outback_97

OK, an update. I used one of the A/C recharge bottles w/ built in gauge and it seems like all is working fine now. How long it will keep working is hard to say. The compressor started turning after I added some of the refrigerant. Then I continued adding more until I was in the proper range according to the built in gauge. The 18 oz bottle still has some in but I neglected to weigh it beforehand so it's hard to say how much material was used. I'm guessing I used 50 to 75% of the contents of the bottle. Thanks again for all the great advice! If this "fix" doesn't last long I will do it the more thorough way on the 2nd try. But for now it all seems to be working great.

Thanks for the reply. To clarify, I was comparing the feel of hand turning the part of the A/C compressor that you see when looking at the front of the engine. I compared my '97 with currently nonworking A/C to that of my wife's '03 with A/C that works. I was wondering if that difference in feel could be used to help diagnose the A/C. They felt different when turning by hand with the engine turned OFF. I like my fingers too much to stick them that close to belts and pulleys on a running engine! Interesting feedback on the gauges, if I buy a set I will shop around to see what's available besides HF. Thanks again.

Thanks guys. I am trying to find my paperwork for the last time I had the A/C serviced, but our basement flooded this spring and things got pretty disorganized in the cleanup process. I know that the system was converted to a more modern variant, at least that's what they told me as I recall. I looked at those $30 DIY recharge kits that connect to the low pressure side, but in reading reviews it sounds like the gauges are often wildly inaccurate. If it just needs more refrigerant, would you recommend even trying one of those? The next DIY step up from that I think would involve buying an A/C pressure gauge set from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/a-c-manifold-gauge-set-92649.html But it sounds like to use that correctly, one really needs a vacuum pump and that's another thing that I don't have. I'm trying to minimize cost sunk into this since I'm considering selling the car this winter.

Hi, my 97 OB's A/C doesn't work. The fan works fine but it just blows ambient temp air. The compressor clutch doesn't seem to be engaging. When I compared it to my wife's 03 Impreza, turning the front part of the compressor offers quite a bit more resistance in the working A/C (the '03). On my '97 it turns with no resistance at all. Just trying to figure out if this diffrence indicates a problem, or if it's normal for them to spin freely but not engage. Not sure where to begin with diagnosing the A/C. Thanks!

You probably want a wagon since you're replacing a Forester, but IMO a sedan of a given model will be quieter than a wagon. On our three wagons you can really hear noise from the rear of the cars when the seats are folded down, so I would think further isolation from that area would only help quiet things down. Plus tire choice is huge for road noise, removing roof racks will have a big impact on wind noise.

Thanks. I shipped the alarm unit and parts off to 86Bratman this morning, so I don't have it here to look at. In any case, with the alarmdectomy completed the car is running good. Hauled some stuff the other day, actually drove it to work this morning.

That sounds plausible. Do you know what could disable that? I don't think the alarm was complex enough to do something like that, it would just completely cut power to the ignition circuit AFAIK.

Sorry! I honestly did not consider that the alarm system could cause a crank but no start condition. In my 14 years of owning the car, when the alarm went off from disconnecting / reconnecting the battery, it would prevent the car from cranking at all. You could put the key in and turn it and it would just flash the hazards, no crank, no click, nothing. The crank but no start was unprecedented. I drove the car last night and it ran like a champ. Also very glad it's working now though I am hesitant to drive it somewhere I can't easily get a ride back from if it has a similar problem again. 86BRATMAN, I will give this thing to you, I was just going to smash it like the printer in Office Space. It's an Auto Mate Model 3... I don't have any documentation and couldn't really find anything online. I left enough wire that it's still usable, but I don't think I have the siren anymore. If you want this thing send me a message and I'll get it to you.

Thanks Cougar... I was ten minutes away from driving to the auto parts store when I read this so you saved me time and money. Thanks! I was starting to fear the worst, but before I gave up I wanted to take one more look at the fuses under the dash, and also put things back together that I had removed. I checked the fuses again and didn't find anything that was burned out. While I was under there, I looked at the unit for the alarm system that came with this car when I bought it 14 years ago. I have always hated that alarm; I never use it and had disconnected the siren almost as soon as I got the car. It would always go off when you disconnected and reconnected the battery. And even with the siren silenced, it still wouldn't let you start the car, it would just flash the hazards and the relay would click until you disarmed it with the key fob I never could seem to find when I needed it. I decided to just rip the thing out. I started snipping wires and trying to splice others back to factory wiring. I reconnected the battery and put the key in to see if I had power. It was nice not having the stupid alarm clicking at me. Then just for fun I turned the key... :gasp: It started right up, ran a little higher idle for a while, then settled down into a normal idle, just like nothing had happened. I let it run for a while, all sounded normal. Turned it off for a bit, started it up again, runs great. Tried this a third time, and all is running fine. Everything seems to be back to normal. My wife thinks I'm a genius mechanic. I have no idea why it's working now, but I'm glad it does. I only regret not taking that alarm out years ago, but I was worried I'd mess something up and it was my primary car for most of that time. Possible reasons the car started and ran after alarm removal: *The alarm was somehow allowing the car to crank but not start? *Something was loose and I jostled it while working on the car? *Disconnecting the battery longer reset something in the computer? Cautiously optimistic! Thanks sincerely for all the advice. I have learned a bit more about my car(s) and that's always good.

Fairtax, thank you for the reply. Fuses under the hood or under the dash? I will take a closer look. I got a spark tester and tested the two cylinders on the passenger side (because they were easier to access). Both showed spark, i.e. the light was pulsing. To be thorough I guess I should check all cylinders but I'm assuming that if a sensor was preventing spark it would do it on all four cylinders. But I don't know. I removed the outlet fuel hose from the filter and did get a decent amount of fuel, about 4 ounces, that came out when I cranked the engine for a few seconds. So it appears that the fuel filter is not clogged, and the fuel pump has power and is functioning. I did check for codes and didn't have any the other day, but will check again to see if that has changed. Thanks Nipper. Crank sensor is next on my list to check. I did take off the left and right timing belt covers and the belt is intact but I don't know if I can tell if it's skipped without removing a lot more things to get a better look. It would seem I have spark and fuel... what's "squish"? Compression? The car has around 170K miles on it. I need to dig back through my files to see when the timing belt was replaced. I know it has been done at least once.

EDIT - It started and ran, seems like things are back to normal! My 97 Outback cranks but won’t start. Can anyone suggest the most efficient way to proceed with troubleshooting and fixing it? I do not have a lot of experience wrenching but I have done basic maintenance and some replacement of parts. The battery was low but has been charged. I removed the cover from the fuel pump and I can hear it prime when the key is turned, but I haven’t verified that it is pumping. I cannot smell any unburnt fuel smell from the tailpipe. So, at this point I am pretty confident the fuel pump has power, but that’s about it. I did check for codes with an OBDII scanner and found none. Link to short video showing crank but no start: History of the car: This car has been very reliable with no starting issues previously. It is our “third car” so it does sit for a few weeks at a time occasionally. The last time it ran, it started right up for a trip to donate some furniture after sitting for at least two weeks. No problems starting or running at that time. The next time I tried to start it, the battery was low enough that it didn’t start. I charged the battery up, it cranks and tries to start but won’t start and run. I tried jumping it with another running car, same result.

Welcome to the USMB from SLC. The ksl.com classifieds are a good place to find a used Subaru, there's tons of them on there. Pricing tends to be high as they're always in demand here, but that's just the way the local market is. Take a drive up one of the Cottonwood canyons and it seems like every other car is a Subie. As someone else said you can spend hundreds or tens of thousands, just depends on what you want. I've been considering selling my '97 since I just got an '08 this spring, but so far I just can't let go of the old one. I have taken it all over Utah, and while it isn't going to get everywhere your Jeep can, these cars can do a lot. They definitely are good camping cars, and the highway drive to your destination will be more enjoyable and cost less in fuel. The down side is that a lot of the trails here are rocky and have ledges, so the approach and departure angle of Subarus, along with the lack of a true low range, are often the weak points and limiting factors. On snow, and on dirt roads they excel, but they're not really rock crawlers. Someone will post a picture of a heavily modded Subie at Rubicon or something to prove me wrong, but I'm talking about stock or mildly modified cars. Mine has a slight lift from King Springs and AT tires, otherwise stock. Are you planning on selling the Jeep, or keeping it? Either way, welcome to the board. IMO you'll not find a more helpful, friendly group of car enthusiasts online than here.

No problem, I'm used to it... she usually is right! As it stands right now, I plan to disregard their advice about the AWD fuse and the higher octane, and get the oil changed in my wife's car. Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the helpful responses. The ones that were most baffling to me were the first two, the AWD fuse has been around forever and if you're going to make up numbers on MPG improvements, at least make them plausible. I realize that oil change frequency is a topic that gets people going because there's lot of opinions. Since my wife asked the service guy when we were there and he told her it should probably be done, it'll get done sooner rather than later. She's certainly not going to listen to me

We recently bought an '08 Outback to add to our Subaru family, and received an invite to a dealer "orientation" open house. I figured the free food and free oil change coupon made it worth attending, plus I might learn something too. Some of the information presented seemed dubious though, so I wanted to run these past y'all to get your take on it. 1) No mention of disabling AWD when using the donut spare tire. I figured maybe that had changed on the newest models, so after the presentation I asked not one but two service people there. Both told me not to worry, on my '08 there was no way to disable the AWD for spare tire usage nor was it necessary. My owner's manual clearly contradicts this. EDIT: Its a 4EAT. 2) Octane - Service manager claims he gets +5 mpg higher by using mid grade octane rather than 85. I don't question that running too low octane fuel on a turbo or higher compression engine is bad, but for our N/A 2.5's I've run 85 for years and when I've tried higher there is no difference except a lighter wallet. Note that we are in SLC, UT at 4300' and the available options are typically 85, 88 and 91. When we have driven to lower elevations (which is rare) we of course run 87. 3) Oil change at 1000 miles. My wife didn't drive her '03 Impreza much over the winter, something like 1000 miles in seven months. The service manager suggested the oil and detergents have broken down from the time sitting in the engine and oil pan and suggested she get the oil changed. I think it's too soon to worry about it. There were some other things that made me scratch my head a bit (don't get me started on Nitrogen filled tires) but these were the bigger ones, at least to me. Anyone care to comment on these topics? Thanks!