My '97 GT Thread

I'm starting to realize that age is taking a toll on my 97 Legacy GT Sedan so instead of making a dozen threads about DIY fixes for various insignificant problems, I'm gonna just collect them here. You guys on this forum have been very helpful to me in the past, and I hate that I have almost no knowledge of cars. I'm obsessed with cars (especially 1st and 2nd gen Legacies - every other car I've ever driven has felt like a lawn mower in comparison), so it's shameful that I don't know how to work on them. I'm trying to fix this by not running to the mechanic every time something goes wrong. So instead of making a half dozen threads about individual problems (as I did before), I'm going to try to just keep it all in this thread. I have a few friends who are very mechanically inclined, but the problem is that one of them likes ricing out Hondas (not my scene, I prefer driveability to show and stance) and the other likes big trucks and is currently restoring an old Camaro and a truck from the '50s. They're not exactly knowledgeable about Subarus, but they can help me with the odd fix and they have the necessary tools. Most of the problems I'll mention in this thread I could probably google to fix, but I've grown to like and trust you guys so I'd rather get your personalized hands-on experience.

 

Problem number one and two.

 

The weather strip on the roof has come apart from... well, the roof, on a corner of my car.

 

There's basically a gap now where rain or any other water I run through can just seep into the body of the car. Rust bubbles have already formed close to this area. I'm worried that water is getting trapped inside. What do I spray in there to clog that up? Do I need a new weather strip?

 

Related to this problem, the sunroof is rusting very badly around the edges, but only on the inside.

 

Problem two is that I appear to be missing my air inlet (?), which my manual's diagram says should be there. The snorkus is still there but now I'm thinking about removing it since it's probably not doing much without the inlet. Is this a problem? I don't know who the previous owner of my car was but it's been lovingly maintained and it has aftermarket (shitty) brakes so apparently they did modify some things.

 

I'll take a few pictures tomorrow when there's daylight to help explain this all better.

http://i.imgur.com/f5VaJ.jpg

 

This is what's wrong with the weather strip on the roof. That's where roof meets windshield. You can see it's not really the weather strip that's pulled away, but rather it just looks like my roof... shrank a bit. Clearly water is getting in there and there's rust developing and it needs to get fixed now.

Pics of the missing inlet?

 

That bubbling is a problem. You can wire wheel or sandblast it, treat it with por 15, prime, and paint it, but that deep rust is insidious. At least doing so will slow it down somewhat.

i have rust like that the whole way across my windshield, i can see where someone had a roofrack and the snow pooled there,. ya deff have to take care of that soon!

id use some sealant made for putting your windshield in, you could... remove the windshield and redo it all, that would prob be the best option

Is this something I can just tell them at the Subie dealer to fix when I get my inspection?

 

I'm gonna dump several pictures here.

 

What I believe to be the missing airlet (for all I know though it's supposed to look like this but every other Legacy's engine I've seen had what appears to be an inlet there):

 

http://i.imgur.com/2LQc4.jpg

 

 

Difficult to see, but paint peeling on side mirror and bad rust on the inside of the moonroof:

 

http://i.imgur.com/u9I1R.jpg

 

Might take a while to see what's going on here, the moonroof is slightly opened. If I open it more the light behind it makes the picture quality impossible:

 

http://i.imgur.com/kVSxp.jpg

 

Top of the car view of the moonroof wearing out:

 

http://i.imgur.com/XYszm.jpg

 

 

Weatherstrip by windshield, other side is doing the same thing. Should I just duct tape it for now so water doesn't get in?

http://i.imgur.com/9kdy3.jpg

that is some gnarly cancer on your windshield, you better get that rust outta there or its going to eat it up so bad you wont be able to put in a new piece of glass properly. seriously.

no duct tape on cars!

pull off the trim and apply proper windshield epoxy

That air inlet piece isn't that critical. Mine always comes loose.

 

Too bad about the rust though.

Thanks for all the help. I'm not happy about the rust...

 

My battery is now dying regularly. Brand new battery, only a few weeks old. No lights/doors/etc on or open, nothing that could be causing the battery to run flat on my end.

Right, it's managed to kill the battery in a whole new way. It no longer does the rapid clicking/chirping. It just straight up does NOTHING when I try to start it. I get little indicative lights when it's in ACC (door open, door light, beeping noises, etc) but once I try to turn the engine over, all those lights go away and it's basically like the car is 100% dead. Back to ACC, lights come back on. No parking lights flashing like last time the battery died. What the hell gives?

did you try to jump it with another vehicle? if so, did it start right away, or after a few minutes of starting? could be a bad regulator/ alternator, or it could be a phantom drain in the system.

It started first try after being hooked up to the other car for about a minute.

 

Then I can drive it. So far I've let it idle for 45 minutes while very lightly revving the engine to about 1.5k rpm once it was warmed up, but even after all that, once I shut it off it gives the aforementioned result.

 

It has to be a phantom drain since it starts fine otherwise, and it's a brand new battery. Similar situation caused the death of the last one but that one was 10+ years old so it can be forgiven. This one is two weeks old. The problem now is that it's not at all like the former battery death... none of the same symptoms.

look at that other thread, i put some volt meter checks in there for ya to try out. easy diagnostic, first step to finding out if its the alternator, then you can move on to fusing.

I saw that, thanks for that. I'm gonna try that when my car-savvy friend is available.

 

Related my 97 GT news, while revving the engine (both driving and idling, generally over 1.5k rpm) it emits a slight burning rubber smell from the engine compartment that is noticeable inside and outside the vehicle.

check your belts mebbe? could be slipping. or rubbing on a hose? whenever you smell burning rubber and youre not squealing tires, go to the closest source of rubber nearest to the moving parts.

I've looked at it, but I know very little about cars. I've had a friend lightly hit the gas while I looked at the engine to see what might be rubbing or failing, but I can't find the source of the smell nor any weird noises. I assumed it was a belt too, since I've seen belts fail on other people and there's usually a pretty strong burning rubber stench. Based on my general luck lately, it's probably coming from deep within the engine. It'll probably catch fire on the way to the mechanic.

 

I originally thought it might be my brakes or tires, since my brakes are wearing out but now that I was revving it a bit in park, that's obviously not the case since the smell persists.

 

Becoming more and more fed up with my car. Can't afford a new one, wouldn't wanna dump this one even though it's causing me so much trouble. Madly in love with it because of how it drives so I'd hate to go back to some crappy FWD Honda or whatever I could afford for like 2 grand. It's like dating an awesome supermodel for a year, then getting dumped and getting disfigured so you can only scrape the bottom of the barrel. That's exactly what it's like.

with the engine off, wiggle the belts in the middle of two pulleys. shouldnt be more than about a half inch of play usually, if something seems a bunch looser, or when it is running you see the belts bouncing around instead of just rolling around the pulleys, could be loose. thats an easy fix.

 

old cars require more care and tending than newer cars, but they have much more character than newer cars these days. some cars prefer more hands-on interaction than others. i blame the netherworld for linking demons to cars.

with the engine off, wiggle the belts in the middle of two pulleys. shouldnt be more than about a half inch of play usually, if something seems a bunch looser, or when it is running you see the belts bouncing around instead of just rolling around the pulleys, could be loose. thats an easy fix.

 

old cars require more care and tending than newer cars, but they have much more character than newer cars these days. some cars prefer more hands-on interaction than others. i blame the netherworld for linking demons to cars.

 

 

lol. I did check the belts quickly by eye, nothing seemed odd. It does get regularly serviced, I make sure fluids are fine, I take it to a Subie dealership, timing belt was recently done, and all in all mechanically it should be in top shape. Of course that's turning out to be a fantasy, but nothing blatant should be wrong with the belts.

 

I can't stand new cars. They all look the same. You're right that old cars have so much more character. But I don't remember having any serious problems with my 91 Legacy when I had it, other than constant oil leaks. This one was fine for a year and now is pretty much literally falling apart.

 

Happy rant:

I still love my car to death despite all of its problems. Against all logic and advice I'm just going to keep pouring money into it until the wheels fall off, because I'm learning so much about cars in the process and the car, frankly, is very quick and incredibly fun to drive, looks great without being too flashy, is comfortable, and is just miles and miles above any other car I've ever driven, which includes some newer cars that by all rights should be much better. I hate that "air cushion" feeling on new cars where you don't really feel like you're PART of the car. I like feeling every crevice in the road, I like feeling corners in my gut thanks to the AWD, I like outperforming trucks in the snow and slush, I like fjording small road rivers when it floods, and I just ******* love that moment when you see someone with a similar year Legacy and you just have that "yeah, you know what's up" moment of mutual appreciation.

 

My friends think I'm retarded but I think I might let them test drive it next time it snows a lot. That'll show 'em.

Look at her, sitting there all defiant and shit.

 

http://i.imgur.com/6i2Mq.jpg?1?1248

A little elbow grease, some cheap online parts, and the car will be almost good as new.

 

Check all your grounds on the Engine block, and frame.

I think there are 6 or 7 of them.

Use a multimeter and check resistance back to battery ground.

Also check positive to the ground for 12 volts.

Good idea to clean them up too, and put some antiseize compound on them.

Your water leak could be causing a short somewhere too ?

 

Burning rubber smell could be wiring harness shorts, or battery wiring.

Good luck

I don't think the burning rubber smell is related to the battery problem. When the battery was working fine, that rubber smell was there too. But now that I think about it, the smell wasn't present with the old battery... so who knows.

 

This might sound stupid, but how do I check the grounds? What do those look like? Just wires attached to the metal frame/parts of the engine?

 

And if there is a wiring problem, I have to assume it drained the last battery (even though it was old) too. What could've let the car drive 2 weeks before the new battery petered out? If it was wiring-related, wouldn't it have died the first day on the new battery too?

 

And lastly... wouldn't you think a 2 week old battery, abused or not, would still be able to hold a charge after it was emptied just once? The fact that my car wouldn't start on its own after it was running for 45 minutes (idling once, being driven another time) suggests it can't hold a charge.

Thinking it's the alternator.

 

But now I saw some suspiciously white smoke coming from the exhaust even when the engine was at temp. Coolant decreased significantly since the last time I checked, about a week ago. Becoming worried. Car didn't overheat.

 

Also, I love this whole 16 gallon gas tank with a 10 gallon gas gauge. What's up with that?

Uh-oh, white smoke is no good. Get a hydrocarbon test to see if your HGs are crapping out. Losing a bunch of coolant is not a good sign either. How many miles are on your GT? I've had HGs go out so I know how bad it sucks. On the flipside you become very well acquainted with your engine.

 

The fuel sending units (there are two) can get all nasty and go bad on our second gens. I just go by my trip meter and fuel light to figure out when to fill it back up.

Uh-oh, white smoke is no good. Get a hydrocarbon test to see if your HGs are crapping out. Losing a bunch of coolant is not a good sign either. How many miles are on your GT? I've had HGs go out so I know how bad it sucks. On the flipside you become very well acquainted with your engine.

 

The fuel sending units (there are two) can get all nasty and go bad on our second gens. I just go by my trip meter and fuel light to figure out when to fill it back up.

 

132xxx miles. Unsure if previous owner did them... but they maintained the car very well, I have no records but the car was in excellent shape in every way when I got it, and the dealership I take it to told me it's rare to find one in such good condition (this was last October or November - now it's crapping out on me). It's due for a giant inspection in a week... going to take it to my dealership and have them tell me what's really going on with this new development.

 

Is it considered rude to ask the mechanic if you can watch while he works on it? Not sure if that's even allowed, but it's something I'd really like to see, especially while he's diagnosing problems. I'm fed up being helpless and having to crowdsource every tiny issue.

Don't worry man. You'll learn a lot from these cars. I'm in the same boat. I have a 97 gt as well and i've had moments where it is really hurting and looks like it is just about to fall apart, then I reach a break through and do a couple small fixes and give her some tlc and she runs like a champ. I was pretty clueless to cars as well, but my buddy who is really mechanically inclined got a 98 and we work on our cars a lot together. Just start messing around with shit. Don't be scared to use a little muscle on hoses and other things that should come free. If you unbolt something, just remember where it goes and bolt it back. The interior comes apart in a breeze once you get it. I've swapped seats and put a full sound system in it with a sub and new components and everything amped. Done a few engine mods such as hybrid intake and lightweight pulley and doing a grounding kit soon. To check your grounds, just follow the wires coming off the battery negative. You'll have one to the chassis by the front headlight (which is a terrible ground btw) and you'll find other grounds running to the tranny and heads. If you aren't running high end electrical equipment just cleaning these will be sufficient and necessary. I would really look into getting your rust cleaned up. Just go by a napa or other automotive store and tell them your problem and ask what they have to fix it. The napa know how is a real thing. I swear everyone that works there is an ex-mechanic. I just redid my weather stripping on my rear passenger side door as it completely came off. Going to redo all my trim with 3m Back to Black to give my car that brand new look. At 190k and its running better than when I first got it. Just redid my grounds which really made my car drive like new (running 1000 watts of stereo equipment all the time takes its toll on the electrical) and am now running 40 weight oil to really quiet up our valve ticky motors. Only thing I really need to clear up is my CEL due to my egr (which can be a bitch if you get the same problem). I've found the clogged pipe tho and it is now just a process of attrition of spraying seafoam into it to clear it up.

Maybe a bit of a letdown after the giant apocalyptic buildup of problems I was getting.

 

The whole battery problem was solved by replacing the positive terminal and I believe either a part of or the entire wire coming from it. New battery was fine. Car runs excellent now.

 

The burning rubber smell was just some plastic that had burned to the exhaust system somewhere. They scraped that off. Must've taken them a while to find it since I still got charged 16 bucks for that.

 

Rust... I got a number from the mechanic. Body repair place. Scared to call for an estimate.