Bushwick

Hi and welcome! I think most people use the stock Forester struts from around the same years to get a decent lift for little work. Plenty here run that, and some have the side by side differences. Might wanna try that 1st, then go from there.

Fairtax beat me to it. Old radiator, or possibly a hose, etc. let go, and there was residual coolant everywhere, that probably coated the underside of the hood and engine, and whatever didn't wash away is what you are finding. If it was an inline engine, might be a different story. To be safe though, watch everything like a hawk for awhile. Everything from oil level, coolant level, engine temps, etc. and pay attention if it starts loosing power, making odd sounds, etc. and go from there?

Even though this poor thread derailed heavily, here's 2cents by someone that has been pulled over roughly 25+ times since my high school years in the last 25 years roughly, that has lived in different states, and routinely traveled out of state for work, in both personal cars and commercial semis: Local PD vary by city, by how much they care/don't care about things. Larger cities with a ton of crime annually, probably won't even look twice UNLESS you or your car is known to them or you are blatantly doing something stupid. In which case, ANY reason to stop you, they will. Whether that's a dead license plate light, missing front plate, etc. In cities with minimal crime however, the odds go up greatly, as they are not burdened with nonsense. Here's some examples: I ran limo limo tint on a personal 2 door sedan; back, sides, and rear quarters (only driver and pass door are illegal on 2 door at that percentage in Ohio) for years in Akron. Never stopped. Pittsburgh, 3 years, never stopped. My local Ohio city where I grew up and returned to late in life? Stopped twice after 4 and 5 months upon returning, 1st was a warning, 2nd a ticket. 35k population. Back on my 1st four-eyed Foxbody at 17, I flipped the high and low beams, so high were outside, as I was poor HS student and was trying to squeak by after a low beam died. City was adjacent to my current city, with roughly 40k population, low crime (like 1 murder per decade kind of crime like current city, but plagued with drugs like any other). Within a day of flipping lights, cop stopped me. Even though they were aiming down, he knew. Again, somewhere like Akron or Cleveland, probably would have gone unnoticed. My local city and 2 adjacent will routinely stop you if a light is out, etc. If they are angled wrong, they'll also stop you. Running illegal color lights? They'll stop you. I will say though, that the local PD, since switching to the Ford Explorer platform, are easier to spot since they all have the blue hue headlights. Back when Crown Vics were the norm, used to have to rely on the parking light's distinct pattern. Again, just 2 cents. Either blindly follow others, or use common sense.

Ah, thank you soooooooo much! Got it disconnected and the silence is bliss. Was starting to act like it was possessed. Slow down, it start chiming. Speed up, and it'd change tempo like one of those movie bombs on a timer i.e. beep.. beep.. beep.. beepbeepbeep BEEEP. Swear the thing was messing with me. Thanks again!

If you need more top-end, increase your tire OD by an inch or 2 in height and it should bump MPH up w/o having to messing with ecm.

Not everyone likes throwing a high-end price on a lower-end car. And not everyone has $350 they can casually throw at the car, especially when talking about outrageous inflation. Spending $350 for a sensor will not make him any money, either, nor does paying the highest price auto-guarantee he'll never have another issue with it. Saab was the same way with their coil packs molded into the center of the plug cover that acted like the center of the valve cover. Ironically, they were roughly the same price as the sensor mentioned, though 4 coils + cover vs. a sensor. Heat would cause the epoxy to crack, which would pull on the coils/wiring/pcb, etc. Plenty of us would keep an extra DIC in the trunk, or would grab cheap units to have on hand. Nothing wrong with it except price gouging does NOT save money nor make you more of it..... unless you are the one doing the gouging....

Are you getting ANY O2 codes at the moment? Is the loom for the down O2 damaged? I had a 99' Saab 9-3 that I bought with heating element code (IIRC, the downstream then eventually the up had it as well) for the down O2. I ignored it for over a year w/o any real issues. Then, the engine eventually developed a random misfire, randomly. Though the times it did misfire, it would usually do it during the 1st 5-8 minutes after starting, then run fine w/o issues. Other times free revving briefly would clear it. No codes other than a rare random misfire and the O2 heating element. Towards the worst of it, the downpipe was cat-less, and during a rough bout, I free-revved and it backfired, blowing the actual muffler apart at the seams (thankfully it wasn't a welded muffler case and the cat was absent, or it could have been worse). 1st replaced up O2 due to a code for it, and it still happened. After more observations, discovered the down O2 casing (it had a metal sleeve on top) was noticeably cracked, almost top to bottom. The internal failure was causing a short, and it was creating havoc with the ecm. After replacing, the problem stopped. IIRC, the down O2 was way off and I think it showed a short. Do NOT run the engine until you figure it out, as it can quickly kill your cats. My 99' Continental had a random misfire, and it was from rodent chew on the wiring loom for the coils on the back of the engine. I bought it like this, and repaired the chew, but still ended up having 2 bad coils on top of that for the same side as the affected wire damage. And not long after the repair, at least one of my cats is damaged, hence why you shouldn't drive with a random misfire

Is the connector under the actual column cover? Or is it behind the knee panel? After some time, it started happening again, only now it'll play half a chime in a continuous loop for long stretches, cut in and out, or go full blast chime to a dying weak chime, etc. -basically obnoxious. Was able to use this to test what the problem might be, and it seems to be the actual key-in detection switch (whatever it's actually called) is faulty or sticking. Was able to insert/remove key a bunch of times (engine off) while it was acting up during a recent drive, and it's seemingly the problem as it would immediately respond to key in or out, and I could get it to break the chime sequence with a long, continuous note, etc. like it was doing while driving. Wiggling the key while inserted had no effect, nor did hitting the dash or column, etc. What made this a little weirder though was it'd be perfectly quiet, I'd hit the brakes for a stop, and it'd start chiming. After doing that numerous times, was thinking there might be a short somewhere, etc. Guessing the key-in switch chime whatever might have been reacting to the weight shift during braking, though wiggling had no effect. If you have a warning chime problem in the future, hopefully that helps pinpoint the cause.

MPG can be subjective. Flat open highway with cruise on for an extended period can usually give an accurate sign of how it's running, or how well it can/can't run. The rest will depend on your foot and the terrain. Newer cars with real-time MPG read outs are helpful. I used to tow with a car and at times was pulling around 4k pounds (car) another 4k+ (dolly w/ full-size F150, GM van, cars, etc.) and real time for that car would drop to 10 MPG highway from 32-33 highway. I was constantly traveling out of state, so it was easier to see the numbers fluctuate. A full tune up is always smart. NEW air and fuel filter, new plugs, new wires, synthetic oil, good road tires, and putting the car on a diet are all good ways to incrementally bump up MPG, as well as what Idosubaru mentioned. If possible, lowering the car, adding a freer flowing muffler (high mileage stock muffler could be deteriorated internally to the point it's becoming restrictive to flow), possibly new O2 sensors if high mileage, etc. can all be things that might be hindering MPG or might be able to bump it a tiny bit, and might as well replace all vacuum lines while at it so everything is working as it's meant to w/o possibly leaning out or erratic sensor readings. I will say my '95 ej22 (with basically everything above replaced/done except exhaust, O2, and lowering, gets kinda abysmal MPG. The 33 mpg highway mentioned on the previous car weighed roughly 4k pounds with me in it + tools and sub box, and had a V8 with auto. My ej22/4eat can't even get close to that.

For everyday driving, the extra amp draw honestly won't be noticed, unless you are willing to constantly turn off the alt trigger and rely on the battery, in which case a lower amperage alt. would probably be smarter, assuming we are talking a bare-bones no electronics car. FWIW, I ran a custom-wound 290 amp alt in '96 Mark VIII (stock was 135 IIRC) and had a custom-cut alt. pulley made so it'd actually charge at idle (spun it up by an extra 200rpm @idle) as I had an extra 120 amp draw worth of sub amplifiers that were always on. Stock, that car got 28 mpg highway. Tweaked (lowered, synth. oils front to back, freer intake/exhaust, etc.) it would do 33 mpg flat highway (yes, a V8 with an auto- thank the coe. drag). With the 290 amp alt., it still did 33 mpg highway For drag racing, might as well pull the entire serp. belt and run an electric water pump.... LEDS are OK, unless you need the heat on the lens.

As far as OBDII ports go, I've had a Ford and Saab both run into issues where the wire crimps at the back of OBD connector (car connector) can back out slightly. Seems to be a design flaw. It'll work perfectly, then won't work/connect to the scanner. FWIW, both cars in question had the exact same issue of of crimps backing out, in two different states, with completely different scanners, years apart. My advice to rule the connector out, is unscrew it from the under dash, etc. and let it hang. All the crimps on the wires SHOULD be in unison, like soldiers in a row. If any are even slightly off, it can lead to a no connection issue. In the two cars I had this happen with, I'd go ahead and insert the reader connector, then manually push each crimp forward into the OBD II port. Every time the scanner would then read it. As far as shift points go, you had an ej25 dohc? And now have an ej20 sohc? Shift points I imagine are very different considering their powerbands are different. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help.

Amperage draw is a concern why? Cars with at least oem alternators should be able to handle everything stock thrown at them. Unlike AC from the wall, everything the car makes is essentially free while running.

Go to the parts store, and look at the differing bulb levels. Sylvania has different tiers for example, like Silverstar, etc. Should have a small image on package comparing the differences within the tiers. Be warned, you'll be lucky to get 1-2 years out of them. The brighter ones, while working great, aren't as durable as the normal ones. If you don't want to fuss with new ones constantly that are expensive, replace the ones you have with an oem style new bulb (pretty sure bulbs loose brightness over time) and adjust the light spread by adjusting the housing. Many cars have them pointing almost at the ground within 20'. I like to find a long flat section of pavement at night, and raise their height until they are covering everything that needs to be seen. Passenger bulb should cover some sidewalk/treeline to the right, while left bulb should be more forward to avoid blinding oncoming traffic (cops will ticket if it set to blind). Even normal bulbs set right will make a huge difference.

Yeah, pick a part for the win. Used to be 4 within a 35 mile radius, but I think they closed one of the Cleveland ones. They flat-rate the engines as 4 cylinder, 6, etc. I've seen non interference ej22, later ej22, and sohc/dohc ej25. Hell, was trying to sell my '95 awhile back (4eat/ej22 non interference w/190k) for I think $350 (complete car) and never got any interest. Doesn't smoke, knock, tick, no bind, and passed it last e-check. Made another winter with patch work rear strut after tower busted through and it's been a champ. Thinking of finding a non-rusted body and having everything swapped. They still exist in the wild if you look hard enough.

Locally, EJ2x engines are roughly in the $150~ range, complete. Might be easier to source a complete engine and just swap it in, or swap the block, or just pull parts that you need, and sell off the remaining bits. Might get lucky and find a complete car with tons of rust or physical damage but runs good, for next to nothing, that could be harvested and then parted out for an actual profit. My '95 Legacy is in the rusted out category atm but runs like a 60k mile car despite 190k on the clock. Plenty of these exist as prime part donor candidates.

Thanks Gloyale. I might actually look into that if it becomes unsolvable.

Have you tested the actual fans to see if they even work? i.e. disconnect, and jump them to power, or if car has AC, turn on AC, and see if they come on with the compressor engagement? Are you by any chance running a lower temp thermostat? A low temp thermostat OR no t-stat can delay the fans coming on. I used to run a non t-stat in my '79 Mustang (mild 306, iron heads + block & 10:1 comp.) and IIRC, it ran something like 35 degrees cooler than what would be "normal". It had a mechanical fan and a carb, so was never an issue, though more modern cars would/should throw codes griping about taking too long to reach the "ideal" temp in X amount of time. Years ago my ex had the last gen VW Beetle with the 1.8L turbo (the one where you have to pull half the front end off and remove a motor mount to do a timing belt and water pump (q= ) and after getting everything back together, it's lower hose stayed cold, fans never seemed to kick on, and temps were slightly off. It had one of THE most stubborn systems to fully bleed air out of. Took a couple days with me obsessing over it to finally get it acting right. Once the air was gone, the lower got hot AFTER the t-stat opened.

Yeah, dunno why I thought headlights were involved. Guess my auto-filter is set to aggressively block grey noise and wasn't paying close enough attention.... It's the key ON, no start, it'll chime. That's the chiming that it's doing. But it won't go through the entire chime sequence. It'll chime once, or a couple times, then completely stop. My seatbelt doesn't seem to affect it, though I wonder if it might be sticking or possibly inop this whole time. More investigating!

Check starter connections and battery terminal connectors for corrosion, looseness, etc. Check the main grounds too. A sign that a main ground might might be bad is an excessively hot 12v+ starter cable, or conversely a 12v+ cable that's hardened and is no longer pliable, which typically means it was overheated a bunch of times, which weak grounds can cause. A simple trick to test how weak the main ground might be, is use jumper cables. Jump both ends ( + and -) of the cables to safe engine grounding spots that won't short anything or fall into the belt when cranking/running. Then, jump opposite end to a solid body spot (preferably bare metal like say the top bolt on the strut tower) and jump other end directly to the battery NEGATIVE (nothing goes to positive). Have someone crank it. If it cranks over strong all of a sudden, inspect the factory grounds. Might need to wiggle the clamps when someone is cranking as older clamps can be unreliable at times if barely making contact.

I'll double check later today what's exactly causing it to chime as I could have sworn it chimed with acc. ON, engine OFF, headlights ON, door shut. The door/hatch light works on the dash, and was OFF when it chimed while driving. I always wear the seat belt

I love my '95 Legacy for the fact it's been very reliable despite higher mileage like yours, and they are very easy to not only maintain, but parts are super affordable too. Although, up here, the rusts eats everything important on the body like an aggressive flesh eating bacteria, while the engine just keeps running. Are there a lot Subarus from '95 to '96 floating around down there with solid bodies?

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If the car is otherwise sound w/o serious electrical/mechanical issues, just replace the wheel bearing. Or at the very least, have it inspected by the dealer or a competent shop, then go from there. Should do this regardless as they might find things an inspector missed or wasn't concerned with looking at. For a car that new to have been totaled, the damage was either very significant, or it had underside structural damage (frame/unibody) and written off. You can try googling your vin number i.e. try "vin 12342341234" or try just the number, etc., and if lucky, you'll get some hits under images. Double check the vin listed for the image is the same as yours (if it's a silver Subaru and the image is of a silver Subaru, and interior color matches, but rims are different, it's likely the same car, especially if vin is the same as auction vin pics. Or maybe yours has a scratch on a bumper, and the online image has the same scratch, etc.- just further confirmation. Sometimes cars are so badly wrecked, you wouldn't believe what's in your driveway is the same thing. It was likely sold at auction (sometimes more than once) and the auction site's listing would have been the one posting the images, which seem to remain regardless of sale date. I follow some you tubers that deal with fixing wrecks, and they've shown cars with completely missing chunks of the front going back on the road. Some shops will even repair rollovers, etc. A reason for searching out pics, is it might be helpful in the future. If your front right wheel bearing is whining at 11k, an online pic shows it was curbed hard enough to snap the hub from the axle, then they might have reused the wheel bearing while replacing everything around it. pics could also be helpful with what you might want a secondary shop to give a twice over (don't tell them anything about the history-ever. just ask them to verify everything is OK). I'm not a fan of overly explaining things to shops. If they are competent, they'll find it on their own. If they are predatory, they might try up selling.

'95 Legacy just started doing this while driving. First time it happened I was definitely puzzled and looked for warning bulbs or something as it'd never done that before. Eventually realized it was the same warning chime as if the headlights are on with key-on but not running. Has happened a few times now, but unsure what might be causing it as it won't stay chiming long enough. Jiggling the ignition key doesn't affect it.

Post was from early Feb. of 2017 guys. Also, FWIW, I once towed an '83 F150 with a C4 auto w/column shifter and 302, pulling from the front, so I put it neutral. After about 70 miles of hilly highway pulling, I arrived at my destination and..... it was running! The column shifter was worn and had dropped itself into 3, which was apparently enough to get it running at highway speeds, just like popping a clutch in 2nd would. Never even knew it was possible with an auto, but apparently it IS if moving fast enough. Granted, it was carb'd and probably still had a mechanical fuel pump, and I think I left the key in it to get neutral but it definitely threw me for a good laugh. Anyways, always be careful with a dolly.