pedal that "pumps up" and feels normal again.........has anyone else had to deal with this issue? One thing I remember is that each time I've replaced the master cylinder I've refilled and bled the system with Prestone DOT3 synthetic brake fluid.....but it's labeled for use in all vehicles using standard DOT3 fluid......

vehicles equipped with alarm option have a "security" indicator light, in a panel that says "security" on it's lower edge, in the dash just to the left of the fog lamp switch. Vehicles without alarm option have a blank "knock-out panel" in the dash to the left of the fog lamp switch.

On vehicles with rear drum brakes, make sure the rear shoes are adjusted correctly as well. Then, if you're not loosing brake fluid anywhere, the master cylinder is the next likely cause. I realize you have a Forester, but Legacy master cylinders from about 1997 to about 2002 were recalled because of the possibility of failure in cold weather.

Rotate the tires first and see if there's any difference. I had a God-awful problem with my '99 Legacy GT doing that. At low speeds (up to about 50 mph) any imperfection in the road would cause the steering wheel to tug back and forth---the road was "steering the car". The two-year old Michelin Pilot tires that I purchased at Costco were extremely noisy (roaring sound). I put the car up on a lift and carefully inspected ball joints and tie rods myself---there was no play in any front end component. I took the car back to Costco .They replaced the Michelin Pilot tires with Michelin Primacy's, absorbing most of the cost as a "goodwill" adjustment. Not only is the car extremely quiet now, but it goes dead straight over any road imperfections.

behind right rear wheel

Is there some sort of trick to doing this? I've applied a substantial amount of force trying to get each clip to snap down thru the guide tube on the backing plate and thru the little "circle" cast into the parking brake cable that it locks around ...... all of this while wiggling, jiggling, and moving the cable around trying to get the clip to pass thru it......

I removed both rear hubs from my '99 Legacy GT to have new bearings pressed in. I removed both parking brake cables from the backing plates by pulling up and removing the little U-shaped clip that secures each cable to the backing plate. Does anyone know the right way to reinstall the clip so it holds the cable in the backing plate? Do you insert the clip into the backing plate first and then force the cable thru the clip?

PB Blaster is great---used it yesterday to break loose the huge long bolts that secure the rear control arms and trailing links to the rear knuckles on my '99 Legacy GT. One thing I noticed however, is that PB Blaster has an objectionable odor (like moth crystals).....

I'm still hoping the neighbor will be able to help me by bringing home the Subaru tool set for doing the bearings, but he's a hard person to get to "commit to a time" on a weekend. They are good neighbors so I don't want to hound the guy over and over....so I'm preparing mentally to do it myself.

I realize there's more than just the struts to unbolt---but I'm wondering if, when I remove the 2 bolts holding the strut to the hub, wether the strut will pop downward with a lot of force -- or will it not extend downward any furthur?

....on my '99 Legacy GT. I plan on removing both rear hub assemblies and taking them to a local machine shop for pressing bearings out and in. When the car is up on jackstands and you unbolt the rear strut from the hub, is the strut already fully extended or would I be doing something stupid by simply removing those two big bolts that secure the strut to the hub (with the car up on jackstands)? The rest of the job doesn't look too bad.....