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Comments
Let me know.
Regards.
Turned out to be the 'switch' in the transmission that powers the backup lights was shot. I'm not familiar with the Subaru MT, but would wager that this could be the culprit.
-Brian
If electricity flows thru the fuse that does not mean it got to the sockets.
Dave: if you haven't already, call 800-SUBARU3 and ask them to open a case for you. Ask them to note the vehicle's repair history, see if they can help out in some way.
With the 2' plus of snow we got here, you'd be better off staying home and letting the plows do their work.
Adeel: the window angle can be adjusted to fix that problem. In fact, one handy owner managed to do it himself. Ask your dealer to adjust that.
Heidi: don't worry at all about that recall, they re-program the ECU to be less sensitive to triggering check-engine light. It's actually a good thing.
-juice
-juice
Craig
-juice
Ken
Come warmer weather, I'm going to switch whatever could be switched to synthetic.
-Dave
The front wipers stopped working. The motor is working. If I manually place the wipers on the windshield and start them, they will retract, but they just twitch instead of going out again. I can't find an obstruction either.
When I make slow sharp turns it makes a honking sound. I demonstrated it to a Subaru technician and he thought it sounded like the steering column. They worked on it but it's still making the sound.
BTW, I've also had it in the shop for the parking brake recall and an O2 sensor failure. Needless to say, I'm starting to wonder why I bought a Subaru.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Call 800-SUBARU3 and ask them to open a case number and escalate that steering issue. They'll get help from the regional techs.
The wiper motor should be an easy fix for them. Was it run while there was ice on the windshield?
-juice
I'd also push for further escalation of the steering column noise. That shouldn't be there and Subaru should look at it. Give customer service a chance to work with the dealer.
Ken
I had the same problem on the 97 Outback during a very heavy snow storm. I cleared the snow/ice and there was no obstruction but the wipers would just twitch. After an hour or so, the wipers started to work again. This is the only time this ever happened. When we took it to the dealer, we were told "if it happens again, bring it in."
Let us know what your dealer says - I'd be interested in hearing what the problem was.
The other thing is that a lot of the wiper motors are protected against being overloaded by a clutch of sorts - not sure exactly how it works but its designed to slip without burning out the motor when its overloaded.
Just a couple of ideas.
Larry
My first posting to what seems an unusually thoughtful and informative forum. I have a '99 Forester, 5 speed, 85K miles, much at 75+ mph on the notorious Washington Beltway. No problems at all (outside of a few curious design "features"), until recently - the check engine light comes on intermittantly and while the light remains on, the engine intermittantly loses power - feels just like the timing is not advancing. Any experience with this? Related to the recall referenced in the title? Does it apply to '99? Can I expect to hear from Subaru? Thanx!
George
I would simply reset the ECU. Disconnect the negative battery terminal, wait 30 minutes, then reconnect. Start her up and let her idle 'til warm.
That usually does it. If you're close to a dealer they can read the code, but often it's a loose gas cap or a single engine misfire, i.e. harmless. If it were something really bad the light would blink.
-juice
One interesting thing I did learn about was that there seems to be an design issue with Subaru steering bushings. The steering rack is held in place by two bushings but only the driver's side bushing is "fenced" whereas the other one has little lateral support. The result of this set up is that after taking a very hard turn (ie. U-turn), the entire steering column shifts to one side and the steering wheel goes slightly out of center even though the car is driving straight. After a few turns in both directions, the rack straightens out and the steering wheel is centered (when going straight).
The mechanic has looked at lots of WRXs and other Subarus and noted that this seems to be a common occurance. Also, the wider the tire the car is using, the more pronounced this problem becomes. He put my Forester up on a lift and had his partner turn the steering wheel to show me the shift in the steering column. Lo and behold, I saw how the steering rack shifts by a tiny amount at full lock.
To his knowledge, there doesn't seem to be a good fix. He's replaced several bushings for some WRX owners, but the problem resurfaces. He's doubtful that harder bushings would work since the steering rack itself is sliding between the bushings. The problem seems to be, again, that only the driver's side bushing has braces from the steering rack bracing it from lateral movement.
Anyone else ever notice that their steering wheel becomes slightly off-center after a sharp turn?
Ken
But will keep an eye for it.
-Dave
Steve
interesting! I aligned my impreza about twice a year while autocrossing and never really thought about why the wheel kept moving.
I thought my camber bolts were shifting.
-Colin
-Frank P.
Below is a link that shows exactly the area that is affected:
http://www.ravensblade-impreza.com/modifications/drivetrain/steer- ing/steering.html
The driver's side bushing (last photo at bottom of page) is braced from both sides. The passenger side bushing (top photos) is not. Apparently, the driver's side bracing alone is not enough to keep the rack from sliding when the wheel is turned close to full lock.
When the mechanic locked my steering wheel, I could see a "polished" section of the steering rack appear by the passenger side bushing. The polishing is a result of the rack shifting against the bushing. The total shift was about 1/4"-1/2" -- enough to make the steering wheel be off center by about 20-30 degrees. The rack re-centers itself after a few turns of the wheel.
Ken
-mike
I hope it's a trustworthy shop. Ask to talk to the owner or at least a manager.
-juice
Some how I picture the entire Crew will be doing extra U-turns tonight, driving their spouses crazy!
I have wider-than-stock tires, too, 225mm is as wide as any current Soob. So I'll check it out.
-juice
A solid light is just a warning, so you could wait until, say, your next oil change to visit the dealer.
Could be a LOT of things, but the most common is a loose or defective gas cap. Any leak in the vacuum system, even a loose or cut hose, will trigger the light. Or condensation in the gas lines. A single engine misfire, so it could be nothing.
I doubt it's the cat. If that clogs up you start to lose power and it sort of chokes the engine.
-juice
Luk
Ken
I have been pasting some of these types of reports into Powerpoint for safe keeping. Someday we need to put out our own compendium/proceedings as it does not look like an affordable shop manual is ever going to be available. Wouldn't it be great to have an on-line library somewhere with all of this stuff in one place?
Steve
I'm not sure where the dipstick is, or even if there is one. I do know there is a drain plug and a fill plug, and usually you just fill it up until it spills out of the fill plug.
And yes, I would have it changed every 30k, 60k tops.
-juice
Steve: great idea, but it's almost impossible to keep track of all that stuff, and if you did you'd end up with bad links unless you made a copy of everything and hosted it yourself.
-juice
John
The rear diff is seperate, though, and yeah, I'd change that at 30k miles as well.
-juice
Luk
-juice
You say the drivers side mount is braced from both sides? If it is, then how is the passenger side shifting? I'm assuming if one end is fixed laterally (might be a wrong assumption) then the other one shouldn't move either. And does the shift happen when turning in both directions? From what I can see in the pictuers, is seems like the driver's side bushing surrounds the clamp, and acts as a cushion from the stops. If so, then a harder bushing might help with the slop, just because it won't compress as much. If you install the new bushings, check how much play there is between the stops and the bushing. It seems like it should be a really tight fit, if not, then there's going to be slop in the steering no matter what. Maybe you can insert shims or something
I don't think it's an oversight or mistake by subaru that both sides aren't fixed though. Usually, when mounting something like this, you do not want to fix both end to hard stops. If both ends were fixed, there'd always be a compression or tension on the steering rack because there's always tolerances in the manufacturing of the rack and mounting points. You need one end to have some play in it to allow for adjustment. But maybe subaru just didn't give enough support to the drivers side bushing.
Yes, only the driver's side bushing is braced, but for some reason the rack shifts. It may be that the bushings flex too much, but I'm not sure. You're probably right that the part bracing was intentional, but as we've seen, it has the unfortunate effect of sliding the rack.
I'll see how much the installation of the bushings are and decide if I want to try them.
Ken
the reason why they say it's OK to use it right away is because almost all engines have some running-in time on the line. this allows wear patterns to form on the cam(s) and other valvetrain components, and for the rings to bed properly.
after those things happen, synthetic has no risk and significant advantages.
-Colin
no domestic vehicle except something very rare like a Viper or Corvette comes with synthetic. all the Japanese brands use mineral oil as well, although Toyota probably should've been using synthetic in those camrys and siennas, eh? ;-)
-Colin