Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The new daily driver arrives

I've been away from the Mercedes project for a few weeks now. The daily driver Subaru took a turn for the worse and lit a fire under me to get a replacement car sooner rather than later.

I hadn't seen any promising Toyotas or Hondas in a while. I came to my senses and pretty much scratched Volkswagens off the list after I went to see the Jetta that wouldn't start. Pretty much every Volvo I looked at needed a lot of expensive work. I even got to the point where I was considering rear wheel drive Mercedes, just to have something reliable.

Well, as I said, the Legacy kept getting worse. The check engine light was constantly on, and blinking with alarming regularity. Plus, the engine's idling was getting even choppier, and I believe it was using oil at an increasing rate.

Two weeks ago, I saw an ad for yet another potential replacement car - a 1995 Subaru Legacy L... Outback. This was a 2.2L car with an automatic transmission. Based on the ad and a phone conversation with the seller, it sounded like the car was in decent shape. So, that Saturday morning, I packed my wife's car with an assortment of tools and we drove an hour to see the Outback.

It was a first-year Outback and even the same Mica Ruby color as both our other Legacies. It wasn't perfect by any means. It was wearing beat-up alloy wheels and had a green hood from an old fender bender, and had bumps and bruises all over. Plus, it was sitting on an ugly set of beat-up alloy wheels. But, my philosophy is that an old Subaru should look used, much like an old truck. The interior had been cleaned - something I hadn't seen in a used car in quite some time.

The car started right up and sounded pretty good. The test drive went pretty well, so with the seller's permission, I pulled out the spark plugs (old, worn-out, and nearly seized into the cylinder heads) and ran a compression test. Compression was healthy across all four cylinders, so we made a deal and I drove home in my new daily driver.

I spent most of the rest of the weekend swapping parts over from the old car, starting with the correct Mica Ruby hood and my wheels. Then, I put the old car up for sale on Craigslist. Unfortunately, with winter weather and street parking bans, I had to get rid of the old car quickly. In its condition, the only interest I had was from junkyards, and for a lot less than I wanted. But, the car was getting needier by the day. At the last moment, a co-worker who was painfully aware of the car's mechanical condition showed interest and I let him have it for scrap value. He intends to repair or replace the engine. So, the old car will live.

I've been driving the "new" car pretty much every day and handling maintenance and repair items as time allows. New spark plugs are now installed, which is a good thing, as the old ones were worn to twice the recommended gap. I also flushed the transmission, which made a big improvement in the way the car shifted. I'm still trying to properly dial in the fluid level, but it's close now.

Overall, I'm happy with the new car. Once it's caught up on needed repairs, I'm going to move back to the Mercedes project.

When I got it home - green hood and all

The alloy wheels

Rear shot - this car has a factory roof rack

Firsr year Outback - badged with a sticker only

Side shot with my old wheels on it

Complete with correct red hood


14 comments:

  1. are you gonna do a tune up video on this car like you did with the other one?

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    1. Highly unlikely. It's the middle of winter and I'm mostly concerned with getting the car up to 100%. Plus, I don't see any reason to repeat myself unless I can significantly improve on a video.

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  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Question - Do we know each other off the internet? Who are you?

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  3. No, never met. My first comment was the first ever response to a "Blogger". So please excuse my ignorance while I get acclimated to how this all works. Your "how to attitude" is most inspiring, and also being from exit 15W in Jersey I needed to make a comment to a fellow Garden Stater. My apology if protocall is not up to speed. By the way, first personal here is Ted. I mentioned your better half because mine has adjusted to "old is gold" over the years. My first engine swap was in a 1973 Dodge Dart with a 225 Cid slant 6. Of course that was prior to the internet, but during the introduction of electronic fuel injection.

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  4. Hey there, Ted. First off, I appreciate the comments and viewership. I'm mostly just curious where you picked up my better half's name. I'm pretty careful about not dropping real life names online. Also, did I mention being from NJ? Are you working on anything these days?

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    1. You actually did mention your wife's name in some of your earlier videos. I'm guessing maybe that was before you were married or before she moved in with you. You'd say she was visiting and that she was also in school and had finals, I remember you mentioned that in the mercedes diesel videos. But I'll refer to her as Mrs. mercedesdieselguy if you'd prefer that.

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    2. Thanks for the clarification. Don't take it personally, but I may delete your earlier comments, so as to minimize instances of names online. Anything I left in early videos would have been a slip. Like I said, I just generally prefer to keep real life and online identities spaced as far apart as possible.

      Anyhow, like I said, if you have Volvo material, you should absolutely post it on a blog or Youtube. There's never a shortage of people who need repair information. Cheers.

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  5. Your video on repair of the floor boards did mention your trip to NJ for some parts as your dad had a similar MB. I read your lists of followings to understand about the "Blogging" and learned about your better half. My apology on not following protocall. I just finished up a pesky brake problem on the 740 a few months ago, that involved a locking caliper which appeared to have a mind of it's own. Prior to that, suspension work on radius arm(s). Tired bushings allowing the suspension to groan at certain times. It also had a worn ball joint. Please don't laugh, but I also have a Saab with CIS fuel system. It took me 2 weeks to change the fan belts, and used a box of band aids. I photograph every repair (still photography), and admire your use of the video camera. Of course all the fleet have over 100K + miles on them. Because of weather conditions, and age, I must wait till warmer temperatures for laundry list of repairs. One of which is the falling head liner, cold feet because of a vacuum motor failure, and cold seat because of electric heater grid failure... So you will see as age accumulates, the to do list only get's longer. I typically don't trade vehicles, and run them until stranded one too many times. The Volvo's replaced a 86 Olds ninety eight with a 3.8l v6. Your MB video on floor board repair struck a note when I had to pull up the soggy carpet and deal with the mess. I found the water leak, and photographed it. Hence the offer to provide my photos and experience on 740's.

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    1. I used to have a Saab as well, 1996 900 S automatic and it had that same problem with the heated seat. Unfortunately that car got totaled after being pinned by a mercedes diesel. I loved that car dearly but it was very expensive to repair and overtime became very problematic just like you described yours.

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    2. If you have materials on your 740s, you should set up your own blog and/or Youtube page. I'm sure you'd have no shortage of viewers.

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  6. Thanks for the vote of confidence! I will give it a try. Your video camera, what are you using. It appears to be pretty robust. About Mike's Saab, Mike, the '96 is vastly different from the 86. The Motor/transmission is mounted front to back, and transmission is on belly of motor. Rear suspension is not independent on the 86, the 96 is. You must be like the MB Diesel guy with LOTS of patience to work on Saab, and NOT ever be in a hurry.

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    1. Yeah Saabs changed a lot over the years. Believe me it did become an inconvenience for me after a while. I actually got rid of that car 4 years ago as it was totaled in an accident, ironically by an '85 mercedes turbodiesel wagon.

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    2. I shoot with an old Sony Digital 8 Handycam I bought back in 2004. It's still kicking, but I'll probably upgrade in the next year or 2.

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