uss_essess Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Picked up an XT6 in December, and have been having problems ever since. 1) My driver's side automatic seat belt died halfway up the track. It worked when I got the car, but slowed down and then died rather quickly about a week later. The red dashboard seat belt indicator light flashes continously. Bad motor? Bad controller? 2) My heater just died. It never worked correctly. It would run on speeds 1-3, but not 4. Last night it died completely. It's cold. Not fun. Bad resistors? Bad fan motor? Something else? 3.) My windshield wiper died. Well, I killed it. It was frozen to the windshield and I, being lazy, tried to bust it free by turning it on high. Now the motor works, but the wiper just sits there. Or flies up into the middle of the windshield at high speeds. Am I going to have to replace the entire motor? I should have asked all these questions when it was 50+ degrees outside last week. Now its back down in the teens. Any ideas or help would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKrazy Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 1) Only dealt with this problem on my wife's legacy, but it was a bad motor and whole track assembly (chewed the cable on it up, thus killing the motor also). There should be a way to manually retract the seatbelt into the safe position by popping off a cover someplace and winding it up. Don't know for sure on the XT6's though. 2)Bad resistor pack most likely, common problem. 3)Should be a nut holding your wiper arm on, betcha it's just loose. You'll need to put the wiper near it's off position and tighten the nut where the arm attaches to the motor, test wiper and adjust position if necessary. Happened on many cars of mine, and friends this has always been the problem and a very simple fix. The wiper arm should have some splines on it that could've gotten stripped to where it won't hold, only ran into that once (not on a Subaru) and just tightened it down a little rougher than normal (she still drives that pos ford escort too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingbobdole Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 1) Only dealt with this problem on my wife's legacy, but it was a bad motor and whole track assembly (chewed the cable on it up, thus killing the motor also). There should be a way to manually retract the seatbelt into the safe position by popping off a cover someplace and winding it up. Don't know for sure on the XT6's though. 2)Bad resistor pack most likely, common problem. 3)Should be a nut holding your wiper arm on, betcha it's just loose. You'll need to put the wiper near it's off position and tighten the nut where the arm attaches to the motor, test wiper and adjust position if necessary. Happened on many cars of mine, and friends this has always been the problem and a very simple fix. The wiper arm should have some splines on it that could've gotten stripped to where it won't hold, only ran into that once (not on a Subaru) and just tightened it down a little rougher than normal (she still drives that pos ford escort too) +1 I'll add a touch too... #1 there should be behind the pass seat, SNAPPED under the rear seat on the vertical part a small pouch. in the pouch is a wrenchy looking thing that you'll use to crank the belt back. There should be a round plug on the inside of the car behind the door of the defunct belt. #2 Could also be the switch, but the resistor is more common... luckily its only like 2 bolts and its above where the passengers feet would be... looks like coiled wires gooed together. #3 is right on the money... it happens with 1 really long arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss_essess Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Ugh. Now she is sitting in my work parking lot with a belly full of oil, and absolutely 0 oil pressure. It was off the bottom of the dipstick, took two full quarts to bring it to full. Did I kill my oil pump? Now I need to tow her home (~5 miles), can I use a 2 wheel dolly, or should I get all 4 wheels off the ground? Time to change my user title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Fulltime 4wd needs all 4 off the ground to tow. That darn wiper arm has a pot metal mount to the spindle. I have easily broken this trying to remove the setup before. I hate to say it, but this could also be the problem, or else the splines in the mount are stripped out. My heater was having problems on the #4 setting. It turned out to be a broken solder joint on the switch. KBD is right on with the seatbelt. As for your zero oil pressure, kind of odd that it would just suddenly crap out like that. The only thing I can think of causing all your problems is your location. Its brutal on cars and XT6's dont like extreme enviroments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 2 quarts low is no big deal. i don't recommend it, it's not great, but you still had 3 quarts, that's plenty to circulate and keep your engine in fine shape. those pressure gauges in the dash are junk, they often show 0 oil pressure. the gauge and the sending unit are 20 years old and not accurate. the owners manual will tell you that reading near zero is typical...and it is. it still has plenty of volume at idle even if the pressure reads zero. soo....you're car is fine, there is likely no need to tow it. fill it up with oil and drive it home unless oil is pouring out at amazing speeds...i doubt it, if there were still 3 quarts left. don't tow it with a dolly unless you disconnect the driveshaft. and you likely have lots of rust in Alaska, so removing those 4 12mm bolts will be really annoying probably. get a very good crescent wrench and spray them down with PB Blaster or they will likely strip. remember the rear diff will still turn, so don't disconnect a part that will slop around underneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss_essess Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 I took the wiper arm off and tightened up the nut underneath. I think I overdid it, because it stopped moving completely. I backed the nut off completely, but I think I FUBAR'ed it. I couldn't move the part the wiper arm bolts to, even with a crowbar. The motor doesn't seem to be working (making noise) anymore either. After that I decided not to break anything else more than it was already broken. I checked the wire from the oil pressure sending unit and it was fine. It 'could' still be jacked, but I think something else is majorly wrong, based on the noise it's making. 0 oil pressure + grinding noises = not good, but I really don't know what I am talking about. How do I get my membership at xt6.net approved? I registered last November, and am still waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 ah..if it's making grinding noises, yeah that doesn't sound good. but i still wouldn't condemn the engine, you'll need to look into it more. if you tell me your username and try to register right now at xt6.net i'll approve your account right now. do it quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss_essess Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Same username as here, uss_essess. I already registered on November 27th of last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 someone deleted your account, they incorrectly thought it was a bogus account. i restored your user name and approved your account so you're ready to go. thanks for letting me know the date, that made it easy to thumb through the database. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uss_essess Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 right on. welcome to Xt6.net and usmb, too of the finest on-line communities out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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