A bit of help here please...

[Danbob]

Couple of random questions that I can't find the answers to from searching.....

Lately when I am driving my battle wagon around town (not on the highway) I get on the gas and after I let off, there is a very very faint squealing/sqeaking type sound. It happens almost instntaneously after pressing on the gas pedal and releasing it ...anyone know what it might be???

Also, I recently put a wrx 6 cd changer in the dash as the head unit. I can't seem to figire out how to re-ground the connector that is supposed to clip to the side of the unit. I guess it has something to do with the cigarette lighter because that no longer works. Everything else in the car works fine electrically though....It's just annoying because I like to use the power source for my cell phone charger and radar detector. I have blown a couple of fuses when I tried to reground the wire to a different point on the side of the head unit/din.

One more thing and then I promise I will stop annoying everyone for tonight - I am going to be fixing a wee bit of rust on each of the rear quarter panels near where they meet the rear bumper cover on the wagon. I am planning on dremmeling it down, filling it, and painting over it/clearcoating. I am notlooking to do a professional job, I just want to stop the rust before it goes through the panel and paint over the treated area so it looks halfway presentable.

Anyone have a special kind of bondo or filler that works the best on smaller areas of rust that is not rotted all the way through?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Does the squealing happen with the A/C or Defrost on? does that make any difference?

It sounds like that wire isn't supposed to be grounding if you're blowing fuses. I'm not exactly sure what that wire is, you should snap a pic of what you're talking about. My suspicion is that it's a clip that's supposed to connect to the cigarette lighter, and you're mistakenly taking it for a ground wire.

The body of the headunit itself is grounded just by being screwed onto the mounting brackets.

As for the rust...that's not surface rust, so bodyfiller won't do a whole lot. I'm afraid you have subie cancer...sorry dude. The only way to do it is to have a bodyshop weld in a new or non-rusted panel in. :-?

[sheepdog]

it might just be surface rust. Look in an auto pars store, they usually sell spray primer that neutralizes rust oxidation

[Huffer]

it might just be surface rust. Look in an auto pars store, they usually sell spray primer that neutralizes rust oxidation

:lol: :lol: they don't work - all they do is slow it down a little. The only way to deal with rust is to cut the metal out.

[sheepdog]

Worked great for me when I had to rebuild the heater box in my 66 mustang, that thing was ruuuuusty haha. Used a rust dissolver, then sandpaper, then a rust neutralizing primer, then paint. Not one paint bubble for 3 years, then I sold it.

[MCarp22]

POR 15 is the stuff for dealing with surface rust. Stopped the rust on one of my cars in it's tracks for like 2 years now.

[Huffer]

POR 15 is the stuff for dealing with surface rust. Stopped the rust on one of my cars in it's tracks for like 2 years now.

This stuff?
http://www.por15.com/bPOR-15sup-sup-Rus ... tegory=140 (http://www.por15.com/bPOR-15sup-sup-Rust-Preventive-Paint-b?sc=2&category=140)

How does it work exactly? Do you grind rust off first, and then apply it?

Edit. Nevermind, instructions at bottom of linked page.

[Danbob]

Hey guys,

THanks for the replies.

I will try the thing with the radio and see if it works.

As far as the squeaking noise, my A/C compressor is actually not connected right now because it went, so I took the belt off and am running with no a/c. Also it happens intermittently whenever whether or not the heat is on. Car could be cold or warm - whatever - It's just like a faint elongated sqeak - not even a squeal - after I press down on the gas and release it and stop accelerating, it just happens for like five seconds, the slower I am moving, the better I hear it.

As for the cancer - The paint is bubbling from the inside...I guess it is cancer...but it's not deep at all - that's why I thought it was just surface rust. How much do body shopes usually charge to fix this??? It's only two small spots of it...one is like 1 inch by one inch and the other one is like 2 inches by 3 inches.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Yeah, I dunno, but if you get an estimate, please relay that info to me.

[Danbob]

update - that wire is fixed...I plugged in the wrong one to the cigarette lighter and that's why the fuse kept blowing...durr stupid me....everythign works again now.

I just want to fix the rust issue now so it doesnt spead anymore.....there's very little of it so i would like to keep it as contained as possible.

[Huffer]

Your best bet with the rust option is to get a sanding wheel on a drill, and grind down the rust to bare metal - then spray with a rust inhibitor, mask the area up and paint it, until you can have it done professionally.

Trust me, I know what rust can do:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/12/051130_RustunderWindscreen11-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2009/11/060110_WindscreenRust3-1.jpg

[Wiscon_Mark]

Is that you Roger?

[Danbob]

Thanks for the advice Huffer - My corrosion/cancer looks nothing like that did thank God, but I think I will pick up a sanding wheel for my drill this weekend as well as some rust inhibitor.

Looks like it's a real bitch to fix when it gets as bad as you had it. I hope I never have it near the winshield like that - what a pain.

[Huffer]

Is that you Roger?

Yeah, that's me. Spent 2hours a night for 3 weeks with the dremel and heating the metal to make the rust come to the surface. Then sprayed it with rust inhibitor and painted it flat black. The rust actually extended toward the middle of the top frame, and down the sides underneath the A pillars.

Both sides of the windscreen.

So far, so good - that was nearly a year ago now. Cost me $200 for a new windscreen, and I did my own rattle can paint. I don't care - the car is going to be driven until it dies.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Good work man!

[Danbob]

Here's an update....

I began grinding down the rust today....

got one of those 3m grinders to attach to my drill, cleaned the rear fenders, and went to town.

Rust really does look like cancer when you get under the paint. This was my first experience with it. Looks like the car has tumors basically...Each spot was actually 2-3 times the size of what it looked to be on the surface.

Anyway, LUckily the rust was not nearly all the way through either quarter panel, so I got to it in time. I knocked it down to about nothing on both sides and put some permatex inhibitor on it that turns it to black primer if there is anything left, but I believe I got everything.

The next step is going to be to prime it once the permatex cures. After the primer, I am going to mask off and ghetto blend (done it before with decnet results) the paint. Then I will clearcoat it, and hopefully it will stay alright for a year or year and a half while I save money for real body work LOL. I am just glad I took out enough to hopefully stop this problem in its tracks.

[GrassyKnoll]

Do you still have the squeal?

I'll tell you the two issues I have had with squealing:

My guess is your belt is slipping a little bit. This can happen if you did any mods to any belted components or it can just happen over time. You mentioned your A/C belt has been removed but what about alternator? If it is lacking traction on the alternator or the pulley, it can cause some squeaking. When I had this problem, it occured almost always at lower speeds and wasn't constant. To fix this, try tightening your adjustment belt on alternator or the pulley.

The other thing I had a squealing problem with didn't come from the engine at all. If it is definately coming from engine bay, forget bout this. But I had a small pebble stuck in my front left caliper last winter. It cause squealing at very specific speeds and soudns a little like what you are describing. If you can pinpoint the sound to one of your wheel wells, this could be an option. Otherwise, I'd look at the belts.

[Danbob]

Thanks Grassyknoll! Awesome - I am gonna go check those 2 things. I think it is actually the belt, but that is interesting about the brakes.

It's funny, but this car is almost more enjoyable to tweak and mess around with than my wrx is LOL

[GrassyKnoll]

I kind of know the feeling. I got that feeling working with my 99 Legacy versus my dads 05 Legacy. Perhaps less risk if you mess up? :lol:

[Danbob]

Less risk if you mess up and more cheap parts to play with...plus everything from my WRX that I had as spare parts after mods is now on my legacy LOL. Nothing like free mods...I finished priming the rust that I took down today....I wish snap a couple of pics once it dries before I paint so you guys can see.

PS - My legacy took it's first trip to Manhattan last night and we drove all over NYC for three hours, stopping at the Tree, and in thevillage. This car is a freekin tank I tell ya! Plus I felt better that I didn't have to drive the rex or the newer Corolla that we have.

[scottzg]

could it just be the pedal itself squeaking?

or possibly the throttle? My old bmw had a spot to oil the throttle.

[Danbob]

Well the pedals always squeak on my Subarus so that's nothing new LOL, but nahh it's coming from under the hood so maybe I will try to lube things up a bit (please refrain from stupid comments LOL)

I can't wait to paint the parts that I sanded the rust our of and primered...I tihink it's going to come out nicely..I will post pics in a week or so of the finished product after paint.

[02LGT]

i had the same problem...i wondered where it came from for about a week...the squeeking was from gas pedal. at least it wasnt something serious unless my gas pedal falls off...but even in that case...better than my brake pedal falling off... :roll: