allwheeldad

I know these questions have been discussed before, but I can't seem to find my way into a search function on the archived forums. I am looking at an 01 OBW with 187,000 KMS with a seized 2.5. The guy wants $1100 for it. Other than the normal things like wheel bearings and such, what issues are these cars known for? Is this one of the years prone to ghostwalking? Lastly, it is my plan to pull the 2.5 out of my wife's 00 Legacy and throw it into the OBW, But hers has the 4eat and the OBW is a 5 speed. Any difference with the motor? I did the head gaskets and all timing stuff on her motor about 25000 kms ago, so it is in decent shape. My kids are growing and her car is falling apart, so it is time to replace it anyways. Just need to know if this is a straight-forward swap or if I am going to hate myself while sitting in the shop in a puddle of oil surrounded by parts that won't work. Thanks, and if somebody wants to clue me in on how to search old posts I start there next time.

I replaced the knuckle on my wife's 2000 Legacy and with a used unit (cheap wheel bearing solution). The wheel speed sensor plugs on the new/used unit were different so I just chopped them and soldered on the plug from the old unit. Worked just fine. Just remember to use some shrink tubing on the soldering to protect it from corrosion.

While we're on the subject...mine doesn't work at all. Quit on me about 80,000 kms ago. Is this likely a problem at the sending unit, or do I need to pull the instrument panel out a replace a bulb?

Because they drive on the opposite side of the road in Japan the reflectors in the back of the headlight housing are calibrated accordingly. The lense on the left side would be aimed further out to light up the shoulder in Japan, whereas here it would be shining directly into the oncoming lanes.

ATTABOY!!!! That's the spirit! Don't strain yourself though! If you get more than two synapses firing at once you might start a fire.

I don't need to know how you spend your lonely nights.

Very witty. I take back what I said about you being a genius. I clearly assumed too much.

And you are a self-righteous, arrogant blow-hard with the social skills of a brick. I laughed at first when I saw the comments being traded back and forth in the thread, but now I am just tired of you. It's not so much that you disagree with the information discussed here, it's that you are so damned caustic in the manner you present yourself. If you already know it all, go start your own forum and invite the rest of the ego-maniacal geniuses out there to join. You can all revell in your opinions while leaving the rest of us simpletons to live a peaceful life outside of your delusions of superiority. That's alot of big words that mean "go be an arsehole somewhere else". Check your fool pressure regulator, your head seems to be swelling.

I got burned once on a set of rotors on ebay and have never shopped for car parts there again. I have purchased several parts from autopartsway.ca and have never been disappointed (by the way, they sell an awesome Denso oil filter for the same price as an OEM filter). I sourced out the axles I listed in my first post through them. We don't have an autozone here and I really hate paying shipping and customs on parts from the states if I can get them here. I'll take a look at the autozone parts online and see if they are similar. Thanks for all the responses.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA:lol:!!!!

1999 Legacy GT 2.5 385,000KM. I have already changed my differential oil and replaced all wear items at all four corners, yet I still have a vibration on acceleration that calms down once at a constant speed. I found a split on the inner CV boot on the drivers' side, so I am suspecting that is the culprit. I just about soiled myself:eek: when I saw the cost of an OEM replacement, has anybody used an aftermarket one? I checked out a couple from FEQ and EMPI, but I am leary about using a $100.00 part to replace a $700.00 part.

My 99 Legacy has 382,000kms and runs like a clock. Mind you, I have been diligent on servicing and have used Subaru parts for most everything. I rebuilt the suspension at 350,000 and just this weekend did the alternator. The motor and transmission is original (except for the headgaskets...damned ej25). You get what you pay for and it you want to take care of your car you are going to get alot out of them.

If you look at your stock airbox setup you will notice that it disappears behind the inner fender on the passenger side. With an actual cold air intake the piping is routed through the hole in the inner fender and the filter element mounts on the end, keeping it out of the engine bay and thus getting colder air. The downside is that you are potentially setting yourself up to hydrolock your engine should you decide to go blasting through some deeper puddles. A short ram intake has the filter element inside the engine compartment, usually where the stock filter box sits. Although you don't get any cooler air, you are not at risk of swallowing lots of water. Perhaps the only way to compromise is to fabricate an isolation box for the filter element to sit in and provide an air duct to blow colder air front the front (like the fog light hole in the bumper). Depends on whether you want a clean factory look, or a weekend autocross warrior image.

Just got back from the dealership and can't quite believe I never picked up on this; it's the alternator bearing. They ran around the car with a stethoscope and quickly came to this conclusion. You can even feel it at idle when you put your hand on the belt guard. Made a few calls and I can get one for about $75.00 from a local jy:banana:. They also found a cracked axle boot, so I have a pain in the arse Saturday coming up in the near future. Thanks for all the feedback. You were really on to something with the main pulley. Right church, wrong pew.

I'm running my snow tires now and this was happening with the summer tires as well. I had them balanced when they went on the car and there was no sign of cupping. I can eliminate the heat shield factor conclusively because I no longer have any (I am very impatient when it comes to annoying rattles). I had never really given any thought to the main pulley...I am going to break down and take it to my local dealership and have them put it on the hoist to check this stuff out. I am related to the service manage (distantly) and he is usually good about not hammering me on diagnostic time. My wife and I commute over 100 miles daily with this car, so spending a little money for piece of mind is worth it. I'll let you know what they have to say.

Sorry for the delay, was in Toronto for the weekend. So I checked the fluid levels in both diffs, no issue there. The sound is most definitely more of a roaring sound, but the strange thing is that it occurs as a wave. If you are mathematically inclined think of a sine wave. As it increases in volume it drops in tone, sort of like when you hear somebody with a loud stereo getting closer to you. Just a low sound wave. This is certainly coming from the front of the vehicle. It has the quality of metal rubbing on metal as opposed to a grinding. And it instantly drops in intensity if I shift up a gear when holding steady at about 3500 rpm, almost to the point where I cannot hear it. In my experience, a bearing would continue to intensify in sound as velocity increases regardless of rpm; a driveshaft likewise continues to increase it's rate of rotation as well. So if we can eliminate those as a problem, where to now?

The sound can be heard in all gears, it just really stands out in third. It's a low droning sound like a wheel bearing, but doesn't subside in turns like a bearing would. Sometimes I can make it out at highway speeds, but usually wind noise and kids drown it out. I put it on jackstands last weekend to check the bearings but couldn't find any play and no sign of any other wear items going south on me. Perhaps a transmission and differential flush might be in order?

Just to piggyback on this thread, I have a similar symptom under different circumstances. 99 legacy gt 380,000 kms, droning sound at 60 kph in third gear, goes away when I shift to drive. I am one of those poor saps that wanted a standard but wound up with an auto and cycles through the gears manually to inject a little fun into a boring transmission. There is nothing wrong with the bearings (yet), but there is vibration under acceleration. I recently replaced the rotors, calipers, and pads, so that is not the culprit. New snow tires, recently balanced. Any ideas?

Hey all, has anybody else wanted to get their hands on the person who designed the remote keyless programming sequence? I have been trying for weeks to program a remote for my 99 legacy gt limited and have followed about ten different variations of instructions I found on other threads. Do I have to spin around in circles three times and do a handstand before getting into the car? I know it is an alpine remote and in all the time I have owned it there was never any indication that there was an alarm on it, so I don't even know where to start. Any advice?

I bought mine at Part Source. I believe they are an off-shoot of Canadian Tire though. I know CT carries this same line of plugs. I noticed you were in the mountains, figured you might have a hard time with selection. Is there a CT close by?

After all this talk about plugs I decided to change mine again as well. I use the NGK GP BKR5EGP platinum plugs. I know that manufacturers like to claim that using their fancy expensive plugs will give you better fuel economy and more power, but really, let's be honest here. My Legacy has over 380,000 kms. The only thing that is going to make a difference at this point is a new engine. Besides, unless you are going to go to the trouble to index the plugs to maximize the spark position-to-fuel injector angle, the results will be negligible, if any. Run with a set of inexpensive, reliable plugs and save the pulstars for your next STi.

I don't know what the part numbers are, but I have twice now gone to Parts Source and installed the NGK plugs from them in my 99 legacy without a problem. They are set to the proper gap and cost $5.00 each. Worth looking at.

It always seemed a little strange that any shop wouldn't be able to handle a bearing job. Subie's are great cars, but we're not talking about rocket science here. I know what you mean about rust and torches. We salt the crap out of our roads in Ontario and after ten years the entire bottom of my car is covered in ferous oxide loctite:mad:. I replaced my struts and springs in September, but am considering going to a coilover set-up off my my brother's WRX. If I do I will also replace the all the bushings at the same time. It seems like a good idea to do some preventative maintainence while I have everything apart. I was looking through the technical manuals and saw that they were calling for some kind of bench support for the knuckle. I am a licenced welder, so if I need to fabricate a jig to support and restrain the knuckles while in the press it shouldn't be a big deal.

Thanks for the link. I'll keep those tools in mind in case they are needed. I may want to replace other wear items at the same time, so I was considering removing the entire knuckle. If I go that route, can I assume that a regular press can be used?

I was planning on doing the fronts some point soon. I can't feel any play in them but there is a droning sound coming from the front left corner that makes me think there will be something wrong very soon. Does Subaru sell those tool kits to the public or that a NAPA type of purchase? It costs almost $500 everytime I've had to take either of our cars in and I plan to own subies after these ones are gone, so I don't mind spending the money up front for tools. As long as they don't cost more than the car anyways. I have lots of experience with rusted bolts on these cars. I always add extra time and acetylene cost to any project I get into. The real *************** is when the bolts snap off in the frame. You won't find my solution for that anywhere in the recommended service procedures manuals.