porcupine73

There were similar recalls in the past. My '96 Legacy I think it was had one for the rear crossmember. It is rusting out very badly. Plus there was a bulletin on the front springs for corrosion.

What an emissions test checks depends on where you live. If they're doing a tail pipe sniff test, you can fail that without having the MIL on or any codes stored. You need to look at the printout you got to see why you failed.

Hm, that does not sound good. I've heard of it getting grey and muddy looking when the exhaust blows into the coolant in the head gasket failure. I have the problem with the shifter 'seizing up' on all my soobs. I have to spray the mechanism from underneath with Kroil and metal protector a few times a year to keep them free. If it 'siezes up', DO NOT FORCE IT. You will stretch the cable and then usually it will not start in park, and may even give grief about starting in neutral. If that happens, it probably needs the cable adjusted so that the positions shown on the shifter match up with the positions the transmission and switch are seeing. If it siezes up, penetrating oil, then let it sit for a while, then gently try to get it out of park. Usually it will start to move a little bit but then sieze up again. So then more oil and just keep working it. Eventually it will free up. Then add the metal protector and keep going from P to 1 a few times to work it all in.

It may have an external filter, if the Subaru 'TSB' one was installed, which looks like the unit below. The 'filter' in the pan is really a suction strainer for the ATF pump so not much normally ends up in there. Many transmissions in that era ended up with overheating problems because the various shredded materials from the AT ended up plugging up the lines and cooler in the radiator. Subaru wisely added an external spin on filter later, and released this 'add on' filter for those early / mid 90's units:

Unfortunately that is the 'slow to engage into drive issue' and it effected quite a number of those early 4EAT Phase II's. It's basically a problem with a seal on one of the drums. A number of people have reported that fresh fluid with the additive TransX has 'fixed' the issue for them. There's a thread about it on here somewhere. Before it engages into drive, do not press on the throttle. Just let it take its time engaging. Supposedly hitting the throttle too much at that point could snap the input shaft if it engages suddenly.

I think some of the MT's of that era also had trouble with the switch that told it if it is in gear or in neutral. But I believe that normally threw a P15nn something like that code. Also not sure if that would cause that wide of a idle variation. Do you have a check engine light on at all?

CNY, if I were in this situation, considering the expense of replacing the transmission and the low value of it in the current condition, is to just drive it until it finally gives out. I mean your description sounded like it was doing a little bit of weird shifting, but unless it is slipping, it might last that way for quite a while yet. And even if the trans does give out, you still then have the option to replace it, but who knows the thing might last another year or two like that. It might not even be the transmission having trouble; I think sometimes the TPS can cause weird shifting because if it detects a rapid change in the throttle position it may downshift one or even two gears.

The noticeable TC lockup occurs in 4th. I can't remember if it was for Subaru's or not but something I read indicated some transmissions can detect sense if the drivetrain is backlashing such as on rough terrain and unlock the TC to help absorb some of the shock.

Haha that's true, but dealers can apply that subtle pressure to buy. Maybe these 'test drives' let him be more impartial How effective is the immobilizer in newer vehicles doing at stopping car theft? I thought I had read they were usually just breaking into the home to find the keys near the door, or using tow trucks.

That is a weird story. But at least the vehicles aren't being destroyed. Maybe he is just trying out different ones to see which one he likes best! Probably having a tough time choosing just one particular model/year.

You should be able to find decent used ODBII readers readily on craigslist and eBay. Many people probably have these laying around since the newer vehicles are canbus. Having it show the code meaning can be convenient but not necessary. The P1nnn and higher codes you have to look up for that specific vehicle anyway. I've had these two for many years and have fit my needs for Subaru's quite well:

^^^^^^^ hahaha yes that's what I'm talking about but I couldn't find any good pictures! I mean just look at what blue LED's do for computer fans and power supplies, surely they can spruce up timin' belt and even timin' chain components too!

My '00obw alternator died, well actually got super excited and was putting out 16 volts, at around 110,000 miles. My '96 I have no idea because it already had a napa starter in it when I got it, but those years had problems with the brushes and a recall. My '94 I haven't looked to see if it has the original in it or not. Since we're taking odds, I'd give yours another 3 years / 30,000 miles. Just kidding, I mean it is of course impossible to know, and even a brand new genuine one could have a defect leading to failure in a short period of time. Don't forget sensors / electrical parts. Engine coolant temp sensor (although that can be considered low priority because the engine will still run without it), cam angle sensor, sometimes crank angle sensor, knock sensor (not mission critical though). I also notice you didn't list water pump; those usually last a good long time though. How about your radiator and heater hoses?

For greasing I would try silicone grease (often sold as dielectric grease), because that would be least likely to affect the rubber. Second choice would be some type of synthetic wheel bearing or cv grease, such as Neo HP 800. Not so much because synthetic is better or required there, but often the petrochem based greases can be harsh on rubber and plastic.

Maybe you could get some small battery powered blue LED lights, and mount those to the timin' belt cam sprockets for even more bling. Yes just as a caution, porcupines will eat anything in sight, especially if it is bacon or other meat.

55 watts should be fine. Would I go to 100 watt bulbs with the stock wiring and harnesses? No, it might be enough to blow the fuse eventually and could potentially damage the insulation on the wiring. Watch out with headlight bulbs, many of them are pretty much scams, like the Xtravision and stuff like that which look 'cool' because they are blueish like HID's but actually put out less light. That cat Daniel Stern had a nice site about automotive lighting. LED fog lights if anything should run far cooler than normal incandescent bulbs.

True! The heater is about 400 watts. It seems to peak out at about 2-3 hours, i.e. it won't get any warmer after that amount of time. To run that bad boy 24 hours would take about 10 Kwh, so if you're paying say 10 c/Kwh that'd be about $1 per 24 hours plugged in.

If you're sure it is the sway bar links, they are pretty easy to replace. Many of the aftermarket polyurethane links include a small tube of some kind of grease to lube them up and they may get squeaky if they aren't lubed. If you mean the sway bar bushings, those would be more likely than the links to be creaky than the genuine endlinks themselves. Those might get away with just a greasing.

Once the vehicle is started, usually yes it will run and drive without the battery connected. It is highly suggested to not disconnect the battery with the vehicle running though. Doing so can allow a voltage spike when the battery is disconnected, a 'large counter EMF' as Subaru calls it.

I would expect quite a bit of coolant to come out the block plug when it is removed. I have this heater on two of my soobs but I drained the coolant before installing it. It takes a 14mm hex to remove the plug. I usually put it on my impact wrench and let it have at it. You also need your own thread sealant when you install the heater. I have used either permatex ultragrey or the white permatex thread sealant. I don't think the sealant is really necessary since the heater has a washer on it, and it appears to have straight / non-tapered threads. Usually you would probably need a block heater only if you're talking like temps around -40. Many cars including rentals come with block heaters in areas where they might be necessary. Sometimes you need a battery heater though then too.

Good point on the rim size! That era should have the 5 bolt holes @ 100mm. There are some other cars that might work like Chevy Cavaliers from that era. My friend has a Cavalier and needed new rear tires, so I gave him two of my old tires on the Subaru rims and he was able to just bolt them right up and go.

A straight pipe usually means running without cats, or gutted cats, not just no muffler. Some engines require a certain amount of backpressure in the exhaust for the exhaust valves to close properly.

Do you have an ignitor you can try swapping out too? Did you use the ECU from the new engine? I forget the specifics, but some of the engines changed the tick marks on the cam sprocket that the cam angle sensor reads, though I'm not sure that would cause your particular problem.

I would think the Haynes would have the procedure to get it to flash out the code(s). On the alternators, some of the parts store rebuilt ones are not very reliable.

Just don't eat say a peanut butter and jelly sandwich over the timing belts. The cam seals usually provide adequate oil for the belts without the steering leaking onto it. Sometimes small animals like to get up into the accessory drive belts.....I suppose it would be worse for it to get caught in the timing belt.