Chip

The rear wipers on Subarus have a tendency to stop working after a while. The weird thing is that the fuse doesn't blow, the wiper just stops moving. I've performed this procedure on my 98 Outback as well as on my 03 Impreza. They're almost identical. To start, remove the plastic cover on the wiper arm where it comes out of the glass....(pop it off with a screwdriver).The small nut under it is a 10mm. Chances are it's a bit rusty so you might want to give it a shot of liquid wrench or something. Remove the round plastic cover and then remove the large nut. Now, from the inside, remove the interior panel to reveal the motor. Unplug the yellowish wire connector then remove the 3 bolts,(10mm). The motor should fall out. Remove the small screws as shown in pict 01. Remove the back carefully as to not let the big plastic gear fall out. Take note of the position of all the parts. Before removing the shaft, it'll probably be rusty like the one in the picture...soak it with PB blaster and go for a beer. I used a clamp to remove the shaft in mine...as in pic # 02. Once the shaft is out, clean it up real well with sandpaper...The pics show mine before and after. Clean the hole where the shaft goes with a piece of rolled up sandpaper then with a Q-tip. Grease the shaft and the hole with Brake Caliper grease and re-assemble. Make sure everything is lined up like in the picture. If it's assembled wrong, the wiper will rotate in the wrong direction. Put the unit back in and try it before putting the panel back on, just to make sure it works.

Just bought a 2012 Legacy and want to buy a factory remote starter for it. It sells for $500 here in Canada and $369 in the U.S. 2 questions: 1). Is it a simple plug-in module ? 2). any diff between the U.S. and Canadian models?,(I'm thinking they're the same).

My 98 OB did the same thing. I did it for several years and nothing ever stopped working so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The most accurate way of checking your speedo is to use the mile markers on the side of the highway,(Interstate). They're usually in 10ths of a mile with the actual miles indicated every mile. Set your odometer at 0 at one of the mile markers and drive 10 miles. As you drive past the mile marker 10 miles later, take note of your odometer. Seeing as the odometer and speedo run off the same gear or sensor, you'll be able to calculate exactly by what % you're off.

I don't know how long they rubber strips will stay there. I'm hoping they'll stay for at least several months.....It was such a quick fix that even if I have to re-do it in a few months, it's no big deal....(unless it's -35C outside). I was wondering if the rubber strips were coated with rubber cement first if it would make them stay longer..........

My '03 Impreza's front sway bar bushings were making quite a bit of noise when going over bumps. I found a quick and dirty alternative to changing them,(because I'm cheap). Jack up the front of the car so the front wheels are off the ground. You'll see quite a gap between the bushing and the bar. I cut pieces of an old bicycle innertube about 1/2inch x 1 inch and shoved it inside the gap. That's it ! It worked...no more noise.

My '03 Impreza MT does it quite badly. Mostly in 1st or 2nd but also a bit in the other gears. It's not a normal "Subaru thing" because it didn't do it when new. It's not the clutch because it does it when the clutch is engaged,(foot off the pedal). I've cleaned the IAC valve twice with sea foam...didn't help. I checked and adjusted the throttle cable. I had all the motor mounts checked for slack. Last week one of the U-joints in the driveshaft broke and I'm thinking it was in part due to the "jerking" of the motor during the throttle on/off. It's gotten to the point where I'm thinking of driving the F%?ng car off a bridge.

Very interesting article on the 2.5L...all kinds of technical stuff.. http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/11q1/examining_subaru_s_new_fb-series_flat-four-car_news

I don't think it makes much difference....as long as it's changed regularly. I've owned over a dozen different vehicles and I've never had any problems due to the oil not doing it's job. The car will normally fall apart before the engine wears out because of lack of lubrication. Buy the cheap stuff.....If it's -40° where you live...then buy synthetic.

Here in eastern Canada it's very popular to have your car "shot" with oil. It's a very messy process but it works. Basically, you heat up a mix of motor oil and parafin wax,(everyone has a different recipe....some use chainsaw chain oil), and spray it on using a spray gun.....with a long nozzle. Between panels where there are no factory holes or plugs,(such as inside the rocker panels), you drill a small hole,(about 1/4), and insert the spray nozzle. Normally, the entire vehicle is sprayed,(where you can't see it of course). The entire underneath, between the panels, inside the doors and in the engine bay. It's best to do it every couple of years. It works but like I said it's messy...it drips out everywhere, especially in the summer on hot days.......at least you can wash it off....the rust you can't.

The cap is always tightened until it clicks. I never fill it all the way...(can't afford to).

My '03 Impreza 5sp does the same thing and it's driving me ape***************. I had the motor mounts checked,(they're ok), and did the combustion chamber cleaning thing too. No matter what speed, if you lift off the gas even a little bit, you feel the car "jerk", before it slows down. Same when you apply a bit of throttle...it's impossible to be smooth. It didn't always do it...it started at around 120K kms...now I'm at 185K kms. I'm hoping it's not something inside the tranny.

Each time I re-fuel my 03 Impreza, within a couple of minutes after putting gas in, it skips, and hesitates. It doesn't matter how much, or how little gas I add.....it always does it. After a few minutes, it goes away and it runs fine. I'm thinking it has something to do with pressure loss in the fuel system but I really don't know. Any ideas ? It's got 185K kms on it.

Dedicated snow tires are the way to go. Here in eastern Canada,(Quebec), it's actually illegal to use anything but snow tires in the winter.....all seasons are not allowed. http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/publications/prevention/infosaaq/infosaaq_21a.pdf I don't know how much snow you get but as soon as there's more than 1/4 inch on the ground, your all seasons have already been rendered ineffective. Same thing goes for ice. Alot of people will tell you that they've done just fine with all seasons....that's because they've never driven with good dedicated snow tires or have never had to do any emergency maneuvers. Today's snow tires are much better on dry roads than in the past. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. That being said...I'm a big fan fan of the Blizzaks...I've used them on all my Subarus. I'm sure however that there are many other excellent choices...Nokiam, Michelin..etc. Stick with a good brand name and you'll be ok. The only added cost is the cost of having them changed each year...while your snow tires are on your car, your summer tires aren't wearing down.

I had the same car and found that it was painfully slow. The problem is mostly due to the weight of the damn car....something like 3400lbs. I guess the only thing to do would be to gut it. Rip out the interior completely except for the driver's seat. Lose the spare tire. Ditch the radio. Drain half the oil and never put in more than a couple gallons of gas. I bet you'd cut a second off the 1/4 mile time. zzz

Unfortunately, it's one of the symptoms of a leaking head gasket. My 98 O/B had the same problem and sure enough, the gaskets were toast. With the motor running, take a look inside the coolant bottle, you'll probably see bubbles. That means that pressure from the cylinders is getting into the coolant passages in the heads. You're looking at ~$1K.

If I didn't need AWD I'd probably have something else. The weight of the car is it's biggest downside, it hurts the power to weight ratio. My 98 OB weighed something like 3400 lbs. Being an automatic, the acceleration was far from being exciting...(the reviews called it "only adequate"). I find my 5spd Impreza much quicker and way more fun to drive...although it's no rocket. That being said, I can't think of a better all weather car for the money....and yes, they do seem to run forever.

Has anyone tried the Whiteline swaybar links on a 2003 Impreza with rear drum brakes ? I'm talking about the p/ns KLC19 and KLC20's. PDM racing says they may not fit models with drum brakes and I was wondering if anyone had tried them.

If you do decide to diassemble the motor...check out my post here...http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94424 I didn't need to drill out any rivets.

It's not that hard a job removing the motor assembly and fixing it. You first need to remove the little plastic cover where the wiper arm hinges. That will reveal a small nut..(8mm ?) Remove that and take off the wiper arm. You'll then need to remove the big nut,(17mm ?), which resides under a large plastic cover...up against the glass. Once that's done, the rest is accomplished from inside the hatch. Remove all the trim from inside the hatch....the hard plastic trim up near the glass and the "mouse fur" covered trim below. There are no visible screws on the hard plastic trim. Just yank real hard and it'll come off. Once everything is off, look up inside to find the wiring harness and disconnect it. You'll then need a 10mm box end wrench to remove the 3 or 4 bolts holding the motor assembly in place. Once they're removed, the entire thing should come off. In order to free the shaft, you're going to have to do some whacking. Soak the shaft the best you can with pb blaster or liquid wrench for a while. On the back of the assembly, you'll see several philip head screws. Remove those to get the back off the assembly. You'll find the unit is filled with grease. Now the fun begins. To be able to remove and "de-rust" the shaft, you'll first have to remove the small circlip around the shaft...not far from the threaded end where the 8mm nut was. Once that's off, you'll probably have to whack on the end of the shaft to get it out. You don't want to whack right on the threads cause you'll screw them up,(like I did), so put the 8mm nut back on and whack on that. With a bit of sweat, whacking and a few choice swear words, the shaft should come out. Once out, take some sandpaper and polish the bejesus out of it. Do the same to the inside of the hole where it turns,(rolled up sandpaper works well). Before re-assembling, use a real good synthetic grease on the shaft,(caliper grease works well). Grease it up good and re-assemble to whole thing....don't forget the circlip. ...and like they say.....Assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly.

The car has 130,000 kms on it, (80,700 mi). I was going to change the plugs because it was skipping and sputtering when cold,(probably due to the oil on and around the plugs). I'll try tightening the Valve cover bolts a bit to see if it helps....(although it'll be hard to tell because it's not leaking externally so I can't see the leaks).

I was thinking of changing the plugs on my '03 Impreza RS and managed to pull off one of the plug wires,(front driver side). I was surprised to find oil in and around the hole...right where outside end of the plug wire covers the hole...(the round part where is seals the valve cover). I'm hoping it's normal and that the plug-wire rubber seal is designed to keep the oil inside the valve cover. Could someone please confirm ?

My 98 O/B's timing belt jumped out of whack this week. Had it towed to the garage...they lined everything up and put the belt back on and it started up but........it makes a high pitched screaching sound,(from the cylinder head). They seem to thing one of the Camshaft bearings is killing itself. That's most likely what made the timing belt skip....one cam was almost seized and everything else was turning so the belt probably jumped a few teeth on the camshaft pulley. I'm thinking it would cost somewhere around $1200 to get it fixed ,assuming there's only the Camshaft and bearing to fix. I've got over 325K kms on it and the body is starting to rust in the usual places so I'll probably send it to the scrap yard.......too bad, everything else works on it.:-\

I installed aftermarket rotors and pads,(Which I've always done without problems). I'm beginning to wonder if there's not something wrong with the rotors. The fact that the tightening of the wheels affects the brake adjustment leads me to think that maybe the rotor hub is the wrong dimension...(too thick or too thin), and it's making the parking brake pads bind.

The adjustment I was refering to was the star wheel for the parking brake shoes. I made sure it was backed off enough just so the shoes would drag a little bit. Once the wheels were bolted on though , it was near impossible to rotate them by hand.......removed the wheels, and I could easily rotate the rotor.