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Comments
Recently I bought 2002 Legacy (a builder). The rebuilding process is going fine, although I do have a question. I started the engine and noticed "ATOILTEMP" light flashing in the upper right corner of the speedometer. Unfortunately, the car came without any owner manual and I am concerned what might be the problem. The engine and transmission (auto)are intact and do not have any visible damage. There are few electrical parts destroyed on the passenger side upper rail. Can anyone give me an advice. A local dealer said it has something to do with the transmission. Thanks.
;-)
Craig: true, but if Subaru published the revised output, it's because they were expecting people to use that octane.
No idea on that warning light, sorry.
-juice
Normally, it should come on and go off within a few seconds after starting, like all other indicators during the 'test mode'. If it comes on and stays on, or flashes, when the engine is still cold, it is most likely an instrumentation problem.
What happened to the car? Fire?
Steve
The car took a hit on the passenger side front corner. I bought a car from a different state and did not have an option to view the car up close. I knew I would have to change the hood, fender, radiator support and etc., but did not realize there is more damage than I expected. I had someone reweld 2 horizontal mounts for steering pump platform. I also noticed some of the wiring coming to and from the upper rail and shock tower are cut and smashed along with some electrical device on the tower itself. My major concern is the tranny, since the light is flashing even when the engine warmed up.
Steve, do you know how to check the tranny fluid, while the engine running or when it stopped? I checked the stick with engine off and it showed more than enough liquid, but with the engine on the stick is almost dry. I did have to change the radiator, I am thinking there is not enough liquid? By the way, the tranny oil has a good color and doesn't smell burned. Thanks.
A few weeks back I wrote about a problem I was having with my 04 Outback "drifting" to the right. Since then, I've had it aligned (for the third time in 6000 miles), wheels balanced and rotated. The problem is still present. I'm beginning to think that either the frame is not straight, or there is a problem with the all-wheel-drive system. I have a friend with the identical car (down to the color), and he does not have this issue. (This is also his fourth Outback.) Any thoughts or advice are most welcome.
It is trickier to get it right with AWD, but not impossible.
Are the wheel bearings OK? Maybe have them inspect the brakes? Something is creating a little extra drag, most likely on the right side.
-juice
Alland
Check the fluid level with the engine running, tranny in park (cycle the shifter thru the gears first). When hot, use the upper indicators, when cold the lower ones.
Steve
Alland
My Forester tracks straight but the tires are getting noisy, I might replace them even though there is tread left.
-juice
I hope I'm addressing the right group here. I just purchased a used 1996 Subaru Legacy L wagon from a small used car lot w/no warranty (sold as-is). We just had a lot of heavy rain here in Southeastern PA and I noticed that a pool of water had accumulated in the rear left (driver's side) passenger floor and the front driver's side carpet was all wet as well. Where is the water coming leaking from? I don't have a sunroof and there is no water pooled in the spare tire compartment as others have seen. The car was recently painted however, so maybe a seal was not properly replaced or something. The car is starting to smell really foul and I'm not too happy about that at all. What is the most cost effective way to have this leak diagnosed and fixed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Check the floor boards themselves, for holes. The water could be splashing up. Look for cracks or poked holes.
True story - my brother put a jack under my dad's Cougar, when he was younger and not as bright, and poked a hole right through the floor board.
He vindicated himself by becoming the valedictorian of his law school.
-juice
Get a wet vac and clean up the water ASAP.
DaveM
-juice
Let them look at it. I hope you didn't go very far after it overheated, it was wise to stop right away. Continuing is what does long-term harm.
Did you ever get a service bulletin (guess not)? They were supposed to put a coolant additive in your radiator. Of course they worked on that at 31k miles, so it should have gone in at that time.
Call 800-SUBARU3. Be polite, give them the same information you gave us. Let them liase with your dealer to make sure the fix is done thoroughly this time, so it doesn't reoccur.
Hang in there, hopefully they can help you out. Stick around and keep us posted?
-juice
The warranty was for people that agreed to use the additive, but they never contacted you.
Did they have your new address?
Call 800-SUBARU3 and be real, real nice. Befriend them because they might take your side and help you if the dealer does not want to cover it.
If they put in the additive at the 31k point, you should definitely be covered. Even if they didn't, your car showed symptoms while still under warranty, and you're having the same problem now.
Keep us posted? I think the 800 folks will help but just in case stick with the Subaru Crew here on Edmunds. :-)
-juice
Try sprinkling some baking soda on the carpet.
You can try putting a dehumidifier in the cargo area to draw out the moisture from the carpet. Or maybe use a blow dryer.
DaveM
DaveM (south of the border)
Now go out and buy a new car (Subaru, of course...) for your wife with the savings!
Steve
The Legacy is certainly on the hot button list and it's nice to see Subaru doing the right thing in this case.
John
Any idea why Subaru does this? If this is a beneficial feature, I'd expect to see it on other makes of cars.
Has anyone noticed wind or water problems, primarily after a few years?
Todd
Maybe I can get mine to leak somehow! LOL
Todd: call it a quirk, a characteristic, whatever, but all Subies have frameless doors. They are lighter and easier to close, and if you look at crash tests Subaru does far better than average.
The Porsche 911 and BMW M3 have frameless doors. The Yugo GV and Hyundai Excel did not. So by itself I don't think it means much.
I use a pressure washer to wash my cars, it does cause my Miata's soft top to leak at times, but never the Subie, not a drop. If it is adjusted properly, anyway.
-juice
Frameless windows offer a safety benefit since in a side impact collision beneath the window the glass will generally tilt out and break. In framed windows, the glass has a greater chance of entering the cabin since the window frame is more likely to follow the path of the impact into the car. Another small safety benefit of the frameless feature is that they are "finger friendly" such that if a door is accidentally closed on fingers, the fingers simply push into the window cushion and don't get crush. (I've seen a salesman demonstrate this one. It looked like the window would surely injur his fingers and he was fine.) This especially benefits those with kids.
Finally, the frameless windows provide the vehicle with a slightly sportier/cleaner appearance with fewer lines.
I've had no noise or air issues with my frameless windows.
It does take a couple days getting used to closing the door the proper way by using its handle.
It actually looks very clean with the windows down. Kinda like the door of a convertible.
Jim
We ocassionally hear of wind noise problems, but they are easily remedied by adjusting the glass and/or seal angle. Subaru has designed numerous adjustments into the design just in case it needs to be tweaked.
Craig
Compare a Subie to, say, a Volvo. Blind spots galore.
-juice
Thanks again for your input. I test drove the car around the block and it seems to function properly. Now I am going to get my subie to the frame guy to get the upper rail in place. Thanks.
With frameless windows, you have half the air and water leak points to seal. That means actually less windnoise potential.
Cheers
Graham
-juice
To my shock...nothing happened...it wouldn't downshift...engine just revved...hit the gas again..nothing...
I know it has a sportshift..but I should't have to use that everytime the tranny won't cooperate.
Is this how the car I just bought for over $28K with tax works??? If this normally is how the car is going to react on the highway...then I made a big mistake with my hard earned money.
There are quite a few "new" vehicles other than Subarus that use frameless windows. The Nissan 300Z is one model I can think of off the top of my head.
Also, keep in mind that even with framed windows, the seal is still created against a gasket on the chassis side. The window frame itself takes on a secondary role.
The only non-subjective drawback I can see to Subaru's frameless glass is that it does pose a higher security risk. Otherwise, it performs as well, if not better than framed windows. The seals on my 98 Forester after 5.5 years, 100K+ miles of driving were fine.
Ken
Does the 4 speed auto have a sport mode? The 5 speed does.
Lastly, the new throttle-by-wire is tuned for economy, you might really have to floor it to produce the best acceleration. Right now it is optimizing fuel economy, which is why the EPA numbers are higher than before.
-juice
On the previous generation, you would engage the transmission's sport mode with rapid gas-pedal movement. This would make downshifts much quicker and more agressive than if you just press the pedal down. See if that make a difference.
On my 05 with the 5EAT, if you slide the lever to the left but do not do the +/- routine, the transmission will go into sport mode (and will still shift gears on its own). Again you get the much better response. In my experience, the car will briskly downshift and haul butt in this mode.
If you drive the car out of the transmission's sport mode, it will try like crazy to get the best gas mileage. That means granny-style behavior.
So it sounds like sport mode is for you. I leave my car in sport mode pretty much all the time.
Craig
Don't you use more gas in sport mode? Should I wait till at least 1000 miles to start using it regularly?
My car has the 5EAT, but I believe yours has the 4EAT. SO am not positive that yours has the full time sport mode by moving the lever left, but it seems likely. I suppose it's in the manual! I know the 4EAT used to have the pedal-motion activate sport mode, so that's probably still there (I think my 5EAT has it as well).
I think you can use sport mode during break-in as long as you dont' exceed 4000 rpm too often.
Craig
Living in Fairbanks, AK, about half of the days during the year are sub-freezing, many of them SUB freezing! After 172,000 miles on my '96 OB, no wind noise. This is with no garaging, mind you, so it gets the butt of all the weather and goes not one day without use (I actually feel sorry for the poor car!). The only problem that I occasionally have is with the window freezing to the rubber moulding. It makes for a difficult time opening the car, especially with the added fear of the plastic handles snapping off in -40F weather. It is not a problem except for those days when we get new snow, but after this many years and still the original handles on the car, I guess that is one feature of the car that is actually well built (unlike the electrical system).
Style-wise, I love the fact that there are no window frames. The car boasts a much sportier feel (when I do get the chance to drop the windows) than any other '96 wagon - I don't pay enough attention to newer cars to know whether that holds true these days...
Thanks to you, I'm driving in Sport mode more often now. :-)
Actually, since I was using normal Auto mode for a while, the response difference between the two has become small (thanks to my lead foot). I notice that with Sport mode, it seems to hold 1st and 2nd gear longer when accelerating. However, for street driving I actually find the quicker upshifts on normal auto to provide less unintentional drama.
Also with Sport, downshifts while braking are much more pronounced. I can really feel the tranny downshift and compression braking kick in when in Sport. Not so with normal auto.
The turbo seems to spool harder and more often with Sport. I definetly hear what little noise it makes more often in this mode.
And you're right -- the difference in fuel economy has been negligible. In my case, most of my driving is on highway and the two behave the same way while cruising.
Ken
Owen
After two weeks I still cannot get comfortable and my only solution would be to have something done with the steering wheel.
I'm not even going to bother asking Subaru for help again... because they are only going to give me a standardized answer. And I'm sure if I get anything done I will void the warranty.
I'm hoping that they will come out with a telescoping wheel soon and that it can be retrofitted.
Any other tall drivers have this issue with the driving position? If you do... please tell Subaru about it and let them know. Maybe if enough people complain they will include this feature next year.
—Gary
1) AC: When I turn the AC on, it stays on for a while, but then the cool air turns into warm (neutral)air. It seems that the only way I can get cool air again is to shut the engine off, and start it again. But, the cool air does not last. I took it to a dealer who said he recharged the system and checked for leaks (found none). He also found too much Freon in the system(?). He found no Technical Service Bulletins for this Problem.
2) Power Steering: Most of the time, the power steering is very stiff when car is at stand still, but is OK when the car is moving. This is especially the case when first starting out in the morning. One independent mechanic said the rack and pinion steering was binding and needed replacemdent at a cost of $1200! Another one suggested flushing the steering fluid as a start and then go from there. He also said it could be the power steering pump. I had the system flushed today, so I'll see how it goes.
Any similar experiences/solutions out there?