lostinthe202

Thanks Frag. On the flywheel, I only took off .040 just enough to take off the glazing. I did read up on flywheel stuff and made sure to true it up real good before taking any material, I machined the whole surface then checked for run-out afterwards and had less then .001 all the way around. I didn't figure I could get it any better then that. Thanks for the specs on fork travel and freeplay, I will check that out when I get home. I was all ready to assume a coincidence that my trans decided to show its age shortly after this clutch job, it does have 193k on it, but then that thing happened this morning with the "lurching" sensation and that points again to a lack of full engagement so now I back to square one. I did do a poop load of reading about difficult trans cases and I figure to give that "uncle scotty's coctail" thing a try. but I'll wait until I've exhausted the exterior release mechanism first. Will-

I poked around under the hood again to see if anything was amiss. The only thing I could see that would possibly cause what I'm experiencing is the rubber boot around the cable on the stretch between the clutch fork and the hanger for the cable was torn and not on seated on the cable housing so, thinking maybe it was bunching up and not letting the cable move the way it should, I replaced the cable. The clutch shifted fine for three 1st gear shifts then went back to doing what it was doing before. On top of that, I've stared to feel a lurching when stopped with the car in first and clutch in, like the clutch disc is grabbing slightly. Can anyone think of ANYTHING that would prevent the clutch from opening up all the way, either something in the bellhousing or in the cable system? These are the part numbers shipped to me by Subaru for my '96 OBW 2.2L PP - 30210AA600 Disc - 30102AA851 TO - 30502AA051 Any of these incorrect parts?

Don't have any "me and the soob" pics, so until I can take some here's something to keep you entertained mopeds make bad dirt bikes... yes it runs, yes it drove, yes it was staged.

They revised the EPA standards last year to reflect a more "realistic" view of driving. They say the old standards considered highway driving to be traveling at 55mph with 5 min. average of sitting in traffic. the new standards place highway driving at 70mph with something like 30 min. of stop and go traffic. I may be off on these numbers a bit, but you get the idea. I've looked up every car i've ever owned and I always get what the old number is or better and I'm always going about 70mph or better on the freeway (it would be suicide to do otherwise around these parts). For example, my '96 OBW 2.2l 5spd is listed as getting 19/26 as the new epa number. I've always gotten 30mpg average, closer to the old epa number of 29mpg. Our honda civic hatch is listed at 27/34mpg is with the old number being 32/37 which is what our average is. Mileage is so dependent on driving style and it wouldn't surprise me at all that the only reason the epa had to revise their standard was because everyone is in such an all-fired hurry to get nowhere in particular.

Thanks for the reply. Yes it engages at what I would say is the normal point, not right off the floor but near the top of the travel. It's like something is preventing the fork from moving as far as it should but I don't have a clue what.

'96 OBW, 2.2L, 5spd, 193k I recently (3k ago) changed my clutch and a problem has developed in the last few days. I am having a hard time shifting, especially into first. When I push the clutch in (this is a cable clutch by the way) it feels as though I'm not able to push it in as far as it should go, like the last inch or so of travel has a lot of resistance and feels "spongy" like I'm at the end of the travel and I'm just stretching the cable. The pedal action felt like this from the get-go, and I poked my head under the steering wheel to look for anything amiss. This only thing I saw was that it looked like the stop (little rubber thing? Plastic thing?) had broken/fallen out and the pedal had nothing stopping it other then the end of travel of the PP. So I figured to just be careful not to press the pedal into that "spongy" range. The trans shifted fine at that time (better then it had in a while in fact, a non-broken clutch fork will do that eh?) so I didn't think much of it. Now it's tough to get in first, and it seems like that spongy section is maybe a bit bigger, like if I'm not in the spongy section just a bit, the kill switch for the starter doesn't get depressed and no start. I pulled the rubber boot off the cable and peeked inside as best I could. The TO bearing is right up against the PP and I can't see anything wrong, not that there is a lot of visibility. I did replace the clips with one from the dealer and as far as I know I put it back together correctly, that is I put the clips on the only way that it made sense to do so. Maybe I'm adjusting the cable incorrectly? I tightened the adjusting nut on the fork until all play was taken out of the fork, am I missing anything? Here's a list of parts changed and worked done, New: Pressure plate Disc TO - bearing Pilot bearing Clutch fork New clips for the TO bearing Rubber boot for clutch fork Resurfaced flywheel I changed the trans oil about 4 months ago with Valvoline 80w-90 I purchased all parts from the dealer and I turned the flywheel myself at work. I couldn't remove the dowel pins so I cut them off, resurfaced the flywheel taking off .04, then drilled/reamed and pressed in some new dowel pins made from 1018 rod. Any ideas of things to check? Thanks! Will-

Ah, thanks Gary. So push button huh? So is it part time AWD or part time 4WD?

I know Loyales come in a FWD form, but for the rest, are they AWD or D/R or both or what? Thanks! Will-

Hi, yes your car has both a drive shaft and cv axles in the rear. The drive shaft goes from the rear of the transmission to the rear differential, then the axles go from the differential to each wheel. In fact, I think there's two drive shafts back there right? One goes from the trans to a center carrier, then from there to the diff? Well, at any rate, you have both drive shafts and cv's in the rear. Good Luck Will-

So does a bad wheel bearing act like the brakes are on even though it will spin freely when the car is up in the air? I've dealt with bad bearings, but none that were that bad. yeah, that's a good guess, I didn't think of that. you mean like one hub was locked and one wasn't? If I go back I'll check it out. Thanks Miles!

PM sent

Thanks for the replies everyone. yeah I'm thinking either wheel bearings or axles, most likely both. Either way, there was no way I was driving it home. He told me it drove find just had a "miss" at idle. If that is what he considers driving fine, man I don't want be on the freeway behind any of his vehicles! Gary, yeah I'm interested in the body and drive train only, don't care about the motor. I was into it 'cause the under side had NO rust anywhere, something I don't need to tell you is hard to come by around here. If the trans was acting normal and it's just bad bearings and axles what not, I'll see if he'll drop a $150 or so off the price and trailer it home I was figuring to have to replace some of those items anyway. Thanks! Will-

It's an '87 GL Wagon, 240k on the body supposedly less then 100k on the engine with a new carb, supposedly an XT 5spd mileage unknown. Car started fine, but the idle loped a lot like it was running on three cylinders ( I was prepared for this, he mentioned it in the ad) but it smoothed out at higher rpms so probably just a vacuum leak or maybe timing? Anyway, the reason it's still sitting where I found it is, when I test drove it down the street, there was a grinding noise coming from the front (I think driver's side) and I couldn't get the car above about 35mph and the rattle in the steering wheel was pretty bad and as soon as I let my foot of the accelerator, the car slowed down as if I had the breaks on. I swung back into his driveway and popped the hubcaps off. The wheel nut on the driver's side front had no cotterpin and was only hand tight:eek: but the safety brake did seem to be free on both sides. We pulled it into his garage and lifted the car up in front, tightened the nut and put another pin in. The axle boot was torn but both front wheels spun freely. I tried for another test drive and the noise was still there as well as the lack of being able to get it above 35mph and the severe slowdown. Pulled back into the garage and lifted the rear. The rear driver's side wheel rocked a good bit but the axle/lug nuts where tight and both sides spun freely. Here's the thing, the 4wd light was not on and I hadn't engaged it yet since the road test went so badly. I thought maybe the car was in 4 high and the light was burned out or something and that's why I was having such problems on the street. But when we pulled it into the garage the second time to jack up the rear, the rear wheels spun independently of each other. We jacked the front back up and the front wheels were not spinning independent (ie turn one wheel and the other spun the opposite way) which I expected since it's FWD when it's not 4WD but when my buddy stopped one wheel the other wouldn't turn no matter how hard I tried. If the diff is doing what's its supposed to, I should've been able to spin one while holding the other correct? Is this normal for the front diff in this era of car? Given that the wheels were spinning freely so stuck brakes is not likely, what would cause the resistance to motion? Can really bad-dry axles do this? I didn't hear any noise, but wheel bearings? I might be able to talk him down in price, but I'd have to trailer it. I don't care about the crappy running motor 'cause I'm just going to pull it out, I'm mostly interested in the drive train so if these symptoms are signs of a trans that's going to grenade on me... well not worth the time. Any thoughts? Thanks!!

2003-2005 according to wikipedia. mabye an import? How's about a pic? It would be neat to see what this thing looks like

That's a nice looking car! The '95-99 is my favorite body style of the "new gen" subies. I've got a '96 OBW that picked up 3 years ago with 120k on it. It's now got 193k on it and I've done nuthin' but routine maintenance. Did the car come with any service history? Namely, do you have receipts or other proof of a timing belt change? If not you might consider doing the timing belt and assorted sundry items. Your 2.2 engine is an interference engine, meaning if the belt brakes it can do a lot of internal damage to the engine. The timing belt job is pretty easy to do for someone mechanically inclined and would run you between $200 - $300 depending on what you get from the dealer. I, and others on here that I've read about, get an ebay kit like this... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-2001-SUBARU-LEGACY-2-2-TIMING-BELT-KIT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33625QQihZ017QQitemZ270315446585QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW ...for the idlers and tensioner, but I buy a belt from the dealer. Some of the online dealers have pretty good prices for parts, https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html Here's a good source of instructions for the belt change, http://endwrench.com/main.php?smPID=PHP::search_articles_action.php& I'm not sure if they fixed this by '98, but on some 2.2L engines, the screws on the back of the oil pump can back out a bit and need to be removed and re-installed with some loctite. Also, while you're in there, replace the oil seal o-ring, then reseal the oil pump with an anaerobic gasket sealer (usually available at better auto parts stores like Napa) Do a search for timing belt change, this has been covered LOTS, how do you think I know all this? While you're picking up parts (if you decide to do this job) you might consider picking up the cam and crank seals. They are pretty cheap and if they are leaking a bit now, then they will probably be leaking like mad before your next belt change (in another 100k). If you don't need them, you can always return them later or save them for next time Good Luck and nice score! Will-

I can't offer much help on the ticking, aside from looking for rocks in between the splash guard and the brack/rotor components. We have a long gravel drive and this happens to my wife's car regularly. It takes the form of all sorts of noises from a high pitched whining (like a wheel bearing) to a clicking to a scraping depending on composition of the rock and location On the mileage, I seem to remember that you got this car pretty recently? Was it before last winter? If so, you may just be experiencing the normal drop in fuel economy due to "winter blend" gas. My OBW usually looses 3 mpg (from 30 to 27) and this winter dropped as low as 22mpg with an average of 25mpg. It's not back up to my normal winter mpg of 27. Just something to consider before you go throwing plugs and wires at Dragon if the ones on their aren't that old. Good Luck! Will-

Great, thanks everyone for your replies! Will-

Riiiiiight , I forgot about shift selection. Hopefully Gloyale is right...

Try the "parts" section of the USMB classifieds.

The gauge clusters in question: Auto - '97 OBW (2.5 with winter package if that matters) Manual - '96 OBW (2.2 without winter package if that matters) I want to know if they are interchangeable, ie does the manual cluster have the AT temp light? That would be the only difference correct? Thanks! Will-

The test my pop taught me for a clutch is to put the safety brake on (at a stand still obviously) and put the car in fifth and let out the clutch while giving a bit of gas as if you're starting off in first from a stop, if the car stalls the clutch is fine, if it doesn't the clutch is on it's way out.

Yeah, tune up first. All cheap parts that could probably use changing anyway. When I purchased my 96 2.2 outback, it had a miss during acceleration too. I pulled the plugs which looked about as perfect as a plug can look except for having a gap of about a 1/2 inch. Put new ones is and the miss was gone. I didn't have a CEL though so you should definitely check that out. Good Luck!

I'm pretty sure the problem was fixed by 2002, but in case it wasn't... The oil separator plate used to be made of plastic which can leak and get oil on the clutch disc and trash it. Maybe do a search on that you should find out what year they were updated to the metal one. Good Luck!

cars101.com lists '96 as the last year with a mechanical hill holder, but it doesn't say anything about the electronic. my '96 OBW has it, or had it until I ripped out the cable...

Just out of curiosity, did you have the container higher then the trans and prime the inlet side hose like you would if you were siphoning gas? If so, I'm surprised it didn't work.