wowie

No pics yet. It is very straight body wise. So far have replaced the battery, starter, front left axle and hub. The choke has been adjusted but still doesn't really work like it should. We'll probably put a manual in there soon. Unfortunately last night it decided to go dead, turn the key and nothing happens, no lights no power. Back to the drawing board!

I signed up here a while ago but never got too active. I'm another northwest Washington denizen and here in Bellingham the number of Subarus per 1000 residents must be higher than just about anywhere else. The Mount Baker parking lot is full of them all winter. I'm on my third Legacy L wagon, first was a 90, then a 98 that was crushed in an accident. I was stopped outside the gate at the Darrington Bluegrass Festival waiting to turn in when I got rear ended by an old Merc going 50mph. Smashed my 1790s fiddle when the back bumper ended up at the rear wheels. I came out of it pretty good considering what was left of the car so I went out and bought another one, a 97 with 97k miles. So now, in order to help my son out of a jam I'm buying an 88 fwd Justy DL for $500 that he can use until he gets the new engine in his car. The body is straight and has no rust. The mechanic who owns it is working on the auto choke and putting in a starter. It also comes with 4 Hakka snow tires, thats a big bonus. I'm looking forward to having some fun with this car, not to mention visiting the gas station less. The Legacy should now last much longer and get used when needed.

The ABS light doesn't come on after the initial ignition on test. The sound is coming from the back and the car has about 123,000 miles. Defining a sound is hard. My feeling was electronic but of course I could be wrong. The frequency changes with pedal pressure. When taking my foot all the way off the brake the tone goes up slightly and fades out. If you pump the brake to see what happens the tone changes with pressure. Sometimes there is no sound at all. My mechanic who is quite trustworthy and drives a Legacy just like mine hadn't heard that before and couldn't tell what the source was from a test drive. I haven't made it to any other shops yet that are more Subaru specialists but it seemed like a good idea to ask here before I did anything else. Thanks for the responses. Where are the relays located? The engine compartment?

Hi there I have a 97 Legacy wagon with AT. Lately I've noticed what seems to be an electronic sound when I use the brakes. It doesn't happen every time but often enough. The sound changes with brake pedal pressure and fades when brake is released. I suspect ABS but really have no clue. Braking seems to be normal. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Thanks

Thanks for all the info. The mechanic who worked on the car before I bought it put in a semi-synth from Chevron. I don't know what was in there before but I think I'll go with 10-30 Castrol for now.

The 98 Legacy I recently bought is due for an oil change. It has 136,000 miles. Anybody have an opinion on whether to stick with the Castrol I've always used in my 90 Legacy or to go with synthetic? I've heard something like Mobil One synthetic can get you slightly better mpg, true or false? Any other reasons for switching or staying?

Sounds like a good plan, my wife and I were talking about this earlier today and I mentioned getting some deluxe seats from an Outback. Wonder if you could get a driver's seat on the passenger side too. Prob not.

I just bought a 98 Legacy wagon. Compared to my 90, the front seats are really low. Any ideas on raising the seat height?

Thanks for that Setright. I'll take a look. By "battery dance" I assume you mean disconnecting it to clear the codes. According to my manual, you do something different on cars through 94. It says: "With the ignition ON and the engine running, connect both the read memory terminal and the test mode terminal."

After reading your post I dug out a Chilton manual and found the section on codes. They didn't specifically list 1990, rather 91-94 on page 4-23. Guess I'll have to look for a scan tool or tester. Can you think of anything that would make the gas mileage go down? Instead of 20-30 I'm getting 16-26 depending on the highway/city mix.

Hi! I just joined the USMB to look for this very problem. After driving for awhile the check engine light will come on and stay on for varying amounts of time, sometimes until I turn off the car. I have also had a decrease in fuel economy by about 3 or 4 mpg. The car runs fine otherwise. It is a 1990 Legacy AWD wagon with AT and 153k. This has been going on for several months, since before cold weather. Several mechanics have told me this age car doesn't save codes easily. Unless the light is on they won't be able to get a code. I suspect the emissions system somehow. Sorry jeansain, didn't mean to hijack your thread.