topsecret

Hello all. I have a 91 legacy sedan. It has an ej2.2 and a 4eat. It is the model with the "manual" 2 3 range button. I lifted it with outback struts and springs in the front and in the rear I used outback struts but used the springs that were originally on the car in the rear because there were different tophats. Since I've gotten the car it's only been used occasionally for trips to the mountains but now I'm starting to drive it regularly and some problems have popped up. Problem #1 : I think it may be torque binding? Slow turns in parking lots are painful and the vibrations can be felt through the whole car. I have checked wheel rub and it's close to non-existent. However I do have 205 65 16's on it on Chrysler sebring wheels so they are much larger than stock and the back spacing is different than stock but the rims I have actually have much more room around the calipers than stock. At full lock I get a tiny bit of rub in the front but the binding and vibration happens much sooner than the wheel rub. Problem #2 : After the car is hot (driving for longer than 30 minutes) It starts having a weird thump downshifting. It is much more noticeable at highway speeds and only happens when you are slowing. If you let off the gas and coast it will start the weird downshifting when the tach drops all the way to idle (700 - 1000) Again, this doesn't happen on short drives, only when the car is hot. I have been flushing the transmission with the drain the pan then top it off method. I have done this twice and have been told that I may have to do it up to 5 times. I haven't noticed any improvement with the 2 but will continue. I have also drained the rear differential and refilled it with lucas 75w-90 synthetic diff fluid ( I don't really know if this was the right stuff to use but I had it sitting around from a job and I really wanted to see the condition of the fluid that was in there.) The transmission fluid looked darker than new but didn't really look bad. There wasn't excessive clutch material, no metal shavings, and the fluid wasn't black or burnt and had no evidence of water. The differential fluid was a bit dirtier and had some darker spots in it. I couldn't really tell what it was. Also where the axles connect into the rear diff it looks like there may be very minor seepage. Where to next? I have read that it may be a duty c solenoid or rear transfer clutch? how can I diagnose which it may be? If it was the clutch would I see evidence in the fluid? Could this be caused by the rear springs being a different height? I've heard of problems with different sized tires. Also just to throw a wrench in the works I just recently pulled the engine and rebuilt it. Could this problem be connected to a bad ground or a bad sensor? This was my first time taking apart a Subaru and I'm sure I could have messed something up along the way. Thanks for reading my long winded post. here is my engine before and after just for fun

http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/engine.html this link goes through the process really well.

it's obd1. there should be two sets of connectors under the steering column that are unplugged, one green, one black plug in the black with the car turned off then turn the key so the power is on without starting the car. the check engine light will flash at you long flashes are first digit of the code short flashes are second digit then look up the code you've just discovered

its plugged in. I disconnected and reconnected it. flashed it and now the light is gone but I only took it around 2 blocks. maybe it wasn't seated right or maybe the light will come back tomorrow. I don't seem to be having any idle issues with the light on or off. didn't have this issue before I pulled the engine so hopefully it doesn't pop up now...

wow, i'm an idiot sometimes. I didn't realize there were two test mode connectors on these and the black one was still plugged in. got it back to a solid light. still telling me that I have a canister purge control solenoid issue though hopefully something stupid is loose.

Hello all. I just re-built an ej 22 inside of a 91 legacy sedan and when I was pulling it I broke the knock sensor. I rewired it and got the computer to reset and then I got a different code for the canister purge solenoid. In the process of putting this all back together the green clips underneath the dash were put together and the car was cycled several times throughout the next few days as I put things together. Now for the weird part. I took the battery out to charge (possibly while it was still in test mode) Now i'm getting the 2 codes flashing on my dash but the green plugs are not connected any longer. The light used to stay solid when the cables were unplugged. The fans on the radiator aren't cycling like they do when the green cables are connected but I can't get the light to stop flashing the obd1 codes which is making it so that my local emissions place won't test it. They will test it if the light is solid but flashing for some reason makes it so they can't/won't. I've undone the battery in test mode, and out of test mode and I still can't seem to get it to turn to just a solid check engine light or to turn off at all. I'm still waiting on a new knock sensor and i'm still diagnosing the second code. Anyone know of a way to get this light solid so I can drive it around a bit while I continue working on it?

I have all of the dimensions for every part in my transmission as well as part numbers. (alldata was good for something). Just no step by step teardown of the trans itself. Is it common for subaru to not publish their overhaul procedures with alldata? I guess i'm not really even sure how that works anyway Do you think with the specs and that instruction manual that i posted a link to (section 3 to be specific) would be enough to get a newb through this trans? i'm just so darn cheap and impatient. i was hoping to start on this in the morning.

Thanks for that link, but i'm looking for a cheap to free route. I wonder if it's subaru that keeps such a lock and key on this info. do you think that this service manual i found for a 1992 subaru liberty will work for my trans.? It's says it's for a 4AT and i always knew of mine as a 4EAT. I think the liberty is the legacy for markets other than the U.S., and i also believe that the 91 and 92 are both considered 1st gen but i've seen some differing opinions. To me it looks like the exact same car but i'm worried once i get deep in there something will be different. P.s. my shift selector has a manual button as well (which someone told me made it a 4AT) Darn you alldata for failing me on this!!!! http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/1992_Liberty_FSM_-_FULL/

I can't find overhaul procedures for a trans. in a 91 legacy sedan. I've looked through alldata extensively. I cross referenced the other cars from the same year with the same transmission and the overhaul instructions seem to be missing from all of them. Any help? Anyone have the service manual? I checked my local library and the last subaru manual they have is for 1987. ha. My trans. id is tz102za1aa the legacy is an ej22 (not the turbo model) I have a chiltons manual but it's not specific and i already know how to remove and reinstall the trans. thanks.

Just did the OB strut lift and put on some used tires 215/75/15. I want to try a much bigger lift this summer It's not even done and i'm already breaking stuff

If you notice i never said he was wrong, i said he was rude and off topic. Thanks for the valuable addition to this thread.

You're completely right. I wouldn't need any help with air flow on the highway. I don't know where i was going with that:confused so that settles it. two different issues I didn't make it to the auto parts store today because work ran late. i'm guessing the head gasket is bad as several of you have said. I don't have an engine hoist this is going to be rough So, stupid question but, If my car isn't overheating for around 2 hours, is this an indication that the headgasket isn't severely damaged? From what i've seen on the board people with bad head gaskets can't drive even drive 5 miles before they are heating up, with this car it went 60 miles between heat spikes. What should this be telling me?

i bypassed the heater core because of the heater not working correctly and when i got in there to check it out (from the engine bay; i have not removed the dash) it was very corroded on the nipples sticking out once the hoses were removed. I was worried about gunk being passed from the heater core and screwing with my thermostat and radiator. I read about the t hose fix and decided that i would instead just loop them for the summer. I figured if i couldn't get around to replacing the heater core this summer that i could do the t hose mod then. That is when i decided to replace the thermostat and flush the radiator (not a flush kit but the garden hose variety). I then refilled the radiator as described. I filled it to the bleeder screw, then ran the car until the fans cycled, I then topped it off. I may very well have a head gasket problem, the car is a 91 with 140,000 miles on it. I'm trying to diagnose that now. However; None of this gets anywhere near answering the question asked so let me re-phrase it to end the confusion If my electrical system is not properly functioning what effect will this have on my cooling system? Since my fans are not belt driven i'm assuming that the alternator dying would cause my temperature to spike because of the fans shutting off while driving on the highway for so long. Can anyone confirm or disprove this theory before i dig back into the cooling system? oh and p.s. 16000 posts or not, starting out a response with "No one seriously knows how to fill a cooling system?" is talking down to someone (especially when the question wasn't about filling the cooling system). I thought questions were the very reason for these forums.

Wow! that response was unwarranted at best??? I don't remember asking how to fill a radiator? Obviously i did all of the steps to fill the radiator after i unhooked and then hooked it back in. What out of my post made you think that i didn't correctly fill the radiator? Please go talk down to a different poster in a different thread. I know my question was long winded but you should have at least read it if you wanted to respond. All of the radiator work was a back story to get you to where i am at. It didn't overheat, it didn't boil over, there were no bubbles in the coolant. I was simply asking if somebody knew which systems of the car were affected by my dying alternator first. Obviously if the fans were shutting off while i was driving that would make the car get hotter than usual. Correct? So thanks for answering my question about the alternator with a b/s response on how to fill my radiator. So, back to the question, Anyone had this happen before? The alternator is back in and the car is running fine for now. The temperature guage is in it's normal spot. I have driven it around with no issues (not for 2 hours but for several blocks) I was just wondering whether i should still be chasing a cooling gremlin or if it could be explained by the alternator. I'd rather not dig back into it if i don't have to, but i also don't want to get stuck on the highway again. I'll be going to the parts store to do a coolant check to check for exhaust since that is a common theme here. I will let you know the outcome. If it is a headgasket leak wouldn't it show up much sooner than 2 hours into a drive?

I was driving up to the mountains for some light wheeling in my newly lifted 91 legacy and i broke my new toy. I was driving for a couple of hours and the temperature guage started to go up very quickly. Let me start by saying I have a rusty old heater core in the car so i made a loop around in it in the cooling system; i disconnected and then used a hose connector between the send and receive hose a because of some cooling issues. While doing this i replaced the thermostat and removed the radiator and flipped it upside down and ran a garden hose through it. The cooling issues initially had gone away but apparently after a few hours on the road they were going to decide to come back. So here is where it gets weird. i popped the hood and burped the radiator with the air valve on the left side. I got back in the car and the temperature guage had completely returned to normal. I didn't add coolant. I tightened the air release up and continued driving for another hour to hour and a half with no issues. Then the car started heating up again, i was close to a gas station this time so i pulled in. While turning into the gas station i noticed my blinkers were no longer working. I turned the car off, gassed up, and burped the system again and put fluid in just in case. It did take a little bit of fluid, but not too much so it didn't seem like it was very low. I started the car again and returned to the highway to head home. The temperature guage was normal again. I began driving down the pass and started realizing the lights getting dim on the dash, and then the stereo started acting up. I lost low end power and by that time i knew (or at least i'm pretty sure) the alternator was going. I put it into neutral and coasted down the pass all of the way down the valley (about 20 miles of powerless coasting), by the end i lost all power. Roadside assistance towed me home. That's a whole lot of back information but the actual question is, Was my alternator effecting my radiator when it was slowly dying? Or am i still dealing with 2 different issues here? I really thought i had the cooling system issues licked and these are completely different symptoms than were present before the cooling system work.

p.s. I checked all of the cv boots as i was lifting it and didn't see a whole lot of wear. Actually they looked pretty good. I should have specified this before asking how to go about finding the bad axle or axles. I have seen a bad axle before but it was very obvious (torn boot, gunked up, knocking) I do not know how to identify a bad axle without those symptoms. any suggestions?

I guess i should have specified all of that sorry. Yes it's an automatic and yes the shaking is when i am in drive with my foot on the brake. So this shake is the axles? Will i need to replace all four? Or just find the bad one? (in my experience they don't necessarily go bad together). Are there axles that fit that would be better with the angle than my stock legacy axles? Thanks for the help, i was way off and ready rip into the mounts for no reason!

I got my 91 on some OB struts and some big tires. Looks great and sounds great! however... At idle it shakes considerably more than it used to. Is this normal because of it's newly found height or is it an early sign of strut failure? (i got my OB struts at the junkyard; they seemed fine) It feels like the engine mounts need to be replaced, but i honestly never noticed it before i lifted it. Anyone have a similar issue after lifting?

I got the spring compressors from harbor freight this morning actually. So here is the new problem.... when i attempt to take the tophat bolt off the whole shaft moves. I've tried vice grips and a towel on the shaft but i can't get enough torque to break this bolt. There is a hex key in the middle but no way to access it when you have a wrench on there. I'm a little confused should i be using the hex or the bolt? how can i use them together?

Okie dokey, i went to the junkyard today and was able to find the front struts off of a 99 outback and the rear struts off of a 96 outback. I came home and started with the fronts and got them in. Had to do a little pushing and shoving to get the bolts back in but they all lined up eventually. Then i got to the back. I got the back up on stands and took the back seats out and removed the struts, well guess what!! the top hats are definitely different. Not only is the bolt pattern differently spaced but they also have a smaller center. (the pics show them lined up to one another). Uh Oh! It looks like a big enough difference where i'm not going to be able to just widen my holes a bit on the mount. I'm going to have to change the top hat. Anyone know how difficult of a job that is? I've never done it before and i'm a little iffy on working on something with such a powerfully loaded spring. Any tips would really help me out. Thanks guys!

I saw that the '99s were the tallest in another posting about this but i didn't think they would work for me. That's great news, thanks for the quick feedback. Anybody have any suggestions on wheels or should i just keep the stock aluminum 15's i have for now?

I just got my first subaru, and my first project car. First time i've had a vehicle that's not my daily driver. 900$ and it runs and drives well!! I'd like to build it up so i can take it camping in a few of the harder to reach spots. Nothing crazy but enough to eliminate any sort of traffic. I'm starting the lift and have been reading through all of your posts. I'd like to eventually do the full lift but i'm starting with just larger tires and new struts/springs. I came up with two questions regarding those two projects. Number 1, i wanted to go with 15 inch steel wheels after reading a bit about the stock, my question is should i just go with the factory original steel wheels or are those too weak for a rocky road? Do i need to look at 15 inch offroading wheels that will fit 5x100? These seem harder to find for cheap. I see many of you using toyota rims but i'm assuming those are redrilled? I do not have the knowledge or ability to redrill rims. Any suggestions would help me out Second question, and i know this has been asked on here too many times so i apologize in advance. I'd like to change the struts/springs but after looking up part numbers all night on the internet i'm not sure i can use outback struts (no such thing as a 91 outback?) As far as i can tell the 91 legacy's don't have a lot of crossover in parts with the later legacys. Can anyone tell me what the best strut to use would be. By now you've figured out that i'm the weekend type of hobbiest and my auto mechanic skills aren't the best, so i'm looking for struts that will bolt right in in place of these and won't hinder a body lift in the near future. Sorry for the noob questions, i'll start to post pics as soon as i get it on stands.