porcupine73

If they don't have it, they have to get it from their Subaru RDC / regional distribution center, so it can take a couple extra days. But right they should at least tell you whether they already have it or not. There was some change in staff there some time back, at least in the parts Dept. I had some trouble with them losing $100 Subaru Bucks I sent in, then I had a big hassle getting it replaced. I made a copy of the bucks before I mailed it but they wouldn't take that. They get deposited like a check it seems. So now I always mail them with signature required return receipt; I mean it's like sending cash in the mail basically. Overall I am still pleased with them and order all my Subaru parts from them, mainly because they are 1-2 UPS days away from me and seem to keep a good stock of the common parts, and I love their web site.

Are you sure the brake booster is in good shape? I wonder if it were faulty if maybe a vacuum leak when braking would cause that?

Also I think foglights usually work only on low because in fog normally the high beams make it even harder to see than with the low beams. What I did with mine was use an on-off-on switch. So up was plain old on to the relay (but fed say off the cigarette lighter so that they shut off when the ignition was off; I figured I would eventually forget and leave them on otherwise). Then down was wired to the low beams. So I could have them on manually, off completely, or on only with the low beams. I have noticed the inexpensive fog lamps such as from JC Whitney will last about a year before the reflectors rust out, at least in salty NY. The better ones such as KC or Hella seem to use maybe stainless steel in the reflectors that lasts a good many years.

Let me take a look again today at my 2000 Outback service manual to see what it said about the adjustment. Of course it might be bit different than a '96 because of the generation. I looked in my '94 Legacy factory manual, and the adjustment it showed did appear to be for the pinion to rack like fairtax said. I know on my 2000 Outback, if I shake up and down on the inner tie rod near the rack, I can feel a slight clunking. I replaced the inner tie rod with genuine already.

You can reuse the washer if you just turn it so that the notches to peen over are in a different spot. Usually I use loctite along with the washer since someone mentioned they have seen them loosen up. You could count the turns of the outer tie rod end as you unthread it. That would get it close. I have noticed some of the new Subaru genuine tie rod ends are a little different from the originals on the car.

I believe there is a clearance adjustment screw in there, but it appears to require a special tool to adjust it, and possible removal of the rack to get at it. I had a thread about it for a 2000 Outback some time back because I have this looseness on the left side too. The factory service manual lists this adjustment as one of the possible causes.

That doesn't seem too bad. Subaru inner tie rod replacement is not too hard to replace without removing the rack if you have the tool. Sometimes loosening the jam nut is the hardest part. That and getting the blasted steering gear boot to go back over the rack. The lock washer can be reused if you don't have a new one provided it can be rotated to get a fresh spot to bend the ears over.

Thanks, I'll have to check the ball joint. I ended up replacing the Subaru tie rod but it didn't make any difference. I was getting a shimmy in the front that I thought might have been caused by that looseness, but it actually turned out to be a slightly seized brake caliper. The slight clunk is still there and I can feel it if I shake the inner tie rod up and down hard at the rack end; it isn't terrible it's just something I noticed. I saw the manual says the steering gear clearance can cause that, but it looks like you need a special tool to hold the nut while adjusting it. But then the factory repair manuals for Subaru cars do often list all kinds of special tools that may be helpful but might not be absolutely required to do the job.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to pull it on the ramps so I can really shake it down under there. I can feel something loose but after checking it again this morning it's hard to pinpoint it without getting under there. It seems to be in the up/down direction only is the looseness. Fore and aft seems tight. I have to shake pretty hard to be able to feel it. So maybe I will check out the ball joint too. I put loctite red on the new inner tie rod end so hopefully it wasn't able to loosen it self back up. I think I saw there is some sort of rack clearance adjustment screw on the left side too, I wonder if that can need checking over time? Thanks for the silicone spray tip. Nipper hooked me up with that tip some time back too, and I couldn't believe how well it worked. I had the boot greased but spent probably 20 minutes not being able to wrestle it back over the rack. With a shot of silicone spray on there it just popped into place in about 5 seconds.

2000 Outback auto 160k miles. I can hear a click when turning the wheel back and forth while idling. Checking into it, I can feel looseness and clunking on the front left tie rod end. It feels and sounds like it is on the inner side where it screws into the rack. Is that almost certainly a bad inner tie rod end? Or is there something that can go wrong with the rack to cause that looseness? Just wondering because I replaced that (left) front inner (and outer) tie rod end a couple years ago with new genuine parts because I could feel a similar looseness. I guess it's possible it went bad again.

The Outback struts should bolt right up; they're basically just a little longer. You might need fast cam bolts to get the camber set right. I don't know the details of the lift kit, but you might need to make sure the axles are long enough/don't have too much of an angle in them if also using the Outback struts. For the Outback brakes, as far as I know, you just need the caliper and bracket, and of course pads and rotors. I believe the caliper bracket will bolt right onto the existing wheel housing. Doing the front and rear would help keep it balanced (provided yours isn't a Brighton, which had rear drums). Some Chevy Cavalier and I think some Datsun wheels might match the 5x100 bolt pattern, but you'd have to check the offsets and hub bore sizes too. Of course any wheels you get you need to make sure they clear your bigger brakes.

I don't know the details, but some of the common areas that need to be addressed/modified are EGR/non-EGR (or live with the CEL/MIL being on), dual or single port exhaust manifold, number of bolt holes on the flywheel. One bonus would be the '92 is non-interference, whereas the '97 you had would have been interference.

For camber I usually just adjust it myself. With a 12" level or so you can pretty well zero the camber if you have a level surface to work with. You can give other than zero camber by calculating the arctan of the triangle; it's not going to be as accurate as a laser alignment machine but I think it works pretty well. I'm sure you already know, their goal is just to get you in the shop, so they can show you how bad your alignment is, maybe find a couple other problems while they're under there, and while it's already on the rack they can align it for you pronto.

I don't think you absolutely need them; I just replaced them since I was in there. It was a little bit of a stretch to get the bar to bolt up but I was able to do it. You won't be able to check the camber just by eyeing it up. I mean you would be able to see if it was wayyy off, but the specs are usually within +/- 1 degree (60 minutes). You can usually get a general idea if the vehicle is on a level surface like concrete garage floor, and the vehicle was pulled out of and into the garage after having it jacked up, then laying on the ground and looking at the tires you can usually see how much it seems to be favoring the inside edge of the tire (negative camber) or outside edge (positive camber). Like on very sporty or performance vehicles you can often see quite a bit of negative camber in the rear just following it on the roadway.

The stock one will still reach; at least it did for me. I upgraded the endlinks though. It was a little bit of a more snug fit bolting it up but it did work.

It's certainly possible I would imagine, especially if it's well beyond 105,000 miles. It depends how much if any the valves receded into the seats and if the stems wore and so on. I believe that engine has the solid shim style lifters, which are kind of a pita to work on at least with the engine in place. Plugs and wires are common misfire causes too. Have you read the code(s) to see which cylinder(s) are misfiring? They should be P0301 to P0304.

Right, that will kill the battery fast unless it comes on only with the ignition. In this situation in a pinch I've used a strong alligator clip to connect to the + battery terminal, then I can unclip it when I reach the destination. I'd use at least 16 gauge or better. Ideally it should have a fuse as close to the battery terminal as possible to reduce risk of fire if there is a short. Or it could be wired to a plug for the cigarette lighter too. If it's not too hot out and there's not too much stop/go driving you could probably get away with just doing either the main or the sub fan. The thermostat will still control the temperature so having the fans running is not an issue. If it has A/c that works, switching that one will get the fans running a bit too.

I used the 14mm fast cam bolts in this application. I did need them in the rear, I had something like 50 minutes positive camber in the rear after putting Outback struts and lift springs on a '96 Legacy. In the front I did need a fast cam on one side to get around 0 camber. You are changing the geometry a little bit so the camber will tend to go more positive if you do not make any adjustment for it.

I'd run a quality Dexron III rated ATF in there. You won't of course specifically find that anymore since GM stopped renewing license to blenders for Dexron III years ago. Some of the 'multi vehicle' formulations still list it on the bottle and can be a good choice for ATF for a Subaru. Personally I would not use Dexron VI in there. I think they claim it is backwards compatible but it is thinner and has some different dynamic friction characteristics. Right on, there's no need to drop the pan to replace the screen; that's really more of a suction strainer to keep the pump from pulling in metal chunks. You could replace the spin on filter if desired.

How's the knock sensor? Sometimes those things will crack and not necessarily set a code but result in severely retarded engine timing that can then feel like hesitation?

My '96 Legacy swooshing sound in the steering wheel subsided some time back. I don't know if it was the silicone spray or not. In retrospect I would not spray silicone in there again, at least not the type I used. I have noticed the spray degrades some types of plastic. So hopefully it isn't eating away my clockspring's insulation.

Yes those will make a nasty acrid stink. The boots are not ruptured. Both front axles I replaced within the last couple years. Though I do see one of the axles the inner boot is developing some cracks in it, not but it's not torn, yet haha. The first cv boot I tore yes I did see smoke and wow did that stink. It was funny because when I parked at a store, some people were walking in front of my car and they were wafting and wrinkling their noses because the smell was so nasty.

Thank you for the suggestions and hlep. Well the coolant level was fine, it was not low in the overflow or under the cap at all. I got the underdoor off and looked around. What looks to have happened is that some oil was collecting on the underdoor, and got mixed with some water/condensation/rain or some kind of watery liquid, then blew or spewed onto the exhaust. Because I can see the remnants of it still on the exhaust. The head gaskets look pretty dry. The oil is coming from a failed diy PCV catch can from a few years back, so that needs to get patched up. It has been having increased oil consumption lately now that I think about it, probably 1/2 quart every few thousand miles or so. The oil was leaking out of the catch can, then down near where the front o2 sensor is, and collecting at the edge of the underdoor it looks like. I am sooooo happy it is not the HG's!!!!!!!! I got thrown off because the steamy smoke didn't really have much odor. It didn't smell like coolant when I had stopped but it didn't really smell like burning oil either.

Hm....yes there are some coolant hoses that run around down there aren't there. I will check those out. All that stuff was replaced a few years back with the timing belt, I did radiator hoses, heater hoses, water pump, oil pump, that little bypass hose coming out of the throttle, etc with genuine parts. My plan is to get the underdoor off and then pull up on some ramps so I can see where it is coming from. I didn't check the radiator yet or overflow to see if those are actually low. When I pulled over, I felt the upper rad hose and it felt pretty hard. This is the phase II 2.5L sohc, this is one of the years (2000) that had the known possibility of external head gasket peeping leak. The earlier 2.5L phase I dohc's were the ones that were likely to develop the blowing into the exhaust issues.