guy123

Thanks for the advice. Today I pulled the brakes apart again and discovered the pads were glazed over. I ended up replacing the pads, rotors, and hanger clips (sliders?), and lubed everything all up and made sure everything moved freely. Now everything seems to be good- after i took it out for a few hard stops to seat the pads correctly. I think that might have been some of the problem- not seating the pads properly, although it was time for the rotors too. The hanger clips or whatever they're called also may have been too dry and preventing the pads from moving away from the rotors. Anyway, hopefully this is the end of this ordeal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I recently did a bit of a brake job on my 96 Legacy L wagon. This involved resurfacing the rotors on the front, and new pads all four wheels, (the rears did not need resurfacing.) I ended up running into a bunch of problems, (most of which were because of buying crappy front pads.) That's all done, got some good high quality pads, everything went back together great, brakes now work very well with NO noise or squealing at all when braking. The only thing is, when the car is rolling with no brakes applied, if I have the windows down I can hear a distinct brushing sound- faint, but apparent. (this is around 5-10 mph) Sounds just like the pads are brushing the rotors a little too much. All disc brakes drag a tiny bit, that I know, just seems like mine might be too much. The sound was not there before the brake job. I was thinking maybe it would go away once the brakes broke in, but it's been over 150 miles and the sound is just as apparent. I re-bled the brakes today, but that had no effect. Will this go away, or is there something I can do to eliminate it? I just want to be sure this isn't rubbing enough to effect pad wear or fuel economy. I'm probably just being paranoid, but oh well. Thanks.

On the topic of the axles- I just wanted to note that I had my front axles replaced about a month ago and the total came to around $450. This wasn't at a stealership or anything either, this was actually done by a mechanic I know personally.

I believe it's also pretty well known that fram oil filters lack backflow check valves to prevent oil from draining from the filter after engine shutdown. This can mean dry starts that may cause a little extra wear over time. Brands like Purolator and generally all OEM filter have this valve. Aside from that, I've used their air filters without a problem, their fuel filters are probably ok too.

Thanks for the info guys. And it's a nice thing that I work for a mechanic. Took the car to the shop yesterday morning and tested the charging system- indeed the alternator was almost dead. Put a new one in by the end of the day, and no more sound, no more smell. And Nipper, you were right- my driver side window worked perfectly again right after i put the new alternator in. The express-down feature is running smoothly. I was a little surprised that of all things that was affected by the alt., but I suppose stranger things occur all the time. Thanks for the input again.

1996 Legacy L wagon, Auto, EJ22E. Well for the most part my Legacy is now running great. All the work I've done has basically brought it back up to top running condition. Today I finished putting in a new water pump and got the car back together, started it up and heard belt squeal for about 15 secs, but that went away. Drove for a bit, everything was great. So I drive it to a store, and everything was perfect. I get out, go into the store, and come out about 10 mins later. Start the car again and I hear a low whurring sound. I figure it is still left over from the work i did- maybe a belt rubbing a little bit, so i wait for 20 secs for it to go away, but it doesn't. So i start driving slowly, but it still doesn't go away. The store is only 2 blocks from my house, so I decide to drive it back home to look at it. The whurring sound continues, and I keep the car under 25 mph, but then I start smelling something burning, smells like rubber. So i get it home, sound is still there, I shut the car off and open the hood and the smell is pretty strong. The sound seems to be coming from the P/S / alternator area, so i took that belt off and started the car. No sound. So I haved it rulled down to the Alternator, the P/S pump, or the belt/pulleys that drive them both. I have read other threads of people who smelled a burning smell from their alternator, so I'm inclined to think i have the same thing. But here's the other thing... At the exact same time- that same 2 block drive home, my driver side power window started jumping up about a quarter inch, then back down every 10 seconds or so- this was after I rolled the window completely down using the express-down feature on the power window switch. (after it popped a quarter inch up, it wouldn't allow me to roll the window up or down until it popped back down.) When I didn't use the express-down feature, the window went all the way down and back up with no problems. I have seached this too and see that it is most likely the express-down feature that is malfunctioning, and can be fixed by replacing the switch. So even though I think I may have answers, I wanted to post this anyway to see if anyone had any other ideas or advice. I'm just suspicious at how these both occurred at the same time, and if it is the alternator that's causing the smell- both these malfuctioning parts are electrical. So I wanted to see if you guys have any thoughts. As always, your input is greatly appreciated, Thanks!!

Well here's an update just to tight up the thread. I just came back from a 700 mile road trip I took between Wed and Fri. The car performed great. Oil is clean and clear, coolant is clean, engine performance is optimum, temp stayed rock solid right where it should be, even with high speed cruising on the highway. Looks like there aren't any lasting effects from the overheat, although I'll keep my eye out. I'm going to continue to be careful, as i should always be anyway, but I'm feeling pretty confident. Thanks for everyone's input.

Ok, just an update: I ended up stumbling over a good deal on a coade reader at a local auto parts store so i bought it. Turns out the check engine light was indeed from the IAC. I cleared the code, check engine light didn't come back on, all is well. I went on a little road trip Wed-Fri and the car drove great, no problems whatsoever. I'm very happy . Thanks again for the input!

Thanks for the encouragement, that really helps . I wanted to add that the IAC was making that electronic sound when the ignition was off and the keys were in my pocket. I unplugged it with the ignition off but might have turned the ignition on with the solenoid unplugged, i can't remember. I'm going to hit up autozone in the morn and hopefully that will clear some confusion.

Ok, today I opened it up and found what had been rubbing- one of the rubber seals on the timing cover had been sticking up and rubbing. No problem, all fixed. So I put it back together and started it up, seemed to fire up fine. I turned it off and heard a faint electronic sound coming from on to of the engine. hmm. found it was probably the IAC solenoid so I unplugged it to make sure. Sound stopped. Plugged it back in, sound started again, but after a minute it went off on it's own. Went and started the car again, and the check engine light came on. Before doing any work the car was doing great today (even after my little overheating last night that i posted seperately about.) The light came on only after i did this work, and the only sensor or anything electrical i got near was the IAC. So I figure it must be a code for the IAC. The idle seemed a tad higher when i drove it with the check engine light on. Should I be worried? Did the IAC solenoid get messed up or something when i unplugged it, or could it have gone bad that quick? I might have turned the ignition on with this sensor unplugged, would that throw the code? Would I be experiencing very poor idle if the IAC was bad? Ugh. These past few days haven't been that great for my car, I'm hoping that this isn't a big deal. Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the info. I didn't correctly bleed the air out and I'm inclined to say that was the problem, with an air bubble inside expanding and pushing coolant out. I'll read up on how to correctly bleed out the air so that this doesn't happen in the future.

I'm an idiot. I clearly screwed something up today and I want to know what you guys think... Here's the deal- I changed the coolant today, filled it up, let the engine idle a little while, followed directions- obviously a simple change, I've done it tons of times, no problem. So I'm driving the car later. I look down and all of a sudden my temp gauge has spiked at the top. Oh crap. I'm on the freeway at the time and get the next exit like a quarter mile ahead, make it to a parking lot, pop the hood. The radiator is cold, the coolant recovery tank is filled to the brim. I take the rad cap off, hear some pressure get relieved, then put the cap back on. When i do that the radiator starts sucking the coolant out of the reservoir. The car is off when this is occurring. I also notice that the engine doesn't seem to be radiating a rediculous amount of heat or anything, as i would expect it to. So the rad ends up sucking down almost the whole tank, and i added maybe a cup of extra coolant and it was full. Start it up, temp gauge goes back down. Drive home, everything is fine, seems that the engine just didn't have coolant. My question is, assuming that the gauge was spiked for maybe 4-5 minutes depending on how long it took me to notice, did something get toasted? This is a 96 legacy, 2.2, auto. 107k miles. My main concern is the head gaskets, while i know they are strong on this engine. I checked the oil cap for coolant residue after driving home- clean as a whistle. Exhaust is clean, no smoke at all. Everything seems as usual. Should I be concerned about some symptoms showing in the next few days? Are there other possible damages other than the HG's I'm forgetting about? I would think I'd need to run it real hot for a longer period of time to blow something like a rod bearing. Again, the engine didn't seem to be radiating any more heat tha normal after this happened. Does the temp gauge spike before it gets so hot to do damage? I really appreciate your help, please pardon my long message- I'm a bit scared . Thanks.

yeah, the noise gets faster when i rev higher. I'll get it apart tomorrow and have a look.

I just replaced my cam seals and oil pump seals because they had been leaking. This of course required that the timing belt be taken out and put back in. Everything went fine: no more oil leaks, timing is right on, everything is good. The only thing is, there's a noise coming from the timing belt. The sound is like kind of a light scratching sound, not consistant put repeating maybe 2 times a second. I ruled out the drive belts and took off the driver side timing cover and it was obvious it was coming from in there. I figured it was just because the t-belt might have gotten a little dusty during the assembly. I assumed it was a bad idea to apply anything like belt dressing, and i hate that stuff anyway (always seems to first make things better, then the noise comes back even louder.) Anyway,I decided to spray a little water on the belt thinking it might help, maybe wash the stuff off and stop the noise- and water dries so it wouldn't hurt. Did that, the noise stopped, I was happy. But today i heard the noise again. So my question is, is there anything i can use to stop this for good that won't hurt anything? Thanks.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. So a quart of ATF run with the motor oil for a few hundred miles will get my seals in good condition? Are those temporary results or will the condition of the seals stay improved for a few oil changes? Thanks.

I know this question has been raised time and time again, so I appologize ahead of time. I'm trying to accumulate some of your experiences all in one place. I have a 96 Legacy L wagon, auto tranny, 108,000 miles, that was recently leaking oil until i replaced a few seals. All seems well now. I must admit I'm a little MPG crazy, so hence my questions despite my car's condition... 1. Can I run a synthetic blend or a full synthetic oil without major leaking problems? 2. Are there certain brands that contain additives to prevent leaks? 3. And are there any significant MPG improvements with syn motor oil? 4. A bit beside the topic- is there a good oil additive I can use that would clean out the sludge and varnish buildup from running dino oil for years, and perhaps condition and revitalize my seals? would this just be a stop leak? And would a good synthetic oil do this for me? I will add that I used Castrol Syntec Blend in my Toyota 4runner (215k miles) and developed leaks. I changed back to dino oil and within one oil change the leaks slowed or stopped, so I'm aprehensive about synthetic in an aged engine. Still, my quest for better MPG keeps steering me to this option. Thanks for your input!

Thanks for the info. I'll add that the car has 107,000 miles on it, timing belt done at 80k. It's been leaking oil for sometime and the mechanic my mom uses most recently pointed to the valve cover gaskets and the oil pump seal. He also mentioned oil leaking to the exterior, from the head gaskets? I think that's what he wrote on the quote. I have experience after doing headgaskets and top end stuff on a few toyota engines and I really doubt the headgaskets are leaking oil. if one of them had failed I'd expect oil or coolant in the engine as well, and there are no indications of that. I don't suppose subarus have a tendency to fail outward rather than into the cylinders? I don't know. Anyway, I wonder if the oil pan gasket is leaking too. The oil has been running from the sides of the engine down and collecting at the bottom and dripping from there. Again, I will just have to see when I run dye through it. My original question still stands if anyone can give some pointers. Advice on everything else is surely welcomed too Thanks.

Well it looks like in another month or so I will be the new owner of my mom's '96 Legacy L. (EJ22, auto.) It is going to need some new seals and I'm thinking ahead about what I need to buy. It looks like I will need a new oil pump seal, new valve cover gaskets, and maybe a few other seals and gaskets. I'm not positive about which ones yet because I have yet to run UV dye through it to find every oil leak. Most likely I won't need head gaskets though. Anyway, my question it, especially concerning the rubber gaskets and seals and what not, should I look for specific brands of gasket, or is the quality about the same all around. Obviously head gaskets are a different story, and on a sidenote- in case I am in need, should i opt for genuine Subaru head gaskets? Thanks.

Thanks for the info. I forgot to mention that my mom's Legacy is at something like 105k miles, and had the timing belt replaced around 70 or 80k i believe. Auto tranny. Also about her car- when idling in drive at like a stop light or something, the car will begin to vibrate quite a bit, so she usually switches it into neutral. Obviously this is an issue. I don't have much experience with auto transmissions, so do you guys know if this is a major issue, and what the cause might be? And on a side note, I noticed a few other comments about making sure that all the tires all match. I'm curious as to why this is, i would assume something directly related to the all wheel drive. Anyway, thanks for the help, great board

I may be in the market to buy something like a Loyale sometime soon. Before I so that though, I just wanted to know if there are any things i should be aware of about this model before i buy- common problems, weaknesses, etc. Any help you can give is appreciated. Thanks.

I'm looking at possibly buying a subaru. My mother owns a 96 Legacy L Wagon, and about four years ago it started oozing oil from a bunch of the seals. The mechanic ran UV die through it and said that most of the gaskets and seals were leaking small amounts of oil. It isn't enough to drip, but what happens is the oil coats the sides of the engine and burns off from the heat, so after driving for a while, you can see visible smoke coming from under the hood. Anyhow, my question is this: Is this a known problem with the 2.2 liter engine in these cars, or a known problem in general? And also, are there any other common problems that occur with these cars- any of the legacys, outbacks, from '90 on. I'm trying to buy a car that is reliable but also capable, and part of the reason why I'm selling my current vehicle is because it requires so much repair and maintenance here and there. I need something solid that is going to be unlikely to experience major problems (leaks, parts going out, etc.), beyond things wearing out in time and stuff. I know some engines and parts are known sometimes to have weakpoints and stuff, so I'm basically asking about that. And also, are these cars pretty easy to work on if I do encounter a problem? Thanks for all your help.