2000 SUBARU LEGACY ESP

7-4suffic ient q uantities of the p rop er c osolvents and
c orrosion inhib itors
req uired to p revent d amag e to the fuel system. Do n ot use fuel c on-
taining methanol EXCEPT und er these c ond itions.
If und esirab le d riveab ility p rob lems are exp erienc e d and you sus-
p ec t they may b e fuel related , try a d ifferent b ran d of g asoline b efore
seeking servic e at your SUBARU d ealer. Fuel system d amag e or d riveab ility p rob lems whic h r esult from the
use of imp rop er fuel are not c overed und er the SUBA RU Limited War-
ranty.
Fuel filler lid and cap Refueling
WARNING
Gasoline vapor is highly flammable. Before refueling, always
first stop the engine and make sure that there are no lighted ciga- rettes, open flames or electrical sparks in the adjacent area. When opening the cap, do not remove the cap quickly. Fuel
may be under pressure and spray out of the fuel filler neck espe-
cially in hot weather, which may cause injury.
CAUTION
Never add any cleaning agents to the fuel tank. The addition of
a cleaning agent may cause damage to the fuel system. Make sure that the cap is tightened until it clicks to prevent
fuel spillage in the event of an accident. Do not let fuel spill on the exterior surfaces of the vehicle.
Fuels may cause paint damage, which is not covered under the
SUBARU Limited Warranty. Always use a genuine SUBARU fuel filler cap. If you use the
wrong cap, it may not fit or have proper venting, and your fueltank and emission control system might be damaged.

7-63. Stop filling the tank after the fuel filler p ump
automatic ally c lic ks off.
Do not ad d any more fuel.
4. Put the c ap b ac k on, turn it c loc kwise until you hear a c lic king
noise. Be c ertain not to c atc h the tether und er the c ap while tig hten-
ing .
5. Close the fuel filler lid c omp letely.
If you sp ill any fuel on the p ainted surfac e, rinse it off immed iately.
Otherwise, the p ainted surfac e c ould b e d amag ed . NOTE If the fuel filler cap is not tightened until it clicks or if the tether is caught under the cap, the CHECK ENGINE warning light maycome on. Refer to the “Warning and indicator lights ” section lo-
cated in chapter 3.
State emission testing (U.S. only)
WARNING
Testing of an All-Wheel Drive vehicle must NEVER be performed
on a single two-wheel dynamometer. Attempting to do so willresult in uncontrolled vehicle movement and may cause an acci-
dent or injuries to persons nearby.
CAUTION
Resultant vehicle damage due to improper testing is not covered
under the SUBARU Limited Warranty and is the responsibility ofthe state inspection program or its contractors or licensees.
At state inspection time, remember to tell your inspection or service
station in advance not to place your Subaru AWD vehicle on a two-
wheel dynamometer. Otherwise, serious transmission damage willresult.
Some states have started using d ynamometers in thei r state insp ec tion
p rog rams in ord er to meet their ob lig ation und er fe d eral law to imp lement

Starting and operating7-19
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CONTINUED –

Similarly, in order to prevent over-revving during deceleration
of the vehicle, the transmission will remain in the current gear if the speed of the vehicle is in excess of the Maximum AllowableSpeed for the gear to which the selector lever has been moved. Driving tips
Always ap p ly the foot or p arking b rake when the veh ic le is
stop p ed in the “D ”, “3 ”, “2 ”, “1 ” or “R ” p osition.
Always set the p arking b rake when p arking your vehi c le. Do not
hold the vehic le with only the transmission. Do not keep the vehic le in a stationary p osition on an up hill g rad e
b y using the “D ”, “3 ”, “2 ”, or “1 ” p osition. Use the b rake instead .
Shift lock release
If the selec tor lever d oes not move from the “P ” p osition with the b rake
p ed al d ep ressed and the ig nition switc h in the “ON ” p osition, p erform
the following step s:
To overrid e the shift loc k:
1. Set the p arking b rake and stop the eng ine.
2. Take out the sc rewd river from the tool b ag .
3. Remove the c over b y p rying on the ed g e with the r eg ular sc rewd river.
HB7020BA
HB7010CA
4. Insert the sc rewd river into the hole.
5. Push d own on the sc rewd river and move the selec to r lever from the
“ P ” to the “N ” p osition.
6. Remove the sc rewd river from the hole. Dep ress the b rake p ed al and

8-8and otherwise similar to on-road d riving c ond itions
. Op erating it und er
other than those c ond itions c ould sub jec t the vehic le to exc essive
stress whic h mig ht result in d amag e not elig ib le fo r rep air und er war-
ranty. If you d o take your SUBARU off road , you sho uld review the
c ommon sense p rec autions in the next sec tion (ap p li c ab le to the
OUTBACK) for g eneral g uid anc e. But p lease keep in m ind that your
vehic le ’s off-road c ap ab ilities are more limited than those of the OUT-
BACK.
Never attemp t to d rive throug h p ools and p ud d les, o r road s flood ed
with water. Water entering the eng ine air intake or the exhaust p ip e or
water sp lashing onto elec tric al p arts may d amag e yo ur vehic le and
may c ause it to stall. OUTBACK
Bec ause of the AWD feature and hig her g round c leara nc e, your
Sub aru c an b e d riven on ord inary road s or off-road . But p lease keep
in mind that an AWD Sub aru is a p asseng er c ar and i s neither a c on-
ventional off-road vehic le nor an all-terrain vehic le. If you d o take your
Sub aru off-road , c ertain c ommon sense p rec autions s uc h as the fol-
lowing should b e taken: Make c ertain that you and all of your p asseng ers ar e wearing seat
b elts. Carry some emerg enc y eq uip ment, suc h as a towing ro p e or
c hain, a shovel, wheel b loc ks, first aid kit and p o rtab le p hone or c iti-
zens b and rad io. Drive c arefully. Do not take unnec essary risks b y d riving in d ang er-
ous areas or over roug h terrain. Slow d own and emp loy extra c aution at all times. Wh en d riving off-
road , you will not have the b enefit of marked traff ic lanes, b anked
c urves, traffic sig ns and the like. Do not d rive ac ross steep slop es. Instead , d rive ei ther straig ht up
or straig ht d own the slop es. A vehic le c an muc h mor e easily tip over
sid eways than it c an end over end . Avoid d riving st raig ht up or d own
slop es that are too steep . Avoid sharp turning maneuvers, esp ec ially at hig her sp eed s.
Do not g rip the insid e or sp okes of the steering wh eel. A b ad

Driving tips8-13
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CONTINUED –
n
Wiper operation when snowing
Before d riving in c old weather, make sure the wip er b lad es are not
frozen to the wind shield or rear wind ow. If the wip er b lad es are frozen
to the wind shield or rear wind ow, use the d efroster with the airflow
c ontrol d ial in the “
” p osition and the temp erature c ontrol d ial set
for maximum warmth until the wip er b lad es are c omp l etely thawed
out. If your vehic le is eq uip p ed with a wip er d eic e r, it is help ful to thaw
the wind shield wip er b lad es. To thaw out the rear w ip er b lad e, use the
rear wind ow d efog g er.
When d riving in snow, if frozen snow starts to stic k on the surfac e of
the wind shield d esp ite wip er op eration, use the d ef roster with the air-
flow c ontrol d ial in “
” and the temp erature c ontrol d ial set for max-
imum warmth. After the wind shield g ets warmed enoug h to melt the
frozen snow on it, wash it away using the wind shiel d washer.
Snow stuc k on the wip er arm p revents the wip er from working effec -
tively. If snow is stuc k on the wip er arm, p ull off the road to a safe
p lac e, then remove it. If you stop the c ar at road sid e, use the hazard
warning flasher to alert other d rivers.
We rec ommend use of non-freezing typ e wip er b lad es d uring the sea-
sons you c ould have snow and sub -zero temp eratures. Corrosion protection
Refer to the “Corrosion p rotec tion ” sec tion (c hap ter 10).
Snow tires
WARNING
When replacing a tire, make sure you use only the same size,
circumferences, construction, brand, and load range as the origi- nal tires listed on the tire placard. Using other sizes, circumfer-
ences or construction may result in severe mechanical damageto the drive train of your vehicle and may affect ride, handling,braking, speedometer/odometer calibration, and clearancebetween the body and tires. It also may be dangerous and lead toloss of vehicle control.

8-26Trailer towing
Your c ar is d esig ned and intend ed to b e used p rimar
ily as a p asseng er-
c arrying vehic le. Towing a trailer p uts ad d itional load s on your c ar’s en-
g ine, d rivetrain, b rakes, tires and susp ension and has an ad verse effec t
on fuel ec onomy.
If you d o d ec id e to tow a trailer, your safety and satisfac tion d ep end
up on p rop er use of c orrec t eq uip ment and c autious o p eration of your ve-
hic le. Seek the ad vic e of your SUBARU d ealer to ass ist you in p urc has-
ing a hitc h and other nec essary towing eq uip ment ap p rop riate for your
vehic le. In ad d ition, b e sure to follow the instruc tions on c orrec t installa-
tion and use p rovid ed b y the trailer and other towi ng eq uip ment
manufac turers.
SUBARU assumes no resp onsib ility for injuries or ve hic le d amag e that
result from trailer towing eq uip ment, or from any e rrors or omissions in
the instruc tions ac c omp anying suc h eq uip ment or for your failure to fol-
low the p rop er instruc tions.
Warranties and maintenance
SUBARU warranties d o not ap p ly to vehic le d amag e or malfunc tion
c aused b y trailer towing . If you use your vehic le t o tow a trailer, more
freq uent maintenanc e will b e req uired d ue to the ad d itional load .
(Refer to “Maintenanc e sc hed ule und er severe d riving c ond ition s” in
the “Warranty and Maintenanc e Booklet ”.)
Und er no c irc umstanc es should a trailer b e towed wi th a new vehic le
or a vehic le with any new p owertrain c omp onent (eng ine, transmis-
sion, d ifferential, wheel b earing s, etc .) for the f irst 1,000 miles (1,600
km) of d riving . Maximum load limits
WARNING
Never exceed the maximum load limits explained below. Exceed- ing the maximum load limits could cause personal injury and/or
vehicle damage.

Driving tips8-29
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HBF019BB
Gross Axle Weight
OM-H2784
To c hec k b oth GVWR and GAWR and to c onfirm that the total weig ht
and weig ht d istrib ution are within safe d riving lim its, you should have
your vehic le and trailer weig hed at a c ommerc ial we ig hing station.
Be sure that all c arg o is firmly sec ured to p revent a c hang e in weig ht
d istrib ution while d riving . n Tongue load
WARNING
If the trailer is loaded with more weight in the back of trailer ’s
axle than in the front, the load is taken off the rear axle of the tow- ing vehicle. This may cause the rear wheels to skid, especiallyduring braking or when vehicle speed is reduced during corner-
ing, resulting in over-steer, spin out and/or jackknifing.
Ensure that the trailer tong ue load is from 8 to 11 p erc ent of the total
trailer weig ht and d oes not exc eed the maximum valu e of 200 lb s (90
kg ).
The tong ue load c an b e weig hed with a b athroom sc al e as shown in
the illustration b elow. When weig hing the tong ue lo ad , b e sure to p osi-
tion the towing c oup ler at the heig ht at whic h it w ould b e d uring
ac tual towing , using a jac k as shown.

10-2Exterior care
Washing
CAUTION
When washing the vehicle, the brakes may get wet. As a result,
the brake stopping distance will be longer. To dry the brakes, drive the vehicle at a safe speed while lightly pressing the brakepedal to heat up the brakes. Do not wash the engine compartment and areas adjacent to it.
If water enters the engine air intake, electrical parts or the power
steering fluid reservoir, it will cause engine trouble or faulty
power steering respectively.
The b est way to p reserve your vehic le ’s b eauty is freq uent washing .
Wash the vehic le at least onc e a month to avoid c on tamination b y road
g rime.
Wash d irt off with a wet sp ong e and p lenty of lukew arm or c old water. Do
not wash the vehic le with hot water and in d irec t s unlig ht.
Salt, c hemic als, insec ts, tar, soot and b ird d rop p i ng s should b e washed
off b y using a lig ht d eterg ent, as req uired . If you use a lig ht d eterg ent,
make c ertain that it is a neutral d eterg ent. Do not use strong soap or
c hemic al d eterg ents. All c leaning ag ents should b e p romp tly flushed
from the surfac e and not allowed to d ry there. Rins e the vehic le thor-
oug hly with p lenty of lukewarm water. Wip e the rema ining water off with a
c hamois or soft c loth. NOTE When having your vehicle washed in an automatic car wash, make
sure beforehand that the car wash is of suitable type. If the vehicle
is equipped with a rear/roof spoiler, it may be damaged by car washbrushes or other equipment.