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Comments
thing: at about 40 mph or 60 kph, if you take your foot off the gas and
then back on the gas pedal, it often (not always) hesitates or shudders
before becoming smooth again. The dealer is trying to tell us that this
is 'normal' or attributing it to our driving, etc.
Generally, the shifting seems somewhat rougher than in our previous car
(Camry).
We have heard from friends who had a similar problem with a VW Jetta.
This was resolved by replacing a 'transmission chip' which was
apparently intended for mountainous terrain and they were driving mostly
on flat land.
Any comments or suggestions would be welcome. If this has been previously discussed, please point us to the appropriate discussion.
Thanks.
Greg
As for Austin Marinas (Morris Marinas in the UK), my TR8 has Marina door handles. Guess what? One is broken.
...at 6-7pm Pacific/9-10 pm Eastern. Hope to see you there!
http://www.edmunds.com/chat/subaruchat.html
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Cheers!
Paul
The VDC has cut power a few times plowing through 8-10 inches of snow, but I wouldn't be pulling a trailer in that weather.
In the meantime, here is his brief explantion
http://forums.vmag.com/suvsubaru0999/messages/628.html
If anyone has an recommendations for tinting shops in the Philadelphia area, please let me know.
-tac
Also I am having prob with keeping it under 50 MPH; when i left the dealer (Renick)I asked them what precautions should of be aware of; ... the sales person (which they have not had Subaru very long)said that there is none. After reading these posts found out not to go over 50...too late for that.....
Also having prob with closing the rear door..much more difficult than my volvo...that car just dropping it would close.. the LLB i need to slam it to get it shut..
One other thing i have noticed is the brakes squeel while backing up...
oh and when starting it up the idle seems very fast
any info would help!! thanks
1. (and hopefully)You probably did not have the brake pedal fully depressed and so the interlock was fully disengaged.
2. The brake/shift interlock is not releasing properly. In that case, you need to have it checked by the mechanic.
I came on here because I had a 93 Subaru Impreza wagon for a while. I have to say, while it wasn't the best car I've had, it was one of the most fun, interesting cars I have had. I never had one problem in 40k miles.
Greg
Difficulty slamming the back- Its a different creature than your volvo (hey for $10K there better be some differences besides lousy reliabily and expensive repairs). Both my 96 and 01 require more force than some other wagons. Consider the tailgate bar it its an issue.
As far as the below 50 thing, look in the owners manual. It says below 4000rpm. You can cruise at 70 and still keep it below 4K. Don't worry about your speedometer, just your tach (you can bust 4K at 10-15mph if you are under heavy accelleration).
As far as other things that you should take precautions, READ THE OWNERS MANUAL. They have about 30 pages of safety precautions, not all of which are intutive.
For example
-You cannot put seat covers on the front (airbag).
-You should not rest your arm on the slope leading to the door handle (airbag).
-You have to be aware of some wires when working on the stereo, power seats, side and front body (airbag).
-You should not be towed with your wheels on the ground.
-Setting the climate control to a lower temp will not cool your down faster
-There are a host of reasons you get a check engine light.
Take a few days to read it, unless your technically inclined there is really more in there than you can digest in one sitting.
I have noticed lots of air resistance closing all of the doors. I always open the moonroof when in the garage, then the doors close no problem.
And yes, we all have squealing brakes in the morning, mine only squeal in reverse.
Other than that I love my VDC, good luck with your Bean.
Difficulties in closing the rear hatch is one of the recurrent themes here. It does need a positive push to shut properly. The other recurrent problem is where there is a mat on the rear floor. This tends to get in the way of the door seal. To check, push all stuff away from the hacth and try it. To achieve a fix, try putting a couple of spots of velcro uncer the mat to secure it in place (attach it to the lifting section of the floor so you can still get in there). That seems to have worked for most people.
Cheers
Graham
The morning brake squeal or clunk in reverse is explainable. The brake pads are held in calipers by sprung clips with some movement possible, When you drive backwards, they move fractionally and if applied very gently, they grab and you here a noise. This is typically when you back out of the garage. If you then listen when you next apply them going forward, you will also hear a clunk or squeal. For the best effect, try a three point turn first thing.
Its one of those things which worries you for the first week and then you figure out that its normal.
Cheers
Graham
the other question is if I should repair the chips on door one is on the upper door and dealer said they could color sand it and the other is on the lower portion of door which is thin line where paint looks like it peeled or is it better to keep the original paint... they are both small. Dealer was questioning me if I wanted to break the original paint and I said not really but do not like having the chips on a brand new car .. which was present when I picked up the car...
I am also a little concerned about leg room in the back seat. It looks tight to me. Perhaps the front seats of the cars that I test-drove had been set way back. What do people think?
Thanks for your help.
Phil
I have a 2000 OB Ltd wagon, 2.5L w/5-speed manual (a not trivial point in gas mileage). On highway trips I regularly get upper 20s to near 30 mpg. Last weekend I drove over a mountain pass (lots of up- and down-shifting, curves, etc.) and got a shade over 28 which I checked upon fill-up at home. The car now has ~12K miles on it. Last summer, when the car had barely 3K miles, we did a loop from Seattle>Glacier NP in Montana>Yellowstone NP>Seattle. At highway speeds in MT, with A/C, 4 persons, fully loaded, got around 28 mpg. At lower highway speeds, basically unloaded, no A/C (i.e., driving around the parks once we had arrived), got 30 mpg. I would tend to attribute about 2-3 mpg to the manual tranny and my generally light foot (heck, I get 30 mpg out of my 3.0L, V-6 Maxima, on highway trips). Oh, and this was all on regular gas (anything else is a waste in the 2.5 H4).
Around town with VERY short trips (meaning it doesn't really warm up - plus Seattle traffic) - low 20s.
Hope this helps!
Cheers!
Ken M.
bit
Thanks
Are these the same as those subject to the new ford explorer recall.
No, the Wilderness tires on the Outback are not the ones in the Ford recall. Check the link above for the statement from Subaru.
-Brian
My wife and I just recently purchsed a used 98 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited, Rio Red, Grey Leather int. with 41K miles. A senior citizen was the original owner and it's in mint condition. We have all the records of maintenance. What an excellent car. On the initial drive home we turn a small journey into the wilderness up a dirt mountain road. Oh the joy of AWD.
I only have one small gripe that I did not notice at the dealership. The driver heated seat switch has a small bulb out that lights up the middle of it. Does the entire switch need replacement or just a small bulb? The same situation is with the fan knob and cold-hot slider.
Had this problem on an older Legacy (92) I have and besides the hour labor they wanted, the dealer said you need to replace the whole unit. Drove to my friendly ex dealerhip Sube senior tech now running his own shop who has a box of bulbs in the back (salvaged from assemblies he has pulled out for other reasons) and he put it in for just the labor.
With my newer Legacy I also had the same problem and they first said at the dealer - they were also replacing my inoperative radio antenna under extended warranty - it would need to be the whole assembly being changed etc etc story and it would need to be special ordered etc etc - maybe a week , maybe more etc etc, then when I said I would take the car to see the other guy who had helped me out before (and who had trained everyone else in that dealership ) they suddenly just happened to have a spare bulb and so I saved myself an extra trip!
Not sure what the equivalent to US mileage is but I routinely get 9.0l/100km to 10.0l/100km here in Australia. That is about 28-31mpg in Imperial (non USA) terms. Best guess for USA is about 23.5 - 26 mpg
Cheers
Graham
Ross
Anyone knows where I can get info (and pictures?) on the OB 2002?
tia
Pat.
Please excuse my earler comment on Goodyear tires. I meant to mention a different brand in that moment of comedy after working a long day. Sorry Goodyear!
Thanks for the Velcro tip for the rear mat. Great idea.
-Greg
Warren
Good luck,
-wdb
odd as it may sound, but the surge is pretty strong if you're not prepare for it. Whenever the A/C compressor kicks in, the engine will rev higher to get more juice from the alternator (I think). Anyway, I'm waiting on my Alternator Recall notice on my '98 OB. Hopefully, the change would alleviate this annoyance.
http://www.mobil.com/mobil_gas/index.html has a neat little map on the gas types.
They told me it takes about one week per 20 hours of estimated labor, and the labor estimate was about 80 hours, hence four weeks total. Anybody in the sheetmetal business out there who can verify that as standard practice?
Dave B.
I have not noticed the driveline slap in the VDC, I need to try the brake trick. I do know that almost every rear drive car I have owned ('91 GMC Jimmy, '94 Firebird Formula, '97 Suburban) have all had some driveshaft slap. It is usually heard in that area between acceleration and engine braking.
Warren
First I have to say that I love this car but like everything else all is not perfect in the land of OZ, OCD sets in here and I am sure Bit can relate to this, I feel that the aerodynamics need to be tweaked around the rear end, after 5 minutes driving in wet weather the back end looks like it has been through a plowed field everything is sucked up onto the back window.
I have to say that this aspect is driving me nuts, I also feel that it is a safety hazard, in comparison the 93 Accord wagon that I owned, as long as the car was moving the back window did not even get wet no matter how hard it was raining, I could count on one hand the number of times I used the rear window washer in all the time I owned the car.
The second problem I documented here before and that is the interior seems to attract an inordinant amount of dust.
Apart from these two gripes the car is awesome no squeaks or rattles especially no brake squeak although I did take pains to prpoerly season the brakes when I first got the car whether that has made a difference or not I don,t know but I do this with all my vehicles.
Cheers Pat.
I've long used RainX on the windshield, so I tried some on the back window, and that pretty much took care of the problem...so that may be worth a try..
I also use Rain-X on all the windows and it seems to help. You do have to keep up with it though (reapply every month or so seems to work for me). The rear glass still gets dirty, but IMHO not as much as without the Rain-X (maybe cause it's beading on the glass instead).
-Brian
I have a 2000 OB Ltd Wagon, no spoiler or deflector on the rear end. I live in Seattle, which has plenty of sloppy months. I've noted that at highway speeds (50+ mph) the window stays clean/clear no matter how hard the rain (as long as it's actual rain, not accumulated slop blowing up from the highway). At low speeds, around town, etc., it gets pretty cruddy. Like everyone else, sure wish that rear wiper had an interval setting.
I'm curious about the drive train clunking that has been reported (my old '66 Mustang started doing that lately, but new U-joints fixed the problem): as the Beans and VDCs all have the automatic-tranny version of AWD (I believe a more sophisticated system - computerized - that has a 90/10 F/R default) could this be an artifact of that system? I've never noticed it on my H4 5-speed, but I'll ops check it next time the boss lets me drive the car on the highway.
Cheers (and rain) from Seattle!
Ken M.
bit