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Seat Safety Switch posted:Entirely possible. A lot of the 08+ cars seem to have really weak batteries from the factory; there's a handful of '11s in the local club who have had to replace the factory battery already and it hasn't gotten much colder than -30°C this year. Rotella 5w40. The car is even garaged and it doesn't get under freezing.
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Jan 25, 2013 12:49
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I have had my RS since 05 or 06? When we bought it the rinky dink dealer found a "good" battery and dropped it in. A lovely car quest one. nearly 8 years later I'm still using the battery and it only dies if the car has sat for a bit. I'll replace it before racing this spring, but holy hell that thing has lasted.
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Jan 25, 2013 16:09
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My GL has a factory 04 Subaru battery in it I got when a friend decided he needed some expensive ricetop AGM thing. He wasted his money, because that battery starts my car up just fine in the coldest of weather. A battery that only lasts 3 years, even in a cold climate (I live in one!) is pure poo poo.
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Jan 25, 2013 16:21
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All of my batteries, even the $45 factory second ones that I get from an unmarked store in an industrial park, have lasted at least six years. I'm actually sort of surprised at how eager the tiny little AGM battery in the trunk of my Miata is to start the car in -20. OK GREAT LET'S GO 
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Jan 25, 2013 16:36
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I just put in one of those fancy AGM batteries in my wagon last night. :3 Mornings were becoming a battle of "Use the defrost and discharge the battery or can't see poo poo"
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Jan 25, 2013 18:04
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does your wagon have a voltmeter? Currently, I have no clue how mine is doing, but it can't be great. I'm trying to track down a dealer for exides around here...
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Jan 25, 2013 18:55
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I've got Costco batteries in my cars. No complaints this far and if it does die, I have the Costco warranty to fall back on.
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Jan 25, 2013 19:31
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Autoblog reviews the new Forester XT with CVT: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/25/2014-subaru-forester-xt-first-drive-review/#continued 
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Jan 25, 2013 20:32
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ssjonizuka posted:does your wagon have a voltmeter? No, but I have one. I swung by my old parts store and borrowed their portable battery tester. Just run through a few steps in the parking lot and spits out charging info. But if you really want to know at home, stick a voltmeter across your battery terminals and start loading up the electrical system (heater, lights, etc). You can also remove your battery and bring it into parts stores that offer a free battery check. You're only four 10mm nuts (two hold downs, two terminal nuts) away from pulling the battery.
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Jan 25, 2013 20:35
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blk posted:Autoblog reviews the new Forester XT with CVT: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/25/2014-subaru-forester-xt-first-drive-review/#continued Still not as cool as our first gen.
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Jan 25, 2013 20:47
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blk posted:Autoblog reviews the new Forester XT with CVT: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/01/25/2014-subaru-forester-xt-first-drive-review/#continued So take everything that made the 04 such a ridiculously good car and throw it out the window? An a goddamn loving CVT to boot? And how much does the goddamn loving thing weigh???? Two HUNDRED kgs more than the 04. And the fuel economy numbers? Exactly what I used to get in the 04. There's no hope for the next WRX at all.
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Jan 26, 2013 00:49
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I mentioned it in another thread, but my dad used to have a 2000 forester 4EAT and that was a nice car to drive. Good visibility, easy to park, TONS of cargo space and good ground clearance. Best of all it just felt like a taller car. Now he has a 2012 and I loving hate driving that thing when I'm home. It is absolutely awful to see out of and drives/feels like an SUV. I'd love the first XT but they 5spd ones are still north of 10k here.
Crustashio fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jan 26, 2013 |
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Jan 26, 2013 01:22
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Cat Terrist posted:So take everything that made the 04 such a ridiculously good car and throw it out the window? An a goddamn loving CVT to boot? And how much does the goddamn loving thing weigh???? Two HUNDRED kgs more than the 04. Let's not abandon hope for the WRX just yet, it'll probably have a manual... What I am worried about is the next Legacy GT, I just want a new version of my current 05'... just more comfortable, more reliable, better gas and at least AS good looking.
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Jan 26, 2013 03:22
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I'm due for a timing belt on my LGT and I'm not planning on doing the work myself. What else should I have replaced at the same time? Should I buy a kit (Gates?) or just go with what my mechanic stocks?
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Jan 26, 2013 03:40
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mulligan posted:next Legacy GT
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Jan 26, 2013 03:44
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So I'm new to Subaru (and still a car beginner in general) and I'm looking for a daily driver. I really like the look/idea of a Legacy. Is there any info anywhere on what the best years are and what specifically to watch out for etc before I start trawling Craigslist and local ads for a good deal?
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Jan 26, 2013 03:50
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Just drove my 2012 Impreza 3 hours up to the mountains. The temperature was 21F when I left, and 5F when I arrived. And it snowed today. No problems with the trip, aside from the stock Yokohama's being terrible. But when I pulled into the driveway, I got all of these weird metal creaking sounds, like an old rusty mattress being pulled apart. I have no idea what this could possibly be. It sounded suspension related, but also made noise when I turned the wheel. I don't know if everything was just full of ice or what. After I unloaded the car, I moved it and there were no weird noises. FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jan 26, 2013 |
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Jan 26, 2013 06:49
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Warm metal cooling?
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Jan 26, 2013 08:38
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Probably just snow and ice getting crammed into all the suspension parts and such. My car is way too low to be driving around in Montana so I'm constantly chipping snow out of the wheel wells to keep it from rubbing.
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Jan 26, 2013 09:25
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This may be a dumb suggestion, but the traction control sort of sounds like an old mattress being torn apart.
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Jan 26, 2013 15:22
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I have a 2008 Legacy, and a couple times this past week the Cruise light has started to blink, with no CEL coming on. Both times it happened, I had the cruise control set for about 5 minutes before it dropped out and the cruise light began blinking. It hasn't happened when i wasn't in cruise, but its only happened twice so far. Does anyone know what it might mean?
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Jan 26, 2013 20:07
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What should I do about the charcoal box on the rally car? Do I delete it and ignore the CEL and deal with the lovely pump clicking off every two seconds? Is there a bypass I can do to make things happy?
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Jan 27, 2013 15:25
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Thinking about suspension stuff for my 06 Saabaru. For a DD, would I really not want the subframe lockdown stuff or ALK? I really only want the car to corner a bit flatter and don't want to lower it really. I was thinking a RSB, possibly a front and a nice set of wheels/tires. Do the other things mentioned really make that much difference for a car I DD? I like everything is does now except the body roll, fyi.
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Jan 27, 2013 16:54
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Larrymer posted:Thinking about suspension stuff for my 06 Saabaru. For a DD, would I really not want the subframe lockdown stuff or ALK? I really only want the car to corner a bit flatter and don't want to lower it really. I was thinking a RSB, possibly a front and a nice set of wheels/tires. Do the other things mentioned really make that much difference for a car I DD? I like everything is does now except the body roll, fyi. Tokico D Specs and STi springs. Lateral link and trailing arm bushings, and ALK or STi control arms with the pin trick. That package + an aggressive alignment will give you a perfect setup for ground pounding and can take some abuse. The sti springs may give you a little bit of drop, but I have been fine with it on at least 600 miles of logging roads. Sway bars are a bandaid solution and bushings are more consistent. Poke around turn in concepts and talk to Jamal. He is good at spending my money for me. CT/jamal argue about the ALK vs sti arms, it's been around in this thread. I've got an ALK on my legacy, and I have sti arms waiting to go in on my RS. I see both of their points. YMMV
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Jan 27, 2013 17:29
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Slow is Fast posted:Tokico D Specs and STi springs. Lateral link and trailing arm bushings, and ALK or STi control arms with the pin trick. Thanks for the response. I think you missed what I was asking though. It's just a DD, not going to track it or do anything crazy and I don't want any increase in NVH or anything like that from a stiffer suspension. It's already about as stiff as I'd want it, I believe it's a bit stiffer than a standard WRX wagon. Maybe I'd do an auto x for fun once in awhile at best. Seems like a lot of stuff especially when I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on it. Also I don't get how sway bars are a band aid when on every other car I've ever had they reduced the body roll... which is what I'm looking for.  Edit: ok, read a bit on TiC's site. Still not sure where to go from here. Suburban Dad fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Jan 27, 2013 |
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Jan 27, 2013 18:10
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Larrymer posted:Thinking about suspension stuff for my 06 Saabaru. For a DD, would I really not want the subframe lockdown stuff or ALK? I really only want the car to corner a bit flatter and don't want to lower it really. I was thinking a RSB, possibly a front and a nice set of wheels/tires. Do the other things mentioned really make that much difference for a car I DD? I like everything is does now except the body roll, fyi. I've been thinking about the same thing my 06 Saabaru. We should compare notes. Which bars are you looking at?
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Jan 27, 2013 21:41
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The ALK is probably my favorite part. You will get a thunk under your feet but it's something I just got used to, and there is a comfort version with a softer bushing that might be right for you. The saabaru already has aluminum control arms but they are not the wide track/high caster variety that are on the 04-06 sti. The lock bolts don't add much noise. Maybe a little more whine from the diff but keeping that crossmember in place is a good thing (but you should make sure your x-member doesn't already have solid mounts because some cars do). There are still a lot of bushings back there that flex, and unfortunately I don't know how the TIC comfort bushings ride (I think daslog has a set). I have the stiffer ones and they definitely added a good amount of nvh. It's hard to go wrong with a mild swaybar upgrade (like 22mm front and rear). The car will be flatter, more resposnive, and better balanced with hardly any tradeoff. The other thing is that after 6-7 years the struts are pretty much gone. The d-specs are nice but went way up in price about a year ago and are not meant for wagons. The alignment can be fixed but since the struts are made for a wider track you end up with a slight amount of binding especially in the rear. So my suggestion would be the konis, which are a little more work to install but cost less and actually fit right. Shock are really important and with good ones you can have stiffer springs without much penalty in ride quality. And then while they are out it's a good idea to replace the front strut tops, so really it all comes down to how much you want to spend. The swaybars are probably something you'll want no matter what, aren't that expensive, and are easy to install. So definitely get those, and then you can add stuff from there.
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Jan 27, 2013 21:45
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The Konis do make an enormous improvement. I have the comfort ALK (which is awesome), subframe lock bolts, a handful of bushings and RaceComp Engineering wagon springs on my '06 WRX. One of the best bang for the buck improvements I've noticed on my own WRX was picking up an aftermarket rear strut tower bar; although it's usually rice in the sedans it actually improves the wagons because the fold-down rear seat offers no bracing of its own. On sticky RS3s and autocross loads I was torquing the body hard enough to scrape the bottom of the hatch against the bumper, which was starting to rust. With the STI strut tower bar in the back it's much more planted and doesn't make the same awful noises under heavy load. Next up on mine is 22mm swaybars and the roll centre kit that I bought from jamal oh so long ago. If I had to do it again I would have started with swaybars and then added the ALK.
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Jan 27, 2013 21:58
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Seat Safety Switch posted:The Konis do make an enormous improvement. I have the comfort ALK (which is awesome), subframe lock bolts, a handful of bushings and RaceComp Engineering wagon springs on my '06 WRX. The problem with rear bars in a wagon is that it reduces the wagonness.
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Jan 27, 2013 22:23
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Right. I also fitted Paranoid Fabrications' quick release to the rear bar, which lets me pop the little bastard out and throw cargo in where it used to be. Whiteline will also sell you a kit for it (but I was unable to get a reply from them about whether their quick release also worked for the STI bar). You're up poo poo creek if you want, say, an Oswald triangle brace though. The only long term problem I've had is that the stock Koni knob doesn't reach all the way to the adjustment tab properly; I've been working on 3D printing a replacement for it that should. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Jan 27, 2013 |
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Jan 27, 2013 22:43
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The thing I really like about my car is how quiet and how good of a DD it is. I actually like the Saab version better as it has more sound deadening and lame stuff like that. I don't want a bunch of "race car" parts that make it ride hard or make it louder, or add clunks to it. Yep, I've gotten old.  blk posted:I've been thinking about the same thing my 06 Saabaru. We should compare notes. Which bars are you looking at?  I've been looking at a bunch of different ones. I like the adjustability of the ones that have it but haven't gotten much farther so far. I still need to search around for which would give me the stiffness I'd like, since a 22mm hollow bar is a lot different than a 22mm solid bar. I don't know which ones on the market are solid vs. hollow either yet. Statements that say "get a 22mm for front and rear" aren't very helpful when that little detail would completely change the stiffness of the bar. Off to nasioc to read up some more.
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Jan 27, 2013 23:25
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The only hollow bars are cobb and RCE, which are 25mm. That is the equivalent of about a 22-23mm solid bar. I've seen a couple of broken cobb bars and RCE only does STi and new WRX fitment (I think). So what I mean is 22mm whiteline bars. You can save a bit by going with a non-adjustable front.
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Jan 27, 2013 23:32
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Hmmm. Interesting.
Suburban Dad fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Jan 28, 2013 |
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Jan 28, 2013 00:21
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Well, I ignored common sense and placed an order for a 2013 WRX STI hatchback today. The standard WRX would have been plenty, but what the hell, you only live once, right? Unfortunately, it's about a 3 month wait for an ordered car, and my current lease is up in 2 months. A month of motorcycle-only transportation will be interesting.
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Jan 28, 2013 07:45
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Alpine Mustache posted:I have a 2008 Legacy, and a couple times this past week the Cruise light has started to blink, with no CEL coming on. Both times it happened, I had the cruise control set for about 5 minutes before it dropped out and the cruise light began blinking. This happened to me this summer in a friend's car. Her CVT was overheating because she kept putting the cruse control at 80mph with a 20mph headwind for several hours.
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Jan 28, 2013 10:07
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I've got cruise issues too, on my '07 Forester. After some number of brake actuations, the cruise light starts blinking. Cruise doesn't set at all. At one point I had to replace the brake pedal switch because it wouldn't always shift out of P because of the interlock. I pulled the switch apart and one of the contacts was burned, so I probably really need to do some further troubleshooting. The worrying thing is that when that contact goes, the brake lights don't come on!
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Jan 28, 2013 16:37
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My new-to-me 2009 WRX has what sounds like a bathtub full of water hiding under the passenger seat. I only hear it after the car has sat in the rain all night, and after a day it vanishes. I assume water is collecting somewhere, but a quick look at the trim panels under the doors revealed nothing. Anyone else have this issue? Second, my wife drives a 2004 WRX, and at 88K I was starting to look into doing the Timing Belt Service on my own. I have done the brakes, changed coolant, transmission oil, engine oil, brake fluid and spark plugs. Is the timing belt/waterpump/tensioner/idlers doable for someone like me with limited experience?
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Jan 28, 2013 23:17
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Mercury Ballistic posted:My new-to-me 2009 WRX has what sounds like a bathtub full of water hiding under the passenger seat. I only hear it after the car has sat in the rain all night, and after a day it vanishes. I assume water is collecting somewhere, but a quick look at the trim panels under the doors revealed nothing. Anyone else have this issue?
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Jan 28, 2013 23:18
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Rontalvos posted:This happened to me this summer in a friend's car. Her CVT was overheating because she kept putting the cruse control at 80mph with a 20mph headwind for several hours. Happened again today twice. I'm not getting a CEL or the AT Temp warning lights, just the blinking cruise light, and it has so far only happened after using Cruise for a few minutes. Trying to google this is a PITA because so far everything is Cruise + CEL. Am I gonna have to get this scanned for a code or something?
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Jan 28, 2013 23:24
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| # ? May 13, 2024 01:24 |
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Seat Safety Switch posted:The sunroof drain hose comes out in front of that general area (closer to the front wheelwell if not in front of it), you should hop under there and go take a look and see if it's plugged. No sunroof if that matters.
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Jan 28, 2013 23:25
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