It has been below freezing here for several days. High temps may reach
19F.
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.
If I get the ice off the bumper, the ice on the top of the hatch prevents it from opening. Hacking - cosmetic damage.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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)?
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. :-)
I get this with all cars, so I don't know if we can blame Subaru on this one.
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.
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