johnceggleston

i was closing un-needed windows and found this as part of the instruction for steel seal. this was the 3rd step , the first 2 were actual instructions on the installation procedure of the product. the lev-r-vent cap sounds like a good idea to help save coolant in overheating cars. quote If you notice bubbling in your radiator, we recommend using a Stant Lev-R-Vent radiator cap with the lever in the “up” position to relieve the pressure while the vehicle is running. After you turn the engine off you can place the lever in the “down” position. These caps can be purchased at many auto parts stores.

from the factory that is the best you can hope for and 50/50 is close and a really good guess. the problem is that if your AWD is slow to kick in without your input it is going to be slow to kick in with your input. it is not the computer control that makes it slow, it is the mechanics that are xteen years old, unless you anticipate your need for AWD. but there is a modification which will let you "lock" the trans in a 50/50 split 4WD. (when in 1, or 2 maybe, the system still allows for some slipping to prevent torque bind.) the mod "locks" it up, no slipping. search for: lock*, switch, awd* or something similar. it has been covered a lot and there are both pros and cons to the modification. leaving it on can cause damage.

final drive is irrelevant, the speedo gear is after that. the gear count is not so important, just pull the gear off of one trans and stick it in the other. i don't know which are the the same if either are, the drive gear or the driven gear. some one posted a 'pic' of the different ratios for the different legacys, but my searching has not found them. i think the driven gear is way easier to swap, since it comes out the same hole as the speed sensor, i think. the drive gear has to come out through the axle stub, diff bearing access do-dad thing-a-ma-gig on the side of the trans. be sure to record very precisely the number of turns it takes to open it up so you can re-install it the EXACT Same Way. as far as the 2.2 ECU goes, the 00 engine may be different and not run on the 96 ecu. there are a lot of differences.

there are only 2 ways i know to make the speedo work correctly, swap the speedo gear/s, i don't really know which one drive or driven. or change the tires to match the the trans, speedo gear. as far as the ecu, i'm not sure it matters, either one is going to be looking for the second speed sensor unless you have the correct pinout for a manual trans. the auto and manual ECUs are the same, but some how there is a pin groundes out ?? to let the computer know it is a manual. swapping an auto trans from a 96 lego to a 200 forester is not a common or easy thing to do . there is a change in the trans and the wiring harness around 99. i do not know if going to manul makes it doable or not. some one with auto to manual experience may know. .

90-99 the tone ring is only for the abs system. beyond 99 i don't know. i think at some point, some year, the tcu/ecu compares to the wheel speed but in the 90s they do not. the 90 - 99 autos have the speedo gear in the front diff and a rear speed sensor in the rear extension housing on the trans. it is a simple "magnetic" sensor like the crank sensor. it measures the revs of the output shaft to the rear wheels. the ECU / TCU, one or the other or both combined measure the speed difference and tell the trans when to send more output to the rear. manual trans do not have the rear speed sensor since the poewer transfer to the rear is through a viscous coupling or clutch? not an electronically controlled transfer clutch. tone rings are for the abs system not all cars in the early 90s have them. some of the early 90s cars have a speedo cable that runs from the front diff to the speedo and actully spins at the speedo. the computers then take their info from there.

ignore the head gasket part for now, address the code and fan problem. maybe the radiator and cap problem. that may be your only problem. rad caps are cheap.

has it been over heating ? are there bubbles in the overflow tank.? do you have black gunk in your radiator overflow bottle? this is the first time i have ever heard of a bad head gasket engine throwing a code. if the fan is not working then i would think that could cause it to over heat. and any overheating could contribute to bad head gaskets even if they started out good.

there is a speedo drive gear on in the front diff on the passenger side. which drives the speedo driven gear which is located underneath (down in the hole) the speed sensor on the passenger side of the auto trans. different cars have different sets of speedo gears depending on the size of the factory stock tires.

i think so. when i was removing mine, i cut the wire ties and then the unit had several inches of slack so it would hang down on to your foot if you were driving. on one of these wire runs the button was bundled and taped up with another several inches of wire so you had enough slack to mount the button near the hood release.

i think, if you follow the wiring harness back from the larger plug on the unit you may find a fat spot or bundle in the wiring wrapped in tape. that's how i found mine. in any event, the push button is connected to a wire that comes from the unit, so just trace them all. but mine was so hidden the wires and tape i almost over looked it. it is a very slender push button and if it has never been ''mounted'' it and an excess of wire may be taped up. i just went out and looked at my 97obw, the wires to the button are brown, both of them and it feels like they come from the connector furthest from the large one but i wouldn't bet money on it. id have to snip the wire ties that hold it in place to be sure. this outback has the alarm part of the system as well. my 97 GT does not and i think it does not have wires at this connector, if i remember correctly. slightly off topic, i was going to sell my unit because i don't use it (i already carry too many keys adding a remote is just one more thing i don't want, but my wife loves hers). but when i removed it my power locks didn't work correctly from the drivers door. this leads me to believe that at some point during the install you have to cut or disconnect or re-route a wire.

sorry about the idiot comment. i was wrong. this stuff will work. and you will not have any problem getting your 50$ back if it doesn't. enjoy your car.

i found mine as a "fat spot" in the wiring harness. does a new unit come with a piece of wiring harness?

i'm not an expert and i may have overstated my knowledge a bit, but it is my understanding that in most cases a coolant system pressure test will not ''discover'' bad head gaskets. this leads me to believe that , at least in the early stages, the leaking only occurs in high compression and combustion conditions. i do not believe that there is enough suction during the intake to create these conditions but i really do not know how much suction / vacuum is actually created. but then again, i'm not an expert.

excuse my french, but you are an idiot. that stuff is designed to stop coolant from leaking into the intake. that is not your problem, you have exhaust gas leaking into the coolant. that stuff cannot do what you want it to because it never gets a chance to seal the leak. the exhaust leaking into the coolant keeps it away from the leak. if it were leaking in the other direction maybe it would work. the white smoke from the exhaust pipe is the standard "head gasket" symptom of most cars, coolant leaking into the intake. but that is not your problem. you are wasting your time and money. you have a better chance of saying a prayer.

as you have figured out, the passenger side dip stick is for the front diff. the driver side dip stick is for the auto trans. refill the trans and make sure the level is correct before you drive it much. low fliud will damage the trans. the ATF dipstick can be hard to read, check both sides before you are satisfied. get the level correct for the cold marks and then adjust for hot. the ~4 qts. is right for thre trans since the torque converter does not drain. there is a drain plug for the front diff. i'd probably drain it and re-fill it, and maybe do it again when warm and let it drip dry and then refill with the correct amount.

tons of people have tried this and tons of other stuff and none of them work. you will be wasting your money.

when ever i talk to the mechanic here about a swap he says to just fix the engine that's in the car now. and i understand that, you know the2.5L engine and buying any used engine has a certain amount of risk in it. although with 2.2L subarus it may be a low risk. on the other hand, if you have just bought a used outback with bad head gaskets, you don't know how often or how severely it overheated. so in that case a swap would be a good idea. you don't want to put money into an engine that may have overheated bearing damage. in your case, money aside, the repair would be a better choice (iirc, i think you have had this car a while). if a swap is cheaper, then go that way. if you are going to go with a swap you have two choices regarding your old engine. i hate saying this, it goes against my nature to destroy an engine, but run it into the ground, get as many miles out of as you can. your other choice, pull it and sell it as needing head gaskets. the money you get for it will offset the cost of the 2.2L engine. .

I love this forum! It helps make owning a Subaru such a pleasure. This was exactly the information I needed. Thank you again everyone. Mike one or two of these hose go to the AC, so don't mess with them. i had to get the lower bolt / nut from below. it was a surprise to have to crawl under the car when the starter is on top but that's what i did.

the last quote i got around here was 900$ and that included checking the heads. i'm not sure about the t-belt.

i'm confused, seat belt latch, fold down seat back latch, door latch???

if the gaskets let go and the car overheats you are stuck. but if the car over heats for any other reason, it can aggravate the head gaskets. so just don't let it over heat. give it good maintenance. as i said in the other post, some are just going bad now with 180k miles on them. you will be tired of this car by then, 6 years from now.

in my opinion that's a good deal as long as the gaskets are not bad now. if you drive this car 45k miles with out a major incident you will be in good shape. at 105k miles (or 105 months) the timing belts are due. if you have to spend 1500 - 2000$ in a couple of three years it will still be better than buying another used car. hopefully you will go much longer before they ley go. it doesn't matter when the head gaskets let go, it is a pain and a major expense. but when you have them redone, you will be good for another 100k miles or more. how many miles do you drive a year.? .

read this and then use the search function to find more posts. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104353&highlight=head+gasket* i've been driving a 97 outback wagon for over 33k miles, now at 131K, with no problems. i know it could go bad at any time but so far so good. how much did you pay for your car.?

there is a known problem with bad pulley bearings on the h6. both of these idlers probably have the same bearing in them. if the pulley isn't torn up you can just replace the bearing. i sold grossgary a couple of them a while back for his car. it's the same bearing used on the ac idler in the lego/outback 95 - 99, i think. you might check with him. i may have some more bearings. but time and distance could be a problem.

96 2.2 auto into a 97 GT auto. shifts hard 1-2 but runs great else wise.