bernie Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Ok, after screwing up a few years back and getting a Jetta instead of the outback we wanted, I sucked it up... sold the jetta and bought a very nice '02 LLB Outback. A week into ownership and I notice that the washer fluid wasnt spraying. I check the fluid... its full. Oh, crap. Somethings broke. I dread taking it in to service (even though it had an extended warranty from the previous owner) because its such a waste of time. I wrench a lot on my 911 and have done pretty much everything on my own on that car, so i can fix this, right? Voltmeter to the pump connection? no volts. 12V hotwire to the pump? it works fine. no fuses blown. oh crap. it must be the switch in the stalk. I really dont want to take that apart! So... go online and find this board... washer fluid search... find a post about pushing the button in and it not working. Hmmm... push the button in? not pull the lever forward?!?!? go out to car... find that there is a button on the stalk. key on. push button. Washer fluid works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you have a owners manual you can refer to for thing like this. If not, I would suggest getting one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernie Posted October 18, 2005 Author Share Posted October 18, 2005 Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you have a owners manual you can refer to for thing like this. If not, I would suggest getting one. Owners manual? You mean I'm supposed to read that thing? Yup.. I read through it right when I got it. It was just such a completely boneheaded thing to do. I was just so sure of myself it was amusing... i can drop the engine in the porsche in under 2 hours.. but I couldnt find the washer fluid button on the subie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 What? You haven't yet accidentally hit the parking light switch on top of the steering column and wondered why your lights stay on and kill your battery? Welcome aboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Dont feel bad, i cant shut off my rear wiper without triggering the washer duh nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 In all fairness, the 'icon' Subaru uses for the 'single-wipe-per-pull-... mist...-function' is THE SAME as the symbol used to squirt washer fluid. You're not the first person to think something was broken. Even the manual is a little confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_SemC Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 I wonder why I never had a problem with it. I must have just noticed the button straightaway. Maybe it's I have this habit of inspecting and figuring out all the controls in the car before I drive it in case I trip something crazy like a traction controller or need to turn the headlights on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 You actually want to know how to turn the headlights? you RADICAL! isnt it amazing now how you need to have a lesson on how to drive in some cars. Drove me up the wall when I rented a car with automatic headlights and there was no real way to shut them off. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfg9k Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 What? You haven't yet accidentally hit the parking light switch on top of the steering column and wondered why your lights stay on and kill your battery? Welcome aboard. My toddler hit that switch one day while sitting on my lap & whacking controls on the car. It took me 25 minutes to figure out why the corner lights were on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoovman Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 ...So... go online and find this board... washer fluid search... find a post about pushing the button in and it not working. Hmmm... push the button in? not pull the lever forward?!?!? go out to car... find that there is a button on the stalk. key on. push button. Washer fluid works! Same designe still exists in the '05. The sales guy made it a point to show me on delivery, because so many people bring it in right after delivery for the very same "problem". I wonder if people in other countries are confused as much as we are by this design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Not me. But I am like Al_Semc...get in, set the seat, set the mirrors, look around for all the switches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Not me. But I am like Al_Semc...get in, set the seat, set the mirrors, look around for all the switches. look at all the switches, and wonder ...what the hell are they talking about... well that was the last volvo i had to rent. Now we and our brtohers from Saab embrace the oddness and quirkyness of our cars .... even if i keep washing my rear window by accident .. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commuter Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 ... you might want to read the "changing a flat tire" section. I know in my 97 OB manual, the oh-so-very-important-bit about putting the fuse in the FWD holder to disable AWD when using the donut spare was buried at the tail end of this section. D'OH! I think I had the car for a couple of years before I knew of it! (My first AWD car btw. I think it was thru this board that I learned of it.) Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Same designe still exists in the '05. The sales guy made it a point to show me on delivery, because so many people bring it in right after delivery for the very same "problem". I wonder if people in other countries are confused as much as we are by this design. I'd guess that depends a lot on thier Public School System. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soobyfan Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Hey Bernie, I did the same thing. I even got to the point of taking things apart to look for the switch. Thanks to good people on this website I got straightened out, and had my large serving of humble pie. Just a reminder, the post regarding putting in a fuse to disable the AWD feature only applies to automatic transmissions, there are quite a few differences between the auto and the 5 sp AWD Subaru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernie Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 Just a reminder, the post regarding putting in a fuse to disable the AWD feature only applies to automatic transmissions, there are quite a few differences between the auto and the 5 sp AWD Subaru. Huh. Good point. I'll make sure to read up on that. And then explain it to my wife as if its something completely obvious that I've always known about. (its more her car than mine) I'm sort of known in our upper crusty little gated development here in Chicago as a bit of a grungey grease monkey. I get all sorts of odd looks when I'm wrenching on a car, so I had to fend off a couple of nosey neighbors as I was trying to diagnose the 'problem'. I had a guy ask me yesterday if I had sorted it out. I decided to give him a truthful answer to a different question... "Its working fine now". As a side note... I've been a little disapointed at the gas milage of the h6 (a little more than 20mpg), and I'm debating getting new rubber to replace the oem tires... but its tough since they have tons of wear left on them (have read up on both subjects on this board). Other than that... its a really nice car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al_SemC Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Not that it's useful or anything, but I just wanted to point out that pie is really good, even Humble Pie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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