More Subaru Cold Weather Problems

[Al]

It has been below freezing here for several days. High temps may reach
19F.

1. When ice forms on the shelf formed by the bumper on my Outback, I
can't open the hatch. the ice is very hard and hacking at it to release
it will cause cosmetic damage.

2. If I get the ice off the bumper, the ice on the top of the hatch
prevents it from opening. Hacking - cosmetic damage.

3. Can't open the doors as the windows stick to the rubber gaskets. Yeah
I know, spray them with silicon. If I remember to do it in advance.

Any other cold weather issues out there? I know some of the ones I had
complained about in my '96 Outback have been corrected. But others
remain. Who reviews the designs for these "cold weather" vehicles anyway?

Al

 

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

Any other cold weather issues out there? I know some of the ones I had
complained about in my '96 Outback have been corrected. But others
remain. Who reviews the designs for these "cold weather" vehicles anyway?

My STi has a problem where especially in the cold, the first attempt to
unlock the doors has one of the rear doors only able to be opened maybe
an inch. A couple of lock/unlock iterations on the central locking tends
to free it though, so it's not severe enough for me to have got around
to finding out what's actually wrong.

-- Mark

 

[nobody >]

It has been below freezing here for several days. High temps may reach
19F.

1. When ice forms on the shelf formed by the bumper on my Outback, I
can't open the hatch. the ice is very hard and hacking at it to release
it will cause cosmetic damage.

2. If I get the ice off the bumper, the ice on the top of the hatch
prevents it from opening. Hacking - cosmetic damage.

3. Can't open the doors as the windows stick to the rubber gaskets. Yeah
I know, spray them with silicon. If I remember to do it in advance.

Any other cold weather issues out there? I know some of the ones I had
complained about in my '96 Outback have been corrected. But others
remain. Who reviews the designs for these "cold weather" vehicles anyway?

Al

Water is both your enemy and your friend here. You already know about
the enemy part....

Take a pitcher of lukewarm water and *slowly* pour it over the ice on
both the back bumper and the hatch. It may require multiple dumps. Try
breaking the ice away with your hand as you do this, the ice should be
getting 'rotten/soft' part way thru this procedure.

 

[pheasant]

It has been below freezing here for several days. High temps may reach
19F.
Any other cold weather issues out there?
Al

Well, when it gets to -30 and below, my valve covers leak. Usually goes
away when it warms back to -10 or so. Course the soobie is an 86 GL and
runs Mobil 1, so don't consider it much of anything but a nuiscance.
Also think may have a tired seal on the left rear wheel, as when it hits
-20 tends to be a little slow on sealing and lets an air bubble in, so
brakes get spongy. Course ain't gonna go crawling around on the ground
to replace it yet, so if I feel wealthy and want to spend more than 20
bucks may have to let a shop replace the cylinder for me.
That's my babie's cold weather issues.

No offense intended, but have to chuckle, Subaru has gone mainstream.
Not the little utility vehicle that made their reputation for them.

Mark

 

[Ed]

Any other cold weather issues out there? I know some of the ones I had
complained about in my '96 Outback have been corrected. But others
remain. Who reviews the designs for these "cold weather" vehicles anyway?

The one that scared me was I didn't follow my less then 1/2 tank is
empty rule during winter. I was done to fumes and hit the gas hatch
release. Got out of the car it the hatch is still closed. I did this
several times and was getting worried how I was gonna get that bugger
open. Finally pulled the release lever, stuffed a winter glove under it
to keep it open and was able to break lose the frozen gas hatch. That
was when we got down to -1F.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Al wrote:




The one that scared me was I didn't follow my less then 1/2 tank is
empty rule during winter. I was done to fumes and hit the gas hatch
release. Got out of the car it the hatch is still closed. I did this
several times and was getting worried how I was gonna get that bugger
open. Finally pulled the release lever, stuffed a winter glove under it
to keep it open and was able to break lose the frozen gas hatch. That
was when we got down to -1F.

I had the exact same issue - though I suspect most any car could do the
same.
sleet/freezing rain - FTL!

Carl

 

[Al]

I had the exact same issue - though I suspect most any car could do the
same.
sleet/freezing rain - FTL!

Carl

BTW, in the late 60's, I lived in Montana. I had a '66 Corvair. I never
had any cold weather problems except for a virtually dead battery at
-30F. I kept a spare one charging in my kitchen and would take it out
and jumpstart the Corvair with it. And since it was aircooled, no
freezing of the coolant problem. I'm amazed that cold weather technology
has not improved since then.

Al

 

[David Buchner]

It has been below freezing here for several days. High temps may reach
19F.

Oh good! Another thread for complaints! ;-)
We just came out of a lengthy below-zero spell, and I've been really
disappointed at how unenthusiastically the 2002 Impreza (Outback Sport,
2.5L) starts at those temperatures. Much less that 5 below, and I feel
like I'm really imposing on it when I go out to start it for my wife. It
always starts right up, but it's an "rrrr-rrrr-rrrr" proposition -- and
when it's really cold it'll even sometimes stall right away, and need to
be restarted.

Is it possible they just used wimpy, sunny-Florida-style cables from the
battery? Should I think about replacing them with great big ones? Is it
just a puny starter (again, sunny-Florida model)?

1. When ice forms on the shelf formed by the bumper on my Outback, I
can't open the hatch. the ice is very hard and hacking at it to release
it will cause cosmetic damage.

2. If I get the ice off the bumper, the ice on the top of the hatch
prevents it from opening. Hacking - cosmetic damage.

I really think all cars are now designed for urban commuters with heated
garages and zealous road-maintanance crews so the big smooth highways
are always clean and dry.

3. Can't open the doors as the windows stick to the rubber gaskets. Yeah
I know, spray them with silicon. If I remember to do it in advance.

I get this with all cars, so I don't know if we can blame Subaru on this
one.

Any other cold weather issues out there? I know some of the ones I had
complained about in my '96 Outback have been corrected. But others
remain. Who reviews the designs for these "cold weather" vehicles anyway?

I've been beginning to wonder. Our olden-days Subarus, before they got
all big and styley and powerful, were always really good about cold
weather. Part of this is probably just direct result of the styling
things: these wide alloy wheels can't help but catch slush inside that
throws them off balance, and low-riding cars with low-profile tires just
aren't going to have much room under the fenders so that ice buildup in
there results in the suspension not being able to travel more than half
an inch.

 

[David Buchner]

The one that scared me was I didn't follow my less then 1/2 tank is
empty rule during winter. I was done to fumes and hit the gas hatch
release. Got out of the car it the hatch is still closed. I did this
several times and was getting worried how I was gonna get that bugger
open. Finally pulled the release lever, stuffed a winter glove under it
to keep it open and was able to break lose the frozen gas hatch. That
was when we got down to -1F.

Is siphoning or cap stealing really a major problem? I think we could do
without extra headaches like those little hatches. I tore the one right
off our pickup...