SUBARU3

Thanks all......great info! I have 4 NOS cast aluminum ones, so I appear to have the best ones to replace it with. Thanks! Todd

Thanks much. Todd

Hey all: Just a quick question........does a 1999 Forester Phase 2/2.5 have the same plastic oil separator plate on the back, as the mid-90s 2.2s? Or did they change it to metal? So then is the metal replacement plate the same for the 2.2s and the 2.5s? Thanks! Todd

The R12/ Gen 1 systems can be converted to use 134A. I have done 4 or 5 of them. However, the gen 1 systems were pathetically weak, even when new. I'd stick with the newer system parts if you can adapt them. Todd

Yes, all BRAT and cars (FWD) interchange for 77-81

There was a recall for the headlight circuit. Usually the problem was that the clips that hold the fuses loosened and resistance built up causing a heat problem. ( always pinch the clips together before replacing a fuse). Most Gen 1 cars have heat damaged plugs on the fuse box. The cure was to remove the light circuit and replace it with a fuse outside the factory fuse box. This problem was for 1980 cars, but the late 70s had a similar problem that Subaru repaired the same way. NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 83V026000 Date Owner's Notified: 19830425 Date Received by ODI: 19830303 Date Added to Databse: 19830311 Manufacturer's Involved: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. Manufacturer's Responsible for the Recall: SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. Manufacturer Campaign Number: Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS Potential Number Of Units Affected : 230041 Summary: THE DEFECT INVOLVES THE 25 AMP HEADLIGHT FUSE HOLDER. THERE MAY BE EXCESSIVE ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE CAUSED BY THE LOOSENESS OF THE RIVET HOLDING THE FUSE HOLDER TO THE TERMINAL PLATE. EXCESS RESISTANCE MAY CAUSE THE SOLDERED END OF THE FUSE TO MELT. AN OPEN CIRCUIT COULD OCCUR AND THE HEADLIGHTS WOULD NOT OPERATE. Consequence: Remedy: DEALER WILL REPLACE THE HEADLIGHT FUSE HOLDER WITH AN INLINE FUEL HARNESS KIT. Report Initiator: ODI Vehicles Report Regulation Part Number: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number: Notes: CUSTOMERS CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATIONS AUTO SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).

If you pull that bottom rocker molding off, I could use as many of the "steel" clips that hold it on as are good. Easy job. Let me know. Thanks, Todd

Gen 1 4WDs did not come in automatics......only 4 speeds. The Gen 1 automatics were all FWD. Todd

or a 2WD Subaru. The last of the 2WDs were 1996 and I have noticed they are getting harder and harder to fine and the price is going up on them too. Impreza 93-96 Legacy thru 1996 I return mid 30s-high 30s on a 95 Impreza FWD 1.8 "L" Todd

I take a few sets too. I can provide some pics of most decals. Let me know what may still be needed. Todd

Looking for this: 4S3BH6257Y7308735 It's just too much for 1 car! Much appreciated! Todd

Thanks Emily.....I'll check those out. Best! Todd

2000 legacy SOHC and a 1999 Forester SOHC. What would be the difference, if any and how would one deal with those differences? (Putting the 2000 engine in a 1999 Forester). Thanks Much! Todd

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! www.vintagesubaru.com Todd

Great dialog here! I'm really enjoying this reading! One thing is for sure, as gas, fuel, heating oil and diesel goes higher and higher, our society will be in for MAJOR changes. And I mean MAJOR! Smaller, self sustaining communities, where the residents depend on one another. Manufacturing will return to the US and the "global economy" will end. I believe in some version of the "peak oil" theory. It's going to be an interesting as the next few years go by. I'm sure we will get a sense of direction by then. http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/ Todd

Well, I went to a different shop, (more of a commercial tire shop), and they fixed it for $20! They used the specs from the service manual. Old alignment guy said it was not too bad from the Pep boy job, but he said he could have done better! Super nice guy. No more Pep boys! Thanks guys! Todd

I sill find it amazing that 30 years ago...30 YEARS!!! Subaru was able to turn out these mpgs. (Directly from brochures) 1978 Sedans 2/4 door 4 speed 41 Hwy/29 City 5 Speed 43/29 automatic 31/25 Wagons 4 speed 34/25 5 speed 40/27 Automatic 31/25 4WD 34/25 And these cars were CLEAN running, no catalyst! My 79 GF ran as clean as a 1995 car on the dyno! I also get fairly close to those #s in MPGs Size matters, so I predict a return to the econoboxes to keep price low and fuel economy up. $5.00 a gallon will ratically change America. Todd

It will be interesting what Subaru does to increase gas efficiency. I think a return to FWD, or RWD is a given. (Option for AWD). Subaru really needs to work on this, or lose market share. Todd ________________________________________ A Porsche 911 is a marvel of automotive engineering and an object of desire for people who've worked hard enough, and been lucky enough, to have $80,000 or more to drop on an exotic sports car. One thing a Porsche 911 doesn't do is get 41.3 miles per gallon in city and highway driving. That could be a problem, because under the fuel-efficiency targets recently proposed by the federal government, Porsche cars sold in the 2015 model year (which begins in the fall of 2014) could be required to average 41.3 miles per gallon to avoid fines levied under the revised U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules. Most of the discussion of federal efforts to boost the average fuel efficiency of new vehicles to 35 mpg by 2015 has focused on how the new standard will do in large sport-utility vehicles. But high-performance cars -- particularly those sold by relatively small manufacturers such as Porsche, Lotus, Ferrari and Subaru -- are also targets of the proposed reforms to the CAFE regime. Overall, the new standards put a tougher burden on luxury and specialty manufacturers. By 2015, BMW AG, for example, is supposed to sell a fleet of cars that averages 37.7 mpg. Toyota, however, will have a fleet-wide passenger car target of 34.6 mpg, and General Motors Corp.'s car fleet will have to average 34.7 mpg. If you have been griping that Uncle Sam seems to wants everyone to drive around in a midsized sedan with a small four-cylinder engine, you can now assure your friends and relatives that you're not paranoid. The challenge to high-performance sports cars is a consequence of the government's move to regulate the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks according to "footprint," essentially the number of square feet a vehicle covers when parked in the driveway. Consumers tend to distinguish cars and trucks by attributes such as body style, number of doors, resale value, brand image, engine displacement and functionality -- distinctions embedded in automotive marketing. A Toyota Camry and a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti are both categorized as "midsize cars" by the Environmental Protection Agency, but no one would seriously compare them. But based on their footprints, the Camry and the Ferrari 612 are roughly in the same EPA class and by the middle of the next decade will be required to average more than 30 miles to the gallon. That might not be so tough on the Camry, but today's Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, with its 540 horsepower, 12-cylinder motor, is rated at just 9 miles in city driving, and 16 mpg on the highway. The government's proposal plots footprints and mileage on a curve, with cars below 45 square feet in area required to average around 35 to 40 mpg by 2015, according to an analysis of the proposed CAFE rules by the Alliance of International Automobile Manufacturers. The mileage targets drop steeply for cars larger than 48 square feet. Light trucks have a much easier curve, with the maximum below 35 mpg for very small trucks, and roughly 25 mpg by 2015 for large trucks. As far as the government is concerned, the Porsche 911 is a "minicompact car." As such, it should be capable of delivering about 40 mpg by the 2015 model year. Right now, the average for Porsche's fleet of sports cars is about 1 mpg under the current 27.5 mpg standard, and Porsche pays fines to the government to continue selling its cars here. More from Yahoo! Finance: • The Best Cars for Lean Times • Top 10 Deeply Discounted 2008 Cars • What Your Car Says to the Opposite Sex Visit the Family & Home Autos Center It's not just expensive sports cars that have a problem. My Subaru WRX is also in the crosshairs. The WRX, which has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, is rated at just 18 mpg in the city, 25 on the highway, for a combined 20 mpg rating. By 2015, Subaru's fleet average will have to be 40.8 mpg under the rules. That means a lot fewer cars like my WRX. "In choosing the footprint" as the basis for fuel-economy regulation, "smaller high performance cars get nailed," says Mike Stanton, president of the Alliance of International Automobile Manufacturers. "Maybe that's what they want to do." Of course, nothing in Washington is over until it's over, and even then fights over regulation can drag on and on. The government hasn't made its CAFE proposals final, and is awaiting comments on its proposals. It will get plenty, including arguments that the law should allow an exemption for specialty cars made by low volume manufacturers such as Ferrari or Porsche. Meanwhile, specialty car makers must weigh some difficult options. They can carry on offering the kinds of vehicles that have got them where they are today, and build the costs of fines into their pricing and profitability plans. They can try to re-engineer high performance cars to meet the standards -- which carries the risk that the resulting vehicles wouldn't be recognizable to their customers. One tactic could be to redesign cars so that they can qualify for the less stringent mileage targets offered to light trucks. (Porsche's already got a vehicle like this, the Cayenne, which has sold well but also outraged the sensibilities of some Porsche purists.) They could seek shelter under the wings of larger, mass-market manufacturers, which sell lots of super-efficient cars to even out the fleet-wide averages, and perhaps cushion the costs of fines and high-tech fuel-economy fixes. (Porsche's expanding alliance with Volkswagen points in this direction.) Tom Baloga, vice president of engineering for BMW's U.S. arm, says BMW has concluded it can meet the standards without compromising its image. But it won't be easy or cheap. The way the government's proposed footprint/mileage curves work, a BMW 3-Series, at 45 square feet, will need to average 37 mpg. But a 5-Series, with a footprint four square feet larger, will be allowed to average 31 mpg. This steep curve puts a lot of pressure on high performance cars such as the M3. Though it might appear tempting for BMW to simply make its future 3-Series cars as large as the current 5-Series, Mr. Baloga says that's not what BMW wants to do. "We are going into this with the idea that we aren't going to compromise our ultimate driving machine characteristics. We are going to find a way to have the best of both worlds," Mr. Baloga says. That means, he says, more aggressive use of sophisticated engine technology, lighter weight materials, fuel-saving systems such as idle stop and further "electrification" of the car. BMW -- which has sold mainly six- or eight-cylinder cars in recent years -- will likely offer more four-cylinder engines, including diesels, going back to its roots as a high-performance, four-cylinder car company, he says. "Everything will cost more," he says. "We have to do this more efficiently to keep costs from skyrocketing out of control."

I see a rust spot.....on the right fender. It's huge, about the size of a grain of rice. I'd sell it quick, to me. You don't want that rust problem on your hands! NICE car!!! You are so lucky! Oh, that bumper is nothing to fix!!!!!!!!!!! Todd

Gen 1's are very reliable if maintained. I would drive mine anywhere. Just keep a travel box with you, containing some items. Long trips should have a few more. Voltage reg fuel pump fusible link belts/hoses/clamps fuses clutch cable accelerator cable maybe an alternator accelerator pump and a few carb pieces/jets bulbs/headlight tools flashlight I sure I'm missing a few things, but these are the most common. "let you down along the road items". I drove a Gen 1 back and forth 350 miles, 3X week not too long ago! Gen 1's get you back in touch with "driving", the road and being a part of the car. New cars are boring to me! Kinda like the VW bugs. Todd

Yes, 134A is the refrigerant used in current cars and is the gas to replace R12. You can convert to 134A and save a ton if you have to recharge. R12 is very pricey and you have to have a license to buy it. 134A is over the counter. 134A is not as cold as R12, but the difference is minimal, if the conversion is done correctly. Todd

I just replaced the steering rack in my 79 wagon with a brand new NOS one with new inner and outer tie rods. I took it to the shop to have the toe adjusted and they were unable to do it on the computer. The computer did not have settings for it. I HAD the numbers for them, but they had no way to enter it manually. What the heck...is my car too old to align? Well the car was on the rack, level and ready to do, so they did the best they could do visually. All seems well afterwards. Nice tight, true, no pull steering. Think I'm OK? It was Pep boys. The alignment guy was older and had been doing it for years, so I felt he knew what he was doing. The only adjustment is toe, so it can't be that far off if the car drives well. Otherwise, who has a system that goes back to the 70s?? Todd

Thanks guys!

Are the cam and crank seals on a 99 Forester SOHC 2.5 the same as those on a 95 2.2 engine. I believe they are the same. Todd

Exactly, the Mini York system is not of the more common and quiet wobble plate design. It's crank and pistons.