bendecker

Thanks for the replies. I can get a NOS one for cheap and it's really tempting. But, I can definitely relate to having the disks get stuck inside vs a single. Had that happen in our Dodge a few years back. What a pain. The other alternative is I have a 12-disc changer that works fantastically that goes under the seat and then T's into the radio antenna cable. Sounds really good. And an OEM head unit from my parts car. The head unit that is currently in the car has bluetooth and all that, but it drives me nuts. You can't see the numbers during the day and if you click the wrong button, you're in menu hell. I have literally had three people get into my car to drive and ask how in the world do you turn the radio off? Horrible design. The old OEM ones could have a nuclear explosion go off behind you and you could still see the time. And the interface is old-school bomb-proof.

And, yes, I'm old school - lol. I like my discs

Hi Suba-Gurus! I have a 1995 Legacy Wagon and I would really like to put in a multi-disc changer, preferably OEM. I'm NOT a fan of newer radios in that I like to be able to actually feel the buttons and know what to press while I am driving without having to look at it. I see that there is an OEM 6-cd changer model that would fit the bill, but since it was created a few years later, I don 't know if it would fit. Can anyone confirm if the stereo size has changed over the years from 1995 to early-200s? Also, any comments of the quality? I don't want to buy a known lemon if they are problematic. Thanks! Here's one currently on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174683329123?epid=1222267576&hash=item28abf01263:g:v-8AAOSw55dgTo0w -Ben

I have my own junker - a 1996 legacy that I played bumper cars with a few years back. Ooops.... (loved that car :-( ) I'm pretty sure this is not from the rear end now, that it was just a random part in some crevas as we pulled everything apart. Still curious as to what it is, though.

It's metal. No part number. The bottom is a bit greasy, the top has a bit of rubber on it. It looks 100 symmetrical to me. Lock washer marks on the bottom. The covers under the bumper are different:

Hi Subafans! So a while back, someone decided to play bumper cars with my beloved 1995 Legacy. Crunched in the rear bumper and tailgate big-time. A friend and I finally had time for a weekend bodywork jam including swapping a bumper and tailgate from my parts car, and we got it back into almost perfect shape. But... there is a leftover mystery part. I am positive I didn't remove it. I sent a pic to my friend and he said he vaguely remembers it just kind of fell out someplace, but doesn't remember where. Anyone know what this is? Thanks!

Thanks for sending the pics. Unfortunately, mine's a low altitude. BUT, I did find a source for the exact text in PDF format, so I think I'm good go go now. My smog guy was surprised that I was having problems getting new stickers.

I just found an obscure PDF about that engine in California. Based on it, I think the last part on the engine line is something like: TWC/EGR/CL For "Three Way Catalyst, Exhaust Gas Recirculation, Closed Loop". Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

BTW, I think I have most of it figured out except the "Engine Family" part. Thanks.

DEAD, DUPLICATE THREAD -- PLEASE SEE THE OTHER ONE. Moderators -- please delete this. It is a duplicate without the picture that is in the other one.

Hey Suba-Gurus. Anyone out there have a 1981 Brat, or a year that is close that can send me a picture of their "Vehicle Emission Control Information" smog sticker? Mine is falling off and despite literally weeks of back-and-forth with Subaru, there is no replacement available. It can still pass smog, but techs are starting to say they want a better sticker to work with. So... I took a pic of the sticker. My plan is to clean it up in photoshop and then print it on outdoor quality vinyl. I'll then stick the old by the new and call it done until someone complains. Any of you up for taking a pic of your sticker and shooting it (no pun intended), my way? I would really appreciate it. Better yet, if by some miracle you have a new sticker sitting around, I'll gladly pay you for it. Thanks, -Ben

Hey Suba-Gurus. Anyone out there have a 1981 Brat, or a year that is close that can send me a picture of their "Vehicle Emission Control Information" smog sticker? Mine is falling off and despite literally weeks of back-and-forth with Subaru, there is no replacement available. It can still pass smog, but techs are starting to say they want a better sticker to work with. So... I took a pic of the sticker. My plan is to cleaning it up in photoshop and then print it on outdoor quality vinyl. I'll then stick the old by the new and call it done until someone complains. Any of you up for taking a pic of your sticker and shooting it (no pun intended), my way? I would really appreciate it. Better yet, if by some miracle you have a new sticker sitting around, I'll gladly pay you for it. Thanks, -Ben

Idle air control valve? My old '97 had a bad one and it was pretty hard to start and had a rough idle. A new one cleared it right up. On our Lexus, when the IACV died, the car would not idle at all. Unfortunately, they are pretty pricey.

One other thing. You will likely need some 1/2" spacers on the rear wheels to keep them from rubbing. I got some aluminum ones on Ebay. If I remember correctly, they were spacers for the same rims that everyone uses for 6-lug conversions -- where they drill two more holes in the hubs to match the lug nut pattern. I had to do the opposite of the conversion -- drill two holes in the spacers so they would fit the 4-hole pattern. Super easy to do with a drill press.

I have steel pugs on my 1981 Brat. No lift needed. 185/75/14's. Gained about an inch of clearance. I just used street tires as the only off-roading I do is really just dirt road excursions in the desert where there may be some nasty ruts and fairly big rocks, but nothing like what serious off roaders take on. I had the rims powder-coated, then put some caps and stickers I got from Ebay on them. The center caps wiggled just a bit, so I glued them down with some silicone from the back. If someone didn't know what the stock wheels were (white spoke), they would swear these were stock with brand new centers. The look fantastic. All that being said, the downside has been a greater loss in power when starting from a stop than I was hoping for. Way noticeable and I can see why people put in EJs. I have to use 4wd low a lot more than I used to. Also, for really slow rock crawling... well, you can't really do really slow rock crawling with the new gear ratio. I definitely miss that. So, I'm not completely sold on the setup, but it's a trade-off. When we go out to the desert I really like having a bit more confidence that I'm not going to bash up the oil pan. One last side note: I always get a kick out of how my little Brat can just maneuver around things instead of needing a huge truck to go over them. I get quite a few comments a) about how cool the car is with lots of stories about some relative who had one, or they always wanted one, etc. and 2) people have often said "wow... you made it up here in that?!?!" Yep. It's from going around things and straddling ruts instead of driving through them. Unfortunately, my Brat has not seen the light of day in many months (life has been busy), but it's due for a smog check, so I need to get all the crap out of the back and make a path to get it out of the garage (It's in really great shape, BTW :-) ). No guarantees, but I'll try to get a pic with the rims.

Next.... turn the rotors, reboot the shaft and put it shaft back in, replace the brake rubbers with OEM. Repeat on other side. Love this board. Sorry about the dumb question :-)

Hi Suba-Gurus -- I have a new-to-me 1995 silver Legacy with a mere 115k miles on it. Boots on both sides are shot. Car says ABS on the back, I can see what I believe is an ABS sensor that would sense the ring on the outer part of the shaft. Yet, no ABS ring like I've seen in various pics of new shafts. The shaft is clearly labeled as re-manufactured. So, what to do? So, a couple of noob ABS questions : 1. Should it have an ABS ring? My assumption is yes if you want the ASB to work. 2. Where to get the proper shaft if it needs one. Rock Auto and various other sources have them labeled as "No ABS Ring", etc. OEM from a pick and pull is not an option in our area. EDIT: Just answered my own question when I pulled off the brake rotor. The ABS sensor ring is mounted behind the rotor. So, please disregard the above.

Thanks, FairTax. I just grabbed the 4 relays off of a donor car and popped them in. AC works fine now. And I definitely can't ask the previous owner, either -- picked it from an estate sale :-)

Hi Suba-Gurus. It's been a while and I finally found my Unicorn -- a silver 1995 Subaru legacy with only 115k miles on it For the most part in great shape, but the AC is not working. I figured, best case scenario, it just needed a recharge and that was not a show-stopper for me buying the car. So, I tried to do a normal refill, but compressor was not kicking in. Hmmmm.... looked in the main relay/fuse box under the hood and where it says there should be relays -- 4 across the top on the passenger side of the box -- there's nothing. Can anyone tell me, or even just give a good guess, as to why there would be no relays in the box? Thanks!

Decision made. I sold it to a guy who works at my mechanic's shop. He's a Subaru fan who loves the pre-2000 models, has the time and expertise to do the work himself, and wanted a good, reliable car for his family after the work is done. Fair price, win-win. BTW, my understanding of CA's stringent smog laws is that you can put a newer engine in, no problem, but an older one is not acceptable. Regardless, problem solved. Thanks, again, to everyone who helped out with replies.

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm seriously torn on the car, which is why I posted the thread. It's definitely not a slam dunk either way. I love older Subarus, but I also know that sometimes it's better to put money into buying something else. We're going to sit on it for a week and ponder options. BTW, If anyone is interested in it "as-is", I'm in San Diego county. An easy local sale could well move me in that direction. PM me.

Alas, since my family does not like the car and, assuming what you said really is the case, it is most likely going to the highest bidder "as-is".. (Ironically, I was the one that didn't want to buy it for several reasons at the time, but I don't mind the car and have put a fair amount of work into it to get it up to my standards. Go figure....)

So I have a 1997 Legacy, 2.5l with 129k miles on it. Last night it overheated while driving on the freeway. Pretty badly. Saw the symptoms and there was just nowhere to stop that was remotely safe. I had it towed to our mechanic who said the radiator was cracked and the head gasket was blown. The diagnostic used for the head gasket was a test for oil in the coolant. So, suba-gurus.... this year is notorious for head gasket problems. Any chance that it could fail his test and possibly be ok for limping up and down the hill? I'm thinking that this dog year of an engine could very well leak enough under normal circumstances to fail the test and still be within the realm of what is "expected." The guy, while very honest, is not a Subaru expert and I just want to be sure no one is jumping to conclusions. That being said, other than me, my family is not fond of the car (to put it politely), so I do not want to put much money into it. But, throwing in a radiator, especially if I do it myself would not be that expensive. BTW, right after the overheat, there was no foamy mess in the oil. Who knows about bubbles in the coolant -- there wasn't enough coolant left to check -- oops... Crap....

My bad. Front passenger door. I haven't pulled the wiring to see the connectors. Good advice there. Anyone else know if the wiring is the same?

Hi Gurus -- So, I crashed my '96 a while ago and have finally gotten around to fixing it. I need a passenger fender and a passenger door. I found a 1999 OBW at the local pic and pull and, of course, they won't let me bring my old door in to compare. I'm not too worried about the fender -- looks exactly the same (albeit a different color). The door looks very similar and the parts interchange person said the 199 would work on the 1996, BUT... with a note about how the window regulator might be different. Anyone have any tips as to if the door will just drop into the '96? As always, thank you for the advice! -Ben