Bushwick

Like I said, they are fully aware of what other local places charge. Why would they pay you more if everyone else is paying less?

Resistors in general are supposed to get hot. Really small 1/4 watt resistors won't get as hot as say a 5w resistor.

That's the engine-side connector, not sensor-side which can easily be removed by sticking a pick or very small flathead in gently pulling if you press on the locking tab. You'll have to get creative as the wire is just barely long enough to connect. If it were me, I'd try and get the metal connectors out of the plastic housing and recrimp them to fresh wire. Other option would be to cut the wiring from a donor (same year) and solder that into yours. Get some heat shrink tubing and be sure it seals a good 1/2" beyond. Then maybe electrical tape the entire wire(s) for added strength and moisture resistance.

You need to get an ohm/volt meter attached to sensors that are appearing as codes and see which ones are actually bad. Not sure what you "taped" on the knock sensor, but if there's a break internally "taping" it won't hold for long. Also, failing O2 sensors that are shorting internally can cause misfires and O2 codes.

Yeah, platinum isn't something that'll really ever tank as it's a precious metal; as long as emissions standards get more stringent, there will be a huge demand for it. Junk yards might want you to think otherwise as they can make triple or quadruple+ off their $20 investment, and unless they often try and stay competitive with local rivals, so if 5 yards exist within a 20 mile radius, they are WELL aware of what each other are buying at. If the market is dry, or one place is willing to offer more, you'll see spikes in the pricing if they start loosing business. Core places are definitely the way go, unless you can extract the metals yourself Also, contrary to popular thought, selling "loose" honeycomb nets a far less profit. It's always better to just take the cat in in one piece, even if the honeycomb is melted within. It's much easier for them to identify "GM, Ford, Toyota" etc. if it's still in the original casing, as different manufacturers have varying levels of platinum content in their cats. Plus, I think the Japanese cats have another precious metal that's worth something, but can't remember what it was. Rule of thumb, the bigger the cat (i.e. a truck), the rear cats (in a 2 or 4 cat set up), Toyota cats (regardless of size), along with other import cats typically are worth more.

Thanks for the info and suggestions everyone. It amazingly DOES have a bleeder screw. Can't believe it went unnoticed this entire time. Still absolutely no signs of any leakage and the reservoir isn't budging. Thinking a new radiator cap is needed to be safe. I've noticed the upper radiator hose when engine is running and at temp, has basically NO give to it, which might suggest a higher than optimal pressure in the system. I seem to remember when the system was flushed after getting it 2 years ago, the hose had give. And every other car I've owned has had give too when you squeeze them. Would make some sense if the cap is seized shut as that wouldn't pull any coolant out of the overfill, though I'm surprised the pressure wouldn't pop something. Then again, this might explain the few drips noticed on the end tank before (which has since dried). Temps have been 20-30 degrees cooler, so that might be playing into things as well as the underhood heat would be higher when it was still in the 80's. Definite head scratcher.

I I didn't realize those cars were so light! 2500 pounds is old Toyota pick up truck weight. @Gary I used to scrap cars from PA and would take them into Niles. The Niles yard (they were bought out since IIRC) guys told me they sold their converters at Junior's Core and Recycling ( http://www.yellowpages.com/kinsman-oh/mip/juniors-core-and-reycling-22848142# ) I went up there with 6-7 cats leftover from cars I scrapped and had nearly $700 check from it. This was back in the mid 00's, so dunno if prices are as good anymore. At least 2 of the cats were aftermarket so those were like $10 each. The rest came from an early 90's Tercel, Tempo, Lumina, 85' Ford sedan (full-size), F150, a Mazda minivan, etc. Dunno if they'll give their price over the phone or not, but can try. Japanese cats typically have higher amounts of platinum and bring a premium. It's a solid hour and half drive from Akron taking 76 to 7, but coming up from WV, you can run 11 all the way up then hop onto 7 from 76. The place was small and in a rural area on the left if going north from 76, but it was well worth the prices. A normal yard I'd have gotten maybe $200 total. So while you'll burn a ;little more gas getting there, it pays for itself. They are open half a day on Sat. I'd call them and say what the cats are from and if they can ball-park it for you. Saying you are passing through from down south might help. As long as they are OEM and STILL have the honeycomb intact, they are worth something. To the thread starter, can always run an ad in Craigslist and let people pull parts themselves. Just hang around while they do it. Given how light the car is, you'll make more parting it. The better the condition everything is (like interior parts) the more money can be made.

You can get $400 scraping it yourself. so "$200" is NOT a good offer. Sell the engine, trans, rear, interior, bits and pieces, and you'll get $400-600. Then scrap what's left for $350. If it has a ton of good parts, could even make $900-1000. The cats should be worth a couple hundred by themselves if you take them to a core place (NOT a junk yard). You want the place the junk yards sell their cats to. They pay the most. Most junk yards pay roughly $50-75. The core places pay $100-250+ depending on the platinum content. If they are generic universal aftermarket cats, expect $10-15. Even the battery is worth around $20 as lead is in demand.

Well, it's 10 years old and no one bothered to rinse the salt off the undercarriage during the winter (should do this weekly if driving through a bunch of salted roads) and that's what happens. Some of the areas look worse than my 95' Legacy. But my Legacy has a factory coated undercoat. If it were me and I wanted to drive it for more than one winter, I'd get it oil sprayed. Then every year after oil sprayed again. This will at least halt the progression of the rust already there. Areas you can NOT oil spray like under the hood, where the fenders meet the engine bay (hood up), door sills, bottoms of doors, etc. need to be rinsed routinely during the winter. Basically any time the city salts the roads, you MUST be thinking about getting that OFF your bare metal. If it's allowed to clump or set for a couple days, you'll have holes within a year or 2. I'd use this as bargaining chip if the car overall is nice. Say it'll need "work" to correct the rot and it isn't worth what they are asking. Oil sprays are messy, and drip for a week or whatever, but they do the best job of limiting rust from road salt.

Sounds like one of or both of your O2 might be bad. Can try disconnecting one/both and seeing if the engine will run OK in closed loop. You'll get more codes, but running is what you are looking for. Suggest pulling the battery cable first, to rest the codes. Then disconnect the O2. Start engine and see if bucking stops. Can also get the codes pulled with O2 disconnected. IF only O2 codes are showing now, that might rule out connector. I had issues with my 99' Saab 9-3 where it was basically doing the same thing. It started OK, but within the first couple minutes it'd start bucking, missing, etc. For awhile, it'd clear itself and run fine for the rest of the trip, then not reappear. Then it got to the point it'd do it routinely. Only code I was getting was for the actual O2 heater element, which it had when the car was bought and didn't affect drivability. Eventually, while coming home from a gas station, it started doing it again. I put it in neutral and revved slightly and backfired something crazy and blew the seams out of the muffler! Thankfully the car was cat-less at the time as it would have screwed up much more. Anyways, what was happening was the O2 sensor's metal casing had split, and was peeling. This allowed moisture in. The bucking was an actual short occurring. Seems the engine was OK on closed loop where it wasn't relying on the input of the sensor, but once it did had a fit. Also, believe it or not this was the REAR downstream O2 causing all this trouble which everyone said couldn't as it's "not important" for the engine to run. It could be the connector like everyone is saying, or could be the O2. If the O2 is shorted and sending erratic signals to the engine, the engine won't run right and it can possibly think other things are wrong. I also got a random misfire code with mine due to the O2, so that "appeared" to be a coil or plug issue.

It's a 95' Legacy. Next time outside I'll double-check if it has something like that. Was visualizing more of a twist valve. I know the inlet piping has an edge broken off as there's no metal sleeving protecting the inner diameter of the radiator inlet on the upper hose, so hose was double-clamped (this was over a year ago) to have more clamping surface area w/o going crazy tight. At some point, the radiator will need replaced regardless, but it was still dry. I tightened a tad anyways. Guess it's a waiting game until the level drops (again) assuming it will. Considering it's running what appears to be the original radiator, not exactly in a hurry to pressurize the unit in case it blows something out. What years are a direct fit radiator if I went with used? Do the 2.5L DOHC engines get a larger radiator? Are the bleeder valves only available on particular years/models? Any of the 00's models fit? If going used, the 00's models are fairly common at the pull-a-part with OK mileage. As long as upper/lower hoses line up and are same diameter, only other thing would be the fan shroud and attachment points.

If the wire gets HOT with engine idling, it's too thin for the current going through it, or in the case of older links, they are breaking apart. I went to AZ and bought a section of generic fusible link. Far as I can tell, it's copper wiring. I tried matching the silicone sleeving size to mine, and it too got hot. So I went back and got the immediate size up, and it doesn't get hot. Been a little over a year since that went in and all is OK. If yours gets too hot, it could start a fire. My factory link seemed to have gotten corrosion in it, or the casing cracked near the middle and that allowed corrosion. Near the end, the wire was brittle and arcing internally during cranking. This caused a slight deforming of the plastic underside of the fuse box lid along with smoking marks. Had the car continued to run, it could have caused a fire. Either put a next size wire in there until the replacement comes, or double up your wiring. It should NOT get hot.

I've opened up air filter boxes on other cars as part of a ton of smaller upgrades. By itself, it *can* improve airflow going into the engine but you typically want a freer flowing exhaust system to go along with it. You might loose a tiny amount of torque (talking freer flowing intake AND exhaust) in the earlier revs, but you'll get a few more hp up higher. It can also improve MPG slightly. Again, this is entirely dependent on the engine, how restrictive the factory intake is, how many hp the factory tubes are parasiting hp, etc. I removed the portion of the intake piping on mine that was acting like some cheap ram intake. Basically the small slit that pulls from the front and into the fender as it just appears too restrictive. On my old Lincoln Mark VIII that had a 4.6L DOHC aluminum engine that was rated at 280hp at the crank. I removed the restrictive screen in the intake tube (it was a sound deadening screen to muffle intake noise), I cut a hole at the bottom end of the air filter box (this allowed a straight shot of fresh incoming air vs. having to make a 90 degree bend into the box), installed freer flowing Summit Racing Turbo mufflers (the quiet ones), ran full synthetic oils from engine to trans to rear end, custom lowered the brackets for the air bag suspension to allow a 1.5" drop front/rear, ran touring tires, ran a K&N air filter, fresh plugs and wires (spark plug strap was custom filed back to sit a little less than dead center with an angled bevel- this reduces hesitation, frees up around 5hp to V8's, and was an old drag racing trick from the 60's - 70's). The car had a real-time MPG monitor which was surprisingly accurate. From the factory, these cars got 28 mpg highway (awesome feat considering the car weighed 3800 pounds and had a larger V8 + a 4 speed auto, although it did have a 3.08 final gear) and I think 18 city. After doing ALL the aforementioned mods, highway MPG with cruise set on flat highway (doing 70 MPH) it's got 33 MPG. City was 20-22 if you kept the gas pedal sane. AVG MPG was typically around 25, assuming there was a decent amount of highway usage. This car was long and low, and seems like a decently low coefficient drag, which when combined with everything else, made these numbers possible. I did a ton of highway driving with it and those numbers backed up what was going in the tank. So, does the air intake hole by itself help with much? No. Although, when engineers are more worried about keeping engine noises to a minimum so little old ladies don't gripe about their family hauler making excess noises, it can actually impact performance if they put a ton of bends into the intake piping and restrict diameter of piping at any places. Those bends and restrictions are primarily done for the sole benefit of noise suppression above all else. If it were me, I'd's just remove as much of the box as possible w/o disturbing structural anchor points (all opening must be AFTER the filter so it can still do it's job). That'll remove that humming effect which sounds like air is whistling across the hole they added. If you widen the hole or remove the bottom of the box with say a dremel, it'll act similar to a filter on a tube. Your intake will sound a little more throaty when you step on it, but that whistling should go away. As far as a dirtier air filter, it shouldn't matter unless your engine compartment is filthy. Most engine air is from the engine compartment anyways. For best performance and MPG, you should be changing your filter yearly anyways. More so if you drive in really dirty areas like the desert or have a long gravel driveway, etc.

Any fuel cap should work so long as it's meant for the car.

The reservoir started dropping. It was topped off, then dropped again. Topped off again and it quit dropping. Before that however, the level in the overfill tank never fluctuated in at least the past year. Wondering if it could have had air trapped near the radiator cap, preventing it from pulling anything in (or hell, maybe the hose had an obstruction?). Or as was pointed out, maybe the cap was sticking and it wasn't passing coolant? Trying to think of all possibilities before blaming a random HG issue as it's just not leaking anywhere on the exterior to account for the amount that was pulled in. The visible coolant blotches were on the actual radiator plastic end tank the cooling fin rows terminate into. It would seem some coolant made it's way pass the upper radiator hose coupling, though it was completely dry.

I don't think this one has a bleeder screw? Can't find anything on radiator. On the upper left (if bending over and looking down from the front of car, it's on the left) front of radiator is a plastic boss that appears like it could have something tapped and put there, is completely smooth with no hole. Anyhow, went out and coolant level hadn't dropped. Oil level is still right on the mark too (thankfully). Got to the gas station and checked once more for signs of leakage. It took awhile, but I found some wetness on the actual outer radiator side, directly under the upper hose where it connects. What's odd though is the actual hose is dry as is the mating surface where the hose goes over the plastic, which is why I didn't catch the wetness on the side of the radiator panel as I had just run a finger at the edge of the hose and it was dry before, like it was tonight. Still not convinced this is the leak though, as there was maybe a tablespoon's worth of coolant blotches there and this thing previously dropped at least a qt. Can't find any other wet spots nor is the coolant odor present. Temps are always in the middle, and it's running like it always does. Guess I'll just have to keep checking for signs of it dropping in case it IS a head gasket issue. Could it be possible there was air in the radiator, but not enough to cause overheating, for roughly a year? Like say there was an air pocket and the coolant was high enough to at least keep the engine in-range, but not high enough it was creating a suction to pull coolant from the overfill bottle? Wondering if it's actually just been low and it purged a bubble, allowing it to pull in actual coolant?

You aren't the first person to have run into that It's a strange feature by US car standards where the parking light is always operated by the headlight switch. I forgot mine even had it until CCRINC mentioned it.

You didn't throw the serpentine belt, did you? Do you have a voltmeter? I'd start by checking that the alternator is charging. If the battery has 11-12v, headlights will be dim. I popped a belt on my old Lincoln Mark VIII doing burn outs once. Had the engine light not come on, I'd probably have not even known it threw the belt. Next, check the fuses. The relays mentioned above are in the underhood fuse box, on the driver-side inner fender behind the battery. If leaning over the driver-side fender with radiator to your left, and car door to your right and looking directly down at the fuse box, the 2 black relays on the far right (they are situated like the front seats, one closer but in a left/right arrangement if you were in the car) will represent the left/right head lights. I was messing with mine recently when a light failed after only several months of usage, so I thought it was possibly the connector or relay first. Anyways, if you remove a relay and a bulb is burned out, both lights can get dim. Seems to affect the high beam filament somehow. Mine actually has a cracked connector too. And that has been an issue.

You'll need to remove the plastic from the rear of the actual hatch (both sides) as well as the bottom panel. With the bare metal exposed, you'll see there are probably 2-4 different grounding points. The top panel that conceals the headliner where it meets the top of the hatch might also have another ground there that's typically tied into the dome light. I snagged a 98' rear hatch and it should be fairly similar as yours. If the bulbs are working with your makeshift ground, then I'd trace the wire by sight and replace the crimping where it goes to body. I've seen several crimpings on mine that appear to be hand-crimped. Whether that's factory or something after it was sold, I dunno. But they look like they can be suspect as the quality isn't exactly high-end. If your lights aren't working with new ground, LED can and will quit working over time. If you have bulbs hiding behind a faux LED reflector panel, those burn out too but most don't realize until there's zero light coming from them and think it's electrical when it's just a couple dead bulbs. I've even seen both rear running lights go around the same time, which I thought was electrical, but upon inspection of the filament, both were kaput.

My 95' Legacy Wagon with ej22 doesn't make that noise. It sounds like something vibrating on plastic, like the air filter box or something connected to it- like the intake tube touching metal. If you grab the intake tube, does the sound change? i.e. your hand is muffling the vibration? Could also be a vacuum leak on a larger hose. Do the brakes feel like the power assist is working? Have you left any of emissions stuff disconnected? EGR valve, PCV valve, etc.? You are running an air filter, right? Might want to disconnect the air filter box and see if the sound goes away. It might be air going through the intake tube and resonating on an obstruction (like air filter screen hanging down and air flow "vibrating" it) or the tube might be touching the inner edge of the hole in the inner fender where that plastic tube passes through (if it's like mine).

Is your 3rd brake light illuminated too? If so, it can actually be a failed brake light switch to an issue with the brake pedal retaining a semi-pressed state. Most cars have the switch behind or near the pedal stem, and are a simple press button switch that either creates a circuit or breaks the circuit. Most have a single wire connector. Unhook it and check if the lights went out. If they do, replace the switch. If you MUST drive the car, leave it unhooked and use your headlight switch and turn it to "park" every time you stop. That'll at least let people know you are stopping, OR rig a switch to that wire and press it every time you stop. That can get you to work until you fix it, but can be dangerous so use with caution and fix ASAP. If it's your actual lights, it might be the head light switch, though it's more likely the brake switch is faulty. I've seen this several times with other cars. Brake lights will also work with key out of ignition. EDIT: NVM. Missed the part about the parking lights. Thought it was just in the rear for some reason. CCRinc has the issue pegged. Turn the "Park" switch off.

All EJ engines have the VLSD? The wiki was saying that in general, VLSD fail and essentially revert to an open diff. Can anyone confirm this with Subaru? Think it's help the topic starter too if he ends up getting a high mileage piece that doesn't work as intended. Granted having the FWD action will negate much of that, but only having a singular rear tire putting power down kinda stinks.

I just remembered having dealt with basically the same issue. I had a 79' Mustang Cobra with black interior, and a local yard had a base model with black interior. This was back in 00' and they weren't exactly common back then being a 1st year Fox body AND having a unique 1 year only door handle system where the open lever was ALL the way at the bottom. Anyways, same deal. I went to the yard which was actually a small towing yard and the guy was like, yeah we'll probably hold on to it for little while. I was like great, I get paid Friday and will stop by after work (this was like Mon.). Well Friday came and I didn't see it. Went in and they stated they junked it. I got pissed and was like "you could have earned some extra cash from that as the parts are difficult to locate. Anyways, was just sitting and remembered that, so I feel the disappointment from getting excited to a straight up let down. The good news for you is the SVX engine, as well as the EZ3x engines are fairly common. Some yards treat the EZ36 as if it's an EZ30, meaning they can be found cheap if you are quick about getting it. GL with the future endeavors and be sure to do a courtesy post here (with link to build thread) if you source something new so people following will hop over to the new thread. I'm very interested in watching a build up of one as it'll be an option if I get serious with mine. Given how simple and bullet-proof these gen Subaru are, why bother with a new car when a 20 year old one can get turned into a quick cruiser w/o the infotainment BS

I've seen plenty of cars crushed (in person) and wouldn't hold my breath on it. You'll most likely need to cut the hood off, and anything under there will be subject to breakage. Things you probably wouldn't even notice outright. With that said, the ECM is probably intact as the floor area will most likely still be sound. However, the car is probably already stacked. Usually the wheels bottom out and the oil pan will be broken, as will the trans. Don't hold your breath on it. But again, remember the person that junked it probably drove it in there and got $400 for it (curb weight x tonnage rate = $$$). You need to find that type of person BEFORE they go the yard as a last resort. Some yards will allow a signed title i.e. you buy the car, the owner signs the title, but you leave your area blank. Then if you scrap it, the junkyard will assume ownership. Not all allow this. Some require it to be in your name. If that's the case, find a notary at a bank and have it notarized with both you and the seller. Granted there's a little more work this way as you'll need a dolly to move it or a trailer (both you can rent at U-Haul) and a winch or $20 come-along to get the carcass on the dolly/trailer, but you can actually in most cases at the very least break even when it's said and done OR turn a profit depending on how patient you and lucky you are. Cats, aluminum rims, good tires, used battery, aluminum parts, etc. ALL can earn a profit from a car being junked. With everything mentioned, you can get $200-400 in JUST those parts. Then you get another $300 from the weight of the shell. And any extra parts sold, +$$$. Also, getting a car direct from owner tells you exactly how it runs

That sucks. The yards focus on scrap price anymore w/o giving 2 *blanks* about the car's parts going to a good home. 10-15 years ago it wasn't uncommon to enter a yard and see cars that had been sitting there for 2-5 years. I could understand if we were talking a 92' Ford Tempo FWD with a 2.3L, but harder to source cars or ones that are historically profitable (Mustangs, Camaros, modern Japanese performance, etc.) should always go to a "hold" line. You should have given them a deposit and asked if they'd set it aside. If you're really set on an SVX engine swap, start watching Craigslist. If it were me, I'd run an ad on top of diligent watching with something like "Wanted to Buy: Subaru SVX" and follow up with must run and be fairly complete, but rust OK lokking to pay $500-600 depending on condition. If go see one (take a friend to be safe) and they are thinking $600, pick apart the car's issues and reaffirm you only want the engine, etc. Be honest and upfront and it'll go smoother. You'd be surprised and what pours in. I saw an SVX for sale locally that had ugly paint but ran, and I think they were asking $1200 (about a year ago roughly). $800-900 cash would net you a car like that. Any good parts left could be sold outright, and the carcass could be scrapped for an extra $200-300. The cats can get $50 on average to more if you find a core place (basically the people the junk yards sell their cats to is who you want). Make sure you get a legit title else you'll have to sawzall the body up into chunks to get scrap price for it. Remember, cars taken to scrap yards are getting $300-400 in cash for them. If you run an ad, you can get one before it goes there. Some people would like to see it get used, and if offering $100 more than scrap they'll often bite.