heartless

is the check engine light on at all?? or has it been in the past? have you tried to pull any stored codes?? that would be the first place to start...

didnt see any mention of which tranny you have - manual or auto??? manuals tend to get better mileage than the auto will... would also check into doing the things suggested by GD

"prone to cracking" - yeah, no kidding - has a couple of nice cracks in it, altho from searching I have seen a pic of one worse than mine... Is the angle shown in the drawing that much of a big deal???

thanks gary - have already decided to go new with this item and save some headaches later. besides, might be needing 2 of the darn things...1 for my car, 1 for the other half's... well, may have found my answer - according to "subarupartsforyou" all 90 to 96 models use the same sensor...whoo hoo.

it seems I need to get a new knock sensor for my 90 Legacy. just wondering what year(s) are compatible? found some on feebay, but they are listed for 95/96 - pic looks like it is identical to mine, but will it work?

i know it isnt the coldest ever - but still....this deserves some kind of prize, doesnt it?? actual temp was around -15 or so, with winds 30-40mph - wind chills about -45 or so... I really wish I had thought to grab the camera before I started digging out the snow!! oh well...

been to the land of the wet - wishing i was there again at this point!!!

hey miles! we got to miss out on that big dumping you guys got down there last week - but the high winds & drifting snow have more than made up for it, believe me! We got about 5" of the stuff last night and now the wind is picking up again - oh wonderful! BigB - yeah, it is crazy - makes me wonder why in the &*%% i stay here - have I mentioned that I HATE WINTER!!! more and more every year... as for a name - beginning to think this one is gonna be called the "Icemaiden" in spite of being flame red!

johnceggleston - only have comprehensive in my dreams - it is an 18 yr old, bought and paid for semi-rust-bucket after all. nice thought tho. Evil - yes, it was parked tail to the wind with the majority of it getting packed in from the left (drivers) side - doesnt help that i just discovered that the door seal is loose - will be getting something to glue that down permanently as soon as it warms up enough... Porcupine - we have a garage, but not "heated" so to speak - only heat comes from a kerosene turbo heater, and I am about of that, too, with no way to get more till the other half gets home. oh, and surprise! the price of the stuff just went back up to $3.79.9 again! looking at getting some #1 "off-road" diesel instead - at least it is a little cheaper at about $3.45 a gallon & the heater will burn that too. but anyway - spent some quality time with my Sube, a wet/dry shop vac and a hair dryer (less chance of melting things than with the heat gun) and I think I have it pretty well dried out. unplugged countless connectors, pulled the fuse panel out to get behind it (and to all the stuff at the top) lots of hairdryer time...heck, i think i used the hairdryer more today on the Sube than i have drying my hair in the last 6 months!! usually just let it air dry.. next problem - the code 22 - knock sensor... I located the bugger - got the bolt loose, and the wire unplugged, but when i tried to get the plug loose from the bracket - it broke...just the outer housing, but still...grrr. the sensor itself - eh, not so pretty. outer housing is cracked pretty bad with corrosion showing here & there, wire is stiff as a board... will the knock sensor from a 91 work on my 90??? have a 91 parts car, but it is pretty buried at the moment, so I would like to know for sure before i go digging it out to try to get the sensor...it should work, right?? please tell me it will work...

ok, a little back ground for those that havent seen it already... a few days ago we had bone-chilling cold & high winds with severe blowing and drifting snow. as a result of this, and where my car sits in the drive, the engine bay got cram packed full of snow, what joy. (more info & pics in the "why i love my Subaru....snow carnage" thread get the car into the garage (under it's own power i might add), get 90% of the snow removed, car will start when stone cold, but as soon as she starts to warm up, she dies...check engine light is on... today 2/14/08 (BTW - Happy V day everyone) brush off the snow we got last night, shovel the drive out behind the car so I can get it put back indoors (tried to do it last night before snowfall, but no go) start car (yup, stone cold, starts fine) back in the garage... Pull the lower dash panel so I can get to the check connectors...un-oh - things are worse than I thought...this is what greeted me behind that dash panel... but wait! it gets even better!! as i investigate further by removing the kick panel... and further yet by removing the door sill and pulling back the carpet... right now all i want to do is kick, scream, and cry! but big girls know that sort of thing doesnt really help in the long run, so we suck it up, put on the big girl panties and get busy attempting to clean up the mess... good thing i am unemployed at the moment - somehow I dont think a boss would really understand all of this... thanks to everyone for letting me unload - time to go put on my big girl panties and get busy.... oh yeah, before i forget - got my code - 22 - knock sensor...guess i need to try and dry that out some more - after i clean up the other mess....

boy, that is a subjective question... had a whole lot of fun with my old '89 GL wagon, but am also enjoying (altho not at the moment, but that is another story) my '90 Legacy wagon.... hmmm - I think I would go with '90-94 Legacy wagon myself, preferrably in a 5 spd...much more comfortable than the GL/Loyale line(more leg room, better ride, etc), but still pretty easy to work on and still non-interference, still has the reliability factor...has to be the wagon for me - need that extra cargo space...

that is the best place to start - you can do it yourself, but it is easier to have a freind that can do the wheel wiggling so you can get under there and really see what is happening and where any movement might be located. sounds as if you may have several things needing attention from your description...key things to look at - ball joints, tierod ends, & the wheel bearings of course, but dont forget the obvious things like lug nuts and castle nut... also check mounting points for the control arms and other componants as well for cracked, worn, or missing bushings.

thanks for the suggestions so far guys. will be trying to get her back into the garage here in a little bit (if she will start this morning), pull the code(s) to see what it is thinking and go from there...will update later.

well, not real sure if that is the problem or not - air intake doesnt seem to have gotten stuffed full of snow - and prior to the snow pack it ran fine...(please see the "why I love my Subaru...snow carnage" thread for background info) not to completely discount your theory, but more inclined to think that things are still iced/damp where they shouldnt be - ie: thawing out and getting wet - which leads me back to my original question... My question is this - do you Subaru gurus think that if I take her out immediatly after restarting that I will have a better chance of keeping her running (ie: rpms up and getting up to full operating temp) or should i be worried about her stalling out on me going down the road???

no, havent checked the code - honest truth, not even sure where the plugs are in this car! somewhere under the dash is all I know... have only had this one since last May and havent had any real problems with it till now... so what is a code 23 anyway? oh wait - just got some FSM's the other day - gonna go see if I can find out myself!

OMG! well, good thing these cars are so tough! think I would have been looking for another place to park tho! LOL

sorry evil - no disty on these cars...but if it did have one,yeah, it would have been checked...

ok, this is in regards to my 90 Legacy LS...the one that got the engine buried in snow...please bear with me - this might get long... got most of the snow cleaned out the other day - still semi frozen from that adventure! checked all wires, connectors, oil, air filter, etc before trying to start again. everything checked out good - didnt look like I had knocked anything loose other than snow. turned the key and she fired right up! yeah! pulled her out of the garage to clean up the mess and left her running while i tackled that job (check engine light was on, but not overly concerned - kind of expected it after all that snow, and she seemed to be running nice and smooth) figuring i would take her for a run when i finished cleaning up to really dry things out. several minutes go by, just about have all the snow and ice cleaned up and i hear the one thing i didnt want to hear - the car died - no stumble, no cough, just quit like the key had been turned off. so I pop the hood again, grab the air compressor blow gun and try blowing out moisture from the top the block, around spark plugs, wire connectors, etc - easier to remove water than ice... Still no start at this point, but I am confident that she will start again once she cools down. My question is this - do you Subaru gurus think that if I take her out immediatly after restarting that I will have a better chance of keeping her running (ie: rpms up and getting up to full operating temp) or should i be worried about her stalling out on me going down the road??? we are expecting another snow storm late tonight/tomorrow and she might very well be needed in the am (only one with AWD at the moment) so the other half can get to work/home again....Really need her to be running reliably again...

preparation is THE most inportant part of any paint job - without good prep even expensive paint will look like crud. when wet sanding it is VERY important to KEEP the area you are sanding wet at all times to wash away the residue or you will end up with some nasty looking scratches that will be difficult to remove. using a spray bottle, a sponge or even a hose just dribbling water over the area is key to a good wetsand. That and using the correct type of sandpaper - there is paper made specifically for wetsanding - usually black in color, and comes in a wide range of grits, from 100 to 2000. the closer you are to the final finish, the higher the number you want to use.

ROFL - Great pics All!! lovin it! Durania - I did have a heater pointed at it while I was digging - would have taken a week to melt all of that out using just the heater - and with kerosene at $3.69.9 a gallon around here, that is a rather expensive option... Kevin - how long did it take you to dig out your car??? LOL looks like the bulk of that came off the metal roof?? Evildead - I did start it and left it running, but when the stuff started melting she died & would not restart until things had frozen up again... and yeah - all that snow packed into the wheels does screw with the balance! had to dig all of that out too...

yeah, a '78 doesnt have nearly the electrical stuff the '90 Legacy has - she did start, but once it started melting off, stuff got wet that shouldnt get wet and she died... still amazing she started at all with that much snow crammed in there!

just for the sake of knowledge, I would take it to your local autoparts store - most of them will do a battery/alternator test for you with the stuff still in the car - no need to remove anything. at least then you would have peace of mind knowing you dont have an alternator or battery on its way out... ps: once your charging system dies completely you wont be able to "roll start" it - sorry - but it needs electricty to run.

yupper - sometimes having a heart-to-heart is the only thing you can do. Most of the time it works, sometimes however, it doesnt, and one must dig deeper... The Dude Abides - I hope things get back on track for you real soon, and the Mrs is doing better & home soon, too.

yeah, that was kind of my reaction at first too, Connie. Seems the spot I park in (outside) is directly across from the corner of the house and when it gets real windy (which it did Sat night thru Sunday - 30-40mph winds) the wind comes whipping around the side of the house, across the driveway and up the left side of MY car...now, it had snowed on friday as well, only an inch or so, but that was enough to cause some serious drifting - especially considering we live in farm country - LOTS of open space & no trees to speak of to slow things down! just one of them things, ya know....

took several hours to get this mess cleared out, and even at that it isnt completely clear - would say around 90% for anyone else that may ever have to deal with something like this (hopefully not), here's how I did it... #1 top priority - disconnect and remove the battery! I started at the bottom - cleared out the wheel wells, around the steering, axles, and suspension parts. Using a flat bar - carefully! - poked and dug snow out as far up as i could around exhaust, tranny, etc, breaking up icey chunks as i went. finally moved topside to break up snow and get it to drop down thru the areas I had cleared from below. careful use of the flatbar again, along with a long flatblade screwdriver and a plastic putty knife for delicate areas... unbolting and moving washer bottle, coolant overflow bottle, and both radiator fans (had a lot of snow in them as well) helped with the process - a little more room to work Once i had the majority of the snow broken up and cleared out, i used compressed air to blow out areas that I coudnt get my fingers into - like around spark plugs, under the intake, etc. all the electrical connectors got a blast of air as well. Oh yeah - a good turbo type heater is essential!!! - keeps you warm and helps to melt away that white chit! next step at this point is to take her for a good drive and get everything good & warmed up & whatever is left melted away...