hankosolder2

Well, this gets interesting. She took it to a local trans shop for a second opinion, and they claim it's the rear diff. Evidently, there are tons of metal filings and supposedly chunks in the fluid. It's obvious that either the dealer misdiagnosed or the trans shop misdiagnosed. I sort of think that a tech who is unfamiliar with Subaru AWD might tend to falsely suspect the rear diff...so it's a bit of a mystery.

This car has been in the family since new, has never had any major repairs aside from HG. (i.e. the rear diff and trans are the orginals.) It never used to have torque bind. Unfortunately, I'm 200 miles away from the car now, so I have to rely on my memory of driving the car some time ago when the problem was just starting out. My observations _at the time_ were that the car was fine 99% of the time, no noise or vibration- but once or twice it bound so sharply when I pulled into a parking space that it felt like something was going to fail catastrophically in the drive train. I'm going to advise her to get a second opinion and see what they say. If it's not more reasonable, then I will drive on up, pull the rear section of the driveshaft and be done with it. Thanks for your thoughts, GG.

OK, I got a copy of the dealership's estimate- they want to replace the prop/ driveshaft and the transfer clutch valve assembly (is this the Duty C solenoid assy with the valve body?) I'm a bit puzzled why they want to replace the driveshaft. Presumably the U-joints are bad, but it seems odd that this would fail at the same time as the duty C....

I have a family member with an '02 Legacy GT (4EAT). It has violent torque bind under certain circumstances...tires are matched, and evenly worn, no obvious issues, no trans warning lights. The torque bind is in the form of one or two really sharp jerking/ snapping sensations in low speed corners or backing up. It's not the more mild "shuddering" sensation I have experienced with other subies. Dealership wants $1500 to (I think) rebuild the transfer clutches. (I will get the exact details of their estimate later.) Funds are very tight for the owner, I don't want to undertake repairing the clutches myself. Based on how violent the sensation is, I'm doubting that fluid flush and fills will solve the issue. (Perhaps I'm wrong?) Would it be possible to pull the rear section of the driveshaft to make this car front wheel drive? Do the 3rd gen cars have a FWD fuse? Failing that, are there any good indie Subaru shops near Grand Rapids, MI who might be able to beat the dealer's price? Nathan

A lack of boost will cause a firm, high pedal, not extra pedal travel- assuming that you're describing the problem accurately. A momentary loss of boost could cause a firm high pedal, and then when the boost returned, the pedal would feel like it was sinking (down to the normal position it would be in for that given amount of pedal pressure) due to the assist- but a booster can't increase the pedal travel by itself.

Probably not reasonably so. It's electronically controlled. You'd need the TCU (trans computer) for the CVT and that's desgined to talk to the matching engine ECU which will be way different from yours . A complete engine, trans and wiring harness swap MIGHT be possible, but it'd be a huge undertaking.

For the four pin TPS, checking pins 2 and 3 are definitely wrong assuming the diagram in Haynes is correct. Pin 4 is the wiper. You could measure between 4 and 3 OR 4 and 2. The resistance readings will move in opposite directions. (i.e. one pair of pins will read max resistance with the throttle closed and min resistance with the throttle open.) The other pair will read min resistance with the throttle closed and max resistance with the throttle open. You're really looking for a smooth, consistent change in resistance as the throttle is opened rather than a specific number. The idle switch is between pins 1 and 2. It should have continuity (zero ohms or close to it) with the throttle closed and should be open (no continuity) when the throttle is open. To adjust it, you're supposed to put a .028 feeler gauge between the throttle stop screw and the throttle stopper. The idle switch should still be closed. With a .035 feeler gauge, it should be open. Nathann

That makes sense logically Dave, but I think you can read out the SRS trouble codes even in a car as old as '98 Legacy (it will blink the SRS light to show the codes when you connect some test pins under the dash) so the SRS computer _can_ identify specific faults. In this day and age of inexpensive electronic hardware, IMO there's really no excuse for having a complete safety system shut off due to a single non critical fault. I'd love to have an auto engineer with experience in this area chime in with the logic behind setting it up this way. I just had a thought. I wonder if the manufacturer would have to recertify the car for each mode of operation. (i.e. the seatbelt pretensioner fails, but the front airbag still deploys.) There would be multiple possibilities of combinations of working & non working SRS components, they might have to crash test the car for each and every scenario. If any fault shuts the whole system down, they'd only have to meet whatever crash standards apply-if any-to a car with inoperative SRS. Well, it's a theory.

I think you are measuring across the wrong pins. This should be a 4-pin TPS. Let's ignore the idle switch for now. The variable resistor portion of the TPS works like this. One "end" of the resistive element goes to the power supply. The other "end" goes to ground. The "wiper" is a moving contact which slides across the reisistive element. You want to measure from the wiper to one of the end pins. If you measure from end pin to end pin, the reistance will be constant regardless of the position of the throttle. You really want to look for "dead" spots (i.e. the resistance should slowly and progressively change as you slowly open the thottle.) If it's jerky or the readings are erattic, bad TPS. Good luck, Nathan

Re: airbags. You could, at your own risk, replace any airbag inflator with a resistor of equivalent value, and the computer will have no way of knowing that there's not an airbag present. So, install the non side airbag seats, solder resistors to the side airbag wiring harness and your front bags should still deploy in a crash, and you won't have any warning lights on the dash. (This is based on the assumption that the airbags use conventional inflators and nothing too exotic. I know some newer vehicles have multi-stage inflators which might be harder to simulate.) It seems _really_ stupid to have the logic shut down all the airbags if there's a single fault in any of the systems. So, the clockspring for the driver's bag fails, and the passenger has to eat the dashboard in a crash because the passenger's bag won't deploy even though it could? That's moronic.

There's a cheat you can use to get around the catalytic converter code-- It involves screwing the REAR oxygen sensor into two drilled out spark plug non-foulers (it's a threaded metal sleeve which happens to be the same size as oygen sensors.) It holds the sensor out of the exhaust stream a bit reducing its sensitivity. You will not be able to get an honest garage to do this job for you, so you'll have to DIY or find someone who will do it as a side job. Search the forum for spark plug non fouler or code P0420 and you'll find the info you need. As long as the car is not showing a check engine light, you should probably pass. It would be wise to 'dirty up' the non foulers so they don't look shiny and new and catch an inspectors eyes if they put the car up on the rack for the inspection.

Without disassembly, it's impossible to tell, but I suspect that there's an issue with the clutch fork (there's a pivot ball inside the bellhousing which the clutch fork pivots on... the metal actually wears through and the fork can bend... which would explain your temporary reprieve when you tightened the cable.) Could also be the throwout/release bearing, or a faulty pressure plate. You'll probably have to separate the engine and trans and inspect everything carefully. (Or just do a complete clutch kit, fork and cable....) Good luck Nathan

This is perhaps a silly question, but you said "six star head gaskets and permatex RTV." You didn't put any sealant on the head gaskets, did you? Also, did any coolant get into the bores during your HG replacement? If so, rings can rust if the car sits during the job, resulting in mechanical havoc later.

I looked at that procedure (which seems to be more of a 'this is the general concept, cut approximately here and jumper pcb traces a/r and cram the board in a box' than a step-by step) and it looks like a huge pain. There are lot of traces to jumper. Whatever you do, don't use a high wattage soldering gun! Short of a blowtorch, that's the most inappropriate tool possible for delicate pcb work. A low wattage, fine tipped, preferably temperature controlled iron is the only way to go.

Nipper, I'm an electronics tech with experience working on boards with tiny SMD parts... got any pictures or links to the mod procedure so I can see what we're dealing with?

Nipper, I'm an electronics tech with experience working on boards with tiny SMD parts... got any pictures or links to the mod procedure so I can see what we're dealing with?

But are the rocker assemblies on the 96+ roller rockers? That's the combo I really want- roller rockers + manual adj lifters. I'll probably go for Delta camshafts like you did on your Frankenmotor build. Based on your statement about the need to change the rockers _and_ the camshafts, I'm guessing Delta has different versions for the hyrdo vs solid lifters ...

Yes, I guess you could drill and tap the rocker arms where the HLAs go and put in manual adjusters... you're probably right about the hassle/reward ratio not making it worth the effort. I've got two sets of HLAs, so I can play mix-n-match if some are faulty- I just like the simplicity of manual adjusters, so it's hard to let that go....

I've been gathering parts to build a "frankenmotor" - I've got '95 Legacy 2.2 dual port heads with roller rockers and HLAs and will be using a '98 OBW 2.5 block. I was wondering if there was a way to convert these to manual valve adjustment, but keep the roller rockers. I gather that the later ej22s with the manual valve adjustment are NOT roller rockers? Is there any way to replace the HLAs in the roller rocker arms with the adjustment screws? (In case you're wondering why- I don't want to deal with noisy/sticky HLAs of unknown condition on my junkyard heads, and I like the idea of the lower engine friction of the roller rockers and manual adjustment.) Thanks in advance for your thoughts- Nathan

About the only way a MT car can be revving at a high RPM and not be able to make it up a hill is clutch slip. Am I understanding the description of the symptoms correctly? Or do you mean it can rev to high RPM when the engine is not under load? If oil has leaked on the the clutch or it is misadjusted (this is cable operated clutch on the 2.2 brighton, yes?) it doesn't matter how recently it was replaced, it can be bad. Good luck, Nathan

I'm wondering if it still IS indirectly knock sensor related. Say you had a bad engine ground or something... with the knock sensor physically floated but electrically grounded to the block, that bad ground noise could work its way into the ECU and cause it to pull timing. (This is purely theoretical speculation.) You could try the same experiment but use a different ground point for the sensor. You could float all the knock sensor wiring at the ECU and install a fakeout resistor between the knock sensor pin and ECU ground of a value equal to what the knock sensor measures with an ohmmeter. I somehow remember someone saying 180K ohms, but I could be wrong. The ECU itself could have an internal fault. Unlikely, but.... It must have an A/D converter to process the knock sensor signal... that could be noisy, have a bad solder connection, etc. Nathan

Just a hypothetical example: Suppose _you_ never drive over 80MPH, so you spec lower speed rated tires. Now, suppose down the road, you sell the car to someone who doesn't check the speed rating of the tires and they like to max the car out... or suppose you loan the car to someone who maxes the car out, or suppose your teenager borrows the car and maxes the car out.... All of these are unlikely scenarios, but I wouldn't say that a tire store would be totally unreasonable to refuse to mount tires which don't meet or exceed OEM speed specs.

Sorry to hear that, glad that you're OK. Nathan

I thought Blu was a keeper for life. What happened?

I had something similar happen to me. Responded to an ad for a car with an O.B.O. price. I test drove the car, and offered the guy his FULL asking price in cash, on the spot. It turns out he had made a tentative sale the prior night to someone else. (Thanks for not telling me first, buddy! I had even called earlier that day to see if the car had sold yet.) He asks me if I'll go any higher on price (no!) and then calls up the other party and wrings another $100 out of them. I told him that when I left, my offer left with me, and it did. Nathan