What's up with Subaru? (Legacy woes)

[PhoenixDownVII]

So, about a year and a half ago I had a 99 Legacy GT Sedan Limited. Fast forward to last week and I just bought a 96 Legacy L Wagon. The Sedan had a 2.5l motor and Auto tranny at 120k miles and the new wagon has the 2.2l motor and auto tranny at 90k.

They share the same quirks. And it's annoying (when you add them up anyways...).

1. Both cars don't have a backlight (or it's out? not sure) for the different fan controls (feet/face, face only, vent only, etc.)....eh?

2. Both cars shake a bit in Drive at a stop (but not when in Park or Neutral at a stop), slight hesitation before moving (just did a search and found numerous threads on this...BAH).

3. Frameless windows suck! The looks of it is not a worthy trade-off for the wind noise! Both cars have/had a slight "wurr" from the drivers side window. is there a cheaper solution than buying/installing new weather stripping? some sort of filler or something? what's the usual problem the upper flap or the rubber against the car.

4. Both cars lights dimmed or fans decreased speed for a second when I touched the brakes. Bad battery? Alternator?

5. Both cars take a while to heat up. The temp gauge goes to mid-level but the heater core is not fully hot until 2 minutes later or so.


They really aren't big issues, but I thought they may have been car-specific and not brand-specific issues. It's also kind of interesting because my 96 Integra I sold to get the wagon had twice the mileage (177k to be exact) and purr'd like a kitten, warmed up fast, had no electrical issues, no wind noise, manual tranny etc.

On a final note, I'm near E and I only have 240 miles to the tank! Isn't the tank like 15 gallons large?! that's horrrrrrrendous mileage. I got ~300 (26mpg avg) in the 2.5L GT. I expected 27-28mpg in this car. Am I off on something? What should I expect out of a 2.2l BK?

/Rant.

:)

[Superu264]

1: Their just out, real easy to fix.

2: That seems to happen on all autos.

[MCarp22]

1. Both cars don't have a backlight (or it's out? not sure) for the different fan controls (feet/face, face only, vent only, etc.)....eh?

The HVAC unit bulbs burn out a lot. It's not just subaru, most of the asian manufacturers used some version of it in the 90s. It's not terribly hard to disassemble and replace the bulbs with small ones from a radioshack or somewhere similar.


2. Both cars shake a bit in Drive at a stop (but not when in Park or Neutral at a stop), slight hesitation before moving (just did a search and found numerous threads on this...BAH).

Refer to my comments about the transmission mounts in the other thread you had already viewed.


3. Frameless windows suck! The looks of it is not a worthy trade-off for the wind noise! Both cars have/had a slight "wurr" from the drivers side window. is there a cheaper solution than buying/installing new weather stripping? some sort of filler or something? what's the usual problem the upper flap or the rubber against the car.

You could use the window adjustments in the door to adjust it up tight against the weatherstrip.


On a final note, I'm near E and I only have 240 miles to the tank! Isn't the tank like 15 gallons large?! that's horrrrrrrendous mileage. I got ~300 (26mpg avg) in the 2.5L GT. I expected 27-28mpg in this car. Am I off on something? What should I expect out of a 2.2l BK?

The tank is 15 gallons, but the "e" level seems to vary widely. You might fill up with 10 or with 14. I typically get 18-22mpg around town and 28-30 if it's all highway.

[gefinley]

1. Been answered by others already.

2. I've got an MT and it's been mentioned.

3. I don't notice any excessive wind noise with my windows, even when I don't have ski racks on. So far I much prefer frameless windows.

4. I'm not an expert on electronics, but I'd guess that's vehicle-specific. I don't notice anything when I brake.

5. I've never really paid attention, but it doens't take so long I notice it not happening. I guess it takes a little while, but my car also sits outside all night in the cold and damp.

As for milage, I get anywhere from around 22 mpg all the way up through 28 or so. I'm currently at 270 and my light's on, but I've gotten 350 on freeway driving before. Not the best, but most of that is my driving style since I always accelerate hard and run at higher RPMs when cruising. I also use the AC quite a bit.

[AJM]

The tank is 15.9 gallons ,but I swear mine only holds 12 gallons. I've had the light on before and it;s only taken 12.

[Sarra]

1) My 1995 BK's backlight burned out around 40k miles on the clock. We never bothered to replace it, it was easy enough to figure out what was selected.

2) My mum's 2003 Outback is shaking in D now, and that pisses me off. But it's a Subaru 4EAT, its not like it's NOT gonna shake in D after 60k miles.

3) My 1995 BK, 1998 BK, nor my 2000 BE had wind noise, but mum's BH outback does. Rolling the window down ever so slightly helps sometimes.

4) Dunno. My BK does this, and pretty bad. My headlights dim down to the point of my BE's DRL's for a split second sometimes, and it isn't the battery, it's like from a damn diesel truck or something (over 900 CCA's and 1000 CA's). Alternator is good, too. Incidentally, my 1985 GL does this too, and it has a crappy battery, and a KICK ASS alternator. Have no idea what causes it.

5) Yeah, you gotta get coolant warmed up first. Just because the oil has warmed up doesn't mean your coolant has. My BK's, BE, and mum's BH all warm up, and the heater core heats up, within 2 minutes of starting the car. Maybe change your coolant, or get a different tstat?

[PhoenixDownVII]

Wow, thanks for the replies! I knew there might be some stories or general reasons behind some of the quirks. I'm going to see what I can do about the window and such. Thanks!

[PhoenixDownVII]

5) Yeah, you gotta get coolant warmed up first. Just because the oil has warmed up doesn't mean your coolant has. My BK's, BE, and mum's BH all warm up, and the heater core heats up, within 2 minutes of starting the car. Maybe change your coolant, or get a different tstat?

Oh I knew that. It's just a general rule that by the time the temp gauge lands near half point (on most of my previous cars), the air will be fully hot.

I thought it might be a Legacy thing, which is why I asked. My Rx7's heat never was really hot, and everyone on the forum said they're ALL like that. That was my purpose in asking some of these questions...

[Tazmaniandevil]

I have a '92 JDM wagon, and the heater was useless when I first bought it. I replaced the thermostat and back-flushed the cooling system.
The heater is fine now, hot within 5 minutes of starting.
I get some wind noise - from around the mount for the door mirror. It's quite common apparently. Try pressing the rubber in when driving to see whether that is where the noise comes from. If it is, roll the window down and use a g-clamp to gently squeeze the 2 sides together. Not too much or the window won't close properly.

[97LGT]

On a final note, I'm near E and I only have 240 miles to the tank! Isn't the tank like 15 gallons large?! that's horrrrrrrendous mileage. I got ~300 (26mpg avg) in the 2.5L GT. I expected 27-28mpg in this car. Am I off on something? What should I expect out of a 2.2l BK?
:)

My LGT does the same thing with the fuel gauge. I have a 15.9 gallon tank, but it always reads empty when I get down to 200 or 220 miles (which is about 10 gallons). I can still run it for about another 100 miles after that.
You just have to keep track of how many miles you have gone on that tank.

[PhoenixDownVII]

Yea, thanks for chiming in about the gas tank thing. With the needle at the last bar (before the gas light or going past the bottom bar) I filled up only 10.5 gallons at 250 miles on the tank. That averages out to ~23mpg which is okay but still low. I understand it's winter weather and it drops but I still thought I could pull 25+.

I do recall going near empty or the gas light and filling up 12-13 gallons in the LGT which makes sense because they usually leave you with 1-2 gallons as the gas light comes on.

I hit the trip and fill my tank completely religiously, so I could go by an estimate of mileage vs. the needle.

Are my best bets for gas mileage the usual plug, wires, air in the tire, and perhaps an Intake? I am reading the intake can do quite a bit for the suby's.

[Mr. Sociable]

Are my best bets for gas mileage the usual plug, wires, air in the tire, and perhaps an Intake? I am reading the intake can do quite a bit for the suby's.


Those will help, just as in any car.


And you know you want some Borla replicas and a nice axle back to give you that good ol' rumble. :wink:

[darjeeling]

I have a '92 JDM wagon, and the heater was useless when I first bought it. I replaced the thermostat and back-flushed the cooling system.
The heater is fine now, hot within 5 minutes of starting.
I get some wind noise - from around the mount for the door mirror. It's quite common apparently. Try pressing the rubber in when driving to see whether that is where the noise comes from. If it is, roll the window down and use a g-clamp to gently squeeze the 2 sides together. Not too much or the window won't close properly.

I know this is two years later and all, but the wind noise issue was the same in my 95 Legacy Wagon. The tweeter install kit changed the rubber bits enough to kill that noise. YMMV.