Wayne Boncyk

I withdraw this comment! I should have read all the posts in-between when I first commented and these latest ones. I guess your ECU is happy to bias up the O2 sensor by nearly 4 volts! Again, I haven't seen any other system doing that, so there is probably a bias resistor (or a coupling capacitor) shorted in your ECU. That MIGHT lead to premature failure of the O2 sensor, but I've never had one biased up like that before so I can't say that for sure. If your replacement sensor fails before too long and it "sticks" at 3.8V again, then you'll know you need to change the ECU at that time!

Hey, Larry - it seems odd to me that there'd be a bias voltage on your particular O2 sensor arrangement. I don't think I've heard of another sensor that worked that way. This leads me to ask the question, have you checked the calibration of your voltmeter lately? If not, then try to read the voltage of a D-cell battery. If you come up with anything grossly different than 1.5V, you may have to adjust your meter.

Yup! You might be OK with a complete fluid change. At least you know that the Duty C solenoid is able to switch pressure in the clutch pack properly.

Hey, John! As a matter of fact I still have the original off of my '96. When I pulled it to work on exactly the problem that you now have, it didn't look like any of the clutch plates had been galled, seized or warped, so I put it away in a box for safe keeping when I put your old one on my tranny. I have since moved from SoCal back to Colorado, but it should still be in one of the boxes that I haven't unpacked in the garage yet. So, if when you pull the one you have on your '96 you find that you need a replacement clutch plate assembly, let me know. It would be a good excuse for me to get off my a** and unpack the rest of the garage, so I'll gladly ship this one out to you for the cost of mailing. You'll have to get a new Duty solenoid, though, 'cause I replaced the one in your extension unit with a new one before I installed it on my OBW. You know, between the two of us we're gonna keep these machines running for a million miles!

John, since the FWD fuse doesn't result in a FWD light on the dash, and the AT light still blinks on startup, it is a certainty that your Duty C solenoid is not operating. It may be that you only have a loose connector to the tranny, so check carefully before you start pulling another extension housing! But you've had enough practice at this for it to be relatively painless now, right?

Duh - yeah. I forgot to suggest checking for the obvious first. Something as simple as an air pocket may not be so obvious if you haven't re-filled a Sube's coolant before. :-\ As nipper says, it is best to fill the system with the engine starting out cold, but running. Have the car parked on an upslope (or use ramps) so the radiator is higher than the block, open the radiator cap and loosen the air bleeder screw on the other side of the radiator, and then start the engine & let it idle for a while. The air bubble will purge itself out as the thermostat opens and coolant is circulated thru the system. Top off the fluid level at the radiator filler as the air is purging, and tighten down the bleeder screw once you think most of the air is out of the system (a steady stream of coolant will seep out from the bleeder once all the air is gone). One final top off of coolant at the filler, then put the rad cap back on, and you should be good to go.

Should be part of everyone's Universal Tool Kit!

My first suspect would be the water pump -- and are you sure you routed the belt exactly the same way as the one you took off? If your routing is correct, and all the timing marks line up properly, then I'd wonder if the pump was still working.

What you're describing sounds very much like the first symptom of torque bind. As it gets worse, you begin to feel the car "skip" through the turn, rather than just hearing the "thunk, thunk, thunk" noise.

From all the issues I've heard from others' experiences with Supperrupair, I'd never trust 'em with one of my vehicles -- but as always, YMMV. I've had exceptionally good luck with the local Big-O franchise operations in the area for wheel alignments -- I can personally recommend the shop in Louisville (where I used to live), or the one in Evergreen (where I now live), as being able to properly align a 'Roo and being reasonably priced for the work.

Hey guys, several years ago I was living in Louisville, CO, and I took my OBW to a place called Coyote Motors in Boulder for a wheel bearing swap. They advertised themselves as a Subaru-Mazda shop. I was pleased with the quick turnaround, very pleased with the price, and have been exceptionally pleased with their workmanship. If they're still in business (off North Broadway, near all that new construction in the vicinity of the Bus Stop) then I'd recommend them -- and since I routinely do most of my own work, I'm picky about any pro mechanics that I recommend.

I actually was offered a similar "good deal" from my dealer in South Dakota a few years after I bought the '96 OBW new. I almost took him up on it, but then I thought about the hassle of another year's payments (didn't have the cash to close the deal at the time, and was within 9 mos. of paying off the '96). So I passed on the offer. I have since put more than 180K more miles on this vehicle, with the usual amount of Subie 2.5L hassles (I did HGs, etc...), but I have been car payment freeeeeee for over 6 years, and that feels really good now!

Is this a Manual or AT? If it is an auto, then you can pull a rubber cover plug from the front end of the tranny housing and get access to the flexplate. There are a couple of notches in the plate sufficiently beefy to allow you to wedge a screwdriver in there and effectively keep the thing from turning. If a MT, then the advice you've got from the other guys (in gear, parking brake set, etc.) in combination with the "impact hammer" trick will work.

You should have gotten a rubber O-ring along with the thermostat. If you bought Subaru OEM then you have to purchase the O-ring (called a thermostat gasket) separately. Without the O-ring installed in-between the thermostat and that cover, the assembly will leak like a sieve. NOTE: It will also leak if you don't have the O-ring properly placed, partially recessed and "holding in" the thermostat.

linder and Actually, no. The usual mode of HG failure for the series I 2.5L is a very small break between cylinder and coolant jacket - so small that it usually doesn't show in a compression test. Only the really high pressure of the firing stroke blows exhaust into the coolant loop. It's a nasty, "stealth" failure, that took Subaru some years to admit might be a fault in the engineering of this motor.

Drive in a tight radius circle, or in a tight figure 8 pattern, at low speed (try it in an empty part of a parking lot). If it feels like the car wants to buck or "stutter" across the pavement, that is the usual symptom of torque bind.

It's also illegal to sell a used cat, unless you are a certified rebuilder (need an EPA permit). I guess they're worried about an aftermarket of used hardware that no longer works -- kinda defeats the purpose of having a cat in the first place.

Yeah - makes sense. Not sure how much AWD you'd really be getting with a setup that doesn't fully engage the solenoid, though.

Maybe it only buzzes with this resistor setup? Mine has never buzzed either.

Technically, every car ever produced with a cat must continue to have a cat for the life of the car... federal EPA regulation. However, if you live in a state where cats are not required to be inspected, what you do in the privacy of your own garage is entirely up to you. Just remember that the OBD-II will set a MIL light when O2 sensors and/or cats are removed from an exhaust system. Additionally, although the engine will still run (and you'll probably notice little or no difference in performance or mileage), you'll technically be running "open loop," where the rest of the emission systems will be not working according to spec. Probably not a big impact on the life of the engine, but you'll be doing your part to add to the CO and NOx components of the earth's atmosphere. If you live in a major metro area (where photochemical smog is a problem), then you'll be doing more than your share of contributing to the "brown cloud." Effects on global warming are more open to debate. You can get aftermarket cats significantly cheaper than those supplied as Subaru OEM, but they usually don't last as long (less catalyst in the bed = fewer operating miles before failure).

The other thing that I do when following this procedure is to keep the overflow bottle completely filled (yes - past the "full hot" line) with coolant while I'm "burping" the system like this. When the engine cools, the coolant shrinks, creating a partial vacuum in the system which will suck back some of the coolant from the overflow.

Depends on how the cat is failing. If it is just covered with crud from oil or coolant contamination in the exhaust, it sometimes will simply get a little too hot, and not do an effective job of reducing emissions. Other times, depending on how much crud is in there and how much of the catalyst is still exposed, it will get a LOT hot. That will potentially melt down the catalyst bed, which can then plug the exhaust. Not good for the engine when that happens... but you'll know it in a very short while!

I've had one on my '96 OBW ever since it was new - Subaru OEM. Yes, it heats the coolant and not the oil, but still it worked for me reliably to fire up the car quickly even at -40F in the middle of a South Dakota winter... when I remembered to plug it in, anyway!

But he WAS serious!! :cool:

Hey, John! Yup -- been there, done that! By far the easiest thing is the advice that you're getting from the other guys -- keep it all together and move it as a sealed system. But if that isn't possible, then there are a couple of things I can translate for you. PAG is PolyAlkalene Glycol oil, the type of oil that is coming in all new 134a systems. Back in the mid '90s old freon-12 based a/c systems were replaced by 134a systems for environmental reasons (remember the ozone hole?). Anyway, the old oil used in R-12 systems isn't compatible with 134a refrigerant. Good news for you is that any systems sold in 1996 vehicles all had to be 134a. So PAG oil is what you would want to use. Also good news - 134a refrigerant is still available off the shelf in most places. You can no longer buy R-12 refrigerant without a special license and it costs about 10x as much as 134a. The other advice I give relates to keeping the system as clean and dry as possible. PAG oil is a little like brake fluid -- itabsorbs water from the air and then its ability to lubricate is compromised. There's another oil also sold for 134a systems, commonly referred to as "ester" oil. That stuff is usually used in systems that were converted from R-12 to 134a, since it is compatible wih the older mineral oils used in R-12 systems. If you mix PAG with mineral oils you create a waxy sludge, which gums up the works. Problem with ester oils is that when they mix with water from the air they form a corrosive acid - nasty on the internals of an a/c system. Since you need a lot of equipment to drain and recharge an a/c system in a way that minimizes introduction of moisture from the air, most people shouldn't try this at home! However, a/c systems are actually less complex than many of the systems in modern cars -- they're far easier than an auto tranny to rebuild, for example. So, if you're game -- have at it and have fun!!