nickb21

I noticed there is a new type of fluid, Mercon V (new ford spec). From doing some reading, penzoil and mobil1 both have multigrade dexronII/dexronIII/mercon + mercon v fluids available. Anyone have any thoughts on these combo types in a subaru trans?

Legacy's still had an 11% chance, almost 5 stars. I wonder if the VDC wagons do better.

How does the fluid smell? From what I've seen the color and smell varies slightly but as long as it's not a burnt smell it should be ok. 11,000 doesn't seem right for fluid to go bad.. I just did a drain, fill, and filter replacement today. Drained out about 6 quarts, last time I only got ~5 when I didn't change the filter. One of the parts guys over here told me the AT filter is a lifetime part, I have a hard time believing that though (filter is a bit pricey too ~$24). I mixed in 6 quarts of castrol full synthetic ATF, hoping for a bit smoother shifting/better cold performance. I saw a procedure somewhere that explains how to do a complete flush by disconnecting the trans cooler line in front, and letting the transmission pump all the fluid out. I'll see if I can find it. You'll need a fairly long skinny funnel to fill it back up, since you have to use the dipstock hole.... I also put a crush washer (like on the oil plug) on the atf drain plug, not sure if it needs one though. I wonder if maybe they changed the dipstick between model years? Mine has a cold and hot scale. You're better off filling it up a little low (measure how much came out) and then measuring the new fluid hot, it seems to be more accurate. Good luck.

Any thoughts? Appreciate the help.

Squealing on acceleration sounds like the belts might be loose/worn down, does it happen all the time, or more often when it's moist out? As far as the rear diff goes, I don't think this is a common failure, as long as there is oil in the diff. Since the diff is a sealed viscous unit (not mechanical), I would think the worst failure would be not providing the limited slip function.. Do you notice an strange behavior when making tight turns?

Google it. http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=11004#post11004 I picked up a 2000 L a few months ago, about 65k on the clock. I noticed a very little bit of weeping from the rear drivers side HG, but nothing I'm worried about yet. Just did a coolant flush and I'll probably add some "conditioner" in the next few thousand miles if I notice any increase in the weeping. As far as the sub frame corrosion goes, it seems they forgot to spray undercoat on the rear which can lead to breakage in the heavy salt states (northeast winters). Good luck..

This might help, if copy and paste works.. http://pub205.ezboard.com/fultimatesubarumessageboardsthenewgenerationofsubarus.showMessage?topicID=7875.topic

Some great ideas already mentioned. I've used WD40 with good results, it doesn't seem to harm the paint, but I'm no expert..

Just when it starts to get into the heat of August, guess who doesn't have any A/C. Fortunately I believe I found the leak, I noticed the connection on the passenger side of the condenser had some black oily/greasy stuff coming out of the fitting, and saw a bubble or two (must have been the remaining refrigerant). Few questions though, Is there just an o-ring that needs to be replaced? Do I need to flush/or purge any remaining stuff out of the system before or after? And I assume I can just use the walmart-type re-charge kits that contain part r134a and part oil? (I think some have part system-sealer too...) Was hoping this was something I could do correctly myself, but maybe it would be easier taking it down the street. Thanks for the replies; hopefully things will cool down for a bit. --Nick

Yep, pads are a good place to look. Does it happen more often when wet? (sometimes my pads make funny noise when it's raining..) Probably also want to see if the rotors are scored at all. I just put a set of bendix semi-metallic pads/rotors on a legacy, seem pretty solid, the pads are riveted onto the backing. I looked at ceramic's they're suppose to last longer and be low dust. Maybe i'll try them next time around, they were 20 bucks or so more...

Some good thoughts here. I also wanted to add that I believe the '99 model year had the phase 2 automatic trans (smoother/improved, etc..) and the phase2 2.2l (legacy platform-more hp/torque). So far my 2.5 '02 w/40k has been solid, time will tell though. I like the legacy's more, maybe just because they're a bit bigger. The outback buys you some more height, and MY2000+ OB's come w/ rear LSD's.

It's right in front of where the Y-pipe converges(yep, you'll get a bit of oil on the pipe when you drain it). It'll have the same aluminum-ish color of the diff case. I believe it's 22mm. There should also be a washer on the plug, I re-used the washer since it doesn't appear the be the "crush" type.. Hope that helps. --Nick

Looks sharp! Was it pretty easy to install? I'd love to have one for my obw, but I'm not too keen on drilling holes into perfectly good metal. --Nick

I'm actually doing a 60k for the legacy I just picked up; I stole a list of stuff my dealer charges a ton of loot for: inspect axle boots inspect hoses inspect drive belts rotate/balance tires inspect brakes inspect parking break now for the *real* stuff: air/fuel filter PCV valve flush/fill coolant drain/fill front and rear diff's spark plugs I'm also doing a drain and fill of the ATF, spark plug wires, thermostat, radiator cap, power steering fluid. Might also want to consider flushing the brake fluid. Spark plugs aren't too bad, remove the airbox on the passeger side, those two are easy. The drivers side you need to remove the washer fluid tank, and there is just enough room to get a ratchet in there. You can get service manuals at the subaru.com tech site (forget the url offhand).. Yea, it's a fair amount of stuff, will probably take me a couple hours on saturday, hope it helps. --Nick

Wish I could upgrade to wrx rotors/calipers.. but I've only got 15" wheels, so I don't think they'll fit. Ah well. Yea they shudder alright. Thanks for the suggestions, might as well do it right so I don't have to do it again. Anyone try ceramix pads? Napa has them for the front, they're like 25$ more than metallics..

Wow, really dragged this thread out of the dark. Good to hear your judder is fixed, at least for now. I've learned to deal w/ mine, don't feel like trying to get it fixed anymore, heck, maybe the clutch will last longer... Anyways, I saw an article on endwrench.com (cool resource) about your sticky clutch, maybe it's the same thing: http://endwrench.com/current/winter04/insiderinfo0204.pdf From what I've heard (and you can search around this forum) the phaseII's leak externally, so you shouldn't have any major issues like overheating, etc. There is a recall/TSB out for the leak. Apparently the solution is adding cooland system conditioner.. Hope that helps some. --Nick

Do the legacies have the plastic "skid plate" in front? If so there are some plastic push screws you need to remove, and slide out the plate. Otherwise it's pretty easy. Use a new washer on the drain plug they're cheap. Since the oil filter is mounted vertically, i prefill it wil oil before screwing it on (not too tight!). The hardest part is getting an accurate reading on the dipstick, heh. --Nick

I just picked up a 2000 legacy L (add #2 to the stable!), the only major problem with it so far are the brakes are shot. I get a noticeable steering wheel shake about 35mph, and when braking, the wheel shakes a LOT, and i get some pedal pulsing.. So I pulled the front rotors, not even sure i should bother getting them checked, they measure about 24mm thick (says 22mm min). The backs are at about 9.5 (8.5mm min). Any thoughts if i should get the backs cut and just replace the fronts? Anyone have any preference between bendix/raybestos/napa-united? For the price OEM doesn't get me any benefit... Apparently the car had a "midas job" done last summer, yippee. The pads still look new and aren't grooved or anything, would there be problems with keeping the pads? Thanks for the help, hopefully I can get this on the road in the next few days. --Nick

I put Mobil1 75w-90 in my MT5 and rear diff 4 or 5k ago. I haven't noticed a huge difference over the oem oil. And during some cold dips while upstate (-20F) it got really firm. Only complaint with shifting is the 2->3 shift feels a bit "notchy" as you put. Might try redline at some later point.. Or maybe a little dose of friction modifier would help? Sidenote; I wonder if a syn. gear oil affects the reaction time of the viscous coupling? --N

For what it's worth, I happened to stumble accross this. Could just be coincidence... http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3022

So, I've been looking for a late 90's legacy (wanted a 2.2) for a relative of mine, and just came accross a 2000 legacy L sedan. It's an auto, 60k, supposedly well maintained, and the guys asking about 9 for it (bit more than i'd like). Any suggestions on stuff to look for or be wary of (i've got an 02 OBW 5sp, so I know of some stuff)? I'm checking out the nhtsa site, and see a couple auto trans bulletins, nothing seems too bad. I'll def. check for "torque bind" and look at the tire wear. Any comments would be great. Thanks a bunch.

FWIW: Here's a pretty cool guide for gen 3 leg's, not sure how close it is to a gen 2. scoobymods --N

We got about 6" or so today, but there was definitely some mixed in sleet/freezing rain which made roads pretty interesting. I felt a fair amount of wheelspin when giving it the gas. Even got the chance to do a little "off roading" through the corn fields! Probably would be a lot better if I didn't have these all-season tires.. Only thing I noticed was slush and ice buildup in the driveshaft tunnel, made things a bit loader, not bad though. For once I managed to not get the inside of the rims packed with snow! Too bad it's suppose to be 50's next week..

Nice find, I've been looking for something like that for a while now. This looks a lot like one I saw on autotrader, but Kingston, NY is a bit farther than I'd like to drive. The one on there was grey, but no sunroof or spoiler .. You get to look at it yet?

On the legacy/ob's they did away with them in 2000 when the went to hydraulic clutches, I think they came back starting on 2003 forester's. (Do forester's have hydraulic clutches too?) Mine pushes 3500 at 75mph, wish it had a 6th gear, but good power for passing. From what I've heard these motor's just love to rev and there won't be any problems. (I think the L's and auto's have different gearing and different diff's so the rev's are lower). There is a replacement clutch kit that seems to help a bit, but I still get chatter now and again, I read that ACT kits are really good replacements. Funny that you mention the steering thing, I just noticed that on mine, seems to only do it once in a while, I just assumed the steering had a lot of road feedback, is there a fix available?