When is it going to end???

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:13 pm

I know I've posted this in two other threads, but I really need to rant.

This is fucking stupid. My Legacy keeps asking for more and more shit.

If you've been following the "Weirdness" thread, my less-than-2-year-old alternator has been ruining my battery and causing all sorts of idle problems. I tested it with Vikash's help to make sure that was the problem, and it indeed was.

So I go cough up another $120 for a new alternator this morning and put it in. It does great, doing exactly what it's supposed to do, keeping the battery charged no matter what the load is.

But that means that it now puts a higher load on the drivebelt (not too high, but the old one wasn't putting enough load on it), and that made my idle problem worse. As the car sits right now at this second, I have to heel-toe it while I'm braking to a stop just to keep the goddamn thing running. If it's good enough to actually idle, it will be at around 500 rpm and very rough.

WHEN IS THIS GOING TO STOP??? Here's what's already wrong:

- 2 bad and noisy wheel bearings
- Very very lightly tapping lifters and probly slowly leaking cam seals
- A loud clunk that I traced to the front (probly sway bushings)
- A terrible idle, as mentioned before
- A non-working A/C system (unfinished R134 conversion)
- A misinstalled front left fender and driver's door
- A terrible paint job (with a signature black front bumper)

That doesn't seem like a whole lot right now, but keep in mind I've already spent some $5500 on this car since I've had it 4.5 years. The way it is now, if I did the bare minimum of what I'd need to do to make it a halfway-decent running and looking car, I would need to spend at least another $700-$1000, and since I like my stuff nice

, I could easily push that close to $3 grand.

I know it's a 14-year-old car, soon to be 15, but I would like to see some progress for all the time and work I'm putting into this car, and it's not like I'm trying to make a Ferrari-beater out of it, I'm just trying to make it run good and look nice.

Am I never going to get there???

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:29 pm

I replaced mine.

tris91ricer · Post by **tris91ricer** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:55 pm

awww.. it could be worse, man.. I walk now!

You've checked out all the wiring? Perhaps a wire insulation is stripped near the firewall, or someplace obscure, and grounding out, and/or screwing up an electrical signal? What about a new ECU?
I'm really sorry you're having trouble, it sucks when you never know what's wrong..

Post by **DLC** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:05 pm

I replaced mine...with one that was 8 years newer...

professor · Post by **professor** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:40 pm

look at all the basics for the idle... if your car was running like shit, your plugs probably look like shit as well. clean them, then start looking for vacuum leaks.

my car had similar problems to what you have now (except the paint), and I fixed them all for very low money

as for the paint, you can always dom what me friend Dee did to her car...

http://www.d33ann.com/bitchmagnet.html

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:58 pm

how low is your idle exactly. cuz mines at about 250 sometimes lower. im suprised that it can stay on.

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:18 am

It can't stay running at 250 rpm's. You're mistaken at the rpm's the engine is running at. It's a common mistake though, but look closely at the pattern of the rpm notches and you'll understand what rpm's FHI notched.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:06 am

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... 9776#99776

There is hope!!

azn2nr · Post by **azn2nr** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:13 am

THAWA wrote:It can't stay running at 250 rpm's. You're mistaken at the rpm's the engine is running at. It's a common mistake though, but look closely at the pattern of the rpm notches and you'll understand what rpm's FHI notched.

my bad. it hovers somewhere between 500 and 750. i still wonder how it stays on though

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:35 am

azn2nr wrote:
THAWA wrote:It can't stay running at 250 rpm's. You're mistaken at the rpm's the engine is running at. It's a common mistake though, but look closely at the pattern of the rpm notches and you'll understand what rpm's FHI notched.
my bad. it hovers somewhere between 500 and 750. i still wonder how it stays on though

the are supposed to idle at around 600.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:08 am

I thought idle was 750RPM +/- 100RPM?

jamal · Post by **jamal** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:46 am

I thought 650 or so.

I've had my car 6 years and I've gone through 3 cvs, an alternator, a water pump, two timing belts (one because the wp broke), a transmission, and now it needs a new tie rod boot and window regulator. The auto seat belt is broken too. I should probably get that fixed. The HVAC system completely stopped working at one point as well but it turned out to be a fuse or something simple like that. It's definitely not cold enough though. Hopefully all I need is a recharge or to do the R134 conversion

Now here I am wanting to upgrade and spend money to put in STi suspension and WRX front brakes. Plus I just got a T-leg rear sway bar (thanks Sasha, it came today) and WRX wheels, and I'm going to start doing road rallies.

Anyway, yeah, cars are expensive. I realized today (while some girl in a CL500 was tailgating me on the freeway) that if someone ran into me and totaled my car, I'd buy another Subaru Legacy. It made me wonder how many other people would buy the same car they used to have.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:02 am

If I could find another Legacy Turbo, I'd probably get it. Otherwise, I would probably just end up getting a WRX or an STi or something like that. But I'd buy back my Legacy from the insurance company and maybe a project old-school Impreza or something to build up and leave the new car stock.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 8:07 am

I have to admit, since I bought the turbo, I've dumped more money into it replacing broken or worn parts in 6 months than I did in the entire 2 years I had the 91L

Nomake Wan · Post by **Nomake Wan** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:51 am

Well... If my car got totalled, I don't know what I'd do. ^-^; I'd be out of a car for a while. But my next car would probably be a WRX of some kind, unless I can find another First-Gen Legacy with 65,000 miles on it. XD

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:02 am

Okay, sorry for this guys, but I have to rant again.

I'm not getting rid of the car or anything, but I'm getting really pissed off at this car again.

There's a lot of things that are my own fault, and I am not angry about those things.

The horrific-looking body? All me. I, like my father, have a short temper, and I've hit my car with everything from a metal bar to my own fist. I do think I might finally be able to get the long-awaited body work done soon, and then I won't do that anymore because I won't want to screw up a perfectly good body. So this doesn't bother me.

The new clunk in the front end, that arose since I did the rack/Xmember swap? Not angry about it, yet anyway. I'm guessing I just didn't tighten a bolt down enough or something. If I do recheck everything though, and it's still there, I'll likely get more pissed. But even then, it's a 16-year-old car with almost 162k. It's going to make some noises.

The misbehaving power steering pump? My fault too. I goofed up rebuilding it, and now it's acting up a bit. Nothing major, but I will attend to it soon. If anything, at least I know the right way to do it now.

But I would like to know why the fuck I have two noisy wheel bearings again??? And not even 20k after replacing all four of them?

Even so, I might have run the back one long enough the first time that it might have warped the hub and destroyed the new bearing, but I hardly ever hear of wheel bearing issues on this board. SVXs are one thing, these cars are different. I had a hell of a time doing all four on this car, and it wasn't exactly a picnic doing them on the white wagon either. I'M FUCKING SICK OF WHEEL BEARINGS!!!

And will someone explain to me why my shifter is coming apart again? Yeah, that's right. My shifter is flopping around flaccidly, and I've had to adjust and remember how to drive it with bad shifter bushings all over again. And I'm so sick of the two shifter pieces coming apart, the top part that the knob screws onto, and the little rubber stub that it goes over. Shifter bushings on 4WD Subarus are a major pain in the balls, and I have to go do it all over again. This time I'm going with the STi short-throw to not only improve shifter feel, but to have one solid upper shifter piece that won't come apart. Yeah, I know, I'll probably have to do bushings AGAIN at around 210k or so at this rate... and that pisses me off. I fucking hate Subaru shifters.

I'll even take responsibility for not having enough money to do all this because I've been buying too many parts for the 79. Working at a Subaru dealer doesn't help, it's like a 5-year-old working in a candy store. Ooooh! There's only one EA71 water pump left in the country! I have to get it now!

Okay, I think I'm done PMSing. I understand that I'm driving an old car with high miles and that it's never going to be absolutely flawless. But I'm just really getting tired of chasing after stupid shit, especially after I've already fixed it once!!!

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:11 am

I agree. Nothing's more frustrating than having to fix things more than once.

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When is it going to end???

When is it going to end???