Rooster2

$175 was a good price for a used trany. I had a 91 Legacy with about 178K miles on the odo. Last year the AT trany went bad. It refused to go into high gear. With lots of advise from this forum, I realized that my trany was toast. I didn't have the time, patience, or garage resources to replace the trany as you did, though I thought about it. I limped it into a dealer, and traded it for my 99 OBW. Still, I miss the 91, it was on its second engine, which still ran just great.

You must really love that Subie to put in a replacement trany when the car had 273K miles on the odo. Here's my experience on bleeding/fluid replacement Subie brakes.........I did it last summer to both of my Legacy OBWs. I didn't know about any recommended wheel bleeding rotation. I just pulled off each wheel and bled. Never had any problems doing it that way. I use a "one man bleeder" kit. It is simply a plastic tube with several size fittings, one size of which will fit over the Subie bleeder valve. The plastic tube connects to a small plastic catch bottle, that has a magnet on the side of the bottle. I place the bottle with its magnet on the facing of the rotor to hold the small catch bottle vertically in place. Earlier, I spray the bleeder valve with spray penetrating oil, or PB Blaster, (don't use WD-40) wait 5-10 minutes for the spray do its thread loosening magic. Then, I use a 3/8 inch drive, with I think it is an 8MM socket to "break loose" the bleeder valve. I use the drive because the twisting force of loosening the bleeder is vertical from the top, not on the side as a hand wrench would be. This helps prevent shearing/breaking off a tight bleeder, and saying "O sh*t" or worse. If the bleeder valve breaks off, then the caliper has to be replaced. Once, I have "broken loose" the bleeder, I slightly retighten, then put the bleeder hose on the nipple, and open the valve with a hand wrench. I push the pedal slowly about 2/3 of it travel, let the pedal come back up, and repeat about 3 times. I then check the catch bottle to see how full it is of old brake fluid. If full, I dump out the fluid from the bottle into a larger catch can, and repeat the process. I continually check the fluid level in the reservoir, and fill with new brake fluid when low. You don't ever want the fluid reservoir to run empty, and suck air into the system. I use an entire large plastic bottle of new brake fluid to bleed all four corners of the car. When the brake fluid starts flowing clear color into my catch bottle, I know that it is time to button eveything back up again. With the nipple hose still attached, I use the hand wrench to close the bleeder. Leaving the hose attached assures that no air will be able to enter the caliper through the bleeder. When finished, I have a good hard brake pedal. This entire process is really easy, especially with the one man bleeder bottle. I was given mine, so don't know where to source one, but guess that any car parts house would sell them. Good luck on bleeding out your brakes...........Rooster2

Agree, you will save a ton of money doing the job yourself. I can never figure out why shops charge so much for a brake job. It is not that difficult, or time consuming. Are you sure that you need new rotors. Unless the rotors are warped, worn thin, or heavily rusted inside the "venting," I would use the old ones. However, the ones quoted by the parts store should work on your car. What is nice on a Subie on the fronts, is that just one bolt needs to be removed on the caliper. Then, with gentle tapping with a hammer, the caliper hinges upward on a pin to slide off the rotor. Makes changing brake pad nice and easy. Suggest using a "C" clamp to push back the caliper piston. This is also a good time to bleed out the brakes to get rid of old brake fluid.

No the 2.2 does not have the head gasket failure problem that the 2.5 has.

Suggest using anti-sieze on the lug nut threads. Also, add some to where the back of the wheel meets the hub. It makes removing the road wheels a lot easier in the future.

Hate to hear about anyone hitting a deer. I have yet to hear of any deer carrying liability insurance to pay for the car owner's damage loss.......too often they are hit and run, if they are still able to run. Here in Indiana, if you hit a deer, and if there is anything left of the carcas. You can file an accident report with the cops, then keep the deer, dress him out, and fill up your freezer with venison. That is one way to get the deer to fess up to paying for car repairs..........take it out in trade.

My 91 with the 2.2 blew a head gasket at 178K miles, so I know first hand that the 2.2 can and will blow a head gasket. Still with that many miles on the engine, the car owed me nothing. My current rides are a 98 OBW wagon with the 2.5 and 108K miles. It was bought used, so don't know if the HG has ever been replaced. My other ride is a 99 OBW wagon with the 2.5 and 158K miles. It too, was bought used, so don't know if the HG has ever been replaced. Is there some way to look at the heads to see if the HG has ever been replaced? Someone posted a few months back that the HG failure rate of the phase 1, 2.5 motors is about 10 to 15% of total production, but I don't know how true that might be.

agree with others, if it "ain't broke, don't fix it." Unless...........if you live somewhere, where your state requires a tail pipe check for pollution emissions, known as e-check, in order to register your car for renewal license plates. If that is the case, then your car could conceivably fail the e-check test because of the different ECU.

From your discussion, you are discussing both a fuel problem (as bad injectors), or a spark problem (replacing the coil pack). My suggestion is to first figure out which problem do you really have. Suggest using one of those in line spark testers. One end plugs into the end of the spark plug wire, the other end of the tester plugs onto the spark plug. When running, a little light flashes inside the tester wire to verify that spark is getting to the plug. You may also want to pull a spark plug to see if it is "wet" with unburned fuel. There are prolly ways to check to see if an injector is operating properly, and actually spraying the fuel mist into the engine. I just don't know how that is done. Still, as I suggested, find out if you are having a spark or fuel problem. Eliminating one of the two potentials, makes it a lot easier to find a solution to the other.

That is exactly what I did. I installed two plugs one night, then two plugs the following night. Suggest as others have....use antisieze on the threads of the new plugs going into the car. It helps lube the threads during installation, and prevents galling when the plugs are replaced in the future. I also put some of that electrical jelly on the inside of the spark plug wires connectors upon attaching to the spark plugs. This helps seal out moisture, and prevent the wires from getting really tight on the plugs.

I did the spark plug and wire replacement on my 99 OBW last Spring. I bought the car used with about 150K on the odo. It didn't take me long to figure out that the car had the original plugs and wires on the motor. I had a devil of a time getting the wires to pull off the ends of the spark plugs. I actually had to rip the wires off using long handled channel locks. The turn and twist method of removal was out of the question. To remove the plugs, you will need to remove the battery and wind shield washer fluid reservoir on one side of the engine, and the air intake plumbing on the other side of the motor. This is necessary to gain access to the plugs. Have available every size small drive extension that fits on the end of a 3/8" drive handle. Different length spark plug sockets are helpful too. You will be doing a lot of finger untightening of the plugs, once you have "broken loose" a tight plug. Again do finger hand tightening of the new plugs. This prevents cross threading of the plugs into the soft aluminum head. You will be amazed how much time you spend installing just 4 spark plugs. It is just tedious work that makes you want to cuss a lot during the process. Thankfully plug replacement is not something that needs to be done often. Of all the work to be done on a Subie motor, changing plugs is one of the worst. Doing other motor work on a Subie is a piece of cake. Good luck and have patience.

The listing for that car was July 8, 07. Don't think that car is available.

After I read the original posting, my thought was that the timing belt had broken with the resulting noise being the bent valves. This assumes that there is sufficient motor oil in the engine. Others seem to think the same thing is a strong possibility. As others have said, I too, think it will take a replacement motor, or extensive rebuild of the current motor. I had good luck installing a used motor from a car found in a wrecking yard. Luckily, the motor was still in the wrecked car, so the yard was able to start it up. It ran perfectly, so I bought it.

With the noise being sunshine and temperature sensitive, I am still very inclined to think you have a buzzy shroud surounding the exhaust system. Suggest running the front of the car up on ramps, then with a helper in the driver seat, hold the throttle at various motor rpm to find the buzzy sound. Once you hear it, push on various portions of the shroud with a screw driver to stop the vibrating shroud from making the noise. Once you isolate the specific vibrating spot, I hammer in a good size bolt in the space between the shroud and the exhaust pipe. The bolt prevents the shroud from vibrating. Yea, it is a very low tech repair for a low tech problem, but it works. I have fixed this problem permanently in this manner on both of my Subies.

Congrats! Welcome to the 21st century of motoring Subie style. I think you are really going to like the WRX wagon. Keep us posted on your thoughts about your 2002.

With a 180K miles on your engine, and a good possibility that valves are bent, maybe worse, it might make more sense to drop in a replacement motor. By the time you figure the cost of having a mechanic rebuild your motor, compared to dropping in a rebuilt motor, I wouldn't think there will be much difference in cost. Just my 2 cents worth of advise.

Doubt that it is a bad wheel bearing. A bad bearing doesn't make noise upon stopping, but is loudest when making a wide sweeping turn, for instance when entering or exiting a long freeway ramp. It could be a brake pad that has a "hard" spot on the pad facing. It is easy enough, and cheap enough to replace your self. As far as the under hood noise in the morning when the engine is cold, I don't think the alternator would make any wierd noise. My guess would be a loose shroud around the exhaust system. When cold, and with any looseness, the shroud will vibrate causing a shrill noise. Usually the noise comes and goes at different engine rpm. Once warmed up, the noise may disappear. If the shroud loosens up more, then the noise will be constantly present any time the motor is running.

I have had a good experience using Lucas trany seal. I am not sure that is the exact name of the product, but if you ask a parts guy in an auto parts, he will figure it out, and get you the product. The product is thick like STP with the red/purple color of ATF. It really helped a leak in my Audi a couple of years ago. I really like Lucas products.

What I would suggest is buying a couple cans of 134a refrigerant, and an installation hose, if you don't have one. It is also a good idea to buy a can of 134a with leak detector. Once installed, use a black light to see where the refrigerant is leaking out. Don't know if Subie is one, but some cars have a temperature sensor that prevents the compressor from turning on if the outside temp is lower then about 56 degrees. I know VWs have this feature. You may want to find out if Subies have this feature. I think all cars A/C systems are now made, so if the system has a refrigerant leak, the A/C compressor will not turn on if the refrigerant level is too low. So, I suggest adding one can of 134a to see if the compressor to see if the compressor will turn on. If so, add the leak detector to find the leak. If you can't find a leak, then fully recharge the system. If there is only a small leak, then I don't even think about tearing into the system to find an "O" ring leak. That is way too much work for not much gain. I have one old car that I add a can or two of 134a over a summer to keep the A/C pumping out cold air. Paying only about $15 for cool air over a summer season is the route that I take.

I can't speak about any knowledge of that Good Year tire. However, over the years, I have purchased Good Year tires, or bought a car used with Good Years. Over time, I developed the opinion that Good Years are slightly over priced, don't perform any better than average, and don't offer good tire wear. I don't evern consider them when time to buy tires. For good performance at reasonable cost, I buy Kuhmo tires.

I doubt the spark plugs are the source of your CEL. It is highly unlikely that you would have fouled a plug in that short of milage. I use Bosch Platinum plugs in my Legacy OBW with no problems. Pull your codes to see what the problem is. My guess is the knock sensor, or 02 sensor.

I have replaced the top rad hose on several Subies. I never bothered to drain any coolant. I just loosen up the clamps, and pull the hose off. I first pull the radiator hose. Sure, you will loose a little coolant, but not much. Afterwards, I add coolant, or change all coolant, then burp the system. The little that I spill, I wash off by pouring some water over it.

I have checked the rear diff fluid level, and replaced the bolt with no leakage afterwards. Like said earlier, the lube is really thick stuff, and very unlikely to leak out past the bolt threads.

Wow, what a nice small coupe, very exciting! Styling looks very European, maybe Italian design with a Subie nose. I really like the lines of this design; they are very intergrated into a very pleasant overall shape. Is this just a styling exercise, or is it a Subie show car? Whatever, I would like to see more of this? Any more pics, write up or info?

Pull the codes to find out why the CEL is on.