upnorthguy

I worked at REI for years and sold tons of Thule and Yakima roof racks. Both companies generally make good stuff. In a few instances, one brand might fit a particular vehicle better than the other, but in most instances either will work fine. I have tons of Yaks parts and have owned almost every tower they've made through the years. I do have a pair of Thule towers now that I like (they mount to factory side rails) better than the current Yak variant, but that is me. Paying full price is fine, but expensive, for both Yak and Thule. Generally you can score good deals on used Yak/Thule parts both on fleabay and on Craigslist. Many people (myself included) end up selling towers as you change vehicles because of changes in fit. Even if you buy a full set (towers, clips, bars) used and have to buy your own corresponding Q-clips it is still usually cheaper than buying new. Get yourself a set of used Q-Towers and two pairs of the Q-44 clips and some round bars. Generally, the fit for the towers is from the near the front of the front door to near the rear of the rear door. Yakima has measurements that tell you for each car how to set things up (distance from windshield to front tower, distance between front and rear towers, and distance between left and right towers, both front and rear set). You can call/e-mail Yak and they will give you these dimensions. Another cheap option might be an older Yakima tower called the 1C-SST. This was the tower for gutterless cars up until 1997 (when the Q-tower took over). It uses Y-clips (instead of Q-clips). The fit info I have only lists the 95-96 sedan, but I'd bet the fit is the same for the wagon. (Again, checking with Yakima could confirm this). These towers don't mount as quickly as the q-towers, but if you don't remove them often, it isn't a big deal. EDIT: Out of curiosity, I e-mailed Yakima about the 96 wagon fit and the SST towers. Yakima did not have any fit info, which is surprising. The sedan clip is the Y33, so I bet that would likely fit the wagon. However, Y clips are getting rather hard to find since they haven't been made for so many years. I didn't see any Y33 clips on ebay, so the SST is probably out (for now) unless you want to search for a period of time to try and stumble on some Y33s. I did find some hits on Google for people selling them on Craigslist (one from Omaha, NE as recently as a month ago) but the listing is expired.

I got a recall notice about my '01 Civic last year for the passenger side air bag. The driver's side had already been replaced a few years prior (also under warranty). Shrapnel during air bag deployment did not sound like a fun option (especially since your air bag going off means you are already looking at some issues!).

Totally. I love the missing rattle now that my a couple of the offending shields are gone.

I did some sun roof work on my 95. In my case, the rear drip tray got damaged and came out (prior owner) which resulted in a leak. The only way to repair it was to take the track apart, which I wasn't interested in doing). My sun shade was also totally out of the track. I found it much easier to just replace the entire assembly (sun roof frame, that included the glass and the sun shade) from a salvage yard car. But before you dive into anything like that, see if you can figure out what is out of whack with the mechanism. Here is a youtube vid that might be helpful for how the mechanism works: here is another that shows a Forester sunroof mechanism in motion (glass removed) Also, are you able to have the sun roof pop up using the motor (you know, instead of having it retract to the open position, you can choose to just have it tilt up so the back edge is up and the front edge is still down)? If you do that, are you able to open the sun shade? I agree with lmdew, be careful when removing the plastic trim (if you get to that point). There are little clips every so often and if you don't pull pretty close to them, you can break the trim. I ended up breaking one piece, but replaced it with another salvage yard swap.. I found it hard to remove the round plastic clips in the center of the headliner without destroying them. Hopefully you won't need to get headliner removal...not hard, but definitely took some time.

Maybe it is time for the Seattle gang to start installing a hidden kill switch...

The Legacy covers may have a cutout for a foglight (not the large round Outback style), or there is a place that can be cut out. My 95 LS has a spot that I am going to open up for the added lights.

Saw a thread on this on subaruoutback a week or two ago. 1LuckyTexan posted a link to a good write up. Should be similar. I didn't feel like fiddling around with the Dorman bushing parts on the same problem/repair on my Civic. I just bought a used transmission from fleabay (no motor) and swapped it in-problem solved.

When I've had rotted radiators that were missing lots of fins, the reduction in cooling capacity caused overheating (until I turned the heat on...yes, of course this happened in the summer). Also, a bad thermostat (not opening) could prevent proper coolant circulation in the system.

I'm not that good at "guess the clip"...where does this go in the vehicle (and what vehicle)? Clips like this are good items to grab at salvage yards. Or from a dealer. You can use www.opposedforces.com to help figure out the part number.

She already tried the hatch ("I tried both fobs and all three keys in all doors (driver/passenger and hatchback").

Unless I've missed something, Lockmedic is over at subaruoutback.org.

Once you start turning the crank (even a few rotations) the timing marks will not line up again for a long time.

Mizumoauto has 2.2 timing belt kits with an Aisin water pump for $136 (free shipping). http://www.ebay.com/itm/260925109309?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Too bad you're not closer. I'd help with that replacement for a six pack (beer or maple syrup)! If you do it (and we all think you should, from the sound of the comments) spray the timing cover bolts with some penetrating oil. Hopefully the 2.2 swapper used some anti seize on those bolts. The covers often crack because the captive nut in the back cover gets a nice rust bond with the bolt and when you try to loosen the nut breaks free and cracks the tab on the cover. That rs25 link above has some excellent photos. I typically take out the entire radiator instead of just removing the fans. I've found that the bolts holding the fans to the radiator are often frozen as well (and there are more of them!). Two bolts and the entire radiator/fan assembly slides out. (Note: if you have an auto, this requires that you disconnect the transmission cooler lines, which is just two hose clamps) that are on the driver's side of the radiator.)

I've had good luck with Tuff Stuff foam cleaner when trying to clean car upholstery. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/tuff-stuff-multi-purpose-foam-cleaner-22-oz.-00350/7040393-P Spray it on, let it sit for a few minutes and then dab/scrub it up with a paper towel. It takes out a lot of dirt/staining.

As Rooster2 confirmed, 95 is also dual port exhaust. It is also non interference. The swap threads here are good. Make sure to look at replacing the oil separator plate on the back of the new donor engine if it is an old plastic variety. (This is usually discussed in the swap thread somewhere.)

My 95 EJ22 is definitely OBDII, non interference and the ideal setup! (or will be once I swap in some Outback struts) I haven't been to any salvage yards in PA, but I do see some posts from southern PA trickle into the DC Craigslist. Around here, there are tons of older 95-99 Legacy wagons making it into the salvage yards (and for sale) so parts are plentiful. I only very occasionally see a 90-94 Legacy.

I popped a code a few weeks ago for a high idle related to the IACV. I tried to clean it without taking it apart (using Seafoam) which was the easier first option. That didn't clear the code/clean it enough so I ended up removing it and giving it a thorough cleaning. That cleared my code and eliminated the high idle. There are some good threads around on this and a few decent videos on youtube.

A little black electrical tape?

I'm not sure on those Forester struts, but on the Legacy the brake line runs through a little bracket mounted on the strut. To remove the brake line you need to disconnect it from the caliper and slide the line through. Many people, like you, do not want to bleed the lines if they don't have to so they cut the bracket a bit to bend a tab to get the line free without disconnecting. In this pic the retainer clip that holds the brake line stationary in the bracket is being removed. If you remove that clip you can make a cut and bend the tab to allow the brake line out, and then you can do the same thing on the new strut so you can slide the brake line in and then use the clip to hold it in place again. The person that posted that pic emphasized to make sure not to cut the brake line when cutting the tab.

My wagon popped a P0106 code this morning. Found this thread and did some searching...when I was cleaning the IACV I must have knocked one of the vacuum lines off. Found it and reattached. Thanks!

I know you said you kept up with the timing belt, but have you checked the belt to see that isn't broken? This sounds like my car when the timing was off (don't ask how my own rookie move kept me on this problem for a few weeks!). You should be able to remove the inspection covers and see if the belt is moving when you are cranking it. Also, if this ended up being the problem, you should be able to get some used heads to swap onto your block rather than doing a valve job. I know there is a guy that has been selling some on CL here outside of DC for a few months ("cleaning out his storage unit" or something...appears to be no takers so far). There is an ignition coil pack on the top center of the intake manifold. I'm not sure, but I think there are two coils in the pack (one for each half of the engine). This is the black square item that the spark plug wires are connected to. While I was chasing down my problem I swapped out the coil pack before I figured out it was a timing problem.

Many timing belts have marks painted on them for lining up with the timing marks on the cam/crank gears and the timing covers. Not all belts have this. It is good to check and make sure the marks are correct and that you have the belt going the right direction. Once you tighten the crank bolt to the desired torque, then the number of degrees of a circle is the additional. For example, if the extra mount was 90 degrees, that would be 1/4 of a turn (e.g. have the wrench go from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock). I just tighten it a lot (my largest torque wrench only goes to 90 ft/lbs. I do that, plus a little more with a pipe.

You should be able to get access to the car wherever it is being stored (at the towing company yard usually). To get personal items out of the vehicle. The ipod is definitely yours (and hopefully it is still there...). I don't know about the head unit, as that is more "connected" to the car, but the Yakima stuff on top is definitely an extra item on the rack and not normally part of the car. I would try to get it. If you have a few minutes without a close watcher, you might be able to grab the head unit. Anyone I've known that has gone to their wrecked car has been able to grab pretty much whatever they want from inside the vehicle (without removing parts of the car in a "parting out" sort of way).

Maybe pictures will help (I'm a better visual learner). Check these out: You can see in the top diagram the keyway is at 6 o'clock in the middle (crank) sprocket which allows the timing mark to be on top and line up with the notch. Sometimes those marks are hard to see. Often a mechanic or someone else has added a bit of paint or something on or near the timing marks to make them easier to spot. This is how it should look as your are at the front of the car (same perspective as the diagrams).

That should be an EJ22 (same as my 95 LS). Can't quite tell from the photo you posted, but if you look down between the power steering reservoir and the alternator it will say the engine model on the block (EJ22 or EJ25). You can also tell by looking at the valve covers or the number of cam gears on the front. EJ22 EJ25: