Setright

I would strongly recommend Mintex OE replacement pads. Better friction and temp stability than stock, but not extreme enough to cause new problems. Overheated pads tend to transfer material to the rotor surface in little blobs, which in turn causes brake judder.Turning the rotors will NOT cure the problem. The bits of randomly transferred pad material give local hot spots which will cause hardning of the steel beneath. This will cause shudder again. Don't waste your time or money on machining the rotors. OE rotors will work well with Mintex, but consider getting some slotted rotors instead. There is a serious improvement in braking performance to be gained from letting the hot gases from the pads escape down the slots. Pad life will shorten though. Mine last 20k miles. EBC rotors are good at the price, but for goodness sake, do NOT use their pads!

Ermm, a hot wire MAF is very accurate. The flapper door system is better than nothing, but it has moving bits that wear out, and cause misreadings. As for the location...well air only enters via the intake right? So how would the VOLUME of air change along the way? The MAF gives the ECU an accurate indication of how much air is available, and the ECU tells the injectors to do its bidding. Then, the O2 sensor is used to make sure things went as expected. It's a very reliable system, and I wouldn't mess it. There is no need to subject the MAF to the higher air pressure aft the turbo.

The tank straddles the rear diff, so in effect it has two "bottoms" which can confuse the system slightly because the fuel slops from side to side during cornering. Sometimes my tank empty light will come on with the tank half-full after a trip through a round-a-bout Goes out again after a few seconds though. I wouldn't worry about it, just learn to read it for what it is actually saying as opposed to where the needle is pointing!

How can you discuss tyre pressure without mentioning tyre size?? Wider road tyres actually tend to need higher pressure because otherwise the carcass doesn't excert enough force on the central part of the contact patch. Also, more air in the tyre gives better thermal stability. (Race tyres have a much harder carcass and pressure be lowered as they get wider.)

Well, if the transsmission is in neutral it shouldn't harm anything. HOWEVER: Working around a running engine can be dangerous. The aux drive belt is running, the fan starts on its own, and there is some serious voltage in your plug wires. BE CAREFUL! And have someone watching you, so they can jump in an pull you out if things get nasty!

Get the car up on a lift and let it idle. A serious rumble/rattle/ohmygodsomethingisloose sound from the gearbox will mean it's the bearings. A lot of metal shavings in the oil is also a sure sign. A little mound on the magnet in the plug is perfectly normal. I mean a lot of shavings, like you can see them drain out with the first half-quart of oil....then you're in trouble. Also, does the noise change in character when you coast in-gear. Try around 45mph down a moderate hill in fourth gear....does it sound like the gearbox is gonna fall out when you come off the gas pedal?

Phase II has solid valve lifters, which need adjusting every 60k I believe. The US Postal service kept the Gen2 Legacy in production for up til about a year ago, but the steering wheel is on the wrong side - to help them get straight onto the sidewalk. Maybe they will be up for grabs soon? (Source CAR Magazine's GBU)

1992 models are not known for the chronic main bearing failure. However, you cannot rule it out Consider this: Clutch to the floor, car stationary, and the tranny internals stop spinning, and the noise disappears. The throw-out bearing is under pressure, holding the clutch diaphram spring, and will not rattle because of this. It might "whine". Clutch up, car stationary, and the transmission input shaft is spinning, and the main input bearings are in motion. Rumble, rattle, and whine as they like. The throw out bearing is also free to rattle, but whining stops, since it is not under pressure. At, least that's my understanding, I never did finish my mechanical engineering degree...

No center diff means transmission wind-up on grippy surfaces. I expect you are getting a small amount of wheel slip in the rain, but hardly enough to ruin the cornering attitude. I would strongly recommend leaving it in 2WD on dry ashpalt, for the sake of your driveshafts On 195/60R15 Bridgstone RE720's my Legacy will slip the rear wheels at full throttle in wet 90 degree city corners, after the tacho needle swings past 4500rpm! It doesn't flick it out since the front wheels are still pulling, trying to get the back end to follow. Higher gears and more open bends produces no slip. Unless it's a second gear corner taken over 45mph and I shut the throttle mid-bend, in which case the rear end starts sliding. No dice in the dry though, just grip-grip-grip!! I reckon the permanent 4WD with a LSD in the center is the best solution for on-road driving. The 187/70R14 Yoko F310+'s I am on now for winter, are a different story.... OH!versteer is the order of the day:banana:

Well, you need to be careful with it, but brake fluid, DOT2, on a cloth and rubbed on the belts tends to stop the squeal. But this is a trick for old belts, not sure it increases the lifetime of the rubber, but it does soften the surface and let the belt regain grip

Exactly! My judder happens mostly when I am alone and have time to be too-careful and let the clutch in real slow. Most of the time, with people in the car, conversation takes some of the concentration away, and she doesn't judder. Although sometimes I think she is just trying to impress the passengers and gets on perfect behaviour

Well, these sorts of things don't show up in the short term, might be a problem many tens of thousands of miles down the road. I wouldn't go against a specific recommendation in the Subaru owners manual. They seem to know what they are talking about I still get goose bumps when I read about the octane ratings you guys drive on in the states. Over here, 92 is the lowest. I run Shell 95 exclusively, and my engine seems to shun other fuels - she's gotten used to a gourmet diet I guess

There certainly should be! Each front corner of the car has rubber bump stop that can be rotated to alter the height at which they engage the hood. Adjust them upwards in quarter turns until the hood will just move a tiny bit up and down. If you raise them too high the hood will be hard to shut and the latch will wear out faster.

If the sound is very bad, ie. rumbles when you engine-brake, then it is likely that the main bearings are worn. I second the motion on checking oil level, and add that you ought to check it's condition. Try sucking a bit out...is it full of metal shavings?

Don't go for more than 16 inches, the suspension geometry isn't set up for 17-18 inches and the car will not ride or handle well. Part reason is the increased weight of the wheels, which the dampers can't cope with. At 16 inches, you should have a 50mm offset. Rim width is also very important, minimum width in relation to tyre section is 70%, but this gives really soggy handling. Try to aim for 80 or above. Most 16 inch rims will be 7 inches wide, and I would stick to a 205 tyre for this rim width. Wider tyres are also more likely to rub.

Which ATF? Would Mobil 220 Dexron II, do the trick??

Surely the alternator, and at that mileage not surprising.

VW started using water based paints a long time ago. On the Golf/Jetta MkIII. Seems to last well. Anyway, the solvent used - be it water or something more sinister- is only really relevant for the application and surface texture. It's the other components that don't evaporate that influence the long-term quality.

I love it when a plan comes together!

I would lean toward a tired CV joint !

OH DEAR! I guess if you have worked out how to pull the dashboard itself out, then the easy part is over Before you go ahead, ask youself if you can live without the indicator? Disassembly is tricky and there a number of plastic clips that can break on the way in...use your instincts and pull gently and watch where the white plastic cowl is resisting..that's where the clips are.

All the rods are inside the second metal pressing. I don't see how you could get at them by sliding something down the outside of the glass. Also: The window is quite "deep" so it would get in the way too Coat hanger through frame is a better bet, but BE CAREFUL, don't stress the window glass, it might crack. Come in from as low as possible and reach forward to the inside handle. Personally, I'd try to pick the door lock.

Yes, it is "normal"...and very annoying! The seal on the mirror mount is the culprit. Roll the window down and squeeze, by hand, on both sides of the triangular mount to tighten the grip on the glass. Next up, lift the mirror casing gently upward to tilt the mount in toward the door frame. If this does help, get some soft rubber tubing or thick wire and slide it into the doorframe seal. Only the first 5-6inches, this will exert more pressure on the mirror mount hopefully making things quiet! I have done all three and it works fine, expect on sub-zero mornings here in the northern hemisphere, because the seals are too stiff at -10 C

Sounds like both the cam and crank -shaft sensors give up simultaneously. They provide the ECU with the same info, namely engine RPM, so if one fails it will be ignored and usually trigger the Check Engine light. Having dismantled my dashboard a number of times due to blown bulbs, I am quite sure that the tach runs off info from the ECU.

Qman, I wasnt ruling anything out