TheBrian

I'm no lawyer, but disabling the alarm would be defeating a safety device. Your insurance company may prohibit that, and for all I know it might even be illegal. Defeating the chime would be simple, but don't do it. Crashing the car without a seatbelt is Bad For You. So wear a seatbelt all the time. And if there's some bizarre reason you can't wear a seatbelt, then buckle the seatbelt in and sit on top of it.

Where is BURGOS? Maybe I can mail you one. I'm probably going to stop by the junkyard today or Thursday, anyway.

An alternative which works well for me is to break up the cargo area a little. I placed a trunk (large, rectangular, top-filled piece of luggage) in the cargo area of my wagon. Not only does it give me a place to keep things out of sight, I can use it to partition the cargo area. Grocery bags can be placed between it and the sidewalls, seats, etc. It can be placed sideways; things fit on top of it. It's great.

I want to get tricky. How does one turn an alternator into a generator, and can it produce reasonably high quality 110VAC at 60Hz?

You may have signed away ownership of any parts they replaced. I've seen statements like that in various mechanics' fine print. Such fine print allows them to sell your cores, and it protects them from your Uncle Bob's opinions about the thickness of your old brake rotors.

The light comes on at 2.1psi, which is insanely low. If there's air or poop in the oil, the hyraulic lash adjusters act up. It's apparently very common on Subaru engines. Definately Seafoam it and see what happens. I had a minor case of the same tick, which spontaneously went away shortly before my last oil change (coinciding with the onset of colder weather). I Seafoamed it anyway, and it hasn't been back since.

Yes, we have vehicle speed sensitive power assist. It's supposed to provide less power assist at highway speed, and more assist at parking lot speeds. Perhaps you're misfeeling? It takes a much smaller turn of the wheel to change lanes on the highway than to turn into a parking space. Off topic, but I'm not impessed with Honda's power steering. An '01 Accord that I've driven loses its assist after one quick turn of the wheel, at idle. Then you have manual steering until it recovers.

If it says Vehicle Speed Sensor, your instrument cluster isn't plugged in.

I don't know exactly what kind of Subaru you drive, but, for a '97 Outback, you can get a Bosch direct-fit sensor for $55 or so.

Absolutely correct. The DuraLast clutch is a Fenco. I'm riding on one, and it's crap. I look forward to it starting to slip, so I can get a less chattery clutch, and get rid of that damned bearing noise. No more Fenco in my car! That means I won't be buying any AutoZone brake calipers, master cylinders, or wheel hubs. 1996 Legacy Brighton, cable clutch. Happy for it, too, as I view it as a mechanically simpler system.

What's it cost?

Most TPS's I've seen are three pins: 0V, 12V, and signal. You can tell which one is which by taking a multimeter to the car end of the wiring harness. (Assuming you have access to a functional '02/03 WRX). To find the signal pin on the TPS, hook up 12V (or a 9V battery) across the appropriate terminals. The signal pin is the one whose voltage changes as you rotate the TPS's shaft.

Uhhh.... whoops! I thought the interval was like 60k. But I figure if I strip out the diff. cover or break the plugs trying to get them out, I'm fairly well screwed anyway. I'm sure the diff. cover is just as inseperable from the differential housing as the drain plugs are from the cover. Not that I've tried to break anything loose, mind you.

Al_SemC and I did my clutch job by pulling the transmission. Well, not so much pulling as backing it out six inches or so. Given limited tools and young backs, it seems like the way to go. I guess the question is, would you rather deal with fuel lines, the A/C and power steering pumps, coolant, vacuum lines, and wiring, or rusty suspension components? I think we made the right choice.

What you're describing sounds like normal operation to me. Until the vehicle is warmed up, reliable start-up and operation is a higher design priority than fuel economy. It pays to be aware of this behavior when shifting, gassing, and clutching first thing on a cold day.

Not worth it? It takes *less than 60 seconds* to read your check engine light. You can borrow the tool you need to do it from AutoZone for a $160 fully-refundable deposit. Find out exactly what they say is wrong with it, i.e. in what manner your engine allegedly failed, and let us know. You don't need a new engine installed by the dealer. If your engine is actually totalled, I'd look in to getting a rebuilt engine from, say, CCR, and see how much the dealer vs. an independent mechanic wants to install it.

The concept of a bypass valve in an oil filter is nothing novel - any spin-on filter you can buy has one. Cooling fins? Not needed on a Subaru, which has an oil/water heat exchanger. I would not install a Trasko filter as a bypass filter. That's just silly. You can get down to 1 micron with a $.50 roll of toilet paper.

That is precisely where my car's first spot of body rust appeared. The panel looks really thick there; I wouldn't worry about that. Get it all gone, including the rust on the same panel, just under the bumper cover. Then go over to the passenger's side of the car, jack up the back four inches, and remove the plastic "protector" from the fuel filler neck. Mine was retaining about half a liter of gasoline-soaked mud and salt. Then replace the protector, so the filler neck isn't abraded by stones the tire kicks up. Check for rust spots forming along the bottom of the doors, on the inside. Coat the region in gear oil. If you have a roof rack, check for and contain any rust on the roof. As with any car's hood, the front is pelted by stones, causing dings and chips. And that covers the major problem areas I've seen on Legacies. Keep on top of it. The Legacy is worth it.

Okay, but how are you supposed to hang a U.S. license plate on the front, as many states require?

Gas mileage would be on the rise because of the evolution of engine technology, but for that cars have been getting bigger, heavier, and more powerful. New car buyers want horsepower (apparently, they're afraid to beat the piss out of their engines to pass and merge). They want bigger cars, so most models are creeping upmarket, while new models are introduced at the bottom of the scale. Crash safety standards are on the rise, and crash safety weighs a whole lot. If Subaru were to bring back a modernized Loyale, it would fail miserably. People who don't want to pay $15k+ for a car buy used. Used car sales don't keep carmakers afloat.

Is it still $25 if he wants it shipped to Finland?

I did an oil change in AutoZone's parking lot yesterday. At least on a '96 Legacy, it's the easiest oil change you'll ever do. My drain plug is either 17mm or 19mm. The oil filter is on the bottom, easy to reach, and nowhere near the exhaust. Poke your head under the bumper (no ramps required) and see. As for pointers, just fill the oil filter with oil before you screw it on. The drain plug washer is aluminium, so use about 30ft-lbs.

I just re-read this sentence. Cross-shop a Toyota Matrix 4WD against a Legacy Wagon.

Well, if you've got your heart set on AWD, Subaru are very good at it. What I love about my Legacy is the sport suspension, the low center of mass, and the infrequency of needing repairs. It's also very easy to work on. Although, you're buying new, so you won't need to put much money at all into repairs unless you buy a Korean car. But since Subarus hold up so well, you'll enjoy higher resale values when you do sell your car. But, do you really need AWD? My mom's V6 Accord does just fine in wintry weather here in Buffalo. Safe top speed is limited by how long it takes you to slow the vehicle, and AWD doesn't help you one bit when your foot's on the brake. (Though Subaru's low center of mass and tight suspension do.) If only Honda made station wagons, or if only VW would import Made in Germany VWs to the US, then I could recommend either of those. Ah, well. One bad thing about Toyotas: When they do need parts, Toyota will hose you for them. Toyota tries (with fair success, apparently) to make it difficult for the automotive aftermarket to make parts to compete with the dealership's parts channel. I do love Subarus, even though the Boxer engine and AWD are false prophets. So, yeah, get the Subaru. You'll love it.

The green stuff is on sale this week at AutoZone. $4/qt. Stock up if that's your thing. ____ Update I work there. On Wednesday, when I was pricing out oil, the "$4/qt special deal" signs were not out. They must have been posted on Thursday. This morning, I went to buy some, and it rings up at $5/qt! Apparently, the sale began a month ago (though there was no way for our customers to know about it) and ended a week ago.