Fairtax4me

Imagine putting holes in the bumper of THIS CAR, with a $3,900 matte finish paint option, just to mount the front license plate bracket. I told the guy he should just pay the ticket IF he ever gets one on one of the half dozen or so drives he would take the car out of the garage for in a years time. Yes it was destined to sit in a garage, while he spent most of his time in NYC. Guy said mount it anyway. I'm trying to find a pic of the setup I made for my Lincoln but I think it was on my old hard drive that got wiped out. I can take another one tomorrow to show what I did.

These cars have their fair share of rust issues. On the Legacy wagons there is a small space inside the rear fender well that will rust out, the Impreza may be similar. But it's just a shield area. It's not a structural part of the car. The thing about a Unibody car, (unibody means the frame structure is designed into the body/passenger compartment structure of the vehicle, rather than building a body to sit on top of a frame like a pick up truck) If one area rusts a little, there is usually plenty of other structural support to hold up in a crash. The whole car would have to be badly rusted to compromise the "cage structure" of the frame, which is the part that protects occupants during a crash. The rear cross member/ sub-frame is a bolt on section of the rear suspension. It's basically what holds the rear suspension to the frame of the car. Those can and do rust out, the bolts that hold it to the car will rust, the bolts that hold the rear suspension parts to it will rust. The salty roads are what does it, and once it starts it doesn't stop. Generally repairs where multiple rusted bolts need to be removed do not go smoothly, bolts seize and then break when trying to remove them. The cross member has to come out in order for the fuel tank to be removed, which is why you want to hope you don't have to remove the fuel tank. Is yours rusted that badly? Probably not yet, it's pretty evident when rust is bad on the cross member. When you get under the car, take some pics of the under carriage and post them up. I bet plenty of people here have just as much or way more rust. I can think of one thread right off the top of my head where I'm 98.6% positive the poster has a much bigger, much more worrisome rust problem than you do.

Mmmyyyyeah probably not. Hold the license plate up to them I bet the holes will line right up. If you're really dead set against putting holes in your bumper, you can make some brackets from stuff at lowes that will reach up under the bumper to the reinforcement behind the cover. I did that on my Lincoln. Had to drill some holes in the reinforcement, but it was aluminum so it was easy. I think Subaru's use plastic so it's even easier.

The fill tube is metal and rubber, and probably some plastic too. The section that generally gets replaced is the metal section because it rusts out. What you'll probably run into is rusted bolts and broken brackets even tryin to get the evap canister out of the way to get access to all the tubes back there. But anyway. If you remove the canister (it's the large black box) there is a round thing over top of that that is an air filter. There are two hoses that attach to it, one of them leads to an electric valve that opens to control airflow going into the fuel tank. The other hose (should be short) leads to a bracket and either ends or pokes up into the frame, which is where the spiders that Bru mentioned would probably sneak into to make their cocoon pod things to sleep out the season in. This is a known issue on other makes of vehicles, Saab has a TSB about this problem. Another auto maker (can't remember which it was exactly) just issued a recall about this. One trick you can try during fill up. Don't push the pump nozzle all the way into the fill tube, just push it in a couple inches just enough that it will hang in the filler and not slip out.

On the Saab 9-2x's we used to sell they just bolted right to the bumper. There were two small dimples that marked the spot where you drill the holes. On my wagon the plate is bolted right to the bumper. On my sedan the bracket is so small it might as well not be there. Just don't ream out the holes when you tighten the screws and it will hold just fine.

That should not be enough to matter, as long as the level is correct on the dipstick. The engine is probably just out of time. You'll need to remove the timing belt and reset the crank and cam positions using the proper marks as shown in the diagram John posted.

If you drained the converter while it was out, you need to put more fluid in to bring the level up. Was there room between the converter and flex plate after the engine and trans were mated back together? There should be roughly 1/8"- 1/4" of space between the two when the converter is fully seated into the trans.

Make sure the crank position sensor is plugged in. (It's the sensor directly over top of the crank sprocket). Make sure there is no metal stuck to the sensor face. The sensor is magnetic and anything metal stuck to the face of the sensor will cause it to not read correctly. Which marks did you use to set timing? Did you drain the oil from the engine before or during the work?

Generally repeated HID failures are due to faulty lighting modules. Broken headlight mounts allowing the housing to move excessively, incorrectly mounted or damaged housings causing excessive chassis vibration to reach the bulb, can cause the bulb to rattle around and be damaged. Subaru dealer should be able to check the lighting module for faults. Those are far from cheap though.

Sounds about right. Another possibility is the tank vent valve is jammed stuck. All of this is designed to release pressure from the tank during refueling or during high outside temperatures (which causes the gas to evaporate and create high pressure in the tank). I don't think the vent valve can be accessed with the tank still in the car. I'd try what Bru suggests first. It's easier, and free.

Basically during an ECU Flash the core programming of the ECU is wiped out completely, then re-loaded with an updated version. The only way to do it is with a Subaru Select Monitor, or some other form of re-programmer such as Cobb. It looks like basically the mechanic swapped everything electrical that might affect spark, except plugs and wires, which you did. So now you can either re-check the wiring, or check the crank and cam sensor pulses, rather than just checking resistance of the sensors. This is sounding like a dirty/corroded wire harness connector issue. Or something metallic/magnetic stuck to the cam or crank sprockets or sensors and throwing off the signals.

You can use the C clamp type. The valve cap is tiny though. I don't know the exact width, but I think it's less than an inch. I used a bolt on type compressor that was more of a PITA than it helped. Probably could have pushed the valve down by hand with the right tool to push it with.

I have a set of Carquest wires on my 96 sedan, no problems there. I just changed wires on my 95 wagon, they were Pacard? or something like that. No major problem with those, but one had a pin hole in the boot up by the coil pack that was causing some trouble in damp weather. I put in a set of Standard Ignition Products wires I got from the local Federated Auto Parts store (they look exactly like the Carquest wires on the sedan). It runs the same, just doesn't sputter in damp weather anymore.

Well when you wake up, if you remember where your nose was before you passed out then you might have found the leak. Other ways are visual evidence. Gas cleans things. If it is dripping down from one of the fuel rails, it will leave a clean streak. Gas leaking from the fuel lines by the filter, or where they attach to the engine, will make the hoses appear wet/shiny.

Oil Separator Plate Kit $37 + shipping: http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/cp_partdetail.php?partid=11564

It will rust and develop pin holes. If it's leaking you will be able to smell gas in the area of the wheel well. Under the hood there are a few places that can leak. Priming the fuel system or sniffing around while the engine is running can help pick out the source.

I was gonna do this on mine soon. Nice to see pics of the process before hand so I'm not going in blind.

It's misfiring. Probably needs plugs and wires. Seems odd the Check engine light isn't on. Does it come on during the bulb test when you turn the key?

With the engine out this will work really easy. If it's still in the car, you should try to drain the oil at least a day ahead of time. The oil dripping down out of the block and off of the internals will make it a real pain to get the gasket surface clean and oil free so you get a proper seal. Use Ultra Grey sealer. Clean the pan completely. Inside and out. Scrape all the old sealer off, a brass wire brush works great for removing old silicone/rtv sealers. Use acetone or alcohol, brake cleaner works as well, to clean the sealing surface. Clean the pan bolts. Dunk them in solvent, use a wire brush, your fingers, rag, or what have you, to get the bolts clean and free of oil. This will help make a better seal, and make it easier to thread the bolts back into the block. Use a clean rag to wipe all the oil you can off of the block and bottom of the internals to prevent drips. Clean the mating surface with a wire brush and clean with solvent just like you did the pan. Apply a roughly 3/16 - 1/4" bead the whole way around the pan. Then wipe it down across the width of the flange with your finger. Get it all around the bolt holes, cover the entire width of the flange. Check the block surface to make sure oil hasn't run down to the mating surface, lift the pan into place and press and hold it against the block. Try to avoid moving it side to side too much. Install the bolts, I usually put one at each end of the pan finger tight to hold it in place then install the rest and torque to spec. Most of the time pan bolts need only a few ft-lbs I think Subaru specifies something like 3-4, if you don't have a torque wrench that reads that low, most people don't, "snug" works. Let dry for a few hours so the sealer can cure before adding oil.

On the older diffs there is a sticker on the rear cover with a code that you could use to determine what the ratio was. I don't know any of the codes off hand, but I'll try to remember to look them up tomorrow. I know I saw them listed in a FSM somewhere before.

When you get your meter straight, you connect the probes to each end of the same wire. Pretty much any resistance setting will work fine for this. We all started there, staring at the hieroglyphics on the little box with wires sticking out of it going wtf does this do? Practice makes perfect, but even after using various multi-meters for 10 years or better now, I still don't know how to use half the settings on some of them.

Ohhh good. That whole post was like noooo, nooooo, noooooooo!!! They didn't really do that did they?!?! The short version is, get a new engine. The long version is. Whether it was low on oil, or damage from overheating, you probably have a rod bearing that is chewed up and it's probably going to lock up and toss the rod through the block if you keep driving it. Rebuilding is the only way to fix that, and is going to cost anywhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 - $3,000. Depending on if you do it yourself or have someone else do it. Junkyard engine is ~$500 with a warranty. Ej22 swap is a big favorite with these older cars. Lots of people have done it and there is plenty of info on the swap here. Overheating after 30minutes or so of driving means the head gasket didn't seal. The silicone sealer is a big no-no and hurt more than it helped in this case. There are engines that benefit from sealer on the head gaskets, Subaru engines don't.

They're all basically the same with the exception of the final drive ratio, and the clutch actuation system. The only difference there being cable/hydraulic type. In 99? I think, the bell housing bolt pattern changed, but all they did was add a few extra holes.

Sounds like Torque Bind. This is a symptom of a bad center differential in the transmission. The cause is generally mismatched tires. Two worn tires in the back, two new tires in the front. 3 worn tires and one brand new one because of a blowout. That sort of thing. The difference in tire circumference causes the front and rear differentials to spin at different speeds, and the center differential takes the beating because it is what delivers the power to the driveshafts. It causes wear on the plates inside the center differential, which is a viscous type. When it gets hot the plates stick together and cause the front and rear driveshafts to lock together similar to a permanent 4wd system. If the rear differential is a viscous LSD type, it can suffer the same problem. So here's how to test it. Warm up the car so it starts to bind. Chock the front wheels, jack up the back so both rear wheels are off the ground. Transmission in neutral, spin one wheel and watch the other one to see which direction it turns. If it turns the opposite direction, the diff is open, or is working properly. If it spins the same direction, at the same speed, block it with a chock or wood block something to keep it from spinning, and try to turn the other wheel again. It should spin, with a bit of resistance, but still spin nonetheless. If it is very difficult or impossible to spin, the rear diff is locked.

Ok then, So the rear half of your coil pack is not making spark. This is where those 2 wires come into play. Those wires are grounded by the igniter module, one at a time, so that the coil can build the magnetic field which creates the spark. Those wires go from the coil pack to the igniter module on the firewall, but they go through a couple of connectors along the way. If one of them does not make a good connection, is dirty/corroded or the wire is cut or even chewed by a mouse, the igniter can't ground the half of the coil that that wire goes to, it can't build the magnetic field, and it won't discharge spark. So what you do is unplug the coil and the igniter module. Use a multimeter to check resistance across the two wires. One is purple or blue, the other is red with a green stripe. If either shows high resistance or open loop, that is likely the cause of your problem.