mikeamondo Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Well, I finally decided to care a little less about miles and take on a slightly more, shall we say, mature, subie.... Found a RUST FREE '95 Legacy L wagon, auto, awd, 2.2L, with 145k miles. He's dark blue, and if it wasn't dark out already, I'd post a pic or two! Just got a new timing belt and one new axel, brakes and few other new goodies. Got about $2,800 in it, so I'm happy.... a rust free body is nearly impossible to find here in WV. This one came out of Baltimore. A one owner, to boot! Anyway... the first 2 things I need to tackle.... 1) Minor prob. - no lights at night behind the climate control panel. Is there a fuse for that, or do I need to dig into the dash? I know it's not hard to get in there... 2) Clicking, fairly loud, in the front driver's side wheel, in a left turn only, under acceleration. It's quiet the rest of the time. Wheel Bearing? And, if so... can I change those, or do you need to press to get them out / in? Took the old boy on a 300 mile road trip, on some good ice and snow, and he did great! thanks! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 2) Clicking, fairly loud, in the front driver's side wheel, in a left turn only, under acceleration. It's quiet the rest of the time. this is a bad CV, replace the axle. 95 is a great year even if some of the colors are a little drab. glad you found what you wanted. if you have to, you can buy whatever you need to make the inside ''fresher'' for your wife?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ionlyhave3suubs Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Your illumination problem is most likely bad bulbs. Not super hard to change, you will have to pull out the heater controls to change them. They have been bad in one of my cars (legacy) for a couple of years. I don't drive mine a lot at night so I don't bother. I did change them out in my other car because I did more night driving then. I have memorized where the buttons are so as seldom as I drive at night, combined with I already know where everything is, I tend to save my efforts for crucial repairs. If I have to take the dash apart for something else, I'll change the bulbs then. You mentioned a new axle in your parts list, you also mentioned a clicking sound when turning. Clicking or popping coming from the wheel area is a sign of a worn cv joint. If the cv boot is damaged and the grease has escaped from the boot, cv joint wear will accelerate due to lack of adequate lubrication, combined with the introduction of foreign material (road grime, moisture, etc.). Inspect your axles for damaged cv boots. If they are damaged, I would replace the axles. The boots and grease can be replaced, but if you are hearing a noise and it is coming from the cv joint, it has already sustained damage. Replacement axles are cheap enough that if even two boots on the same axle are damaged, it is not worth replacing them. They can be bought for about $60 aftermarket new or slightly less rebuilt. While looking around there, also check out your brakes. Especially look for worn, loose, missing, or broken brake parts and hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmwood22 Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 The clicking is a CV axle, just monitor it; it may last a few hundred miles or thousands. The less acceleration around a corner on that particular axle the better. The climate control light is a small bulb, it costs about 3-5 bucks at the local parts shop, if I remember correctly. Installation is a little tricky, but I would imagine you are up to the task. Good purchase by the way, I have had two 1995 Legacy L Wagons, traded the first with 211,000 and have a second with 193,000., shooting for 300,000, time will tell. Normal wear and tear, but no major mechanical issues for either car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 1) Minor prob. - no lights at night behind the climate control panel. Is there a fuse for that, or do I need to dig into the dash? I know it's not hard to get in there... Here's a pretty good writeup that still exists: http://www.scoobymods.com/legacy-hvac-bulb-replacement-t91.html?threadid=91 Be sure to read the responses about disconnecting the cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 get a used subaru axle and reboot it or get an MWE axle. aftermarkets are a waste of time, they have way too many issues and you're supporting junk too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeamondo Posted December 13, 2010 Author Share Posted December 13, 2010 What tools are required to do the CV joints? Can it be done with a basic set of wrenches/sockets/etc.? Thanks for all the replies! I'll dig into the dash in the next week or so... I've done a couple stereos in my other subies, so that should be no sweat. I'd like to tackle more substantial stuff... especially in the drive line, so maybe this CV joint is good one to start with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 you'll be just removing the axle and then replacing the entire axle right? ***Mike: wait until the snow clears and i'll bring my 3/4" stuff and punch in to my office and you can do it in my parking lot. i'll be here for pointers. Give it two hours being your first time, but it can be done much faster. i've put 50,000 miles on broken boot/clicking front CV joints before, not much to worry about and they're already hosed so you've got plenty of time. although i find some of this black cinder/coal stuff they throw on the roads out our way in the winter really eat them up much much quicker than that, but you'll hear them gradually making more noise and eventually clicking when going straight - that's when i used to start moving quicker on them. you need a 32mm socket and 1/2" stuff can break, so 3/4" is preferred. that axle nut is one of the hardest to remove on the vehicle. axles are actually very simple. remove the axle nut - then remove the top strut mount bolt, loosen the lower and knock the pin out at the transmission. so - it requires removing one nut and one bolt, loosening another, and that's it. notes: #1 the top strut mount bolt affects alignment so mark the top of the bolt (not the nut) so you can reinstall it the same way. don't be scared by this, it's really simple and not a hugely accurate adjustment. i hold a chisel against the head and strut body and hit it with a hammer so it marks the strut mount and head of the bolt at the same point - realign to that same point, very simple. #2 the axle pin is a 3/16" pin and you need a punch of that size. it only installs ONE way. on one side the hole the pin goes through has a groove in the middle, on the other side it's a peak going through the middle. visually look at the axle holes and trans stub holes first, then install, otherwise the pin doesn't go through. #3 - pull the trans side off the trans first, shove the axle "up" and while holding it pull it out of the hub. then wiggle it out. install the opposite way - hold axle up, install into hub, then onto trans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brycarp Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 1) Minor prob. - no lights at night behind the climate control panel. Is there a fuse for that, or do I need to dig into the dash? I know it's not hard to get in there... Really, since the screws that hold on the climate control panel are right there and easy to get to, yeah, it's not bad to replace those bulbs. (Waaaay harder to replace the bulb in the auto tranny shifter, which I also had to do.) I had to replace all 3 climate control bulbs on my 96 Impreza I bought used. The other thing I did was that someone had used a wrong sized screw in assembling the climate stuff in the dash and had busted one of the important plastic mounting tabs. So I went to the local mondo-hobby-supply store and got the kind of plastic cement that partially dissolves the plastic that's being fused. Used that to cement the tab back together, then re-drilled the hole to be a suitable size for the factory screw. (Got one of those too.) So now everything's pretty much back to good there. Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 o I went to the local mondo-hobby-supply store and got the kind of plastic cement that partially dissolves the plastic that's being fused. woah crack, what is this stuff? it works good, better than epoxy then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeamondo Posted December 13, 2010 Author Share Posted December 13, 2010 woah crack, what is this stuff? it works good, better than epoxy then? Sounds like he's describing good ole' fashion Tester's model glue to me.... disolves the top layer of each piece and they kind of fuse together. I'll probably wait until spring to tackle the CV, since it doesn't sound like impending disaster... need to get the punch, but I think I've got everything else.... I'll post a pic of the new Subie soon.... still don't have a name for him yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 offer still stands, just remind me come spring when it thaws out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzpile Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 U just can't get nicer than some here. Grossgary being one. Btw for regular polyestyene plastic a plastic cement works for it actually fuses. The old type which is now illegal was more effective yet too many took to sniffing it insead of building things so the composition was changed. (a particulary bad way to go, sniffing glue). A particularly good way to go in repairing the heavy plastic which border on bakelite and don't melt -Is the Loctite Plastic bonder. This stuff is amazing good. It is semi epoxy due to the "actvivator" but follow the directions:grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeamondo Posted December 13, 2010 Author Share Posted December 13, 2010 Thanks Gary! I'll touch base as soon as I get around to doing the job! Any luck with the Forester yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brycarp Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 woah crack, what is this stuff? it works good, better than epoxy then? I'm 98% sure this is the stuff I used: http://www.hobbyland.com/shop/catalogdetail.cfm?prid=14042 In case the above link ever doesn't work, you're looking for "Plastruct Plastic Weld". And regarding your question, I think conceptually it should be stronger because it doesn't depend on adhesion of dissimilar materials like epoxy holding to plastic. I've had some really disappointing results trying to make epoxy (even the kind that's supposedly "for plastic") stick strongly. So if this stuff really partially melts the plastic so it joins "self to self" and then evaporates, theoretically it should be stronger. However that's just my hypothesis. I can't prove anything beyond "worked for me!" As I recall, I got a piece of hobby plastic when I bought the "plastic weld" stuff, and did a test bond between it and some out-of-the-way part of the internal surface of the dashboard plastic using the plastic weld to make sure it would make a strong bond and also not attack the dash plastic too aggressively. Then when that proved out, I went ahead and did the target fix. Have fun! Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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