heartless

need three things to run - fuel, air, and spark well - four things i guess - also need timing belts to be in good condition. step one - verify that timing belts are good - not broken, loose, etc. the timing covers are 3 pieces - the outer covers (left & right sides) can easily be removed to check the belts. step two - verify that it is getting fuel to the carb. step three - verify that there is good spark - yeah, new plug wires are a good thing, but what about the rest of the ignition system - distributor cap, rotor, plugs, etc.... Why?? what happened? what is the reason it has been sitting for a month? we could use the info to help diagnose...

as noted - if it is just a little above the full line, wouldnt worry about it...if you are the worrying type, drain a little off, no big deal... next time you do an oil change - add just 4 quarts - not 4.2 - start engine to fill filter, etc...shut off, let sit for about 10 minutes and check the level - add only as necessary. this procedure will prevent accidental overfills.

temps have been in the -15 to -20 F range at nite here lately - the Soobs all start and idle fine - 2 Legacys & 1 89 GL - all FI... we did have one that didnt like to idle at startup in the cold - had to baby that one along for a few minutes, but she has been retired. The 89 GL has always started great in the cold - never had a problem with that one - guess i got lucky with her - now my daughter is...

yup - I have done it - see the following thread for pic - scroll down about mid-page. I used the socket from a taillight & the amber 1157 bulb for my swap - it was pretty easy. you do have to enlarge the socket hole in the housing to fit the larger bulb tho...careful work with a dremel or similar works great for this. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93425

Now wait just a minute here - you never told us that!! Yeah, it could very well have had a fuel related issue, as well as the weak spark... geez... Cars that sit for extended periods without a fuel stabilizer added are VERY difficult to start again - even with a fuel stabilizer it takes quite a bit of cranking to get them going again... Full disclosure of the conditions of the problem is VERY helpful... But regardless, glad you got her going anyway.

here is a pic with the lights installed - best i can do. the lights I used are a combination fog/driving light - two H3 bulbs per light (replaceable!). metal housing, glass lens, quite durable. have had these for several years.

Sounds like the "reliability" end is under control... as for fog lights replacing what you called "parking lights"... I am guessing you are referring to the lights in the front bumper, right? those are not parking lights, they are your front turn signals. the "parking lights" are the corner lights next to the headlights. however, you can do what you propose, just a little more involved - first you would need to convert your corner marker lights to marker light/turnsignals - do a search, i know the info is there somewhere, i've seen it and have done it... once you have converted the corner lights, you can then remove the old turnsignals and put in fogs - I made an aluminum plate to fit the location using the stock screws to hold it and mounted my lights to the plate. Works pretty well. Will have to see if I have pics at all...not sure if i do.

Good looking dogs everyone. that Shepherd pup is gonna be one good looking dog when he grows up & fills out. Connie, be sure to post a pic of the new puppy when you get him! A couple of pics of ours... This one is supposed to be Shar-pei/pitbull mix, kind of looks like a cattle dog, but the coloring is wrong... He is our guard dog - doesnt like much of anyone that doesnt live here. These are the others we have/had in the last couple of years... Still have the black one, altho she is getting old, 11 now, loves everyone - just pay attention to her! The one on the right we lost to old age 2 yrs ago, she was 15, nearly 16. Still miss her...She was the sweetest girl, just wanted to be loved. the one on the left was a puppy that someone dumped out here - found her (and her brother) a good home. if we had the time & money for them, we would have a whole houseful!

dont give up on her yet!! "We have the technology, we can rebuild her!" as suggested by Skip - make sure the battery has a full charge and check/clean/replace the plugs if needed - give her optimum conditions. also, just for grins, check the fuseable links in the box under the hood, make sure all are in good condition and fitting tight. might also check the disty cap & rotor - if very worn, i would replace them - again, giving the car optimum start conditions. make sure all plug wires are firmly seated at both ends. try again... Keep us posted...

i hate you both!!! j/k - very nice looking wagons - something that age and condition around here - well....one can dream!! LOL

yup, easiest to just swap out the coil bracket with a known good one - make sure the area & bolts are clean and tight as that is where the bracket grounds. no good ground, no start. another way to "test" is pull a plug wire, stick a spare plug in it, and hold it close to a grounding source - i used one of the strut bolts - and crank the engine over - you shoud be able to see the spark (best done in semi darkness) if the ignition amplifier is good you can 'stretch' the spark out a good half inch or more and it should be bright white/yellow white in color - on mine the spark was very weak and bluish in color and i had to hold the plug very close to the bolt to get it to jump (less than 1/4 inch... if you do try this method, i would highly recommend using a pair of plastic tongs to hold the wire!!! (go ahead, ask me why... ) to Skip - thank you again for all the help you provided back then...the ol girl is still going!! my daughter drives her now.

sorry, but the manual/automatic thing doesnt fly... 89 GL wagon, 5 spd - Brumhilda - Hildy for short - not the prettiest thing around, but sturdy and reliable. actually got the name from the "Cartalk" website - "name your heap" - after putting in her stats that name came up, after thinking about for a minute I decided the name fit and kept it. the 90 Legacy LS wagon, auto, kind of has name - Snow Queen (Queenie) - after having the engine bay packed with snow during a particularly windy snowstorm last winter...dont really use it much tho - still kind of waiting for something more appropriate to show itself - have only had her a yr and a half. The other Subies in our stable belong to madkow and he doesnt name his other than 'the coupe', 'blue wagon', etc...

I dont see why it wouldnt work if the exhaust pipe on the Brat is the correct size to fit the inlet side of the muffler - which it may, or may not be. Only way to know for sure without cutting/fitting would be to measure - with a caliper - the outside diameter of the pipe and the inside diameter of the muffler inlet. no inspections here either - Cherrybombs rule!!!

just a thought, but I am going to throw it out there anyway - had a similar issue with my old 89 GL wagon several years ago.... Check that the coil bracket is grounded good (ie: bracket bolts are tight) if that checks out ok, try a different bracket - it is possible that the ignition amplifier has gone south (the little thing built in to the bracket) - doesnt happen often, but it does happen. (also possible a broken wire there...) On mine I had spark, but rather weak - took several days of emailing with another member to diagnose/find the problem, but once i replaced the coil bracket all was fine. wouldnt hurt to check/clean all other ground wires as well...

do NOT use the degree markings!! as noted, there are three marks further around the flywheel - and yes, they can be hard to see - they look almost like scratches to the untrained eye - short, long, short - line up with the center long line

Goof-off will remove the residue in no time! Brat looks great with the new shoes!

Congratulations! and welcome to the wonderful world of Subaru! Looks like it is in pretty good shape (as compared to the ones around here) some good old fashioned basic maintenance and she will give you many years of reliable service. you mention the water pump being replaced just before it was parked - did it get new timing belts as well?? personally, i would go ahead and change them anyway since it was sitting for a while...

car specifics would be helpful.... year, model, engine, etc...

yup, add a few gallons of fresh gas, check timing belt, check for spark and fuel. (make sure plug wires are tight, and check the airbox for critters as mentioned) if it hasnt been started in a while it could take a bit to get her to fire, and it may run like crap for a minute or two - until everything gets loosened up and old varnished gas in the cylinders gets burned off. if everything is kosher it should smooth out after a minute or two - if it doesnt, then it is time to dig deeper - fouled plug, bad injector, possible timing jump... good luck and keep us posted

Dont give up - you CAN do it! yeah, it can be a bit confusing, and frustrating, the first time, but it does get easier - and you are getting to know your Subie better! There is a wealth of information available here - if you cant find what you are looking for by doing a search, all you need do is ask, someone is bound to have the answer.

Got my "new" injectors on Friday. Got them, and the new thermostat installed over the weekend - WOW, what a difference!!! Car idles so smoothly now that you can barely tell it is running - especially with the radio on. Quick question about the type of bubbling i would see if there is a HG issue...i would be seeing more or less a steady stream of small bubbles if there was a problem, right?? I get an occasional larger bubble, but it is infrequent, and no real pattern to it...assuming it is still burbing trapped air here and there yet. (i did jack up the front corner when refilling the radiator, ran car to operating temp w/heat on, etc) so far, so good - took her for a couple of shorter runs yesterday (20 miles or so) and she ran perfectly, temp was perfect...keeping the fingers crossed!

Gloyale - Thank you for the reply and the added info. especially this tidbit... Finally got my new thermostat, and did go ahead and order the injectors... Will be putting everything back together this weekend and see how things go - and will definitely be keeping an eye out for headgasket symptoms (hoping no problems, but with my luck... )

1990 Legacy LS wagon - the Snow Queen... last week Thursday, while driving to work the car suddenly started running rough & the CE light came on - acted this way for a minute or two, then just as suddenly "corrected" itself and ran fine the rest of the way in. Ran fine going home that evening. Next day, Friday - happens again, longer this time - was still running like crap when I arrived at work and shut it down. Tried restarting right away - still running like crap. Had to get to work, so left it. Get ready to head home, start car - still running like crap - called the other half to him know I was heading home & car was giving me fits just in case I needed a "rescue". On the drive home it suddenly straightens up again and ran fine the rest of the way home. Saturday - dug out the FSM, pulled codes... had codes for: #2 injector #4 injector Knock Sensor (new about 2 mo ago) 02 sensor obviously if the injectors are not working correctly it will set of the knock and O2 sensors, so wasnt overly worried about those right off... after reading further in the FSM I attempted to diagnose the problem w/the injectors. Checked power at the plugs (FSM says min. 10v) - 12.5v - check Check resistance on the injectors themselves (FSM says between 10-11 Ohms) #2 - 56.2!! #4 - 13.something... OK - not ideal readings. Went to the parts car (91 LS sedan) and checked the injectors on it - no reading on #2 at all, but #4 was reading around 12.5 - much better than 56+ (and more in keeping with what #'s 1 & 3 were reading on the wagon) Got #2 injector swapped out on the wagon, hook everything back up, and fire it up...seems to be running better. Decided to go for a test drive "around the block" (country block = about 12 miles) Seemed to be running fine till a little better than 1/2 way it started to act up again - crap! then, suddenly, the temp guage spikes!! ah, he-double toothpicks!!! pulled over, popped the hood - the overflow bottle's cap was open & antifreeze all over - WTF??? closed that up - get back in - guage is down closer to normal - take off again - still running like crap - temp starts going up again - switch the heater on to help cool things off - runs fine for about a minute, then no heat - uh-oh!! managed to creep her home ever soo slowly - temp guage pretty much pegged all the way. pulled in the drive, shut engine down, but turned the key back on to run the fan to cool her off. I should mention that timing belts & related, water pump & thermostat were all replaced late last summer (07) by a friend at the local Community college Auto shop class (I should have known better... :-\ ) clear out the garage to get her pulled all the way in (had to move the motorcycles) pull the car in and commence pulling the lower radiator hose - only got about 1 gallon of coolant out... pulled the thermostat and find it is a Stant w/o the jiggle pin/bypass hole.... OK, problem known there...had to order the correct thermostat (no dealers close to me) Next recheck the injectors - #2 is reading 12.4 Ohms - same as it was when installed - #4 is reading nothing now, no change on the meter at all, not even a flicker. OK, problem known there now, too... So - do I go for another used injector reading in the 12+ range (as all seem to be now - keeping in mind that the FSM says spec is between 10-11 ohms) or do I replace them all to avoid further problems? FiveOmotorsport has a complete set of 4 correct for my vehicle for about $200 + cores, with a 3 yr/unlimited mileage warranty... Sorry this was so long....

Sorry to say that this part of your VIN is nothing more than which # car it was off the assembly line for that model year. for a general breakdown of VIN decoding try http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html for the actual manufacture date check the plate on the drivers side door frame - the one that lists proper tire size/inflation info. there should be a date stamped on it - something like 5/91 or something along those line.

the other half's 90 L sedan does have it, it should be there somewhere - not as obvious as the older GL's tho