outback_97

The external head gasket leaking problems were supposedly fixed by '03 IIRC, so that could be an advantage of an '03. Have you considered a new '05? They made some significant changes with the new ones, including lowering the weight and changing the gearing to improve acceleration. OTOH you could get a better deal on the older ones, and there should be cars coming off lease that fit your age parameters. Another option (sticking to pre '05's) would be the H6 3.0 engine as it would give you better passing power on the highway. Just curious, where is the "Titon"? You don't mean the mountains near the ID/WY border, do you? Steve

Ranger: Did you see this link yet? http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23956&highlight=abs+light My ABS light came on the other day when I drove away after being parked in deep snow, and remained on all the way down the canyon (15 miles) and back home through town. I could not get ABS to activate so I assume it was disabled while the light was off. At home, I shut the car off, restarted, and the ABS light stayed on. The next morning, the light turned off and ABS functions normally now. I did some searching and was considering trying the diagnostic procedure detailed in the link above, but when it went away on its own I attributed it to parking in the deep snow. OTOH, I have parked and driven in similar amounts of snow (several inches to a foot I'd guess) and this has never happened before. I've also wondered if it is my battery going south, since it's original and sometimes low battery can cause weird dash lights to come on. Steve

Congrats and welcome! IMHO, I think this is the best site for repair and troubleshooting info. Hopefully you won't have to do much of that for a long time. Other sites include www.edmunds.com and www.nasioc.com. Both have areas dedicated to Legacies and Outbacks. Also www.cars101.com is pretty good for information, but it's not a forum like the USMB is. www.scoobymods.com is very good for modifications but there won't be much for n/a 2005 Outbacks there now, maybe ever. I don't think there are a lot of options on stereos yet, that's too bad the salesperson steered you wrong, but the average person on this board knows 10x more about subies than most salespeople at the dealership. Armrest: You could buy the part itself cheaper from an online vendor than the dealership. Fuel consumption: You actually want to *reduce* that, right? Don't think that a $65 kit will improve your mileage, except for reducing weight in your wallet. Probably the best assistance I can offer is to suggest that you keep searching, learn how to use the search function here and on other boards, because most of the time the info is out there, it just takes a little digging. If you really can't find it, people here are very helpful and will try to steer you in the right direction. Steve

Here's a list of Impreza wheels, but some info may be helpful: http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html Steve

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Ranger: I do have the cold weather package and have yet to use the engine heater (may come in handy this winter though) but I use the heated seats all the time and, surprisingly, the side mirror heaters. I never thought they'd be as handy as they have been. I have leather seats and the seat heaters are very very nice to have! Steve

Powderhound: Brighton opened last week, yesterday I was up Big Cottonwood snowshoeing with my wife... lots of snow for October! It's not really that cold, but cold enough that things froze up down in the valley too. The upper canyon has received about 100" of snow already. The snowshoeing was part of the problem... it took longer than expected getting down the canyon, we were running late getting back home to host a get together with some friends and just left the wet and snowy gear in the car, increasing the humidity inside which turned to frost and ice on the windows. After enough good food and wine last night I didn't feel like going out to retrieve the gear last night and there it sat until this morning. I'll definitely consider the silicone for the windows though. mtsmiths: I'm considering a remote car starter to at least get things going on winter mornings. Salt Lake City doesn't really get all that cold, it's pretty much never below the teens, but it's often below freezing in the mornings and this is the first winter the car hasn't been garaged. And, when we finally do get or build a shed to get the excess junk out of the garage, guess which car will get the honor of shelter? Not mine The long range plan involves a larger garage, or at least adding a car port to keep some snow and frost off the thing. Steve

Hi, do any cold climate folks have suggestions on anything you have used to condition the rubber seal around the front windows and reduce the tendency to freeze the door shut? Or any other suggestions that have worked to prevent this? I was frozen out of my car this morning, d'oh! This is the first winter the car hasn't been swaddled in a nice warm garage overnight, since this summer we bought a small older home w/ a one car garage that's currently full of stuff and no room for either of our subies. Our townhome (still for sale unfortunately) has a nice two car garage that I really miss on days like this. You know what's even worse than going from a two car garage to no garage? Still paying for the townhouse w/ two car garage which sits empty, lol. I had flashbacks of my years of living back in Minnesota and North Dakota this morning! Steve

You're looking to sell your stock OB wheels / tires which are in rough shape? You might get a few bucks from a place that sells used tires. You could try to sell them in the marketplace section here or on Nasioc. Why not put snow tires on your existing wheels (the stock 16's), and get another newer set of wheels w/ summer or all season rubber for good weather? Swap them in the fall and spring. Or, just get good all season tires put on your existing wheels if it's just the tires that are worn and you don't feel you need dedicated snow tires. I may have misunderstood, I didn't realize you were looking to sell your stock setup. In any case, you need to stick to at least a 16" wheel for your brakes, although there may be 15" rally wheels out there that could fit, I don't know. Steve

Those 14's are definitely too small. Even if the wheels did fit, that is a pretty drastic reduction in size, almost 10%. Most people try to limit tire differences from stock to something like 2%. This calculator is handy for figuring these things out: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html You could consider WRX wheels which can be had pretty inexpensively and are good wheels IMHO. Note that they have a slightly different offset. But the stock WRX tires would still be too small for your OB and aren't known for being stellar in the snow. Steve

Another vote for alternator. When mine went out the Brake and Battery dash lights came on simultaneously. Mine was covered under a recall and replaced for free at the dealer. You should check to see if yours is covered, they may have affected the '95 to '99 Legacies. Steve

Lynn: Do you mind saying where you're getting the work done? I'd like to know in case I ever need to get this done with my OB I hope I don't, but it is after all a Phase I 2.5l and a known issue. Thanks! Oh, thanks also for keeping everyone informed, there are many threads that just sort of fade out and you never hear the resolution of someone's problem. Steve

I have no experience with them, sorry. I know a lot of people knock large chain auto service centers like Midas, Jiffy Lube, et al, but I have had good experiences with Midas here in SLC. No discernible difference from the OEM brake pads, and they have given me better information and service than some of my dealer experiences here. I don't advocate skimping on things like tires and brakes, but I just don't see what the dealers do better that justifies their high prices on turning a rotor. It's just not that hard to do. Again, my $.02. Steve

My $.02, don't get your rotors turned at the dealer unless you have too much of this stuff $$$$$ and want to just get rid of it. There is a reason why some people call them "stealerships". Steve

It shouldn't have any negative effect on your drivetrain if you have slightly larger diameter tires. You would experience rubbing in tight turns or bumps if they were a lot wider than stock. Your odometer will be slightly lower, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Your gearing will change slightly, making you slower off the line but lower RPM's at highway speeds. But the difference is probably so slight that it doesn't really matter. This site is very helpful for calculating tire size differences: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html Just plug in the width, sidewall ratio, and wheel size and it will compute your speedometer inaccuracy if you have larger than OEM tires. OTOH, speedometers can sometimes be inaccurate to begin with, usually reading a little higher than true speed. Steve

I don't have photos of Hella's in an OB, but here's what they look like in the TS: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/fog_off1.jpg http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/fog_on1.jpg I have seen photos of 1st gen OB's sporting Hella's and PIAA's on Nasioc in the Legacy and Outback forums. You could try searching there. Steve

Per the tire calculator here: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html You are reducing rolling circumference by about 1% going to the shorter sidewall tire. If you plug your numbers into the tire calculator you'll see all the particulars. IMHO I'd stick with the stock size, unless you can't find it or it's a lot more expensive for some strange reason. But, either should work pretty well. Steve

Lynn: Here's an excerpt from an email I got from a guy on another Subaru message board (two years ago) when I inquired about repair shops in Utah: > >since I live in Utah Valley, the repair shops I have used > >are on the Provo-Orem Area. The ones I have found most reliable are > > > >Bud's Automative on State Street in Orem. They have a Subaru Specialist > >there. > > > >The other one I use with regularity is Rob's Independent Subaru in South > >Provo. He really knows his stuff. I understand he lives in North Salt > >Lake so you might try to call. This may be way out of date, but if these shops are still around, that could be a good sign. Again, I don't have any experience with these places, but I have heard good things. Steve

Lynn: Are you near SLC by chance? I had a good experience with GT Automotive in Murray when they did my front wheel bearings, and although I've never had any major (engine) work done there, I've heard good things about them. Are you working with a dealer or an indy shop? Just curious, and hello from Utah. Sorry to hear about your engine troubles, with all the HG talk online I always keep an eye on mine (107K miles). Steve

'03 TS... good choice! I might be able to answer some of your questions. You have 15" *steelies* right now, right? Or are they alloys? Here in the U.S. they came with 15" with plastic wheel covers. Within the first few months of having ours, we upgraded to a set of WRX wheels / tires. Big improvement in looks, slight improvement in handling. The stock WRX tires are bigger in circumference than the stock TS ones, so just by going to the WRX setup you'll have different gearing (by around 2.5%). You could get higher profile tires for the stock 15" wheels, but at the expense of handling with the higher sidewalls. I don't think that WRX brakes will fit with the stock 15 wheels... but I could be wrong about that. Someone on NASIOC might know, they have a forum just for brakes. I think some other people there have upgraded the brakes, with mixed reviews, meaning that some feel it's not worth the amount of work. I would get a set of WRX wheels for summer use, and put snow tires on the 15" for winter, but that's just IMO. Steve

Another one: SVX is a different pattern too, right? Even if the WRX wheels are the same bolt pattern, isn't the offset on the WRX wheels greater than the offset on newer (2nd gen) Outbacks? FWIW, I found this nifty chart a while back when I was verifying that WRX wheels would fit on my TS: http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html I don't think this addresses newer OB wheels, though. Apparently 2nd gen OB's are 48 mm offset. That doesn't mean they won't fit, but they are not "the same" Cool offset calculator: http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html Info from Peaty @ scoobymods: http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=10148#post10148 Steve

This writeup will be old news to most everyone here, but a while back I put this together and submitted it to Scoobymods. Since it's sometimes easier to comprehend photos and visual info, it may help someone out. The photos are specific to a bugeye generation Impreza, but the idea should be the same for most subies: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/jack/ Please use jackstands, and a good floor jack. It's worth it. Steve

35000 miles sounds WAY too early to replace the struts, IMO. Maybe if every mile were on rutted, washboard gravel, or the struts were somehow faulty. FWIW, my '97 OB needed the front ones replaced around 80K miles, actually should have been sooner since one was almost completely gone for some time before that, leaking fluid. This car saw some pretty harsh roads in those days, backroads in the mountains and southern Utah. I've always heard about the bounce test, but even mine, with one 80K mile worn and one almost dead leaking strut wouldn't bounce more than 1 or 2 times with me jumping up and down then hopping off the bumper. So, I think the struts would almost have to be physically removed for it to bounce "several" times. My $.02. The car now has over 100K miles, and I know the rear ones are quite worn, I can just tell from the way the car handles dips and hard corners, yet it will not continue to bounce when jumping on the bumper, it is still dampened quickly. Steve

rweddy: I like the Hella 500 fogs I put in my wife's TS. This writeup doesn't apply to your car, but the idea is the same: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/fogs/ They are better than the fogs in my '97 OB, IMO. A lot cheaper than what the stealership is quoting you, around $70 per pair IIRC. They are definitely fogs, not driving lights. The pattern is low and wide, not helpful at higher speeds, but useful in bad conditions and dark winding streets or canyons where you want more light to the sides for cornering. The Hella's also come in a driving light variant, so make sure you're getting what you want. You could pretty easily make these fit, with very little modification to your car. Your existing wiring should be fine if you stick with the stock Hella wattage bulbs. Steve

Not mine, but I hosted these photos for a guy on Nasioc a while ago: http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/MyOBrangle.jpg http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/MyOBR.jpg http://users.sisna.com/ignatius/subaru/mods/MyOBL.jpg I think this has the Scorpion springs, and slightly larger tires, obviously different rims. Pretty cool! Steve

I always thought the function of these plastic "guards" was to reduce the amount of debris and water getting into the engine compartment. No? Steve