Cinder55

Wife broke the eyelet of her clutch fork where the clutch cable connects to it. Just sheared the metal eyelet right in half. Obviously this is a pretty major job here to fix. As I see it I've got 3 options here; 1) I can try and pull the tranny myself. I've done 3 tranny replacements on a project Mazda RX-7 and by the 3rd one was getting pretty good at it. Had it down to less than 6 hours for complete pull and install. Are Subi's tranny's insanely hard to pull and install? Similar to Mazda's at all? 2) Pay a shop to do this. Car is only worth about $1100 here in my area and that's functional price. As it sits it's probably not even worth $500. I've got emails into a few shops to see what they would charge to take care of this. I'd imagine it's cost prohibitive on a car this old with this low of resale value. Any idea what book labor is for a tranny pull and install? 3) Write the subi off and start looking for a replacement. Wife and I both really love this little car. Goes like heck and blasts thru everything Alaskan winters can throw at it. There's a ton of new parts put in in the last year; is there a market for parting these 91 Legacy Wagons out and recouping some of our investment? The junkyards around here won't give us much for it I do know that. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks, Christien

Was lazy and just swapped out the old starter for a new one. You'd think it would be a simple 30 min job but it took a little over an hour. Thankfully it was 5 above out there today so it wasn't too bad. Again thanks a ton for pointing me in the right direction. This subi has been super reliable up till this winter. We purchased it 2 years ago for $1000 and hadn't had to put really any money into it till recently. Wife loves it almost as much as her old Saab. It's been a little tank and no matter what the weather up here throws at us it gets her to and from work just fine. Next project is rear struts; brake job; and abs relay; hopefully that stuff can wait till spring though. Cheers!

Result of the jumper wire test was that the solenoid engages but starter never spins. So I'm guessing the starter is bad. Grabbed a new starter at NAPA today just incase I can't fix the old one. Supposed to be warmer tomorrow so I'll do the fix 2moro. Cheers and thanks for steering me in the right direction.

Can I test my starter by running a temporary wire from the positive side of the battery to the spade connector on the solenoid as suggested in other posts i've read on the forums here? I've checked the battery; used a terminal cleaner on both the terminals and the wire clamps. Tossed a battery charger on it and it showed the new battery was fully charged. I don't have a test light but do have a digital multimeter i'll start on this after I've verified the starter isn't the issue. The starter might be original to the car and it's got well over 200k miles on it. Thanks for the info on the wire colors that should help a ton. I'm starting to think the starter is the issue as well. Lots of posts about it and seems to be a fairly common issue.

It occurred to me that I probably should post the symptoms. Turn the ignition to start w/the clutch depressed and I hear a click from a relay under the hood but the starter makes no noise and doesn't engage. I'm pretty sure the clutch pedal sensor is fine as I can hear it click with the ignition in start as I depress it fully. Since I've had problems with the blower relay and abs relays I just assumed the Ignition relay is the culprit. That ignition relay does have to switch to get the starter solenoid to engage correct?

I've been having trouble with the relays in my Wife's 91 Subaru legacy. The blower relay failed and I replaced that last month. At the same time I did a fuel pump replacement and installed a new battery. Car has been working great till yesterday (Although it's worth noting the ABS relay stuck on the other day when she was driving home and I ended up just pulling the fuse for it to get the pump to turn off. I think the brutal cold we got up here in Alaska this winter has really played havoc on all of her subi's relays). Now it appears the Ignition Relay is bad. However I can't quite figure out how to get it removed from the relay holder. It appears square where as the Blower and Fuel pump relays are round and clip into to the holder. As you probably already know this is a nightmare of a location to work on. I'm trying to get everything done through the little stash box that I've removed; all by touch. Does anyone have a picture or suggestion as to how to disconnect the cable? The round ones are relatively easy you just pry up on the two side plastic flanges that hold the cable connector to the relay. How does the brown Ignition relay disconnect? Unfortunately I thought that it was the same relay part as the Fuel Pump and Blower; however with it appearing to be square I think I have the wrong part to begin with. I'm considering trying to remove that left side dash panel; it looks like i'd have to remove the hood release lever and cable and remove some bolts and screws and maybe it would separate from the main dash. Maybe this would give me more visibility and access? My big fat hands have a real tough time working in this area. I'm close to having it towed to a shop and just saying the hell with it. This isn't fun... Any suggestions or info would be super appreciated! Thanks for reading. -Christien

She lives! 210,000 miles and still running. Just wanted to say thanks! It indeed was the fuel pump. Fired right up first try after replacing it. Replacement pump cost about $220 from NAPA it was a bosh direct OEM replacement and included the screen and a fresh hose. Don't bother with the cheap $100 pumps they don't fit (at least on my 91 legacy) and aren't even close to the right pumps.

I need some more advice. I finally got the correct fuel pump however the power connections are completely different on the new pump from the old. I've snapped a photo of the differences. One is a post and the other is a spade style. I can run down to the hardware store and pickup what i need to swap the power connections but I need some advice on how to proceed. I'm not an electrical guru by any means and realize that I want to do this as safely as possible. Electrical current inside a gas tank isn't something you really want to mess with. So please if you have any recommendations on what I need to do to the power connectors to hook this pump up I'm all ears. Photo on the left is the old pump and new pump with the new being on the right. And the 2nd photo is of the existing power connectors. I'm thinking I can just crimp a new style of power connector or use a lock nut and bolt combo? The positive wire did have a plastic shroud around it. That won't mate up on the new pump...will that be a problem? Suggestions? Thanks!!!!

Unfortunately Fairbanks, Alaska is a town of 90,000 people and all though there are TONS of subaru's up here not much in the way of junkyards. I wish we had a "u-pull-it" style junk yard where you can just go in and get what you need. But all the junk yards around here charge practically new prices for used parts. Napa had the OEM part in Anchorage and are shipping it overnight. I noticed it looks like it's going to be a bit of a trick to get that pump replaced in the assembly. Doesn't look fun but I imagine it won't be that bad. We'll see soon enough.

Just thought i'd post a quick update. Finally warmed up enough here to do some work on the Subi. Ended up borrowing a heat gun from a friend. 5 mins of heating those hoses on a low temp allowed me to pull that stubborn middle one off with just my fingers. Heat gun is the way to go!!! Now to replace the pump and put it all back together. Hope this fixes it! Edit: Napa sold me the wrong fuel pump. No way this thing will fit and replace the old one. Back to napa to return the pump; may be stuck going to he subi dealer locally and paying top dollar.

Yeah I've tried that; the hose will twist; just can't get it to budge off the damn nipple. I think it's just cause of the cold temps. That rubber is so tight. I'd kill for a garage right now. Let this thing warm up and my problems would be solved. But alas; working out in the cold in Alaska always makes things more complicated then they need to be. I did purge the tank by pulling the cap. And there was a nice air sound as pressure was released. I was honestly surprised there was a vapor lock there as the pump hasn't been working and i've already pulled the cap 3 or 4 days back. Not sure how the tank got pressurized again. Probably the warm up in temps i guess. The car is on an incline a bit as my driveway is sloped. It's not more then 10 to 15 degrees though. Probably just siphon 5 gallons of gas out of the tank and try again in the morning once everything is evaporated. Need to warm that hose up safely with what i've got on hand. Are we having fun yet?!?!?! grrrrr...... My logic is correct here with the fuel pump being bad correct? With the green diagnostic connectors together i hear the fuel pump relay clicking over; and i hear nothing from the fuel pump or feel any vibration what so ever even though i'm getting 12v of power on pins 1 and 4 for the fuel pump power connector. I hope i'm not wasting my time here; but I think my logic is all correct here. Correct me if i'm wrong... Again thanks for all the help.

Grrrrrr...two of the fuel lines came off without a hitch. The middle one won't budge...tried wd40...no go. Maybe a hair dryer on super low setting to warm up the rubber? EDIT: I don't think there's more than 6 to 8 gallons of gas in the tank but damn if the thing isn't leaking from the nipples. Took a break went back out to see a pool of gas sitting on the tank. Plugged the nipples and sopped up the gas. Guess I gotta drain the gas tank before going any further and let all the gas evap. So might be pushing this back to 2moro. Friend suggest soap and hair dryer to get that middle hose off. Obviously i'm not putting any source of spark or heat near that till the mess is gone. Something so simple as removing a hose shouldn't take fricken 2 hours...so frustrated!

Pins 1 and 4 are getting 10-12v of power with the green diagnostic connectors together under the driver side kick panel. Plugged power input back into fuel pump and fuel pump is deff not running. Soooo...I guess I just need to get this fuel pump replaced and my wife gets her subi back. Wish me luck! Woot!

Perfect!!! That's the info I needed to check if power is getting to the fuel pump. You da man! I'm done with it for the night but will get on it first thing in the morning and let you all know what i've found. Thanks again for helping a n00b get this resolved.

I need more information on this fuel pump location. I pulled up the carpet in the hatch of my wifes 91 Subi Legacy L Wagon. Saw both access hatches. Oval one on the right and round one on the left. The left panel has a 2 connector cable going to it and the one of the right has a 6 pin connector going to it. Both appear to be fastened with some 6mm or 8mm nuts onto bolts. Which side is the fuel pump on? If i had to guess I'd say the left one, as the replacement fuel pump I have has a 2 pin power connection going to it. Do I just remove the nuts and pull up to get this assembly removed? Again i'm no mechanic but have a decent amount of common sense. First subi i've owned and unfortunately I don't have a chiltons, haynes or service manual for this vehicle. Help!?!?!