porcupine73

Well I don't know. I've seen little particulates build up under the rubber parts in less than a year.

If you need a new drier/receiver you might just want to get the proper conversion kit from Subaru which includes a new drier/receiver. The whole proper conversion procedure is available on endwrench.com My favorite in the EndWrench article on conversion is "Paint the receiver/drier sight glass with touch-up paint. The sight glass cannot be utilized in testing R-134a performance." Do you think black electrical tape would work?

Faulty/dirty/poor radiator cap could cause this. The cap must be in brand new condition with no particulate under any of the rubber seals. There is an article on EndWrench about it.

Hm...that sounds good. Has anyone else tried this test on a 2.5L sohc to see if it behaves this way? The 2.2L did not. I guess I am nervous since I adjusted the valve lash about 10k miles ago... I'm not sure. I thought I remembered seeing this test in another post. It said something about if the paper gets sucked onto/into the exhaust it could mean an exhaust valve is not closing all the way or is sticking or something...can't remember for sure...

Hi suberdoberman and The recent timing belt and water pump replacement is good. There are some other things that should have ideally been done at that time that would be nice to know if they were done, such as geared/toothed idler near the water pump. It can, esp if the car was run with tires not all matching within 1/4" circumference as measured with a narrow tape, towed improperly, run on a soft tire long enough. Get it in a dry parking lot and make tight turns forward and reverse. It should make the turns with little or no throttle. If it feels like the brakes are on or there is popping/binding then you know it has TB. If possible, ideally do this test after driving it for a while, say 15 miles at least, since the TB on MT's may show up better right after it's been driven. It could last another 100k, there are Subaru's of this era with with 250k on them. There are things that it could end up needing along the way; HG's often don't last 250k, wheel bearings, cv joint boots, maybe some sensors, that kind of stuff may well be needed. If it has the 2.2L that is a bonus. Check it out. If it is the 2.5L dohc, that can potentially develop the internal hg exhaust blowing into coolant leak which can be pricey to fix. If it does have the 2.5L, look for little tabs sticking out of the HG's - IIRC this is how you tell if they were replaced with the new MLS style. It could, especially if you are not in a salt laden area such as near the ocean or a place that uses salt on the winter roads, and if it wasn't owned in such an area previously. There can be rust forming inside the body panels that you can't yet see. The AWD setup on the MT's is pretty straightforward with the viscous coupling. The main killer is tires not within 1/4" circumference, improper towing, running on soft tire, etc. Check for torn cv joint boots. Sometimes the axles will start clicking in turns even if the boots are good. The OEM Subaru axles are pretty robust and as long as the boots stay intact they'll probably last. As mentioned earlier it can become an issue if it's run that way long enough. Hm...maybe a nice dinner, some flowers, things like that.... What year did VW's quality really start dipping? I know early on they were good vehicles but then in later years they kind of went downhill?

Hm...that sounds like a cool tool you've built. Maybe a dum question, but did you loosen/remove that lock clip thing with the bolt on it at the edge of the retainer?

Well I'm not sure. The '00obw seems to be running fine. I just recalled the paper towel test today and decided to try it. On the '00obw the paper is definitely sucked slightly back onto the tailpipe, whereas on the '94 as a control it did not exhibit that behavior. Did you try the .avi videos? Even older windows media players should be able to play that I believe.

Hm....well of course the solder needs to get to melting temp to, well, melt. Non heat options maybe try to adhere the wire to the board with super glue or a dab of RTV? If there's a harbor freight near by could probably get a soldering iron for a couple bucks. Maybe someone you know has a soldering iron? I know radio shack for a while had these lighter style soldering strips don't know if they still have those...

Hi, I'm looking for some help interpreting my '00obw exhaust pipe paper towel test results. I saw in some other thread about holding paper towel near the exhaust pipe. If the paper towel seems to get sucked into the exhaust, what does that mean? I happened to have a paper towel at hand today and tried it on '00obw when I got home. It does seem like the paper towel gets sucked into the exhaust. Here is video: Please select format: Apple Quicktime .MOV (download free player - sorry that's what my camera uses) .MOV medium-res (1.3 MB) .MOV hi-rs (8.8 MB) .MOV low-res (0.5 MB) or for Windows Media Player --> MPEG4 (0.4 MB) or .AVI (3.5 MB) Then I did this test on '94 Legacy for comparison. It was a little harder to do the test since '94 Legacy has that dual tip muffler. However '94 Legacy did not seem to suck the paper towel onto the exhaust. Here is video: Please select format: Apple Quicktime .MOV (download free player - sorry that's what my camera uses) .MOV medium-res (1.4 MB) or for Windows Media Player --> MPEG4 (1.4 MB) or .AVI (3.5 MB) So what do you think? If you watch the video for both the '00obw and the '94 Legacy I think the difference is readily noticeable. I could try this test on '96 Legacy too for comparison if needed. Thanks!

Thanks jamal. I'll consider this swap more. This '96 needs timing belt, etc. as well which I bought 2 years ago just haven't had time to put in. I would probably just drop the swap at this point except I already bought the dual pot fronts and rear calipers and spent several hours cleaning them and painting them red with the GR-2 caliper paint.....:-\

Good point; I never see any drips on the garage floor, and I don't notice the diff dipstick level going down. I just figured since I was there if it wasn't hard to do I'd replace it; I'm kind of glad I just left it alone now. It's just it sort of looked like a frosted cake before I cleaned it off.

Check out http://www.subaru.com/owners/schedules/index.jsp

Also might want to check behind the driver's side mirror inside trim piece. The wiring for the power mirror runs behind this piece. Some years/models had an issue with this wiring getting pinched/chafed thus blowing the fuse sometimes repeatedly/intermitently. If all the fuses are known good (and the offending fuse checked with on ohm-meter even if it looks like it didn't blow) then it has to be a wiring/connector issue.

Is your system R12? Some people just put R134A into such a system, though it really should have the Subaru conversion kit used.

Not sure if that vehicle has a knock sensor or not. Your area's octane rating method may differ from the U.S.'s average of the 'motor' and 'research' octane ([R+M]/2) rating. Here's some Subaru knock sensor info to add to the thread: The knock sensor is designed to sense knocking signals from each cylinder. The knock sensor is a piezo-electric element which converts knocking vibrations into electrical signals. The electrical signal is sent to the ECM, which changes the ignition timing to reduce the knock or ping. For this system to work correctly, the sensor must first hear engine ping. The driver of the vehicle may also hear a small engine ping. A of approximately 1-2 seconds is normal, depending on the fuel quality, load, air temp, etc. At this time, the ECM will retard the timing. This function can be viewed on the Select Monitor RTRD mode. When the knock is eliminated, the timing is gradually advanced to the specified setting. engine ping is heard again this process is repeated. This will continue until knock sensor no longer hears the engine knock or ping. Note: this is normal operation of the knock sensor. Do not try to repair it.

The factory tool appears to be 499787000 http://subaru.spx.com/detail.asp?partid=499787000 It seems like those 1/2 or 3/4 ton pickup sockets would work if the size was right so that teeth matched up with the retainer. I know I've seen these at autozone, pepboys, etc.

It's not uncommon for the brakes to be a little sticky after a vehicle sits for a few weeks. Make a few good stops from say 60 to break them back in. Carefully of course. I have been unpleasantly surprised a few times at the brakes not working so well the first few times after the vehicle sat. Then if you are still hearing some weird noise it may need to be looked at. If water got past the rubber accordians between the caliper piston and body, the caliper may have corroded somewhat and may be sticking.

Hm....is this fuse 5? For 2000 Legacy it says to check the tailight bulb sockets for any frayed/loose wiring in the bulb socket itself. Also I know my '94 Leg has this funky relay box in the RH (pass) side rear taillight assembly....maybe that thing is going wacky?

I don't have an o-ring on the driver's side, drive/trans end of the engine. I heard/read the cam is the same on both sides, just installed in reverse, so on the driver's side the cam o-ring is in the cap behind the cam sprocket, and on the passenger's side side the o-ring is at the trans end of the engine. Anyway I wouldn't worry about it, as this o-ring took about 5 minutes to change.

Do you mean the cam cap o-ring at the engine drive end, right (pass) side? There's an o-ring in there, at least on my '94 2.2L...

OK well every couple weeks or so this no crank happens. The last few times it happened, I moved the gear shifter and it seemed like when I started to try to pull it down out of park it started. However I also have had it crank if I just hold the key for like 8 seconds without touching anything. I finally got around to putting an indicator lamp off the starter solenoid connection. I tested it and when it cranks the indicator lamps illuminate. I'm assuming if it's no crank and I don't see the lamps come on, then it is not the starter contacts. If it's no crank and I do see the lamps come on, it is something in the starter, maybe the contacts?

OK great thanks guys. I didn't take retainer off when I did the axle because I wasn't sure what I would be getting into. And I didn't realize at first there was an o-ring in there and if there was I wasn't sure I had one that would fit. I don't like driving seals. It seems like it would be so easy but they always seem to get a little cockeyed on me no matter how careful I am.

Wow that is a cool story. Do you have any pics?

Ok thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. Good points are made all around. Is it a requirement that all vehicles sold in the US now have disc brakes? I mean you still see a number of vehicles that come with rear drum, but fronts are always disc.

That price seems way too high for that vehicle. Definitely check out craigslist. Also yes, that vehicle would has the phase I dohc 2.5L which can be prone to the internal head gasket issue. And you're looking at a large bill to have that fixed or some time if you're going to do it yourself. Unless the HG's already were replaced with the new multilayer steel type. Also check any AWD Subaru for torque bind. If you want something pretty solid that should have findable for not too much cash, check out an earlier 90's Legacy or other Subaru with the 2.2L. Those are pretty solid vehicles and shouldn't have too many surprises.