Rooster2

Don't know that I can answer your question, but when I had a 91 Leggie, it developed a bad starter. I bought a rebuilt replacement at a parts store. The new one looked slightly different from the old, and then I realized the starters were two different brands. One was a Mitsubishi, the other I think a Toshiba, or Hitachi. It didn't make any difference, the replacement unit worked just fine. So, those two units were interchangeable.

Nice video of your repairs. Everything seems to fit pretty well. Suggest you install the two steel guards that cover the front of the pulleys and fan belts. It makes things safer that way to keep from getting a finger or rag caught between a belt & pulley. You may want to polish the lenses of the head lights. Toothpaste on a wet paper towel works pretty good. There are also commercial products at parts stores made to do the same thing. Glad to see that you have got your car back on the road.......Congrats!!

+1 on can't complain. Glad to read your story about how you are able to put your car back on the road again. When all is said and done, you will be able to keep a good portion of that $2300 in your pocket. Since the damage was above the bumper, you prolly won't find any damage to the suspension, so your car should drive like before the accident. Please post the "car fixed" video. I would like to see your repair work!!

I have always thought that you grease wheel bearings thoroughly upon installation when new, and that was it. Last time I installed a wheel bearing, it was already well greased from the factory. No need to regrease ever again.

Do it soon before the water in the oil rusts your crank. A real good idea to change the oil asap. You just don't know if your oil is possibly contaminated with water.

Unlikely related to the fuel pump or a clogged fuel filter. When either go bad, you feel the motor is starving for fuel under heavy load or high rpm. BTW, swapping out spark plugs is a nasty job. With just 90K miles on the motor, I am betting the plugs are the originals. Time for new plugs, prolly wires too. Plenty written on the subject, and can be found in the archives here under "search." When I changed plugs in my 99, it took two nights of work. One night for two spark plugs on each side of motor. There is just so little room to work to get at the plugs.

How old are the spark plugs and their wires? Maybe they need to be replaced. The charging system of battery and alternator is not likely linked with poor driveability. Suggest you go to a parts store like Autozone, Advance Auto, etc. These stores will analyze your charging system at no cost to see if there is a problem with the battery or alternator.

Like a young kid with a new Christmas toy!!

I am the guy who wrote this thread 3 years ago. I am not aware of anyone using Trans-X to fix a reverse issue, but who knows it might work. The second problem of hesitation upon acceleration from a stop with tranny already in Drive just doesn't sound good. Maybe someone will be able to tell you about some tranny internal adjustment that will fix this. Using Trans-X, you will know within 10 minutes of driving if it will fix your problem. The product works that quickly. If it doesn't help, then you should contact the seller of the used tranny. My guess is that the used tranny came from a wrecking yard. If so, most yards have a standard 30 day guarantee on major parts. I have never had a problem of a yard arguing about the guarantee. They simply will swap out the old, and give you a replacement. The problem is their guarantee does not cover any labor charge, so unfortunately that will be at your expense. Post here how you have come out on this problem. Thanks!

How far will you need to transport the windshield? If it is just across town, then no big deal.......like someone said, just wrap it in blankets or bubble wrap and lay it flat in the cargo area. Now if you are wanting to transport the windshield half way across state, then standing it up, is what I would do. If you are getting a windshield out of a wy, or do it yourself removal out of a pick-a-part, then I would use the piano wire technique to cut it out. This is done by drilling a small hole through the windshield gasket, being careful not to drill through the glass. Insert a length of piano wire thru the hole, tie a stick on each end of the piano wire, then with a buddy, one guy inside the vehicle, one outside the vehicle, proceed to saw back and forth on the rubber molding until the glass can be pulled from the car. Be sure to wear leather gloves, and bring a lot of muscle, as this can be hard work, but this technique will remove the glass from the car. Good luck! I would prolly have a professional install the glass, so it is sealed well, and won't leak.

How does the motor run?

Wow............just look how badly the water passages are plugged up. What a mess!!

+1 on Davebugs advise. He knows what he is talking about. Any garage can change a water pump, alt, or starter, on a Subaru, but don't have them do the work replacing the HG,s unless they have a reputation of doing serious tear down and repair work on Subarus. You don't want your mechanic learning how to do serious Subaru repair, by working on your car. As stated, it is a 99.9% statistic that you have a bad HG. Everyone likes to keep repair costs low by first trying to fix this problem by replacing the water pump, or radiator, or cooling system additives, but they won't solve your bad HGs. It isn't easy to say, but you need to find an experienced Subaru mechanic to replace your HGs to successfully put your car back on the road.

Somewhere, maybe on this forum, I have seen a write up with pix on installing a Subie motor into a Vanagon. If you haven't seen this, it is well worth a look see.

+1 on don't spend the money on having a gas analyzer put in the tailpipe. Suggest you do this........................ The simplest way to see that the head gasket is bad is to let the car warm up, (but not yet over heating) and with engine running at idle, open the cap to the radiator overflow plastic container. If there is coolant in the overflow, and you see bubbles of air rising to the top of the overflow coolant, then it for sure is the head gaskets. I saw this precisely first hand on my 99 to know the head gasket was bad. The bubbles are exhaust gas leaking into the coolant system through the bad head gasket. Thus the motor over heats. This is not a common way that head gaskets break in most cars, but it is the very common way that a head gasket breaks in a Subaru.

A thought on changing brake pads.........be sure to lube well all slide surfaces of pads on the rail, as well as lube the slide pins. It is important. Last Spring, my Subie wasn't stopping well. I pulled the calipers off to find one of my slide pins locked up with rust, with brake pad worn severely on one side, so the pad couldn't press well against the rotor. Lubing the pin, and changing pads fixed the problem.

If your car has been driving fine for thousands of miles, and now decides to over heat, I can assure you that it is a blown head gasket. All 96-99 model Legacys have an engine design weakness that eventually will blow the head gasket. I know this is not what you want to hear, but it is just the sad truth. There is lots written on this subject on this forum, which you can access with the forum "search" section. Just type in "head gaskets," and your monitor will just light up with info. I just got my 99 OBW out of the shop last week from head gasket repair. My wife has a 98 OBW, it blew its head gaskets last year. It came as no surprise. Hopefully, you have not driven with the motor over heating for very long to cause engine damage.

His mechanic is wrong. Timing belts need replacing well before 140K miles. Someone will chime in here as to what Subaru recommends for a 93. Having read what others have posted, $2,400 seems high for a 93, especially needing a Tbelt, and prolly tensioner, and pulleys. If it were me, I would offer somewhere around $1,800, because of the work that needs to be done. Your offer will prolly initially not be accepted, but it is unlikely anyone will buy the car for $2,400, so owner will likely get back to you with a lower negotiable price. Just be sure to leave your name and number with the seller.

Yea, I too am thinking you have a bad spring.

Suggest you go on line, look at used car pricing in NADA used car prices. The Impreza L model is the entry level, so that is why there is no cruise, steel wheels, etc. NADA will give you guidance if $2,400 is a reasonable price. From the website pixs, the car looks good. Floor wells look a little dirty, but prolly will clean up. The A/C most likely uses R-12 refrigerant, unless it has already been converted over to R-1234a. I think Subaru, and the rest of the car industry switched to R-134a in 1994. The 2.2 motor in a 93 is non interference, so if the T-belt breaks, there is no valve damage. That is good to know, but the belt is most likely the original in the car, and needs to be replaced.

Who cares if it is ugly! It is on the bottom side of the car, and not seen by anyone. Only you knows the seran is there. BTW, I have bought Subie seats on line from a yard that were protected with cardboard wrapped in heavy duty seran film for shipping via Fed X. Bet that seran would work great as a red neck boot fix.

There is also the addage about dogs.....It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the amount of the fight in the dog that wins the fight. Someone help me.......I got this dog thing close, but not quite right. Same with oil filters.

I have bought knuckle from a yard for $75, and installed it myself.

I tried the split boot fix just one time. It didn't work. Just wasted my time.

A red neck fix that works pretty well, is to add some CV axle grease back into the split boot. The grease can be bought at any auto parts store. Then, wrap the split boot in seran food wrap, then over wrap the seran with duct tape. The whole point is to keep the grease in, and road grime out of the CV joint. This fix works pretty good.