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Comments
I would find it hard today to consider a vehicle that did not have a power seat. I have an '02 OBW. I originally shopped for a Legacy L but found the versatililty and enhanced comfort of the OBW's power seat to be one of the items well worth the extra cost. Of course, that just probably means that I am getting old and more difficult to please....
Steve
Reason I ask is because we have Subaru Bucks and they come in $100 increments. So I basically have to spend the full $100 to use it.
-juice
You say you are 6' tall. Do yourself a big favor. Before you go buy that Legacy / Outback... rent one. Or take one on a long test drive. A verrrrrryyy long test drive.
These cars are not really designed for people with long legs or big feet. Put the seat back to where you are in a comfortable driving position and see if the steering wheel seems close enough for you. Does it still seem close enough after 20 minutes? Or do you find your back arching forward?
Do you wear large shoes? Bigger than 11.5? If so, the tips of your shoes may rub against the shield under the dash when moving from gas to brake. Very annoying.
About the power seat. I don't see how this car can NOT have one. I sat in the Legacy with manual driver's seat and the positioning is weird. As you raise the height adjustment, you feel pitched forward. There is no seat bottom angle adjustment knob. There are a bunch of other cars out there that have deleted this feature to save some bucks (including Mazda 3).
And do yourself another favor if you get this car...get the turbo or the H6... the base 2.5 is slow...I have one.... I know. Sometimes you have to beat the heck out of it to keep up. Maybe because I have the auto....
The turbo motor is awesome, but the gas mileage is not good at all. So, if you care about that, I would still recommend the base engine.
Craig
I had the dealer analyze the transmission and found nothing wrong (I don't like the way it doesn't shift sometimes...even in sport mode).... Is this from a computer program or just how the transmission works?
-juice
Oh, you will need the foglight switch [sold separately] which, IIRC, will run ~$30.
-Dave
FJ60
Here's the parts I dislike: If I'm going about 20-30 mph on a suburban road or NYC street and I hit the gas just a little too hard, the engine will roar and the transmission will not cooperate, almost like it slips into neutral. I can't always remember to put it into Sport Mode. I have driven on the highway with Sport Mode and still had this happen with the engine racing and a delayed or no downshift.
Am I just too agressive with this car? Is it possible the base engine was designed only for extremely type B personalities who are in no rush to get anywhere?
Or is it possible there is a flaw in the software that tells the tranny what to do?
I have been taking the "I feel guilty..it must be my driving" route... but I feel I may actually get hit in the back one day when changing lanes to pass someone.
Is this normal behavior for this transmission/engine?
My beef, and perhaps this is what you meant, is that when I floor the accelerator at some speeds it takes about 2 seconds before the car starts accelerating. It seems to happen when the transmission decides it needs to shift down 2 gears - it takes a while to shift and it seems to reduce engine power until the shifting is complete. If only a single gear shift is necessary it's not too bad.
That 2 seconds can seem like a lifetime when I'm in a situation that calls for instant power.
Sport mode doesn't make it shift any faster, but it does make it more likely that the tranny will be already be in a gear closer to the one you need.
I now drive in sport mode all the time so that I can quickly shift down manually if I anticipate needing instant power.
I don't know why they modulate the power so much when shifting - perhaps it's to save the clutches inside the tranny or to make the shifting smoother, but I think they've overdone it.
Tim.
Subarus have electronically controlled transmissions with an ECU which over time will learn your driving habits, and change the shifting points.
My 99 GT sedan does the same behavior. When rolling through a stop sign (perfectly legal in MA), and hitting the gas, there is a definite hesitation before it bangs down two gears and takes off.
You can reset the ECU to default by disconnecting the battery for about 20 minutes. Over a period of time, it will start altering the shift points. I tried this, but within a few weeks, it went back to it's old behavior. I hope this helps. Rob M.
The cd player won't turn on. For example, if the radio is on and I push the 'CD' button, the cd player doesn't turn on, and the radio continues to play as if I hadn't pushed the 'CD' button. The lights above the buttons numbered '1' thru '6', that correspond to the 6 cd slots, don't ever go on.
If I push one of the '1' thru '6' buttons, nothing happens.
When I turn the car on, I hear the changer mechanism working, maybe trying to load or unload a cd. It stops after about 10 seconds.
Maybe there is a cd stuck in the changer?
The problem started after I disconnected and reconnected the positive battery cable.
Is there a way to get this changer working again?
thank you very much for any help you can offer.
Bill
Have you tried ejecting all the disc and reloading?
-Dave
Thanks for answering.
I have tried pushing the eject button, both pushing it briefly and holding it down for a few seconds. Neither causes any reaction.
Please keep in mind that I can't turn the changer 'on.' You wouldn't really expect the eject button to work when the changer is turned off.
Today I tried to remove the changer from the dashboard. The only instructions I could find were at http://www.subaruparts.com/guides/CD_Changer_Detailed_Installation_Instruction.pdf, and they are apparently not for the model car I have. I was not able to detach the radio trim, because the fasteners at the bottom of it wouldn't release, and I was afraid it would break if I pulled any harder. The radio trim appears to be attached to the framework that the ashtray slides into, and I can't remove that either.
Does anyone have any hints on removing the radio trim?
Thanks,
Bill
As for the radio trim, I think you might have to remove the trim around the shifter first.
More help on this should be on the way, as I'm feeding you off my memory on a '98 OB
Anyway, from your description, it sounds like it's similar to my '98 OB where there are 2 screws on the top side [ceiling] of the ashtray receiving slot [framework] holding the trim. Remove those 2 screw and you should be set. Remove the trim slowly or you may detach the power connectors to the powersocket [cigarette lighter]. Powersocket is not removeable, or just don't try.
-Dave
I did remove the trim around the shifter first. And before that, the console trim, and to remove that, I first had to disconnect the seat warmer controls in the console.
You may be right that the eject button should work even when the changer is off. But in any case, pushing it doesn't cause anything to happen.
-Bill
Yes, beginning with the 2005 Legacy/Outback, both the 2.5L turbo and non-turbo engines are throttle-by-wire (not sure about the 3.0L), and the transmission has at least some degree of electronic control.
I found the two screws you told me about and removed them. Then I was able to remove the stereo assembly, and remove the changer from that.
It looks like there's a cd jammed in it. I wasn't able to get the cd out.
I'll try to find a shop that will repair the changer, or maybe get a new one. It's a Matsushita h6240ls100.
Do you know if a 'wrx sti' cd changer will fit? I see them advertised on ebay.
Thanks,
Bill
Dimension wise [Double DIN], yes it will fit.
That's the one that is without the cassette player.
Wiring harness should be the same plug-and-play.
Just be sure that the headunit isn't off the '05 FXT or LGT/OBT. I think their unit has a built-in Amp to power the subwoofer which may not work with the Active Subwoofer, if you have one.
You can also check out the "For Sale" over at nabisco. Some good deals ~$150 for In-Dash 6 CD could be had. Actually, for a tad more you could get a decent aftermarket that plays MP3s. That would certainly hold more than 6 CD worth of songs.
BTW Matsushita = National = Panasonic
-Dave
-juice
That's exactly the case. With a manual transmission, it is zippy and fun to drive. With auto, the base engine is quite sluggish in an Outback.
BTW -- the transmission learning has short term memory. Meaning unless you always drive like a maniac, it will gradually return to gentler algorithms. It attempts to optimize for fuel economy.
Sounds like the 4EAT's sport mode is not that good. On the 5EAT in my XT, sport mode does exactly what I want -- faster upshifts and instantaneous downshifts. In normal mode, it takes way too long to repsond to a throttle input.
Craig
If it's not cranking, period, then something else is wrong.
Craig
I had new break pads put on at 27000 miles and when crusing at a slow speed, I get a nice squeaking noise that you can hear if you have your windows down. It sounds like when your break pads have gone to the metal, but when i pull off the wheels, the pads have a LOT of wear left of them. It only happens when you are traveling at under 10-15 miles an hour.
The other issue is a front diffential leak. It is very minor, but the small drops are getting on a hot part under the car and it's moving a oil smell into the interior. Has anyone ever had this problem and what kind of $$$ amount I am looking at to fix it?
Thanks in advance,
subie
-juice
- Bob
Did anyone have major problem with their car.
Thanks
Omer
It was black plastic and was shaped like butterfly wings.
-juice
240,000 miles on it.
The car will run ok for a while but the check engine light flashes a code 12 or 13. The car will hesitate ( lose power ) then go for a while. it slows down then speeds up. sucks gas when it does this. It was happening in wet weather at first but seems to happen randomly now.
-juice
The engine will crank... but only for about one second, and it makes no attempt to fire.
Rich
This has actually happened once or twice before--tough to notice, because it happens as I'm walking away from the car and hitting the "lock" button on the remote, so I'm not usually checking to see that the lights are turning off.
Today I locked the car in the same way I always do, but the parking lights didn't shut off at all--not even once during all of my errands. I finally got home and disconnected the battery--even locking the doors manually did nothing.
I thought of removing the fuse, but I couldn't be bothered.
Thing is, I live in Rhode Island, and it's REEEEALLY cold right now--below freezing, and the wind chill is absolutely frigid. Could this simply be a stuck switch/connection somewhere? Maybe the connection got wet and then froze (we had a lot of rain yesterday).
Thanks for reading. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks for reading. Can you please help me out?
Unfortunately the overheating might have done a lot of damage by now. Even with new head gaskets you might not get a good seal there, i.e. you might have to have the heads machined smooth.
'99 falls within the 8/100 extended coverage if you used that coolant additive they recommended. Did you do that?
Call 800-SUBARU3 and work with them. Be nice and see what they can do for you.
-juice
The '99 Legacy / Outback (DOHC) are not covered, only the '99 Forester / 2.5RS (SOHC) are covered.
DaveM
When a distributor cap cracks, and it becomes moist outside, condensation builds in the cap and interferes with the electrical signal between the points and rotor.
Replace the cap and rotor, and clean out any moisture built up on the distributor while you're replacing them.
-Ty
Ha, ha, ha, ha. That's classic. He was just trying to blow you off. The service manager is right in one aspect, though, when he said the problem was characteristic of manual Subie trannies for that age. But it has nothing to do with power or AWD. It has to do with crappy clutch material.
The TSB is 03-51-02R, and applies to all manual 99-2002 Legacy sedans starting with vin 36206712 and all manual 99-2002 Legacy Wagons starting with vin 36305452.
If you have the problem documented on receipts, then call Subaru of America, explain the situation, provide the documented evidence, and ask for the TSB to be applied. That will get you Clutch Kit 32098AA020, which includes a new flywheel, cover, disk, and bolts. Problem solved.
http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/03-51-02R.pdf
If the dealer gives you a hard time, call SOA, they should most definitely cover it! They did for my parents' car.
Craig
-juice