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Comments
Pillock is a lovely English word, describing the sort of fool who leaves his Ferrari 430 Spyder (convertible) under my office window, roof down, during a thunderstorm. There is something remarkable about watching a newly registered car's front seats fill with water as the rain buckets down. Did you know that it pools deeply on the leather seats?
Cheers
Graham
I'd say the dealer could void the warranty for anything on that electrical circuit, like the mirror itself, but not on the rest of the car.
Hey Graham, I though you guys haven't had rain in like, a decade??? Does this mean your drought is over?
tom
My daily driver is still the 2005 non-premium Forester XT I bought in August 2004. It now has 95K miles on the odo. It needed a new rear wheel bearing at 91K (replaced both) but otherwise has been trouble free. I sold the hobby car I owned when I joined this board, a 1963 Studebaker Lark, in June 2007. At the end of 2008 I picked up another hobby car, a 1970 Porsche 911T which I still own.
My FXT went into the dealer's body shop this afternoon to repair a couple of scratches the dealer's service techs put into the paint during the 90K service a couple of months ago - on their dime of course. Also on their dime is the loaner car I have for the next three or four days - a 2010 Forester in base trim - at least I think it's base. It has cloth seats, a rubber steering wheel and no seat heaters, but i does have a sunroof.
The short drive home (~ 5 miles) from the dealer was uneventful, but without an owner's manual I found a lot of the switchgear confusing. Especially unnerving is the variety of colored lighting - gauges are blue and white with white needles, radio and HVAC controls are red, clock/thermometer are gray and the blaring "passenger airbag OFF" light bright amber. There's also this blue mood lighting in the console and coming down from the roof by the map lights that are annoying, especially the overhead blue light that I'd douse if I could. It all disorients and confuses me.
But enough of my Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer schtick. I'm off to find an online '10 Forester owners manual. Nice to see you all and I'll be back with some crabby middle aged guy thoughts over the next few days...maybe ven try to make a chat.
Ed
The drought has been rather severe, lasting since 1996. Our water storages are now at about 50% of pre 1996 levels but the drought definitely seems to have abated.
I am a Loss Adjuster and we seem to be doing a lot of weather claims at present. There are dire storm warnings for the next 36 hours so business is looking good!.
My wife, somewhat unkindly, equates Loss Adjusters with Undertakers; Taking Delight in Other's Misfortunes!
The Ferrari F430 Spyder was notable for the appearance of a roof today!
Cheers
Graham
1970 911T? How cool. I bet it doesn't get out in the winter much.
You should definitely stop in and post every now and then. Good group of folks. I haven't owned a Subaru in 8 years and they still accept me. Not that I gave them a choice.
A new Miata with summer tires ain't any better!
Side note: as these tires wear, they are NOISY as all heck. Annoyingly so. Tire pressures checked regularly. I'll have to get tires that are more "touring" oriented next time around.
No, the 911 is pre-galvanized so I keep it off the salt. I put it away for the winter last weekend though I do need to top off the tank and add some fuel stabilizer. Better do that before they salt the roads here. If I lived in a warmer climate I'd drive it year-round; it is bar none the most fun-to-drive car I've ever owned. I've driven it more in two years than I drove my Studebaker in five. :P
Then again if I lived in a warmer climate I might never have bought a Subaru. :confuse: Buying one was my concession to living in the North for the foreseeable future. However I see they've made inroads in the South in recent years as well, and not just in the mountainous areas.
Ed
I can't say it's a great movie, it's actually a horrible movie that manages to have a ton of funny parts. If you liked Hangover, it's the same actor, and nearly as funny.
Any how, they drive cross-country in a Subaru Impreza rental, and the car performs a rather hilarious stunt (no spoilers, watch it to find out more).
Sounds like that rental is a base X Premium.
I agree that the airbag light being on all the time is rather annoying since it is bright amber, but I rather like all the other lighting - especially the ambient blue LEDs! There is a second one mounted on the cupholder hidden in the rear seats as well. I would like to see one inside the center console and the glove box, too, but apparently those little buggers are expensive.
I think some of the better features of the new generation (that do not benefit the driver directly) are the vastly improved rear seat leg room and the reclining rear seats (found on the Premium and above trims). While both of my children are still in fixed-back car seats and cannot take advantage of the reclining seat-backs, I'm sure they will appreciate them on long trips when they're older (well, maybe "appreciate" is a bit too optimistic!).
Check the back seat - the fold-out partition is great if you have 2 kids. That and the armrest really keep the separated. The cupholders are LED lit as well, also blue.
The ambient blue lighting makes me think of a cocktail lounge. Time to pop some Esquivel! into the CD player...speaking of which, I see NOAA weather band is gone. A pity, I enjoy listening to Tom and Donna.
The car is noticeably quieter than my FXT, wind noise especially. The car is also noticeably less punchy than my FXT which made for some awkward maneuvers during the morning commute but will no doubt be appreciated at the gas pump.
Ed
Just what Loosh needs.
Bob
Next time you get a dealer loaner, ask for a (new) Forester XT.
Bob
A 17L 6-cylinder engine; 18' long and 6' high; and built off a fire engine chassis! It's up on eBay.
Bob
The starter does not engage and drag. The battery appears to be fully charged. Anyone have any ideas about this?
I can't ever remember a car doing anything similar ...
On our model, it is located just below the brake booster, bolted to the tranny's top flange. You will see the negative cable bolted to the tranny lip, and the positive cable under a rubber boot down around the side where it is difficult to get at without taking off the air filter box. The starter is probably attached with two bolts at it's front lip to the tranny.
Letting off on the key and trying again might get it to work. On another car, I once tapped mine with a hammer and got a few more weeks out of it before it became too unreliable to live with.
Welcome back to Brian and Ed.
Congrats to Lucian on the Volvo R. As I mentioned, I occasionally park next to one, and the owner seems quite happy with it.
The exact same thing happened to me just a couple weeks ago. Turned out to be the ignition switch. Something about a huge current drop between the input & output sides of the switch - not enough juice was getting to the starter. As in your situation, battery was fine, alternator doing its job, etc. etc.
So, that's the (potentially) good news. Bad news is the part was about $180.
In the meantime, if it absolutely, positively won't start, try using jumper cables. Apparently the extra current overcomes the short in the switch. Worked for me a couple times until the part arrived.
Cheers!
Paul
I was wondering what better bulbs can I get to replace both the headlights and driving lights in the WRX. I don't want that blue look that you see on Honduhs, etc, but something brighter, with a longer and wider throw, and a decent life. The OEMs look a bit darker after all these years, or it could be that I'm just getting older!
Serge
I guess the next step is a series of tests. Paul made available additional current. That is what I did in the case of my wife's starter solenoid problems (before she was my wife - 30+ years ago), and the extra current would overcome the internal resistance and make it engage. So we have an ambiguous result - extra current can 'fix' either a switch or starter problem. Next we have to separate the components. You need to find the wire from the ignition switch to the solenoid, and see if you get voltage to the starter when the switch is turned. And you have to apply a fresh souce of voltage to the solenoid terminal and see if the starter runs. It gets complicated..... A volt meter and current meter would be a big plus as well so that you can see where the drop occurs.
Net here is that you might need the help of an electrically inclined auto mechanic to do this right.
I cannot help you with the main headlights, but there is a neat little trick for the fog lights that turns them into pretty bright, wide angle driving lights. Google "9006 to 9005 Conversion". It is a very simple plastic tab modification that allows the very efficient 1700 lumens bulb to fit the 1000 lumens stock location. Best part is that the power requirement only goes from 55w to 65w, so the stock housing and wiring **should** be OK. It works fine in my OBW, but please monitor it carefully as I don't know how this will go in the WRX. I then adjusted the housing tilt up a bit, and they do a great job of illuminating off the sides of dark, lonely roads. Great for seeing the deer!! But - treat them like high beams - no oncoming traffic - as they are quite blinding.
I am in the process of adding a switch and relay so that they fire up with my high beams only for extra dark road visibility. I'll let you know how that goes when I'm done.
after driving (mumble-mumble) years I do build a bank of knowledge about different sounds/conditions to have an idea of what is wrong with the car (even if I have no idea how to fix it!) but this one was new to me ...
we have a garage that we trust pretty well with repairs, but I still like being armed with "some" knowledge before going in ..
Thanks for the welcome.
Missed Lucien getting the V70R. A former colleague had one, let me drive it once; easliy the hottest Volvo.
Still have the loaner '10 Forester X Premium(?) as FXT is still in the paint shop. Likes: better fuel economy and range, less wind noise, rear seat room and moonroof (at least my son does). Dislikes: less punch for passing/merging/onramps cf. the FXT, more body roll cf. FXT, idiot light for temp gauge, cheaper-feeling interior fabrics and plastics, especially the sun visors and console. Still can't get used to the mood lighting at night.
I don't know when I'll replace the FXT but if gas prices stay this high or higher and the commute stays similar odds are it'll have to be a N/A Forester. Visions of a CPO E350 Bluetec have entered my head though I don't know how sensible that would be.
Ed
They have a decent lifespan, too. I sold the van last summer, but I still have my Escort and the bulbs have been in it for about 18 months now. That translates to around 18,000 miles with lights on at all times.
I had a friend do this to his LGT which was better. I've never actually done the conversion myself though although I was temped to try it with my SVX.
Otherwise, the Xtravisions seem decently bright as well- but they're not HIDs.
tom
I used Hella H4+30 on my Forester and both died in about a year, within a week of each other.
All I will advise is that if you choose non-standard bulbs, carry the old ones with you (and tools needed) in case they burn out.
Now the European spec ECE bulbs are indeed a little bit brighter. Autolamps, out of England, sells the Philips VisionPlus series. I've bought the H1 (OBW low beam) and 9003 (low/high combo) for the Odyssey. They do seem slightly better, but the life is shorter. I've had decent life with the H1, but horrible with three sets of the 9003.
If you are daring, there are Halogen Infrared bulbs that fit the 9006 & 9005 sockets. The glass is larger, so you need to be sure that it won't be placed too close to the reflector & lens and melt it. Technically, they do put out more lumens for the same wattage & power, and are DOT legal, but are only qualified for use with certain optics designs (like the Dodge Viper).
I strongly advise against the HID retrofit kits. Optical design is a fine art. The intent is to put down enough light but not blind oncoming drivers. That means the pinpoint source of light from the filament must be exactly positioned. A gas discharge light is spread out over a much greater volume within the glass enclosure, and thus does not focus as it should without the special optics designed to cut off the wider spread. You can always tell the retrofit from the real thing by the intense, blinding glare that they produce. Yes, they may help the driver, but they can create a hazard on the road for everyone else.
To be fair, they were slightly brighter (Hella H4+30, that is), but I didn't think it was worth the risk of blowing out every 12 months. The stock lights went back on the Forester and were still working when I sold it - 9 years!
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/13/geneva-preview-hyundai-sonata-i40-wagon-gets-- officially-rendere/
Looks like a Caddy SRX that's squatting and pissed off!
Linked from wsj.com
The front looks kinda GT-R esque.
tom
I must say that I've been spoiled by the "whiteness" of HIDs that just makes things easier to see simply because of their color, not necessarily because they are actually much brighter.
I do agree that I've seen some cars with blinding HID conversions, but then again, I've seen a lot of cars with regular Halogens pointed too high that are also blinding.
tom
Thanks for the link. They opened with me all caps and bold! :shades:
I wonder whether you influenced Subaru's use of removable/upgradable TomTom units.
Ed
Hey, I think that cost you one minute of fame though!
tom