Bushwick

A rear is a rear, so long as it fits. If the Phase II offers a higher torque rating, has a Subaru posi (anything that's NOT an open diff that locks the rear going in a straight line), etc. you'll probably want that. If you have the eg engine, it makes about 100hp more than the ej22. I'd strongly suggest adding a trans cooler, and putting fresh gear lube in whatever rear you get. If it is some sort of posi rear, make sure to run the correct fluid as posi units typically require a friction modifier (I know Ford's old 8.8 with their house brand posi did). A trans cooler will help it last longer, especially with an engine putting out more tq. If possible, you might be able to run the tq converter from a 1.8L-2.2L against the eg engine. This will allow it to stall slightly higher and hit a higher rpm when the car starts moving. Basically if it stalls at 800 rpm with the stock SVX converter, and the engine makes 55hp/60tq (just a guess), that's the power you are launching with. If the ej converter (designed to stall with less power) when mated to a more powerful engine stalls at 1k rpm and the engine is making 70hp/95tq, it'll accelerate quicker. Torque converters have taken a back seat with much of today's crowd for some reason. But having a slightly higher stall will definitely launch it quicker w/o affecting daily driver status so long as there's a trans cooler.

If it was burning it, at the rate the bottle is dropping, it'd have visible smoking out the pipe. There was a light amount of cold weather puffing coming out, but it was dispersing within 2' and not lingering. I stopped and diligently looked several times for leaks during a 25 mile trip and just could not find any coolant leaks. To make matters worse, it's been raining on/off all day, so oil pan was already wet. Only place giving a faint coolant odor is back near the firewall, around the same area the knock sensor is. I had a small amount leak out of a throttle body hose I pulled during the knock sensor replacement, so can't tell if it's residual odor or not. Overfill bottle had about a 1/8 left before I started the trip (which I topped off again), which was the lowest I've seen it. It went from a full bottle down to that in roughly six, 5 mile short trips. During the drive tonight, it didn't appear to drop much if any at all, which just makes it even more puzzling. A HG issue would be constant. Oil level is normal, and given the overfill bottle holds at least a qt, it doesn't seem to be in the oil thankfully. Only thing different on tonight's trip vs. the shorter trips was the heater was running the entire trip. But I thought the coolant travels through it regardless if blower is running or not? Heater core hoses leading up the firewall were dry. Only good thing tonight was the expensive Silverstar headlights I run are identical to what I run in my Saab, so that saved almost $30 by being able to swap out

It could be a window seal, a coolant leak (like say a hose has fluid in it and it transferred through the firewall, or there could be a rust hole in the foot well area, and water dripping down from up top entered. The best way to locate sources of internal leaks is to lift the carpet and padding back, DRY everything thoroughly (like a rag and fan if needed) then put some newspaper down. Can even tape it to the vertical walls of the metal behind the pedals. Take your garden hose and douse the top of the car until the paper gets wet. The water will streak the paper.

Not the overfill bottle itself as that's not air-tight on these, but rather the hose feeding it. Pretty sure that's what he meant. I'm guessing reverse pressure with a warmed up engine the valve to the radiator cap should be open, allowing pressurized air to enter. Have to be extremely careful though with not going beyond the working pressure of the system as it can blow out the radiator or anything else not mean to handle it. So shop air would be bad. I know of shops that have ruined radiators thinking they were testing it.

If you are running a non-interference ej22 and need to use a "used" timing belt, inspect for ANY dry rot. This includes every ribbing for splitting or cracking. In an emergency, it'll work if sound. But if the belt had 55k miles on it, throw it away. If you are talking an interference ej engine, don't even risk it. Drop $25 and get a Good Year or something. Serpentine belts are a different story. Those can be reused with less worry, though they can pull apart and tear hoses, connectors out or even end up ruining the radiator, so as an emergency to get you home in a blizzard, sure. To save $15 and stretch for 40k miles, it's still a risk.

If it's bouncing and banging hard, that's a strut issue. Get a friend/family member to drive the car on a flat, normal road for a couple miles while you ride passenger in a second car, and watch the tires closely on your car. If the body is "bouncing" like you have egg-shaped tires, or the suspension is shaking violently, that's a strut issue. Normally it's more pronounced in the rear of a front-engine car as the weight in the rear is less. I've seen people doing 55 on the highway and their rear axle is bouncing like mad- makes me shake my head. Also, keep in mind your factory struts have a 150k+ miles on them and their wear-in was around MUCH taller factory springs. Installing shorter springs to them, can cause them to leak at a higher rate as all of a sudden they are trying to work around rust corrosion that was never cleared from the housing before. Air bag suspensions are kinda the same way. Those will dry rot slightly over the years where the folds in the bag are. And if you drop them a 1.5", all of a sudden the dry rot is exposed and a leak that took a week to drop the bag is doing it in a day. If the struts were low mileage, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. But given the fact the car is bouncing and it can't dampen even slight bumps on manhole covers, they are beyond their useful limit. Ideally, you'd want to run something like adjustable Koni struts so you can fine-tune the harshness. I rolled the dice on my Saab and ran new Monroes that offered a rebate so I was all over that and figured if ride was harsher, I'd live with it. But it worked out near perfect. Then again, I knew Vogtlands were a little on the softer-ride side and had ridden in a car with them, so when the B&G springs came to attention and were advertised as being about the same, it was worth the gamble. Adding new struts won't hurt anything, and in your case will make the car safer, especially if you are riding it hard which I suggest NOT doing until it's sorted. If the new struts don't tame the ride, then go with Eibach springs. Also, get the alignment done ASAP! Your tires will start cupping and wearing so quickly you'll most likely miss it until they are completely rounded on the inner edges.

I'll take it out later and give it a good run near sundown and pull over and see if any steam is coming up. It's in the 50's right now with no humidity, so it should be apparent if there's steam. Floor is dry, and no odor in cabin, plus no window fogging (all things I seem to remember dealing with when an 84' Rabbit I owned years ago had a heater core issue) so feeling confident this is in the engine compartment or possibly the radiator itself. If that doesn't work, I'll try and attach my 12v tire pump to the overfill hose and put 10 psi in and see if that helps. It pumps so slowly I think it'll be OK to use if psi is 10 or below, although running pressure from the water pump should reveal something as it gets to around that pressure anyways. If there is a pinhole, it has to be fairly small as they are usually easy to find once the engine is at operating temp and the thermostat is open. Around nipples though, that can be a little tougher. Thanks for the advice.

Didn't remove anything to get the knock sensor out. During the 1st install, I pulled the hose that went to the TB just to give a little more hand room. Thinking it was a vacuum line, I restarted the engine after new sensor went in, and I kept smelling coolant (at that point and that point only) during the brief idling then realized it had dripped from that hose. What was odd though was it didn't drip much like you'd expect to see from the water pump. It pooled slightly around the actual knock sensor. About 2 tablespoon's worth. I soaked that up with a rag though. If it's leaking out from a hose (like a pin hole) I'd have to think it'd be giving off a smell. Though a hose with a pin hole facing the ground might actually forgo the engine compartment and spritz on the road as it's moving..... I'll look closer for a pin hole. When I've had them in the past, I could either smell it or see the steam, so wasn't thinking of that. Will keep eyes peeled!

Those appear to be variable rate and for 04' to 07' Impreza. I have no experience with them, so can't say if the springs are indeed on the stiff side, or your expectations are too much. If your struts are OEM with 150K+ miles on them, that can have an effect on how well they handle, as does the amount of tire tread left AND the durometer of the rubber i.e. high speed tires with a near flat surface won't absorb a bump as nice as a touring style tire. If the struts are old and original, installing new ones might help it. But if you are talking already rough roads, you'd want a softer spring most likely + new struts.

Engine and car are in sig. 95' Legacy EJ22. Can't smell any coolant, and my nose is tuned-in to coolant odor. Haven't check under the carpet, but can't smell any inside either, nor are the windows fogging. When doing the knock sensor, there's a hose that appears to be maybe 5/16" that sit right across the area, directly above the knock sensor that feeds to a bottom nipple on the throttle body. It had some coolant exit when the engine was briefly run with it disconnected. Dunno if that's normal with that hose or not? Wasn't a lot of coolant, but enough a tiny puddle around the sensor formed briefly.

Aren't the rear sway bars different? He should reuse the Impreza bar, right? And it won't interfere with the Legacy crossmember?

The fusible link in the fuse box under the hood can cause the clicking and no start, then minutes later fire right up. They get corrosion in them and burn out, but can keep enough of a contact to periodically start and run as the wire arcs where it breaks. They use a high quality stainless connector at both ends (it's a " U " shaped jumper wire coated in silicone and is actually a fusible link) of the wire, so either reuse them or get the best you can find since it has a decent amount of current passing through it. When mine failed, I took an awl and pick set and very carefully opened the crimping. Went to AZ and tried to match the diameter of mine with their universal fusible wiring. The 1st wire used, despite being the same OD, got too warm from the engine running, so I went back and got the next size up. I was able to reuse some of the crimping to secured them, then went ahead and soldered the remaining copper wire directly to the connectors to be 100% certain they were getting full contact. The 2nd wire doesn't get warm. A quick test is start the car, and touch the silicone cover of the fusible link (it's the only " U " wire in with the relays under the hood in that fuse box near the battery) after the car has been running for a couple minutes. If it's really warm or hot, replace it. Can also wiggle it and see if the car goes from a start to no start scenario.

I check coolant every so often and the level rarely changes. Usually it was dropping slightly (like a 3/4" drop over 4 months) which wasn't concerning. However, during the oil change a few days back, I noticed the overfill was much lower than normal. Usually level was around 2/3's, and now it was around 1/4. So I topped it off back to around the 2/3's mark. About 2 days later, it was around 1/3, which is fairly drastic. I'm a little stumped. It's not leaking, it's not burning anything, and oil level is the same. Where is it going all of a sudden? Engine temps are staying at the mid mark. I did notice the old oil was more brown in color and there were bubbles in it as it sat in the drain tub, but I didn't see any actual coolant blobs and it still smelled like oil. The fresh synthetic is still really clear too. Is this just paranoia? Or could it be evaporating at a rapid rate for some reason?

It'd be cheaper to get replacement heads. Be sure to inspect the pistons for cracks and you MUST have the new heads checked for warping. Too many guys ignore this and end up with head gasket issues as it won't seal correctly. Good news is if the car is physically nice, it probably had nothing else wrong with and was taken care of. For a $100 investment, you could put $500 into getting it running and it'll be a solid car for years to come. I got a 95' Legacy wagon for a winter vehicle 2 years ago, and ended up rotating it into daily driver status and it's been a decent car to me. The bonus to these is they are the modern equivalent to what Chevy with their 350 was in the 80's-90's. Aftermarket is flooded with inexpensive replacement parts as are junk yards. And the fact virtually everything is simple to either get at or remove, makes it even more desirable. Point is, it's worth getting running, even if you have to swap the engine over.

Sounds like they are NOT variable rate springs but rather constant rate. Could even be cut factory springs which isn't good and what you see this kids doing to their Civics when they can't afford the real thing (basically what Fairtax was pointing out). If they have high quality aftermarket variable rate, they'd ride better. Basically, variable rate are wound differently, at differing points of the spring. This allows the spring manufacturer to provide compromise of a rough-only ride vs. a floating cloud ride. Better springs I've seen typically have a few rows bundled real close together when compressed, with a wider stretch near an end, or a bunch of coils almost touching and a couple twists where they are gapped 2-3 apart. That gives a decent ride for normal daily driving and still allow it to corner great. Constant rate would be suited to a track only car where handling is the focus and the road's surface is perfect. When I lowered my Saab, this was a big concern, as was how expensive some springs were, and being a Saab, the selection wasn't that great vs. what you could find for say a Civic or WRX. I went with B&G springs which were very similar to Vogtland and they are great. Car lowered about 1.5", and takes rough roads fairly well. I even used inexpensive Monroe struts front/back and you wouldn't even know it. Anyways, if they ARE variable rate and you have money to burn, adjustable Koni struts would be the way to go as it'd let you soften their dampening. If they are constant rate, either live with it or install some springs that are known to still have a decent ride for daily driving. The B&G springs were around $207 for all 4, but I went through an online site that offered them after the Konis I originally wanted were discontinued and the site made an error, so the B&G were shipped free to make up for the mistake. Eibach, Vogtland, B&G, etc. make good variable rate springs. If you go this route, talk to a sales rep and get specifics on how much of a final drop you'll experience, as well as how good of ride they offer. Can also google the springs you want and look across different platforms as sometimes they are more niche were other cars, and you'll see a ton of people commenting on them. For example, most Saab 9-3 guys get the Eibach, and Vogtland when they were available. No one was running H&R. But during research, I discovered H&R were very common with the BMW crowd, and people on those forums were giving them glowing reviews for the most part. Figuring that's a tougher crowd to please, I got them based on the research. If you have the chance, try and ride in someone else's car with the springs you want or are interested in. That'll tell you more in the 1st 15 seconds than anyone can online. Keep in mind if your friend is running brand x in his Nissan, it may vary greatly for your Subaru, but if they are in the same family of spring, it should be similar. Car weight matters too. So if you have a 10 pound amp pushing a 65 pounds of 12" subs in a 75 pound ported box, that 150 extra pounds will greatly affect the way they handle and would probably call for a stiffer strut setting. Also, new springs will sit a little higher and will eventually settle, so whatever you might get, keep that in mind. 1.5" is a lot to drop in practice, so 1.2" to 1.5" (Eibach offer a 1.2" drop) would be a safe bet w/o giving up too much comfort.

You can carb anything. No need to fear them either. They just need 5-8 psi (depending on carb) of fuel and an intake manifold and the engine will run. If it's way lean or rich, you just swap in correct jets and reads the plugs but having a distributor helps keep timing in check. And they'll start below zero temps, just need a choke on it. As far the weight over the struts, put 2 45 pound barbell plates on the floor and it should give you an idea. I ran 2 different Fox Mustangs 79' and 81' that were both factory 4 bangers and the 79' had an iron headed and block 302 installed, and the 81' had a 351w installed (over the factory 4 cyl springs/struts). They tolerated it quite well despite the huge jump in weight. Ironically, they needed the rear GT springs instead, which let it launch hard with upgraded control arms. 85 pounds is a step up in weight, but remember these were family cars and designed to tolerate 4 adults weighing the car down Front brakes would be the big thing to consider if it's really struggling to stop in a panic stop. If the donor has soaked interior, be wary of it's ecm and check for waterlogging. If it hasn't had power to it and is damp with moisture, sometimes you can set it over a dry heat source (like from your car heater) and dry it for an hour. I've brought cell phones back from complete water submerging doing that but the cases need separated so the dry air evaporates everything and no pooling is present. If you are curious, I found the old thread. There's video somewhere online of him starting it, and he posted at another saab forum with other details. Obviously it sits WAY high and I think he did it for the "wonder if it works factor" . Here's the link: http://www.saabscene.com/forum/threads/163890-1994-2.5-V-6-carburetor... As you can see, he started with a fuel injected v6 and used the fuel injected manifold but putting 2 holes in it and milling the surface. Pretty amazing this was even possible. Go to the end and built a tunnel ram and installed 2 carbs. Last post has a working video link.

Yeah, with the reinforced dremel wheels, I've cut 1/4" thick aluminum, sheet metal, 1/8" plate (have to score a line with a first pass, then keep going over it), exhaust piping, etc. etc. If the dremel doesn't have the torque, you have to go slower. Those discs can actually grind cast iron better than those sanding drums and can grind aluminum very easily. Buy a pack of 5 discs and you can cut a bunch of steel. They have a cheaper disc w/o the reinforcement, but they burn out to quickly and can even shatter, sending debris in your eyes at high speed. The reinforced ones are MUCH more durable and as long as you aren't putting side loads on it, will wear to a nub before breaking apart.

My 95' Legacy is readable with Auto Zone's OBDII scanner. Every time I go to one and ask for a code to be read, I've heard "can't do it, it's 95' and OBDI" or "I'm not sure our scanner can do that". If you can find the OBD port on the car, it'll be fairly clear what it is. Also, if you want to go the super easy route, just carb the damn thing and scrap the fuel injection. Biggest issue would be where to set it, but since the engine sits low, hood clearance shouldn't be an issue. I saw a guy on the Saab forums cut a hole into the intake manifold up top on I think Saab's 6 cyl, near the center of the intake, and mill the surface down to resemble a carb mating surface (giant hole with 4 studs). He then plopped a small Weber carb on it, adapted the throttle cable so it'd open it, then put a fuel regulator on to get it the 5-7 psi range. I thought for certain it wouldn't work..... but it did Can't remember if the engine had the distributor or not. The way Subaru's intake exits at the back, you could remove the TB and make an "L" adapter so it connected to where the TB was and angled up, which would allow the carb to sit there. There's obviously a little work there and you'd need the ignition sorted, but it's doable Also, with the radiator. If you aren't worried about AC, you could get a slightly shorter radiator and mount it further forward. Run aftermarket slim fans if extra space is needed.

Heat it even longer. Get it red and keep it red for several minutes. Then try a decent pair of vice grips. Other option is buy some Dremel "Reinforced" cutoff wheels (the ones with the material impregnated on one side). They are "no. 426". They'll cut through basically anything and being a dremel, can fit in tighter spots. Cut into the nut against the direction of threads so the nut looks like a " C ". Don't worry if it hits the threads a little as they'll clean up when it's loosened or when the new nut goes on. Get it red and keep it red for a couple minutes when it looks like a " C " and it'll come right off with vice grips. Exhaust studs are even worse if trying to remove from cast iron. That can take 10 minutes worth of heat with a true torch kit, but should give you an idea of how hot the stuff needs to sometimes get. Oh yeah, do yourself a favor and load the threads up with anti-seize so it won't be an issue in the future

Probed and it was getting voltage. Pulled back out and noticed some grease or something had somehow gotten between the surfaces. Wiped it down again, then took a long chisel and knocked the outer lip off the block. Left the battery disconnected for 20 minutes and reconnected. It fired up and light finally went out. So it appears it's sensitive to the mating surface. Inspected old sensor and discovered it had a break internally near where the wire enters the sensor. It'd show readings if you moved the wire around. Having that sharp bend upwards with the wire to avoid hitting the bellhousing seems to be why. For future references to others stumbling on this, the signal wire was around 4.8v with the sensor disconnected and key on. With sensor connected and grounded through the center bolt, that voltage drops to around 2.3v with either key on or running. Sensor should be reading around 0.553 m ohms +/- resistance. So if you suspect your sensor is bad, check the resistance first with it unplugged. If you see an open circuit, it's bad. If it's still showing a value, try moving the wire around and see if it drops out. Hope it helps.

Yeah, it runs great. Idles great too. It has a cold start slap/knock sound that goes away after warmed up, but it's had that since I got it. I'm not entirely sure it's engine related, though it does sound deep towards the back of the engine. Could possibly be something external as it doesn't increase with frequency or sound with engine revs. MPG is too soon to say as it was only driven about 8 miles since sensor went in. Just did an oil change the day before, so that made a difference in and of itself. The code seems to be a hard code as it was immediately lit after the battery disconnect, so I'm curious to see if there's a break in the wiring somewhere. Will update tomorrow afternoon with the voltage readings, if it has any.

If you have the money, they might "hold" it for you. If the impact was bad enough to damage the fuel tank, the pump might be shot and/or very difficult to get out. If that's the case, you could always buy a Bosch 300lph unit and retrofit it into your assembly. We have to do that when running larger turbos to our 2.0L and 2.3L T5 and T7 engines. Usually you just remove the actual pump, and carefully grind some of the plastic away until the Bosch can slip in. You MUST run the filter sock to avoid grabbing gunk off the tank, but can often retrofit the factory sock for that. GL with it. It'll seem daunting at first, but if you stick to it and everything works out, the bump in power will make it very fun to drive. You might have some extra leaning in corners from the extra weight, so consider a sway bar upgrade at some point. At the very least, if you have the smaller diameter rear bar is definitely worth upgrading. Also, at some you'll probably want to upgrade the front brakes to STi variants (or maybe the SVX fit?) as the extra weight + higher speed stops will tax the factory brakes a bit more. A simple way to get an idea is actually add some ballast weight (like two 45 pound barbell weights to the floor area of front seats; careful with doing this on driver side as you don't want it sliding into the gas pedal on a hard stop) and see how it stops from a 65 mph. It'll give an idea on how it'll handle with the extra engine weight along with how much the front will squat.

Yeah, just get the basic plugs the engine calls for. Wires.... is a coin toss. I've always run cheaper wires and had good luck. One issue though is they have thinner silicone, so it can be easier to ruin them. Since we aren't talking some ultra hot spark aftermarket ignition system on a street/strip engine, I don't see the point going high-end unless it comes with a lifetime warranty and offers years of trouble-free performance. Try Rock Auto . com for a coil. Need to navigate to your year/model by expanding each line, then expand "Ignition". They start at around $24-$26 then rocket in price. The ones with the little red heart icon are ones people buy more often than not and prefer. Any of the options should be good. I've bought a TON of stuff for my Saab and even the Legacy off there, and all have been great. Even with shipping factored in and getting a middle of the road priced item, it's almost always cheaper than Auto Zone or similar with their cheapest item. You can also try your luck with a junk yard coil. Many cars when junked actually run. It's a coin-toss, but if you can get one for say $5-15, it might be worth it to you vs. buying a $25 one online then paying $5-7 for shipping that'll take a couple days to reach you. Can also get your knock sensor through Rock Auto for almost $20 cheaper than Auto Zone or Advanced. Ijust priced them as I actually needed one for my 95' Legacy, and AZ wanted $51, Advanced wanted $47. Both places didn't stock it and had to wait a day. Auto Zone does price match though (so they'll sell it for $47 if you say Advanced was selling theirs at that price) and they carry OEM units. Think Rock Auto was selling their cheapest ones for $38.

Thanks Gary. Hopefully it has voltage and just isn't seated correctly. This is the first real issue with the engine since owning. Just hoping the old sensor not being physically damaged i.e. the tell-tale cracking that it's NOT wiring related

Sometimes 2 issues can manifest at roughly the same time. So that's possible. Misfires in other cars are often coil related. Easy way to test is find a known good coil and swap it in. Be sure to pull the battery neg (-) cable to reset the codes. If the code doesn't come back after 100 miles or so, then the coil was bad. Coil sits on top of the engine and is easy to get at. Could also be something as simple as a bad plug wire or really old, worn spark plug. I'd replace the wires and plugs first to rule. Car will get better mileage and run better anyways with new plugs/wires so even if not bad, it'll be better in the long run. Knock sensor sits directly below the cables for throttle where they connect on the throttle body. Easiest way to find it is look on the top of the trans near where it connects to the block. You'll see a single, white connector with one wire passing through it. The connector has barbing that's pushed into a hole. The sensor sits about 6" away with a single bolt running through it's center. It takes a 12mm socket to remove it and roughly an 8" extension on a ratchet. Some engines have an air box above the area. I'd try and tackle the misfire first, then reset battery and see if you are still getting the knock sensor code.