New SVX owner, have some questions. (long)

[97LSi004]

This message will be great for people who love to give advice..

So I just bought my first SVX, actually also my first Subaru.
I have had an 84 BMW for a few years, and it has been fun, but its just not prectical anymore.
It's for sale and in good condition if anyone is interested.
Back to the SVX.
I picked the car up today, to the usual, "Oh, I didn't tell you that was broken?"
But anyway, after driving it, i am happy with it.
#1, the power steering pump leaks a bit, and the steering is strange (wheel shudders and is hard to turn) when the car is sitting still.. any ideas?
#2, It needs a new strut or struts in the front. What is a good place to find OEM replacements? or good aftermarket ones. I am looking to spend as little as possible for a good ride, not worried too much about upgrading the performance right now.
#3, A/C, there is a slight leak on the low side of the ac, just an O-ring i am pretty sure, but when driving the car, the air blows cold when i first start, and then if i start going, i hear a kind of *whump* sound. Sounds like a vent or something closing really harshly, and there is heat from the vents, no matter what the temp outside is.... What is going on??
#4, i am scared to death of the transmission and plan on putting in a filter, temp guage, then a cooler. Is a perma-cool filter and B&M filter an ok way to go? THere is ample info on this i know, so don't worry about responding to this unless you have some good new info, haha.
#5 Check engine light, its on, all the time. Maybe it’s the power steering thing, or the A/C thing.. I am getting good fuel efficiency, and good power, no weird noises.. so im not too worried right now. But any ideas, again, share them with a poor newbie..(at least to SVX's, i am fairly competent working on cars, at least BMW's)

Other than that the car is good. The key-fob needs a battery replaced, but i have read that you can replace the weird bunch of batteries with a radio shack one.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
-Ryan

[gl1674]

Welcome to the club!

#1 sounds like O-ring between ps pump and ps reservoir. Check the power steering fluid when car is running - if it has air bubbles in it or is foaming, it is the o-ring. O-ring is $2 fix, all you need is the new o-ring and torx drivers to remove the two obvious bolts on top and 12mm socket to remove the less obvious bolt on the back of the reservoir.

Also, check the tire pressure - low pressure increases resistance (sorry for stating the obvious) .

#2 OEM is pretty much the only (and a good one) choice. Try www.subaruparts.com, there are other dealerships that can give
good prices for mailorder (anybody with recent experiences here??)

#3 A/C leak probably waits until it leaks out enough to warrant the evacuate/recharge hassle. Low side is a bit unusual - check that there is nothing pushing the pipe sideways, it is sealed by o-ring and does not like lateral pressure.

Heat from the vents sound like a different issue. The heater core in the SVX is always heated, an air door is supposed to shut it off and bypass it. Most likely some of the doors got stuck - check in the driver side foot well while switching normal/defrost - you could see the rods that drive the doors moving. Normally the movement is smooth and almost silent. Any repeated forth-back movements means it is stuck and trying to get free.

#4 Filter is a must, cooler if it makes you feel better or if you have a heavy right foot. Highway cruising does not require cooler, city driving and/or steep hills is a different story.
Don't be scared - it either breaks or it does not.

#5 Check engine is what it is - check engine. It is not A/C, it is not climate control, it is not power steering. Do read the codes at least. If yours is pre-1996 you can read codes by plugging a test wire in a proper connector pin and reading the morse-codes. Search howtos, this is well documented.

Yes radio shack batteries are the way to go.

[97LSi004]

Thanks for all the great info..
I will pick up the O-ring and battery today, and order the struts later.
This is going to be easier than i thought.
One thing i am not finding info about is, how to check the codes if i have a 97. I will look at the car and see if it is the same, but since there is a little diagnostic port by the ignition area, i am guessing it's differrent..
Well thanks again for all the info, I will be back again often i am guessing.
-Ryan

[LarryIII]

97LSi 04,

The '96 & '97 SVXes have OBDII diagnostic systems. You cannot get the codes yourself without the reader. The diagnotic code reader is big, big $. Generally, a Suby dealer or local garage will do a read and give you the diagnosis for $50 or thereabouts. This $50 is usually deductible if you have the work done at the same place that did the reading.
My '97 LSi had the check engine light come on. It was the front O2 sensor. The '97 has 3 O2 sensors. It is located on top of the front cat converter and it is a B*tch (with a capitol B) to get at.
Good Luck and welcome to our SVX family.

Congratulations on your SVX purchase. I just bought my first one in December of 2003. Just really now starting to feel the quirks and fun being that Winter is over.

THe Pwer steering o-ring - yeah do it. It costs a dollar and the instructions are here on this site.

I won't repeat what is above. Look for a list of basic Mods on this site (do a search), and you'll see all kinds of cool stuff that is probably right up your alley.

[SVXer95]

I believe autozone will check your codes for free...

[SVX_MY_BABY]

I had a "Whump whump" sound when my a/c went. It seemed to come from the passeger front wheel well. Recharged the system and it went away, but soon came back when the system got low again. Have a look at the glass on to of the A/C cylinder. You should not see any froth or bubbles or space between the glass and coolant.


What makes you think you need new struts? I'm not sure about the 97's, but the 92's have a characteristic clunk caused by the floating caliper design (similar to Mercedes)which can be mixed up with a strut problem. They also had noisy struts but these were replaced by a redesigned version in 95 or 96. Subaru did a courtesy replacement for those who were annoyed by the clunk.

There was a TSB about steeringwheel shudder for the 92's, but this must have been corrected on the 97's. The car is a very heavy one with wide tires so there IS some resistance if you try to turn the wheels while stationery.

You may want to check the upper strut mounts. If you have severe thumping and the steering feels light or floating while cornering hard one may be broken.

Welcome aboard.

One of the more common problems which causes the engine light to come on is the O2 sensors. You can find lots of info if you search this site and the archived messages.

Auto Zone will scan any OBDII car for free. You can also pick up a cheap OBDII scanner for about $125.00.




Dave

[97LSi004]

So i worked on the car a bit today. I replaced the o-ring on the p-s reservior.. the car still won't turn at all when it is not moving. Could this have somethingv to do with the speed assisted powersteering thing?

I also have some alarm questions.. i tried to view the security system component location file in the how-to documents, but couldn't get it to work. My security system is having some trouble. I replaced the remote batteries, and i tried to enter the programming mode, with no success.
Is the procedure different for a 97 or maybe i have some further problem.

What kind of success have people had just resetting the computer system? Does it have anything to do with the security or no?

I feel so helpless without any kind of shop manual. Is there a good one available? The bentley and chilton manuals for my old BMW are priceless when doing any work.
I have seen the Chilton available for 92-96 Subaru's, does that include my 97 SVX at all.
Tha ks for all the help people.
-Ryan

[SVXer95]

There aren't many differences with the 97 from the 96, so a Chilton's will be somewhat helpful. However, the Chilton's doesn't have too much info. The only true way to get good info on SVX repairs is to pick up a Factory Service Manual set. I have a copy of Mitchell On Demand that I got off of ebay for around $15. That is pretty helpful. FSM's are expensive so I decided to go the other route. I still want to pick up a set though.

[LarryIII]

Ryan,

The programing for the remotes is the same for '92-'97 SVXes.
I have the shop manuals for the '92 and the '97 supplement.
All the shop manuals were for the '92 then SOA/FHI issued a supplement for each suceeding model year. The '97 supplement is about only about 20 pages long. It is just about useless. It has spec. pages, index pages blank separator pages, and table of contents pages.