LeolaPA

We have a 99 Legacy wagon with the 2.2 motor. It has recently started missing some when cold. Now, it's not really cold yet....so we're talking about the 60's here, not below freezing. When you drive the car maybe 3 miles, it goes away and runs fine. It doesn't miss or hesitate later in the day either, even if it sat all day. I had similar problem a while back and that time it was the Idle Air Control, so I took this one off (which is very easy on a 99 compared to a 95) and I cleaned it with carb cleaner to get all the carbon off the moving vane. It still has the problem. I'd really be interested in help from someone who had the exact problem, so I can avoid rabbit trails. Thanks for any suggestions!

Wow, I wouldn't think pulling an engine would be considered "easy." I was more looking for some kind of pan that someone may have created to go between the engine and trans and the exhaust pipes.

Seems like for this to happen, that roller was locked somehow from the very beginning. Anyway, I did my first belt this year, and got a kit from a guy on Ebay sixstarparts, for about $265. Was all the original parts except the belt was Mitsuboshi. I think the pump was not subaru, but a very high quality unit call Paraut.

OK, I'm going to answer my own question. Got an ACI 177114 pump at a parts house for about $15. I just put it in. 1. The connector snapped right on properly. 2. The rubber fitting to the tank was too small. I reused my rubber part and added a little silicone sealer to make sure it didn't leak. 3. The connection to the rubber hose to the squirter in the hood was correct for the size of hose. So I got it in and it is working. Daughter just took the car, so I'll have to check for leaks later. I think that the bottom line is that $15 for a new pump is a far better deal than buying a used tank for $25 plus shipping, and getting an old worn out pump.

We have a 99 Legacy wagon with a windshield washer pump that needs replaced. I see on Ebay that there are lots of aftermarket ones for sale for less than $20. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with one of these? The main goal that I would be wanting to achieve is to avoid any that that don't fit the tank, or that don't fit the connector or that don't last. Thanks for any comments! ps. Our pump is 86611AA010

I just agreed to buy a 95 Legacy 2.2 wagon, but I'm having second thoughts. It has an oil drip that is putting oil on the exhaust, probably the catalytic converter, and it's making smoke. I am told that it only uses a quart of oil in 5,000 miles. I don't want to pull the engine. Has anybody made any kind of shield that is successful to keep that oil away from the exhaust? I would be happy if somehow the oil just got directed away and dripped on the ground. Open to any ideas! Thanks.

For a last confidence booster I bought the Harbor Freight leak-down tester. All the cylinders tested the same, which was in the green 20% area. So I had good confidence that the valves were OK. I did set the valve lash. It seemed like most of the exhaust valves were good, which is nice, since they are harder to access. I did have to tighten a couple of the intake valves. None was drastically out. I took off the oil pump to replace the front seal, but that was a disaster. I overtorqued one bolt, and had to buy a helicoil kit to fix that. It's really a lot of work to take that off, get it all clean, re-apply silicone AND put in a new oil seal (without the little seal popping out). It is very easy to distort the new engine seal during reassembly of the oil pump also. I did that....had to take it all off and redo it. I found it easiest to put the timing belt on by gettting everything in position and then mounting the tensioner last. Couldn't get the belt on with the tensioner in place...even with the pin in the tensioner. I have the newer style tensioner. Also...this engine uses a idler pulley with a back flange. Probably necessary because the plastic pulley on the cam shaft does not have a back flange. My seller and I had to swap pulleys for me to get the correct one. It's all back together and running now. Thanks for all the help!

Thanks! That's a nice document. I couldn't find the valve clearances in the Haynes book, so this is really helpful.

Update on this: I ran the motor to warm it up. It sounded pretty good. I put a vacuum gage on it and got 20 inches with just a slight vibration of the needle...pretty steady. I retested the compression with the warm motor. I got: #1 205 #3 200 #2 185/190 #4 192/182 (battery was getting weak turning over for the last test.) So I'm assuming that the valves are OK, and I'm going to do all the part replacement this weekend.

It's Automatic. I'm getting the parts from an Ebay seller who sells all OEM parts, actual Subaru belt, etc. Here is what I bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/111942379109?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

This is what the book says, but it's hard for me to understand why they wouldn't fire one cylinder on the right side and the next cylinder on the opposite side. It doesn't seem balanced that you would fire one on the passenger's side, then fire the next one on the passenger's side. It seems like it would be more balanced to fire opposite sides alternating.

I was looking at the Haynes manual on my car, and I believe that the book said that the firing order was 1-3-2-4 However, It doesn't seem right that there is only one cylinder firing at a time. I would think that 2 cylinders would be firing and 2 exhausting per engine revolution. Can anybody help me with this? Thanks.

I have the parts coming in the mail. In the mean time, I'm going to retest the compression with a warm engine (it was cold when I did what I posted above) and see how it runs and see how the numbers compare. I talked to a mechanic today who told me how the exhaust would sound if there was a bad valve. I might even do the leak down test. I was just so prepared to tear the heads off, that it seems too good to be true that I might not have to do that!!!!!!

Once I got the cams to the place where all the valves were closed, I couldn't tell if the crank was on the compression stroke or on the exhaust stroke because all the valves were closed. I tried to hook up a spark plug to the #1 wire, and I turned the engine by hand with the key on, but the spark plug would not spark. So after doing some looking at books, etc. I realized that the #1 cylinder would be on the exhaust stroke if I turned the cam half a turn. I did that, and no compression, so I knew from that which was the compression stroke and which was the exhaust stroke. Managed to get the belt back on, and did a compression test. Got #1 177 #3 190 #2 170 #4 185 From that I though that there was a chance that there might not be a horrendous bent valve. (Although I'm sure there is still a chance that maybe there was) I put plugs in and the car started and ran. There was no ability to put a dollar bill behind the exhaust pipe because I think the exhaust was blowing out pretty well. So now I need to digest what I have, and decide about the next steps.

Got the cam pulleys at the right place I believe. After cranking them with the rachet, they eventually got to a place where there is a lot of free play. Taking a quick break then going back to it.

I suppose that I can turn the cams and if a valve hits a piston, I can turn the cam pulley the other way until the valves close. I'll give that a try this morning. Thanks!

Thanks for the link. I have the newer tensioner in my car. I do plan on replacing everything. First step though, is to temporarily put on the new idler so that I can check compression.

I have a 99 Legacy with an interference engine. The cogged idler pulley failed. All the bearings fell out, and the timing belt is not lined up correctly. The bearing failed either when my daughter arrived home or just before then, and she shut it off, so it's possible that some valves got bent. I got a new cogged idler, and I want to install it so that I can check the compression. I know that I need to get the cam pulleys lined up so that the valves are all closed. I also need to get the crank into position so that all the pistons are safely away from the valves to get the cams in the right spot. Is there anybody who can give me a link to information that will help me? I have the Haynes manual, but that doesn't help with this problem. Information about the earlier engines that were not interference will not be helpful. I need info on this particular motor. Thanks so much!

amazing how a guy asks a question and nobody answers it

Just to put this to bed... I did a lot of work on the car but I think the bottom line cause of the problem was that the IAC control was set wrong. A number of people mentioned this. At some point when the family member in our house with the similar car was here I compared the position of the top of the IAC with our other car, and changed the problem one to match the good one. I think that pretty much took care of it. One other note: don't ever loosen the screws on the top of your IAC. It takes dealer equipment to get it set properly. I was mislead by an online article and should never have touched it.

It's not normal to have to pump the brakes a couple times to get pedal. Sounds like you have air in the lines.

The first order worked out real well, and I just ordered some steering column bushing and seal. Very inexpensive shipping. I'm very pleased.

So how do you know that it's solved?

amen!

What is the "FPR?"