hankosolder2

Thanks for the info. I checked an '02 Legacy GT a while back and I'm pretty sure that had 3pts in the center rear position. It's important info for people with one child (i.e. the center rear is the safest position for a booster seat, but they don't work well with just a lap belt.) You gave me an idea when you mentioned finding a seller of a 2000 Forester. I'll do a google image search for a 2000 Forester back seat and see if I can find anything. Nathan

I guess the subject heading says it all. I'm wondering if a 2000 forester has three point belts for the center back seat. I did some half-hearted internet searches and came up dry... Thanks in advance. Nathan

I don't think valve-piston interference is the problem here, as a '91 is a non interference engine. Improperly seated TC sounds likely, but as another possiblity, are you sure you used the correct flex plate? I read that there are two different depths (one for 2.2s and one for 2.5s.) Nathan

Well, it is INCH pounds, not FT-lbs. So that is something like 7.5 ft-lbs. Are you suggesting that the torque is too high or too low?

It might be a good idea to closely monitor your tires. If you see even the slightest traces of uneven wear or cupping, you'll know the problem has not been solved and will have the opportunity to solve it before the tires are ruined.

Bear in mind that if you have any when the car is in gear, the spring will not help with that. It's only to "bias" the shifter to go into the 3-4 gate when the car is in neutral. It IS easier to find 3rd with a working spring, though. Good luck. Nathan

Mine's been missing for 5+ years now with no clutch or other issues. Whoever pulled the engine last time left it off. When I did a 2.2 swap, I didn't realize it was supposed to be there until it was all back together. I don't do any off roading or anything though. The clearance between the crossmember and the engine is pretty tight- a stone or something would have to be thrown forwards and up to get in there.

Thanks!

I've got a '95 Legacy Wagon with rusted doors and a line on some '98 Legacy Outback doors- will they interchange OK? (Yes, I also do own a '98 OBW, but the Leg and the OB are parked 60 miles away from each other, so I can't quickly compare myself) Thanks! Nathan

I think you'd be better off starting with a different engine. If it was run more than seconds with no oil pressure, there's been bearing damage- the only question is how much. Did the oil pressure warning light come on during your test drive? Does the oil pressure light work? I'm not saying that it's impossible that you could replace the HG and get another 20K out of it, but it's more likely that it'll toss a rod in the first 500 miles- especially as you've noted that the car became louder after the losing all the oil incident. Nathan

As described, they are in parallel, not series, so you're good on that count.

Have you notified the NHTSA about this issue? It might be a good idea- if this is not a fluke failure, a lot of folks could be tooling around in dangerously corroded cars. Nathan

Of course... too rich or too lean can cause missing. I don't remember how the injectors are shaped (symmetrical?) but you could possibly swap injectors from cylinders that are missing to the OK cylinders and see if the miss follows the injectors or stays in the same place. Nathan

You might also want to double check valve clearances- did the machine shop set them? One other thing occurred to me- if the heads were milled too much, the valve timing may be fractionally off (less distance between crank sprocket and cam sprockets.) Might be enough to confuse the ECM seeing too much timing spread between the crank and cam sensor pulses. If this is the case, you might be to fix the issue with adjustable cam sprockets if anyone makes 'em for Subies.

GG- When you say misfire- is it just throwing codes or actually running poorly as well? Have you done a compression test? How about injectors? Haven't seen a lot of problems in my limited experience, but if the car was sitting awaiting repairs for a long time & the gas went off- or crud got into the lines while it was disassembled. Just a few thoughts. Nathan

Frankly, I wouldn't trust claimed odometer readings without some back up documentation (either seeing the odometer in the car the engine is being pulled from, running a car fax on the VIN associated with the engine, etc.) Mileage (within reason) also isn't a particularly good predictor of condition anyway. I'd take an EJ22 with 200K and regular oil changes over something with 75k that had not had regular oil changes... look at the dipstick and see if it looks varnished, look at the condition of the car it came out of (rear end accident damage is ideal, as you know the car was at least running when it was bashed, but there's no risk of damage to the timing components due to the accident.) I had a yard pull something similar on me- I specifically asked for a engine from an automatic donor car and they swore up and down that the engines were interchangable and went so far to argue "why should there be a difference?" I explained that the emissions certification process, the lower drivetrain losses of a stick probably allowed it squeak by EPA specs for NOx emissions w/o an EGR valve, but nooo.... Fortunately, the only engine they had was from an automatic. My dad has a '95 Legacy with 5MT and no egr so I knew firsthand the info I had read here about the difference was correct. Good luck in your hunt. Nathan

Are you talking about the o2 sensor in the rear or front converter? The rear o2 sensor is only there to monitor the performance of the catalytic converter; it doesn't adjust the fuel trims like the front o2 sensor. I would imagine that someone plugged the hole and installed one of those electronic oxygen sensor simulator gadgets to avoid throwing a check engine light. (Or maybe they didn't and the car has the check engine light on?) If it runs well and you don't live in a state with intrusive inspections, you might want to think about letting it ride.

There's the possibility of two different issues here. 1.) Viscous coupler in your trans could be failing. (This is a manual trans, so no clutch packs like the auto trans.) If so, there's no "additive" that would make a difference, as it's a sealed unit. You just need to replace it or the entire trans. 2. If your car is equipped with a limited slip rear differential ( I don't know if it is) the internal clutch packs could be binding. In which case, adding an additive to the rear diff could help. Failing that, the rear diff will need replacement or repair. Are all your tires well matched in circumference? Nathan

Guy, I'm not sure that answers from a primarily North American Subaru board will be relevant to you- the 2.0 engine was never sold here and likely has a different torque curve and gearing than the 2.5 liter engine sold in our '04 model year cars. In general, supposedly upshifting "early" but not so early as to require the engine to lug in the next gear is the best. Why not keep close track of your fuel economy and experiment with different shift points and see what works best with your particular car and driving conditions? Nathan

An engine from a '96 should not be a phase II if it's an EJ22. If memory serves the phase II ej22s have the spark plug access through the valve covers, whereas the Phase I engine have the spark plugs angling out of the top of the heads. If it's a phase I it's not a good match for your vehicle.

There are (if I remember correctly) no fewer than three relays which control the fans in a '95 legacy. There are also two separate fused circuits. There's a fuse under the hood for one of them, and there's also a fuse in the fusebox by the Driver's side kick panel. You're going to have to do some circuit tracing, check both fuses, check the relay drive signal coming from the ECM, etc.

Thanks for your thoughts. Makes sense!

Our '98 OBW now has 213K on it. Recently changed the front struts and lower ball joints. I'm worried about both the inner and outer tie rod ends. There's no perceptible play in them, but the lack of friction they display (i.e. very easy to rock and twist them) makes me a little concerned. They're definitely 'floppier' than most I've checked, but there really doesn't seem to be any lost motion. I'm wondering how dangerous this might or might not be. I once brought a knuckle/hub/spindle assembly to a machine shop and they freaked out that the ball joint was so floppy and low friction (though it had no actual play I could detect.) Anyway, money's a bit tight and the car also needs tires, a lower A-arm bushing and a few other things, so I'm trying to decide what to prioritize. Normally, I'd get the suspension tip top first, alignment + tires and be done with it, but.... Finally, any recommendations on a good value inner tie rod end tool that's sold by Amazon.com? (I have a gift certificate....) They have the Lisle universal kit and a few other options. Nathan

Ah, you never said SUS- the "Sedan Outback." As others have said, it's probably a 2.5 then. My apologies. I was doing my best with the info I had.