jeffroid

Back again with more questions. I really appreciate all the responses. Again, this board is awesome. So I am trying to find another tranny. I am not confident that either of the ones I have are not trashed to the extent that simply replacing that main top bearing would be wise. I have someone scouting junkyards for me and we have some "swap ability" questions. The part puller seems to think that in 2001 they "eliminated the speed sensor". Implying that the place in which you screw in the speed sensor that is currently on my 96 outback is not there or somehow different in transmissions after 2001. Can anyone shed any light on this please?

Well, the tranny I installed last year is all still in the car, so I don't know about the pilot bearing. But that's a good point about the pilot bearing supporting the shaft near the clutch. I guess it's possible the clutch disintegrating had nothing to do with the bad tranny. But there was significant play in the input shaft after it was out of the car and it was popping out of nearly every gear. I can't remember which gears exactly, but some of the gears I couldn't even hold it in gear with the shift lever. I guess I just assume that's what destroyed the clutch. It had around 100K on it but the disc still had plenty of pad. I just know that the one I'm driving on now is making the same grinding noises and just starting to pop out of fourth gear. One other thing of note is that my miles are easy miles. I'm not an aggressive driver and nearly all of my miles are on the interstate commuting back and forth to work. I regards to Gloyale's suggesting to replace the large bearing on the upper shaft, that's something I considered. But I have read other posts warning about extremely tight tolerances and these transmissions being difficult to rebuild. If replacing this bearing will fix my original tranny and is much less involved than a significan't rebuild, I may decide to give it a try, but I'll need to do much more research. Anyway, thanks for the replies. This Board is awesome!

I've got another post on the Parts Wanted page, but I have questions that I though would be more suitable posting here. The tranny in my 96 Outback 2.2L five speed went out at about 160K miles. It started making faint grinding noises which got progressively louder, then started slipping out of gear, then it finally destroyed the clutch, leaving me stranded. When I removed it I noticed excessive play in the input shaft. So I got another one from a board member that he said was out of a 91 Legacy with "around 100K miles". When I put it in it shifted fine and wasn't making any noticeable noise, but after about a year and 20K miles or so, it started to make the same grinding noises, and now it is starting to slip out of gear again.. So after another post on the Parts Wanted page, I've found another tranny from a Board member with "around 100K miles and shifts fine" for a reasonable price. I'm not having much luck on-line otherwise. Responses to my older post indicated that it was easy to find a good tranny on-line, but I am just not seeing it. Getting one shipped with any kind of a warranty is over 1000 bucks and I still need to install it. What's the deal here? I have been driving Subarus for over 20 years and I always thought their manual trannys were pretty much bullet proof? I've got nearly 200K on my wagon, but the engine is strong as can be, doesn't use a drop of oil, and I absolutely love the vehicle otherwise. So what should be a reasonable expectation for the life of these trannys? Should I worry about putting another old one in? Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the response. My vss is two wire. I read up on it some more. First I unhooked the electrical connector, then hooked up some speaker wire to the connector and ran it through the window so that I could read the voltage as I was driving down the road with a multi-meter. With the meter set on AC, it wasn't reading any significant voltage. So then I removed the vss from the transmission. It wasn't that hard to get out as it had recently been removed and reinstalled when I swapped transmissions. I hooked it up to a drill motor and it again was not reading any significant voltage with the multi-meter set on AC. That pretty much proves I have a bad vehicle Speed Sensor, correct?

I have a 1996 Legacy Outback 2.2 Liter with manual transmission. I was in the middle of my commute in cruise control. The traffic ahead slowed and right as I took it out of cruise control to decelerate, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the speedometer needle went straight to zero and stayed there. Otherwise, nothing unusual occurred and there were no symptoms whatsoever. After a few minutes, the check engine light came on. After I got home, I plugged in a code reader at the auto parts store and the code as described in the topic title appeared. I cleared the code and drove home. The speedometer still does not work, but the check engine light has not come back on again (only a few blocks). I'm guessing that I just need to buy the Vehicle Speed Sensor that screws into the transmission much like where you used to screw in your speedometer cable in the olden days. I see them online for around 100 bucks. I searched but didn't readily see a similar issue or a direct answer to my question. So I figured I would check here first before spending a hard earned $100 without fixing the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have a '96 outback with the 2.2L and 5-speed. It started misfiring under load and finally threw the P0302 CODE. It happened right by the parts store so I just cleared the code and it didn't come back right away. Still misfiring under load but not bad. I looked under the hood after dark and there was no arcing or sparking of the plug wires even while misting water around the coil. After a couple of days the code came back. It was finally the weekend so I had time to pull the plugs. They all looked like the text book picture of what a perfectly firing plug should look like but were hugely over gapped, probably near .060". I regapped them and put them back in to see what would happen. That made a big difference. It was running way better. It still felt like I could make it misfire or stumble or whatever by intentionally lugging it in too high a gear, so on the way home from work yesterday I bought new NGK's and went home to change them. Of course since I was in a hurry the first thing that happened was that the plug wire pulled out of one of the spark plug terminals. I didn't have time to go buy new plug wires so I repaired it the best I could with a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. I'm going to order up a new set of NGK wires this morning. NOW to my main point. It wasn't until after I had a couple of the plugs in that I noticed I had purchased BKR5E11 plugs. The plugs that came out were BKR6E11. I just put them in, put everything back together and took it for a quick run on the highway. It ran AWESOME. No sign of misfire or stumbing under load. So this morning I am doing some research and I get conflicting information on whether the 5 or 6 is the right plug to use. It looks like it probably should have been the 6. Interesting that if I go to the NGK website and punch in the 2.2L for the '96 outback it tells me to use the 6, but if I punch in the 2.5L it tells me to use the 5. I also found this part number decoder which I thought was pretty cool: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/docs/tech/design_symbols_plugs.pdf So I am thinking that I probably should have went with the 6, especially since the 6's that I took out looked like the text book picture of what a plug should after around 100K miles. Do the experts agree that I should be using the 6's? Is running with the hotter 5 plug really that big of a deal? Do the experts think I should eat the $10 bucks and buy a new set of 6's to go with the new plug wires? Or should I not worry about it and just go with the 5's? Thanks to all who bothered to read this far. I have a tendency to write novels. And I did do a search first.

Thanks for the help everyone. I sprayed carb cleaner around the idle air valve and throttle body. Did not hear any evidence of vacuum leak. I changed the air filter, put everything back togther, and drove it to work last week with no problems, smooth idle, and no CEL. Left work early Thursday afternoon, took it through emissions, and passed with flying colors ! ! ! It's got about 115K miles on it. When I first had the issue and the CEL, I don't recall seeing a code number on the scanner, just IDLE AIR CONTROL SYSTEM. After I disconnected and reconnected the battery, there was no more CEL so I never hooked it back up to the scanner again. Thanks again ! ! !

I got the flashers off with the key fob. I did a quick search before my first post, but didn't see it until a more thorough search later. Sorry! It now starts and runs with no check engine light, but the idle is still slightly erratic. I am a little concerned because I have to get it smogged this month. It's my only driver now. I work LONG days and don't have a ton of time to screw around if it doesn't pass smog. Any ideas other than to clean the idle air control valve, which I will do next?

I have a '96 OBW with 2.2L and 5-speed. This afternoon out of nowhere it was difficult to start, then idled all the way up to 2500 rpm and the check engine light came on. I turned it off, raised the hood and manually operated the valve that connects directly to the throttle cable several times back and forth. It restarted and idled normally, but the check engine light stayed on. I drove it down to Shucks without incident and borrowed their code reader. It said "Idle Air Control System". I am not very experienced with code readers, but I distinctly remember that I did not erase the code. On the way home, the check engine light stayed on. I got home, disconnected the battery for a few minutes, then hooked it back up and restarted. It starts and runs with no check engine light, but now the flashers stay on. Very strange. They stay on whether the key is on or off, whether the engine is running or not. But the flashing is somewhat erratic. I'll do something to get it to stop for a few seconds, like turn the key on and off, shut down and restart the engine, etc, but the flashers start right back up again after a few seconds. When I toggle the hazard switch on, the flasher are brighter, and I can actually hear that there are two separate relays clicking, the one that is supposed to for the hazard alert, and a fainter and slower click for the mystery flasher. Any idea what's going on here?

I found this thread helpful for HG research: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=71362&referrerid=6812

This board (and Ron) rocks.

Can anybody hook me up? 4S3BG4854T6974691 Thanks ! ! !

This was a 2.2, right ? ? ? '97 Impreza. I thought I didn't have to worry about a 2.5L until like 2000 or 2001, correct? Does that hold true even with an Outback? I thought the price was high, but not that high. This car was as clean as a 10 year old car could be. The mileage was high, but the compression numbers were 175-185 for all four cylinders. Anyway, thanks everyone for the feedback. I will definitely keep looking.

Well, when we got the car home, a closer inspection revealed that it had been significantly wrecked and rebuilt. There were a couple of other small things that reflected on the honesty (or lack thereof) of the seller, so the GF is bringing the car back (she had arranged to take it home overnight to let her mechanic inspect it before buying it). I know that most of you probably could car less, but I just wanted to post this because I find it very interesting that didn't show up on the carfax. Lesson learned on my part. It's a shame because she really liked the car, and of course I did. Back to shopping, I guess ! ! !

Thanks for the help, those who responded. She took me up to look at it after work today and it looks like she's going to buy it. It was really clean, tight, smooth, quiet, etc. Sure didn't feel like a car with 200K miles on it. Well, first time something goes wrong with it I'm sure I'll be back, since I only know EA81's.

I am an old Generation Subaru packrat and rarely lurk on the New Gen board. I did search for a while, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. My GF wants to buy a '97 Impreza wagon, five speed, with all the bells and whistles for $3500. It's got 200K miles on it, but claims to have new timing belts, etc, and is really clean and in good shape. From what little I learned from surfing, that should be a really good model year - non interference engine, etc. I'd like to have it myself, but I've got too many EA81 cars and parts around ! ! ! I was surprised and excited that she wanted to buy it because she hates my old beaters and parts cars. The high mileage definitely scares me. Again, from a little surfing, the price sounds a little high, but not too bad. She needs a car soon. In general, is this a good purchase ? ? ? THANKS ! ! ! OH yeah, clean carfax too.

Sorry, my post was a bit ambiguous. When I said you should be able to see tell if a head gasket was leaking or you had cracks, I meant after you took the heads off. That's why I was wondering about how the coolant system pressure test was performed. On "normal" cars, I believe that if you pressurize the radiator and loose pressure without any coolant leaking externally, that could have a tendancy to indicate a head gasket or cracks. On Subarus (at least EA81's) the intake gasket can leak coolant into the intake and you would have no external visual evidence. I'd have to think about the water pump some more, but it occurs to me that would have to leak externally. If you have no other symptoms of a cylinder failure such as bad compression or leakdown test numbers, smoke, bubbles in the radiator, or milk in the oil or filler tube, I would guess it's not a head gasket or cracks. Please don't misinterpret this statement to mean that any of these symptoms in isolation definitely mean that you DO have a headgasket leak or cracks.

You should be able to see if your HG was leaking, and should certainly be able to see cracks. I don't know how you did your presssure test, but I believe you can also get a coolant system pressure leak from an intake manifold gasket failure. That actually happened to me but it was on an EA81. Just be sure that's not your problem before you go yanking your heads off, possibly for no reason.

Thanks for all the ideas. If it stops raining long enough tomorrow I'll get a chance to do some proper troubleshooting and report back if I find anything. In the meantime I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how it could be driving down the highway just fine, then die for no apparent reason, then not start back up again until it sits for several minutes. That and the hissing sound that I can only really hear when I am inside the car and goosing the gas pedal or accelerating hard.

I have an '83 FWD five speed sedan that I picked up about 1.5 years ago. I put a clutch in it and tuned it up and have been driving it to work 40 miles each way ever since without a hitch. The car has been amazing - cruises at 70mph and gets 26 mpg. Then all of a sudden Tuesday morning it died on the way to work. Just quit running at cruising speed and started making this loud hissing sound. I was able to coast to the shoulder. After cranking it, waiting a minute, cranking it, waiting a minute for about ten minutes, it started up and I made it to work no problem. The thing is, I could still hear a new hissing sound from inside the car, much more audible at high throttle. At lunch time I went out and tried to trouble shoot it without success. None of the emissions stuff or anything looked blown up or anything. What was weird is that I couldn't hear the hissing sound over the engine racing to figure out where it was coming from when I raced the throttle by hand, but could still hear it noticibly inside the car - not at idle, but when goosing the gas pedal. It made it home from work fine Tuesday night, so I decided to risk driving it back to work Wednesday. Made it to and from work OK, but could still hear the hissing from inside the car, most noticeably at high throttle. Again, when trying to race the throttle by hand with the hood up it is impossible to hear the hissing enough over the racing engine to figure anything out. I foolishly drove it to work again today (Thursday) and it died again on the way to work. Again I was able to get it off to the shoulder and it restarted. I stayed in the right lane and nursed it into work at 45-50 without any further symptoms. Took it out for lunch today and it ran fine on the surface streets. Same story with the hissing. Then on the way home from work it died again and left me stuck in a really bad spot on I-405. Man, I was pissed at myself for being so stupid. I was stuck on a little island in between the main flow and an on-ramp. It took a lot longer this time, but it eventually restarted and I took of for the next exit ramp. It started to die again, but this time restarted itself while I was coasting so that I could make it to the exit and coast down the ramp. It was still running, but died at the first light. I was still facing downhill so I was able to get it going enough with the starter to get it off the road. Again, after a few minutes it started, and I was able to drive it all the way home on surface streets, taking me over an hour. It ran fine with the only symptom the same hissing that you can hear in the car, but not so much outside with the hood up. Any ideas ? ? ? I am going to have a heck of time troubleshooting it now because it runs fine in the yard and around the neighborhood, but there is no way I am taking it on the highway again. Thanks for taking the time to read this novel. Any help is greatly appreciated.

All you have to do is enlarge the hole that the little change tray thing was in and use that for the new head unit. Then enlarge the hole the old radio came from to hold the change tray. You won't be able to push the radio all the way in because it hits the heater, so make a spacer out of aluminum or wood to space it out from the surface of the console. I was lucky and had access to a machine shop. I don't know if I am linking this photo correctly but go to my member photos and you can find it there if the photo didn't link. It's the only photo under my user name. It doesn't interfere with anything and I still have the change tray and ash tray. I made my spacer so that the head unit fits snugly and bolted it to the console as pictured so I didn't even have to support the head unit from the backside in any way. The kit for the EA81's may not work correctly but some generic kits have pieces in them that can act in much the same way the the spacer I made. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=6812&sl=j

A buddy of mine pressure washed my engine once and no amount of drying around the distrubutor or spraying WD40 in there seemed to help much. A new cap and rotor cured the problem instantly. Not sure I completely understand why drying it out didn't fix it when it was running fine before the soaking, and I'm not sure it's going to fix your problem, but it sure did mine. In my case the cap and rotor probably needed replacing anyway, and soaking them down like that might have been what pushed them over the edge to where they wouldn't work work anymore even after drying.

I've got a couple in my backyard that don't run but are fully intact, except one's missing the tranny. It's pretty nasty outside right now. If you still need them tomorrow and the sun comes out I could snap a few digital shots for you. I'd be happy to help but I've never actually had much luck getting general photos from under the hood area that were of much use. Especially for vacuum hoses because they are often routed together and seem to dissapear behind other stuff. They are sometimes tough to trace even when you are physically looking under the hood. If you could pinpoint what you are looking for that might make it a little easier.

I've never used a tranny jack, but all my work has been done in the dirt. Since I don't have a garage or driveway pulling an engine is a bit of a project by myself. A 2WD tranny is so light a jack is not necessary. Again - depends on extenuating circumstances. But I regret starting this argument yet again. I have seen it pop up on many threads. Sounds like the original poster knows what he's dealing with.

I'm an EA81 guy but from what I know it should be about the same to pull an 84 vs an 85, just depends on how much other BS is involved such as A/C, PS, etc. Seems like everyone here is going to tell you it's better to pull the engine to replace the clutch, but depending on extenuating circumstances I might rather just drop the tranny. I've done it both ways many times and it's definitely always been done sooner when I just drop the tranny.