Stevo F

I would avoid places like Advance Auto or Autozone for electrical (especially remanufactured) parts. I usually order stuff like that from Rock Auto (many difference decent brands available and reasonable prices).

I use the term "flush" the brake lines interchangeably. I use a one man a vacuum brake bleeder (about $30- nothing special) so I don't have to have to bother anyone to pump the pedal. t have

I'd try http://www.car-part.com to look up used engines, but you may have have to travel to find a decent one.The closest I saw to you was one with 245K miles in Ruckersville and they want $600 (sounds too high for that many miles). Not sure how many good 2.2's are around locally (I'm in Culpeper). There was a guy in Harrisonburg selling what sounded like a decent one for $400 on Craig's list a few months back but I imagine he sold it by now. You could also look at used 2.5's but most of those are probably being junked because of headgaskets (like all of the Outbacks I see cheap on Craig's list).

Make sure you do a full ECU reset when you disconnect the battery. Leave it disconnected for 30 minutes or more and push the brake pedal a few times during that time (that should make sure the power is drained from everything before you hook thee battery back up again)

I used whatever brand DOT 3/ 4 clear brake fluid in everything we have (I've used Valvoline and Prestone- around 5- $6 per quart). 1 quart should be enough to bleed out most of the old fluid in most cars. I usually start at the rear (farthest from the master cylinder and work my way closest). Just make sure the mater cylinder doesn't suck in any air. i did that a few months ago on the '98 Legacy. Bled the air out and brakes feel fine now, but ABS brakes are locking on dry pavement so maybe some air still in the ABS pump?

Glad it worked well for you. I think that method worked best for me too. I've done all 4 of our older cars in the past year. I also got a brake bleeder and started flushing brake fluid as I hear that should be done every 3- 5 years (the 2 Subraus done, still need to do the Sienna and the Honda). I realized you should flush out power steering fluid periodically when I had a steel power line rust out and leak on my old Nissan truck (mind you it was 16 years old at th etime, but it was a very that wasn't used every day so I'm sure the moisture got into the fluid over time and rusted the lines out).

Any of the EJ22 engines after the 1996 model year interference so bent vales are likely. if no piston damage, a set of used heads may be the best way to go. I also agree that if you have to pay for the work to be done, the cost will go up tremendously. I have spent way to much on our '98 & '05 Subaru's paying for a mechanic (even at only $70/ hour) to do the work.

Sounds like a real project car- might be fun to work with with, but $2,300 seems too much. If I was looking for another Legacy at this point, I like the 2005- 06 (early 4th gen) Outbacks- seen a couple nice looking ones in the $4- $5K range.

You actually shouldn't need to run the engine to use the P?S pump to pup the fluid out. I usually disconnect the return line to the P/S reservoir and put in a container to collect the old fluid, pout the fron of the vehicle up in stands, and turn the steering wheel from one side to the other a few times. The steering rack will push the old fluid out into the collection container. Refill the reservoir and repeat several times until you begin to see the new fluid coming through. I've changed out the steering fluid on my of our cars the past year and each car was a little different. I used the above method on our 2006 Sienna van (original fluid was yucky) as well our 2005 Impreza. Last year, on the '98 Legacy, I couldn't get the return line off (and this car has the reservoir integrated to the pump, so i used the less desirable turkey baster method to suck out the old fluid, refill, run engine and repeat. With this method, you tend to suck out more of the new fluid, so it's more wasteful. On my son's 2001 Honda Accord I tried disconnecting the hose and running the engine and that seemed to work well but I ran out of the special Honda P/S fluid before I truly had the old stuff flushed out.

I would go with the idea of buying it back from the insurance for salvage. Tons of Outbacks that vintage on Craig's list with bad headgaskets that can be had cheap.

I tried the lithium grease. I didn't have a bendy straw, so I used an old piece of vacuum hose. I stuck the hose down until it hit the pivot joint on the release fork I squirted some of the grease down the hose until it came out the bottom. Afte rthart tried the clutch and it's been quiet so far. Thank you for your help.

I think I nailed this down. When going over a 2" lip at the entrance to the garage, the car would make the noise, but it sounded like it was under my feet, towards the front. When I had the car up on jack stands I went under and checked the bolts holding the front subframe I recently replaced. One on the passengers side toward the back was a bit loose. Tightened it up and so far, no more noise.

MSD coil mod (uses the Dodge Neon type coil- MSD # 8239). Just splice in the Dodge coil 3 wire connector onto your Subaru coil wires and that is really it (other than modifying the moiunt a little since the bolts won't all line up).

I have a '98 2.2 engine and it does tick a lot for the first couple of miles, then quiets down- most likely piston slap. Also doesn't have to be high mileaged- it had it when I bought it at 89K miles (102K now- no better or worse).

The person who started the thread has a 2013, and I have a 2014 but they are the same car. Thank you for sharing these threads- it looks like other folks with the 2012+ Impreza's have asked the same question. For me, I might look into the 1" spacers (seem like they'd be inexpensive and easy to install and no radical suspension geometry changes.

Interesting article, but not sure if holds true for 4th gen Impreza's or not. I just bought a 2014 Impreza and am disappointed with how low the stock ride is. Even had to buy a set of ramps to change the oil (which I never needed for my '98 Legacy or 2005 2nd gen Impreza). I, too, am concerned with how this car would drive in more than several inches of snow. I know that the 1st & 2nd gen Impreza's (and maybe the 3rd) never seemed to sit this low.

You mainly need to worry about headgaskets if you have the 2.5 liter engine from 1996- 1999 (if you have any Outback or GT). If you have a Brighton or "L", then you should have the 2.2 liter (phase 2) engine which nornally doesn't have any more headgasket problems than other cars.

Since we bought our 2005 OBS 6 months ago, I've noticed that both the clock and radio illumination seem dimmer than other cars. They are barely visible on brighter days, and if you need the headlights on a rainy day they dim like they are supposed to, but the displays are almost dark. I'm familiar with the illumination control for the instrument panel, but is there any way to adjust the clock or radio illumination?

If you find an EJ22 it probably won't need headgaskets as your current engine did. Do install the improved type of separator plate between engine and transmission while the engine is out (if you haven't already) as those tend to start leaking oil after a while.

Just wondering if it would be counterproductive to drive our new 2014 Impreza on a long trip 600 miles- (300 miles each way- mostly 70 MPH driving on I-95) with the original oil still in the crankcase. The car currently has 1,900 miles on the clock (so it's well over the 1,000 recommended break in period). I was planning on changing the oil at 2,500 or 3,000 miles for the first change and 4,000 miles thereafter (since I am running synthetic- I've always changed conventional oil at no more than 3,000 miles and less if it's a vehicle that's not driven daily). The car should have just over 2,500 miles when my wife returns with it. I'm just concerned that that amount of high speed driving with the original oil could cause more harm than good, so I'm thinking about having her take our van instead (which will suck up 2X the amount of gas, unfortunately). I ordered some Subaru oil filters which will be here next week, so I'll likely change the oil soon regardless.

Ugghhh... It was actually the phone charger after all. Did check the fuse and it was good.

Thank you all. I'll definitely check the fuse- hopefully that simple. Hasn't worked int he 6 months that we've the car, so maybe the PO did short it out somehow and never replaced the fuse.

When going to charge my cell phone today I realized that the 12V lighter plug in our 2005 OBS doesn't work (tried 2 different working cell phone chargers). Never one of these go bad before- unlikely it's got its own fuse. Any other likely culprits or can you just buy another plug and wire it in?

I know they did away with the automatic (replaced by the CVT) on the Impreza by 2014. I also got the Premium version because it at least has the paddle shifters (I found out the base version with CVT doesn't have them). I need to be able to downshift manually when the snow and ice return. I like the CVT takes a little getting used to the acceleration curve, but good MPG's (any Subie that averages over 30 MPG is good by me). Still like driving the 5 speed manual OBS on days when i don't drive the new one.

I'll definitely need to check out that since the work was recently done. Tonight, I was outside when my wife pulled in in the garage and put on the brakes to stop- i could hear "creak, creak" from the back of the car.