RustyShackleford

I just did this twice, cause the first pump didn't work ...

I hope I'm not doing it again. I've got serious stuttering at low speed. Hopeful I just haven't gotten all the air out yet.

I left the 10mm bolt that held that bracket loose til the end so I could fit the belt cover.

I still had to file it some.

Also, I do not recommend CARDONE. The first pump may as well not have had any gears inside of it, and the body leaked.

I used the Evergreen one (Amazon) that some people here have had luck with.

A few things that might be helpful:

 

1. One of the three bolts that hold the bracket to the engine block (the green one in photo #2 in post #20) is completely invisible - you can't see it from anywhere, you just have to feel for it, a few inches to the left of the other bolts in that photo.

 

2. The fit is very snug on the long bolt that connects the pump-proper to the bracket. Sounds like @MaxCapacity took a cutting blade to the bushing in the bracket there; you don't need to do that, it can be pushed a little, using a c-clamp and a socket, to give more clearance. (There's also something in a version of the manual I saw about a bunch of stacked sizes, 14mm, 21mm and such; I didn't see anything like that, but it sounds like it was where this adjustable bushing is).

 

3. In addition to three bolts that hold the bracket to the block, you need to remove the lock bolt for the alternator belt-tension adjuster.

 

4. You need to move (from old pump to new one) the little bracket that attaches to the pump and holds the end of the belt cover. You can move it after the new pump is installed, but it's harder. Belt cover didn't quite ft right, had to file out the opening where a rubber bushing goes a little.

Thank you (and @covertrussian) for the non-abusive posts :-)

 

Group N - while OEM design with harder rubber lasted issue free many years and tens of thousands of miles in my car. I'd really recommend these. Also noise and maintenance free.

 

What is "Group N" ? I see the earlier post, but it doesn't really describe them.

 

I decided on the Mevotech aluminum arms. People on the other forum seem to think highly of the bushings (that come pre-installed in them). There's some controversy about the ball joints; some have reported premature failure, the manufacturer blames it on improper installation (beating on them to get to fit into the knuckle), and others say they had a bad batch and it's been remedied. At any rate, recently installed, they shouldn't be too hard to replace if need be.

A troll?

Blow me. Did you notice I asked if I was thead-jacking and then removed most of my posts when people told me to look at some of @covertrussian other posts for my answers ?

So, another dumb question ...

 

The various after-market bushings listed here (WhiteLine etc) are FAR more expensive than the OEM ones. Convince me they're worth it ...

One thing I will say for SDF, it's very matte, there is no glare.

It's been a couple of months now, since I did StickyDashFix, and I'm pretty happy. Dash is definitely no longer sticky at all, and it's not outgassing and yucking up the inside of my windshield - which was my main issue. I have helped it by using an interior sun shade when I park it at home (which typically it'll sit for days at a time, since we use the EV when possible).

 

It doesn't look great though. Kind of a mottled appearance. Perhaps if applied by a more skillful hand, this wouldn't be the case. Who knows. But it's a 15 year-old car, so I don't expect it to look great. And it's worth $5000 tops, so I couldn't really justify a new dashboard.

 

FOLLOWUP: My dash remains non-sticky, which is great. However, the glare, mostly off the rounded part of the dashboard above the speedo/tach, has a pretty bad glare when driving into the sun. I'm thinking of springing for one of the Dash Designs covers they have at RockAuto. Maybe the velour - can't decide if it'll just look tacky as hell, or maybe a buy-in into the hipster redneck irony thing :-)

Helpful response from guy at other forum ...

 

The connector at the door switch assembly is D7, and the wire connection for the "unlock" function is at pin 4, a brown-with-white-stripe wire ("BrW"). (See attached wiring diagram)

 

To effect a "lock", the switch connects pin 4 to ground (via pin 7, which goes to ground). If there's no visible issue with the wire at the connector, or the pins in the mating connectors, then a quick test might be to ground pin 4 of D7 with a separate wire. If that causes the actuators to work, then the problem is in the switch itself. Another check is for continuity between pin 4 and pin 7 of the connector on the switch when it's in the "lock" position.

I've had the interior panel off my front doors a couple of times recently (new speakers, new door "checks") and now the driver's side master lock button is not working. Because I was plugging/unplugging the wiring connectors to the door panel, and because of the symptoms, I'm pretty sure it's a problem with a wire. The passenger side master lock button works fine, the driver's side master lock button works to unlock but not to lock, the lock solenoid on the driver's side works fine (when I use the passenger side button), and all the window controls on the driver's door work fine.

 

I'm going to pull the panel off again tomorrow, and hope I just didn't plug that connector all the way in good, and that one contact is bad. But my fear is that somehow I messed up the wire to the connector (not much free-ply in that harness, and it probably got stressed earlier). I'd like to know which wire might be broken.

 

Best I can tell from the vacation pix, the connector is D7, with the connections shown on page WI-182 (which labels the connector "POWER WINDOW MAIN SWITCH (DOOR LOCK SWITCH"). I'm hoping it's pin 4 or 5. But I'm really not sure. Anyone else ever dove into this ?

At this point its more of a visibility thing that impedes my view out the windshield on track.

At one point, someone suggested a process to fix my dash where you glue a bunch of fuzzy material to it - "flocking" - apparently it's popular in track cars, because of no glare. One thing I will say for SDF, it's very matte, there is no glare.

Glad we got all that cleared up - couldn't quite see spending close to $1000 on a car that might be worth $5000. And it's not exactly pristine, so the appearance of the SDF doesn't bother me.

 

However, I'd like this to not happen again, and I think I'm just asking for it, as this car sits, parked in the sun, a lot of the time, only driven a couple days per week.

 

So, seems prudent to cover the dashboard when parked at home. What dashboard covers would you recommend ? The kind that goes inside the car - kinda two circular foil things ? Or the kind that goes over the windshield (outside the car) ?

Also, it's really easy to take the pillar trim off without damaging it...

Fabric or not, who cares about smearing it on there, it will look better regardless if you simply take them off first. Then you can paint right up to or even over the edge to make sure you have even coverage. It literally takes about 8 seconds to remove the trim, I just did last night to fix my boost gauge.

 

And depending on what year/model you have, they weren't all fabric. I know the 2008 OBW my wife used to have had hard plastic pillar covers

 

Also I don't think a pro shop is gonna do a better job. I can't even imagine showing up at a bodyshop and saying "here, my dash is getting all old and sticky, please smear this cheap shit I bought online all over it and make it look factory". Save yourself the money and do the halfass repair yourself...

Either you really care about making the car perfect and buy a new dash, or you just want the sticky gone and decide to use this stuff. If you choose the later route, why the hell would you pay for a pro to do it? No offense, but it's janky. I wouldn't pay a shop to spear bondo in rust and spray bedliner over it, so why would you pay them for this? There's a right and wrong way to repair a car. If you want perfection, buy a new dash. If you want a cheap fix, deal with the brush marks and carry on with your life...

 

I hate to be real, I know it's gonna offend some station wagon owner's sensitive feelings sooner or later (trust me I've been around this forum long enough I know how the general population is), but it is what it is. Truth freaking hurts. Try crying about it. Or just get over it and realize what you're working with...

Get some rest.

Ok, did the StickyDashFix yesterday - managed to get a rare cool summer day, cloudy but no rain - and so far it looks great.

 

A few notes:

 

1. You definitely need the extra bottle of coating, if you plan more than two coats, which you probably do (I did four).

 

2. There will definitely be brush marks wherever you do not use a roller. Definitely buy a miniature roller. And err on the side of getting the roller too close to the windshield; it's easy to clean the stuff off the windshield, and it'll make the job look better (less brush marks).

 

3. Get painters tape, especially for the pillars; they are a fabric, and any coating you get on them is probably there to stay.

 

4. Consider getting a pro to do the job for you. I think some skill would've made my result look better. But I don't care that much. It's a 15 year-old car, not exactly pristine. If this prevents the dash from getting sticky again, and prevents outgassing which gunks up the inside of the windshield, I am happy.

I used the Australian sticky dash fix and it worked pretty good. I used 2 coats needs 3-4 . I ended up with some sponge marks but I used cheap sponge brushes, good quality ones may help.

My kit included foam brushes (and the aforementioned extra bottle of coating). I bought a mohair mini-roller to use.

It does peel off the non-dash parts easily but I suggest using the exacto around air vents etc and peel very slow or it will leave a jagged line.

I popped out my various air vents. Maybe not the best idea though - even though I used those plastic tools they make for this sort of stuff, it still mangled the dash material around the vents some; worse, I guess the plastic got brittle after 15 years, and one of them broke (guess it's time to see how strong my superglue kungfu is).

 

I'm gonna do it tomorrow if it's not sunny - wish me luck.

I was just talking to someone about sticky dash fix. They bought some to try. I'll see what they say about results.

Yeah, I just got some too. Guy offered to throw in an extra bottle of the sealant, so you might ask for that. Also, came much quicker (to NC) than I'd been led to expect (even by the seller, who said to allow 21 days); it actually came in 16 days. Nice kit - included a big microfiber cloth and two foam brushes, although not the miniature microfiber roller that they say to use for best results with no streaking.

I gooped up the problem areas and laid plastic bags on top, left it overnight, and it helped some.

I've been using Leatherique Prestine*Clean on my too-long-neglected seats and there are a few patches that just don't seem to absorb the oil.* *I've reapplied to those areas a half-dozen times and within an hour or so they have a flat & dry look contrasting to the rest of the seat (which has the oily*glossy look prior to applying the cleaner).* I've got the car sitting out in the hot North Carolina sun, so I don't think there's insufficient heat.* *Any hints for how I might handle these spots ?

My Spec B has a slightly sticky dash, the wagons dash is perfect except for a few chips from the airbag recalls and me missing with the combo meter.

Mine might be worse for two reasons:

 

1. It's HOT here in North Carolina in the summer.

 

2. The car stays parked in the sun a LOT, since wife and I both work from home, and she bought a Nissan Leaf EV, which ends up getting used for 90% of our trips (unless we're going more than 70 miles from home, or need to haul some stuff, or both going to different places at the same time).

 

My main concern is outgassing, which makes the inside of the windshield awful (probably not good to inhale the inside air when you first get in either :-( )

I think the point you need to take away is, after a few coats using the foam brush, the 20% water 80% coating on a towel did a nice job of evening out the top coat.

Right. The bottles being only 100ml, it doesn't seem like there'd be enough material for more than one coat though, does there ?

 

There was a name for the type of towel...but I'm drawing a blank right now.

Micro-fiber ?

Have you seen this video ?

 

Thanks. Seems somewhat supportive. Kinda lame the first version didn't work well though. Wish he hadn't fast-forwarded over the most important parts, where he actually applied the product (in favor of spending time mumbling about Sugru).

Thanksgiving was bit busier than I expected with family and what not, so I didn't get the time to give the Stickydashfix a shot. Unfortunately, my next day off is 12/19 so it's going to be a little while.

I will still report back my findings when I get to it.

Any luck with the StickyDashFix stuff ? I'm thinking about giving it a shot too, but I cannot find any un-biased info about it. FWIW, I tried a test patch with some water-based polyurethane and so far it looks pretty decent.

Anyone tried the StickyDashFix product ?

 

https://stickydashfix.com/products/sticky-dash-fix-kit-to-suit-subaru-legacy-liberty-outback-2003-2009?variant=31456772128811

 

At least it can be brushed on, so dashboard removal not required if you're careful (maybe pop out the various HVAC ducts a little to make it easier to "paint" around them); hopefully it's self-leveling enough to look uniform without spraying.

 

I can find ZERO un-biased info about this product on the web though.

I bitched at SOA and they said "sorry, no warranty replacement" but sent me a voucher for $500.

 

I tried a small test-patch of water-based polyurethane, and so far it looks good.

 

I also came across this product, but EVERYTHING I can find with google search is just advertisement and posts made in forums like this that are identical and clearly made by representatives of the company:

 

https://stickydashfix.com/products/sticky-dash-fix-kit-to-suit-subaru-legacy-liberty-outback-2003-2009?variant=31456772128811

 

So I'm wondering if anyone has experience or informed opinions about this StickyDashFix product, or about just coating with matte polyurethane.

One thing I forgot to mention: the clutch was replaced at the dealership perhaps 5-10K miles ago. I imagine they'd be more than willing to point out a driveshaft or engine/tranny mount in need of replacement. OTOH, maybe they failed to put something back right ? However, I think the mechanic was probably a cut above the stereotypical, because they also did the recall of the airbag recall, and I had a bunch of custom wiring between the stereo HU and the cubby (installed a little 3v/5v power supply up there for radar detector and sat radio, as well as input jacks for sat radio and iPod and a switch) and he put it back just right and even fixed a loose connection.

Thanks for the replies. I am a moron. Wife fixed it - apparently a stick stuck near the driveshaft somehow. This crossed my mind, but two things made me rule it out (without actually looking under the car ): the fact it started while driving on freeway and major highway, and the fact it was loud under deceleration and absent under acceleration. I still don't understand these things, especially the second. Nonethless, my apologies to anyone who spent more than a picosecond thinking about this or making a reply.

Thanks for the quick reply.

If it’s regardless of gear...

It's even when coasting in neutral.

I’d be checking the front and rear ring and pinions by checking the gear oil first (or isolating the noise to the transmission or rear diff).

I don't believe it's from the rear, but I'll check tomorrow.

 

What do you mean "by checking the gear oil" ? I mentioned the level is good (or was before this started). You mean check for evidence of metal shavings on the oil stuck to the dipstick ?

 

Sounds like we're narrowing it down to the tranny pretty quick. If so, is this likely to be something worth repairing on a car this old, worth $5000 or less. I work on the car a lot, but I think tranny work (even R&R'ing a rebuilt one) is probably outside my pay grade. OTOH, I like the car and I like the idea of keeping old ones running, within reason.