saw

To get my AC to work, shorted out my AC evaporator switch (rests atop evaporator). As a consequence, even after restoring to original state, my climate controls, power windows, auto seat belt retractors or tach now do not work. Apparently, my screwing around has shorted something out. Any suggestions as to what I can do to correct?

Pretty sure one of my gaskets is shot. Doesn't show any of the classical symptoms - other than occasional overheating - , but have detected carbon monoxide in cooling system. The car has 196K on it, so the only way I can justify repairing it is if I do it myself. I'm soliciting advice from those who have done the job. What am I getting myself into? What are things I should keep an eye out for? What's the worst part of the job? My Haynes manual says to remove the rocker arm assembly before removing the head. Is this necessary?

Have a '91 legacy with 196K on it. Other than a lot of front axle replacements for torn CV joint boots, been a great car. Over the past few months, have had occasional overheating troubles. The first occurrence was after a 2 mile (one way) jaunt to the local store. The car was cold and ran fine to the store. Upon return, however, the temperature guage began to elevate. Because of the short distance back, everything remained under control. An inspection of the radiator overflow bottle showed it to be full. After cooling, transferred liquid back into radiator and allowed system to run & burp with radiator cap off. Everything's been fine for the past month. This past weekend drove the car for ~ 20miles at 65mph. Switched to some back roads, and after about 5 miles, it started to overheat again. Made it to my destination and checked radiator overflow bottle; once again it was full. After about 5 hours, returned to car to find all liquid had been drawn back into radiator. Returned home with no problems. Upon startup, haven't noticed any excessive smoke emanating from the exhaust. Vehicle runs fine. Have noticed some mild clatter coming from the driver side of the motor when under load - typically when first releasing clutch. Don't know if there could be a tie in or not with overheating problem. Checked sparkplugs this afternoon and they all seem to be burning similarly. Looked into radiator overflow reservoir while engine was running, and noticed some bubbling - possible indication of compression leakage? Any comments, advice appreciated. Thanks.

Finally realized that the squealing coming from under the hood was not alternator or ac bearings but almost frozen ac belt tensioner pulley. Anyone know where a cheap replacement can be had? Better yet, is there somewhere I can just purchase new bearings?

Finally got around to shorting out AC evap. thermoswitch, and, lo and behold, AC now consistently works. Thanks to all who contributed! Picked another switch up at a junk yard and installed. Operates the same as the first! Only works consistently when shorted. Could this switch also be bad, or is there another explanation?

I've been having an intermittent AC problem. When it works, it cools well. The problem is getting it to turn on and then keeping it on. May work for 20 mins. or 5secs and then kick off. When I look through the receiver-drier view window with the AC on, liquid shoots by, pauses briefly, then shoots by again. It's not a continuous stream. Does this sound like a typical freon flow through one of these systems? The mechanic that looked at it pooh poohed this as the cause for the AC's sporadic nature and said the problem was electrical in nature.

I have a '91 legacy and replaced my first belt at ~108K. Car presently has 186K on it, with this 2nd belt. Will not consider replacing again , unless it breaks, until after 200K. Water pump is original.

You did! I sent a follow up email requesting the location of said thermoswitch as well as the AC pressure switches. No answer.

Been havin trouble with my AC for the past several years. Operates intermittently. The unit is reluctant to come on in the morning or evening - essentially when its cooler. On a hot summer afternoon, it inevitably fires up and may run for 15mins. before shutting off and becoming intermittent again. I've had it to the shop. The first time the guy put a little freon in (~ 1/2 lb - not bad for a 15yr old car) and - maybe its my imagination - it seemed to work better. Improved performance lasted for about a week. Now back to the same Took it back into the shop again, and this time was told its something electric. The intermittency, apparently, is due to the voltage cutting off to the compressor. The guy wanted $180 to troubeshoot + whatever parts would be necessary. When I look into the receiver drier sight glass, the liguid shoots through, stops very briefly, and then shoots through again. I mentioned this inconsistent freon stream to the AC mechanic, but he dismissed it as the cause. This crate isn't worth shoving a lot of money into, so I'm looking for suggestions. When the AC is on, it operates well. The problem is getting it to come on and then stay on.

Where are said switches located?

Been havin trouble with my AC for the past several years. Operates intermittently. The unit is reluctant to come on in the morning or evening - essentially when its cooler. On a hot summer afternoon, it inevitably fires up and may run for 15mins. before shutting off and becoming intermittent again. I've had it to the shop. The first time the guy put a little freon in (~ 1/2 lb - not bad for a 15yr old car) and - maybe its my imagination - it seemed to work better. Improved performance lasted for about a week. Now back to the same Took it back into the shop again, and this time was told its something electric. The intermittency, apparently, is due to the voltage cutting off to the compressor. The guy wanted $180 to troubeshoot + whatever parts would be necessary. When I look into the receiver drier sight glass, the liguid shoots through, stops very briefly, and then shoots through again. I mentioned this inconsistent freon stream to the AC mechanic, but he dismissed it as the cause. This crate isn't worth shoving a lot of money into, so I'm looking for suggestions. When the AC is on, it operates well. The problem is getting it to come on and then stay on.

Current '91 legacy has 182K miles on it. Unfortunately, ain't going to last forever. Just wondering what kind of gas mileage you guys have been getting with the newest version? Am only interested in the normally aspirated engine (non-turbo). Please include regular and open road mileages as well as transmission type. Thanks.

Just got back from lunch, and once again when trying to enter my car, had to go in through the passenger side; damn driver door lock was jammed again! For a while there, if I turned the key first to the right, and then to the left, the door would unlock. Lately though, doesn't matter which way I turn it; the key doesn't budge and neither does the lock. I'm sure it has to do with the convoluted linkage system subaru used in the locking mechanism for the '91 model year. Some of you guys have had to have experienced this problem. Exactly what do I have to fiddle with to rectify this problem?

Thanks to all who responded.

I've noticed over the past couple of days that my climate system fan works only when it's set on the number 4 or high position. The first 3 settings, now, do nothing. I assume, from what I've gleaned off the web, that this has something to do with a bad resistor of some type. Where is this resistor located in a '91 Legacy, and any idea of the price? Thanks.

I have a '91 Legacy L wagon with 179K. During the warmer months, everyday driving (fair amount of open road) is about 26 - 28mpg. Open road only mileage is typically 31 - 32, although 2x I got almost 33. In the winter, the mileage falls. Everyday driving ~ 24mpg.

You guys are right. Radiator is leaking from the front. Can this be patched with, say, fiberglass and epoxy resin or is replacement a necessity? Can't help it; I'm a cheap bastard.

Have been checking under the hood several times daily to look for leaks. I thought the problem was solved with the new radiator hose. I purposely waited several days before readding antifreeze to make sure all was well. I was fooled! After remaining leak tight for the past 4 or 5 days, coolant was once again sprayed around the engine bay area behind the passenger side headlight. The problem is I can't seem to get it to spit while I'm watching. Before driving to lunch today, rinsed everything off again. Checked under the hood at eatery and after arriving back at work - no leakage. Probably is the radiator, but I'm not dropping the money until confirmed.

While driving into work the other day my legacy overheated. Immediately pulled into parking lot and shut car off. Opened hood and noticed coolant around passenger side front of car, where hose connects to radiator. Later pulled radiator hose off to inspect and found hole. Replaced hose and coolant. Drove into work today, opened hood and coolant once again sprayed around under the hood, on the passenger side front of car. Apparently, must have caused hole in first radiator hose when I removed it. I noticed on the far passenger side of the radiator down 3 or so inches is a hole/indentation with a small rectangular piece portruding from the center of it. Could this be some kind of a pressure relief mechanism? Your thoughts on this dilemma appreciated. Thanks.

After screwing with all the wrong things on my '91 legacy, finally got around to checking the most obvious, the site glass on my receiver drier. Looks like some frothing going on, so assume I need a recharge; will be first one in 14 years. I assume the intermittent nature of the AC over the past 2-3years has been caused by the low pressure switch kicking the system off. I spoke with the dealer, and he didn't seem to crazy about messing with it. Said the AC system was an antique. A buddy of mine told me about a newer refrigerant starting to make its way into the states called HC12A. According to him, its supposed to be a drop in replacement for R12 or 134. In addition, it's more efficient and has no environmental negatives (ozone depletion, etc.). Anybody have any experience with this stuff in '90, '91 legacy AC's? Any other info. relating to recharging this "antique" would also be helpful.

My original boot over the cat. converter went at 48K. The original driver side went at ~ 80K. Nothing to write home about for the OEM boots. I've always bought my reman'd. axles from Advance Auto.

Now that I'm a member of this forum, hopefully I can get a straight answer on this issue. What is it with the CV joint boots on my car? In 175K miles, I bet I've put 8 - 10 reman'd front axles on this thing, because of boot, not joint, failure. Sometimes I've had boots tear in as little as a year! Did Subaru place the boots in the perfect place to get wacked with road debris? I've spoken with Subaru regarding this issue, and you'd almost think I'm the only one that's experienced this problem.

I can access this website. Thanks. The AC compressor clutch is not engaged when cooling is absent. No voltage to the compressor when it is in this state. When clutch engaged, ~ 13V. Definitely some type of intermittent signaling issue to compressor. Will check temp. sensor inside car. Thanks again.

The website address you gave is no longer available. The following is from my original post: My '91 legacy has 175K on it. The AC has never been serviced. Over the past 3 years of operation the unit has become intermittent. Its as though it has a mind of its own. Typically, in the morning, when I go to work, the AC is reluctant to come on. Sometimes I'm a mile from the job before it decides its time to cool the car. Other times it may kick on almost immediately and remain that way or go instantly back off. When it does come on, it cools the car as it did when new. When I go out to lunch and the interior of the car is hot, the AC comes on 100% of the time and operates great all the way to my destination. When I leave my lunch stop to return to work, however, the AC becomes more iffy. It may come on immediately and work fine or have a delayed start and operate intermittently on the way back to work. Occasionally, I get into the car and drive it for 20miles and the AC works perfectly. Any suggestions? Since this post I've been fiddling with AC relays under hood. Purchased new after market relay (so big that I had to weasel in with screwdriver) and swapped out with those under hood. Didn't seem to make any difference. Another recent observation: As mentioned above, the AC is reluctant to come on in the morning. Today when driving to work, it seemed the AC would come on when the windows were down. Shortly after rolling them up, it would go back off. Roll them down again, and in a minute or so, the AC would come back on.

My car is a non-turbo '91 legacy wagon. Thanks.