Takami826

I had this problem with my 89 Justy, never resolved it, but at least I had 2 keys. With my '97 Legacy, the dealer gave me ONE key. I asked to have extras made, they made some, but only worked on the locks and not the ignition. I took them back, asked again, went around a couple times until they got snarky with me about it and that they've done all they can. I've been go various local key places and if they can copy the key, I have the same problem; it works on the locks/trunk but not the ignition. Some places look at it and say "we can't copy a Subaru key, you should go to a dealer" I went to a different dealer, they said they couldn't do it there, but would send the key in (whatever that means) and get copies made for me. Well that's nice, but I only have the one key. The poster who broke his key has me kind of nervous now, where have you guys had backup keys made that will actually work in the ignition, too? I always thought there was a code on the key that meant something, but the dealer told me that's not true. thanks in advance for any help! Jacqui

Thank you very much, both of you, for your help! I'm on a mission to find a haynes repair manual so that I can start DIY'g stuff now that my baby is having these minor issues. (I was plagued with stallouts and sputtering for 2 yrs in sloppy wet conditions and after 3 places telling me they couldn't find anything wrong, I searched here and found it was the spark plug wires and learned how to switch them! Silly, but I was proud of myself for that one!) I had foolish friends trying to tell me to just unload it -they don't understand longevity potential of Subarus! It's just a baby with 120K mi!! Maybe this will help me get my bloody cup holder to work. Sadly, my lighter crapped out yesterday to add insult to very quiet injury, and just literally poured wires and pieces parts out of the dash. That was messed up, but since I can get in there and fiddle with the radio, I can get in there to put the lighter pieces back together. HA! I'm traumatized, it's the first time my car is showing age! As for the Kenwood, I can't recall the model # right now, but it's one with a removeable face plate, single CD, am/fm with ability for Sirius radio. If it is indeed the radio *I HOPE* (coworker is convinced the radio is the problem and not the speakers) then at least now I'll be able to do it myself. thanks again!! I'm going to do this tonite after work if the rain holds off. J

Having trouble with my Circuit City installed Kenwood and after checking the wiring, someone far more in the know of car electronics than I is convinced it's the radio and perhaps a fuse inside the radio. However, things don't slide and snap in and out of place as easily as other cars. My question is, how do we remove only what we need to in the dash region to pull out the stereo and to check it out. The radio, I'm sure, is far beyond warranty (it's about 4yrs old now) and the nearest Circuit City to me closed up, so tying up my car for a few days at a Circuit City in a land far far away isn't really an option -esp if we can figure it out and fix or replace it ourselves. (a few beers are FAR cheaper) I did a forum search but couldn't find anything specific for the '97. thanks in advance for any help ~Jacqui

Here's what I did for my 97 Legacy. I know you solved yours, but I found this while searching for an unrelated stereo problem so I thought I'd toss in some pennies here for anyone in the future. I got a DLO FM Transmitter. I have a CD-only in dash stereo that I had installed to replace the cruddy cassette deck that was factory installed. It plugs in where the lighter goes. It works like a dream. It's digital runs off the car and charges the iPod and transmits to my stereo like a dream. I live in a horribly radio-saturated area of Cleveland near a gazillion college stations, so the iTrip *when it worked* really didn't work too well and sucked down the battery on the iPod, which is pretty subpar already (rant for another forum). I tried the Belkin FM transmitter, too. bleh. Battery hog, I'd burn thru a couple AAA batteries every day. The DLO I got from best buy and it was $99 but I see it goes on sale every so often. I believe it's good for all standard iPods and the minis, but you could always check.

No response if this ended up being the solution, but I'm assuming it is. I've been having this problem with my 97 Legacy for over a year now, and after having it looked at 2x, I was told the first time "there's nothing wrong" and the second time that it was low quality gaspline, despite the fact I stated that it only does this in the rain, especially if I go thru a puddle or get drenched by a semi on the highway. After a rough drive home in bad snowy, slushy, rainy conditions (gotta love Cleveland weather) I decided to search the forums for this problem and found this thread. Thankfully, I have a co-worker who's good with cars and can help me with this, he suspects it's corroded wiring or wet spark plugs, something along those lines. What I'd like to know is, will this problem trigger a CHECK ENGINE warning? This morning, on the way to work, the check engine light came on and I wondered if the problems are related or if a trip to AutoZone for a free diagonostic is in order. I hope it's not the gas cap again (tho it's a cheap fix!) cuz I just did that 2 yrs ago when the CE light came on. I have recently started using a dlo fm transmitter/charger for my iPod, could this have triggered the CE. I've been using it for about a month now, I would think it would have triggered the CE sooner if that was the cause, but since I'm here, I figured I'd ask. Thanks in advance. And thanks to the owner of the forums for having this place, it's saved my hide (and wallet) more than once!

I use the brake on hills mostly, you just have to remember to disengage it; probably too many people neglect that fact or forget when they get back into their cars, drive for miles then end up with a huge repair bill. Where I live now is flat, so I don't bother most times, but because of our varying climate/weather, I'll set it periodically in a routine place just so it works (my personal anal retentive way is when I go to the bookstore, that way I remember it's bookstore = emergency brake = disengage before going anywhere) Cheesy, yes, but whatever works. I also go the mentality that 1/4 of a tank = EMPTY. Mainly because of reasons listed above, but also because many people around here like to crash their cars and jam up the highways and in the winter cold, gas can get burned up pretty quick sitting and waiting for the wreck to be cleared -or fighting a sudden Lake Effect snow storm. So it's good practice for a variety of reasons.

My 89 Justy's radiator crapped out around 110K but on my 97 Legacy, it's still goin fine and I have 115K on it right now.

You can also get the repair history directly from SoA customer service. I went thru this with my Legacy on a few recalled issues, and I've certainly had my fair share of hassles and getting big time ripped off. After the alternator fiasco, I refused to trust any dealer on giving me accurate information about any recalled issues. The NHTSA link above is where I go and I keep all my records of what has and hasn't been repaired since I got my baseline info from SoA. I recommended a place I recently found that has been wonderful and very fair in pricing. Repairing Subarus is always going to be pricy, but compared to other places I've tried, this place is the best -so far.

HAHA I know exactly who you're talking about. My roommate leased a 97 Legacy GT from them and it was plagued with problems. Luckily SoA helped her there and we had the stuff fixed up at Ganley without hassle and minimal cost. If you're near Parma, I highly recommend the Procare on Ridge and Ridgewood (diagonal from Parmatown Mall strip and across the street from Society Bank, right next to -oddly- BP) I found that Procare to be capable, honest (alarmingly so sometimes) and fair with their prices. (compared to dealer prices, nothing will be as 'fair' as the skill and know-how and tools to diy) As for personal experience, I would totally avoid the dealer in Brunswick -they tried to make me pay for alternator repairs even tho it was under recall, that was a big fiasco and I had to get SoA involved to resolve it. After that, they outright told me they would appreciate it if I took my future repairs elsewhere. I swear, I didn't make a scene, I just didn't find it right or fair that they wanted to charge me $380+ for an alternator that was recalled and their reasoning was the warranty had expired and the recall was void. With customer treatment, I've found the Ganley on Detroit in Lakewood to be pretty good but horribly pricy on repairs. I don't know anything about purchasing from them, however. But when I get online info, I'm always directed to their dealership. They get good customer service ratings from 3rd party reviewers and whatnot so I would presume they are the better choice around this area for buying a Subaru. hope that helps. feel free to PM or IM me (my AIM ID is the same as here)

I can't be the only Subaru driver around here that uses this board. I'd be interested in chatting with other local subaru drivers to see where they get their cars fixed, who they buy from (two dealers here make me shudder with fear) because I am contemplating either a Baja or Impreza in the next year and really don't like the b.s. and hassles I've gotten in the past.

about the german shepherd dog hair... it may have been mentioned and I simply missed it... a $3 lint roller (good one not a cheapo dollar tree one) may do the trick. It has for me. (Siberian Husky and now a Pomeranian)

http://www.nhtsa.org/cars/ ever since my dealer tried to screw me with the alternator costs on my 97 Legacy, even though it was under recall, I live by this site (and I don't go to that dealer anymore) there may be other sites, but this one's kept me pretty up-to-date for recalls... but for TSBs, I dunno how to find those out...

I'm amazed mine is still attached, I finally just took a hammer and pounded it a few times and it's still hangin on... but only by luck. I don't think the car was made to have a front plate... (97 legacy)

Both of my Subarus seem to follow a pattern (89 Justy and now a 97 Legacy) with the flickering CEL light and so forth... Check autozone, they check the CEL for free. Turned out my problem (both times) was the need for a new gas cap. (yea, did all the clicky-several-times thing)

missed the subject header there, yea it did need a new gas cap cuz when the CEL first started coming on, I made extra sure I was tightening it to several clicks (always have but paid extra attention) and when we looked at it closely yesterday, the seal was kinda cruddy and chunky-like, proly dried out or something, I dunno... but so far it's been off and stayed off -same thing happened to my justy around 100K miles, the CEL was ALWAYS on and finally just spent the $5 on a new gas cap and that solved it. I see a trend here

Yup! Always have since I had my 89 Justy and the CEL light came on a month after I bought it and I took it into the dealer and they told me allll about that. I felt stupid but hey, I'd only driven a crummy mid-80s Ford Escort prior and that thing never ran long enough to have a CEL light come on.

The CEL finally came back on this weekend so I rushed off to AutoZONE and they checked the code things, it was a P1101 so they recommended a new gas cap, and all is well -so far. The 'dead spot' or whatever that was hasn't happened since the weekend I posted about it, so I guess I'll just wait and see what happens. Thanks for everyone's input, this is a good board!

well Autozone found nothing wrong supposedly because the CEL is not coming on now. And, of course, today it's starting fine with no problems. I went to get gas just to check that and made the cap click a zillion times and of course, the CEL didn't come on for that, either. I think it's toying with me. What I'll do is wait for it to come on again and then take it right to Autozone while the CEL is on, maybe then they can read it for the codes and tell me what's up. psstt... I'm female And I haven't checked recall items for the Legacy in a couple months, I'll go do that and see if there's something funky about the gas cap. Thx for the info about that. Meanwhile, off to salivate over the older Subarus people have on this board...

I've seen this Haynes repair manual for the 97 legacy, is it as decent as Chiltons (my bible for my justy) I took note of the codes you showed, thank you. I'm heading up to AZone now.

automatic I have to go to autozone today for a gas cap because I'm wondering if that is the problem with the check engine light, I crank it tight to 4-5 clicks but it *seems* coincidental that the past few times I've gotten gas, it comes up, but it's also been when the car starting has been trouble. I just had a new battery installed a couple months ago and it looked pretty clean (the contacts)... I'll see if Autozone can do that code thing, last time (when the alternator died and was thankfully a recall) the check engine light was on and they couldn't test subarus (about 3 yrs ago) thx

Hi, I'm new, not all that mechanically knowledgeable about Legacies, former 70something Subaru DL and former 89 Justy owner... my 97 legacy l now has about 97.5K miles on it, been a dream other than some problems with recalled items and a shady dealer but that's another story for another time... Sometimes I turn the key and the dash lights up as normal but nothing happens. My heart pounds and I try again, sometimes it'll start right up, other times it takes a try or two, like it's hit a dead spot or something but then it starts and runs fine. The check engine light has also been popping on and off lately -I have no knowledge of how to check for codes or whatever- I'm wondering if the two are related because the check engine light seems to come on and after a rest and start(the last 3 times at least) it just kinda goes off and everything seems fine again. Is this something common or simple to figure out for those who know these cars? To me this one's still baby and I'd really like to get a few more years out of it -and probably should start learning to fix some easier stuff on my own- but I don't want to be dumping loads of $$$ into repairs all the time. :boohoo: thx Jacqui aka Takami826