YnotDIY

Brat summer....love it.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I just swapped over a steering wheel from an 07 Impreza. Liking the updated look of the three spoke. I'm going to try for the Crosstrek seats. Hoping to nab something from a crosstrek sport. I suppose I should start a little build thread.... Thanks again!

Hey Everyone, It's been a while, but I'm back in the subaru game. I just picked up an 02 Impreza Outback and I'm in the process of making it my own. First things first was a forester strut swap for a little lift. Love how easy this thing is to work on. I'm hoping to get some clarity on seat swaps and interior swaps.....I currently have the WRX style round air vents which I loath for various reasons. I was just chatting with someone who said Second Gen Forester stuff will swap over interior wise. Has anyone tried this and can confirm / post picks? I'm hoping to go all tan like the classic 84 DL eventually. Currently silver and black..... I was also curious if anyone has swapped Crosstrek seats...front and back into anything older....body wise they look about the same size. I'd love to get a fold down section with cup holders in the back middle seat. Post pics of anything you've done! Thanks! YnotDIY

FUEL PUMP SIZING and RESULTS Thanks for the advise with this one everyone. I pulled the fuel pump and measured it. The pump for my model 96 legacy outback 2.2 5speed Manual is the 2" pump with screw on terminals. Here's the rockauto link to the one I purchased -> 96 legacy outback fuel pump It's an aftermarket pump so I might be kicking myself for not going OEM soon, but I figured it was worth a shot! I installed the pump and the car started right up! Took it for a little test drive and it's doing great! thanks again, TJ

Fuel Filter has been changed last month.

@moosens @lmdew @idosubaru thanks for the replies. I got the car back to my house. Then I opened up the panels under the carpeting in the trunk to access the fuel pump and sending unit. think it's either of these? RIGHT SIDE FUEL PUMP (lol no one has been in here) LEFT SIDE FUEL SENDING UNIT (my fuel gauge also never reads correctly....wonder why...lol) lol at the mud dauber nest thats in here and acorns. Seems pretty obvious what the issue is.... I'll be ordering a new pump and sending unit after I pull these two out and document the process. I'll post updates when I have them. Basically car died going down the road after repeatedly cutting out and stumbling intermittently around 50mph. It has been cutting out in the last few months, but nothing as bad as right before it died. I tried to turn it over and it would run for a bit on the extra fuel that was in the line, then eventually it would crank, but not turn over at all. More soon. Cheers! TJ

Hey freaks - I'm looking to source the correct fuel pump for my 96 Legacy Outback. I've searched the forum and haven't found any concrete answers yet. Basically rock auto lists what seems like a few different options and I'm hoping to get pointed to the correct pump. rock auto lists a 1.5" diameter pump and a 2" pump. Both of these options come in a plug style pump or threaded terminal style pump. I'm hoping someone can point me to the correct diameter and correct electrical connection. I haven't pulled the pump yet. The car is sitting at a restaurant up the road where it died. No option to pull the pump and check it out for a few days. Any help would be appreciated! If someone could post a link to a correct pump that would be sick. Car currently has a 2.2, but I believe it came with a 2.5. Thanks, TJ

Man, I'd never be able to afford anything for that haha, but they are so so cool. Some new news about trying to tow with the subaru. I Just read a few places that the actual unibody frame rating is around 200LBS for TW for my year. Does that make any sense to ya'll?? It sounds like the frame is constructed in such a way that it's bolted together and in running more than 200lbs on the back of the car it's likely the frame of the car will actually bend where it's joined together. Can anyone lend any wisdom on this?? Does upgraded suspension help at all? I'm running king springs all around with G-cel struts. Also have a 4" ADF lift kit I have no idea how these frames are built or TW rating for the frame of the car. If this is the case it looks like I might be out of the Subaru game for a bit.

Heard on all of this. I'll post some images if I end up going this route! I'm also looking at getting a Nissan Hardbody possibly, but it would mean selling the subaru.... :/

@jonathan909 @Numbchux @GeneralDisorder I appreciate the responses, I'm looking to put a motorcycle carrier on the back. A class 2 hitch is rated @ 300lbs TW and the motorcycle is around 250lbs wet. It's small and I believe the surbaru can handle the weight. The suspension will be fine as it's modified to handle the extra load in the back. However most motorcycle carriers come with a 2" receiver. I'm of course also worried about that 300lbs. TW with a class 2 hitch as the force of bouncing around on the highway or back roads will exceed that 300lbs TW limit. It's just me a dog and the motorcycle so the subaru can handle the load, my current hitch however has to go. No chance a later model class 3, say for a forester or crosstrek will bolt up? I'm not opposed to fabricating one if I have to, but of course would like an easier route if possible. Thanks again

Hey everyone - Does anyone know of a bolt on option for a class 3 hitch that will fit a 98 Legacy Outback? I've been searching and all that comes up is Class 2 (I know they came from the factory with a class 2, but I need a class 3). Any help would be appreciated. Thinking maybe I should search for other models from newer years as I know some of the more recent 2000's subarus come with class 3 hitches. If anyone knows of one or where I might move my search to that would be helpful. cheers, TJ

Yes check those fusible links!

Ah awesome, good to know! Do you have a part number for that upper diff bushing?

Hey Everyone! Been a while since I've posted, I've been spending most of my time on FB, but it isn't the same. Honestly I miss "hanging out" on this forum. ANNNYWAY. I upgraded my suspension by following @Loyale 2.7 Turbo 's thread and getting a lot of help from my buddies and it's been seriously awesome. I should have done it immediately after I got the car. I've had everything on since the beginning of the Summer and about two weeks ago I noticed both inner axle boots in the back were spraying grease all over. The axles are original and I think the combination of old axle boots and my new CV angle due to the lift the new suspension gave me finally made those inner boots pop. Not a huge deal, I've already got them fixed, but I'd like to drop the rear diff 2" to prolong the life of the outer boots. There is already a bit of superficial cracking and I really don't want to have to change these axles outside come winter (no garage here). QUESTION IS HERE So my question is how do I go about dropping the rear diff? I see it's attached with 4 bolts to a hanger / bracket in the back and then 2 bolts for the mustache bar. I have access to a metals shop and could fab up a bracket for the mustache bar if need be, but how does this generally work? Do I need to drop the drive line hanger towards the center of the car as well? I get I'll need to get some longer bolts for that 4 bolt hanger, but what about the mustache bar? How does dropping that part go? Pictures would be awesome if anyone has them! Just want to make sure it's all aligned as best as possible so I don't start having drive line issues as well as axle boot issues. Pics for fun, do you think my camber is okay? action shot mid suspension install, and side shot of how it's sitting today. Any help is appreciated!

@79DL thanks for sharing the thread on FB, excited to follow along here. Really great info @Crazyeights thanks for the detailed share!

Cleaned engine grounds besides negative battery cable on trans. I couldn't get the heckin' nut off and the piece of metal it's attached to is bending all over the place when I put torque on the nut. I'll need an impact wrench to remove it. I changed plug wires for good measure. feels smoother, but no power gain. Went through process of changing check engine light so it lights now (was burned out), then I cleared the stored codes on the ECU. Check engine light went out during this clearing procedure as is normal. Just ran through process of clearing codes in the 88 FSM. Check engine light back on and all codes in post no.1 are still there. Not sure what's up. I'm going through checking all the sensors now. I'll post more later, but I did notice the resistance on my MAF plug (car side) is over 10x what is normal. FSM states MAF Plug (car side) should not be more than 10ohms resistance. Mine was coming in around 100ohms.... yikes. everything else on the plug tested normal output though. Just high resistance. I'll go through more sensors and plugs and post results here. I'm now searching for my power loss issue. Cold Start Issue seems to be solved (but it's also 40 degrees today, so who knows, haha) Thanks for all the help so far.

@Dee2 Absolutely I agree.

@ferp420 started today from a cold start and car is running great! I have an SPFI and the injector wire in question was backing out of the plug on the injector side, not body side. Barely noticeable unless I was searching for it (and I was). Swapped in a new injector and it's much much better now. No more horrible start ups. Now I just have to figure out this power issue. Running good, but still lacking power in 4th and 5th going up moderate hills. Gonna check grounds and resistance for all plugs related to fuel/ignition. Mainly checking CTS and MAF now that injector seems good.

UPDATE - Noticed a wire backing out of the plug for my Fuel Injector (injector side) didn't think much of it. Maybe I could see 1/32 of bare wire. Since I've swapped so much stuff with no luck this was on my list today. Pulled injector with bad plug from engine (looked like crap inside the cover), swapped it for a much nicer looking used one (installed new o-rings on injector before install) plugged it in and fired the car up. Seems much much smoother now. so I'm thinking I found the cause of this bucking jerking (2), but I wont know about that cold start up issue until tomorrow once the car has sat overnight. However! Still lacking power in 3rd, 4th and 5th. Just doesn't have the pull that it did before these issues. Ground issue? I'll test tomorrow and report back.

@ferp420 - Changed air filter, dizzy body (I was worried about that code 11 crank angle sensor), dizzy cap / rotor (huge improvement in start up smoothness), plugs just changed, and I'm waiting on a wire set that I can pick up tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up about the small opening pre air filter. Appreciate that knowledge. I haven't looked into these MSD systems. are you running one? @DaveT Thanks for the info about the ground pins / testing ground. That CTS test is basically put it in water at X degrees and measure Resistance right? X degrees correlates to specific resistance. I completely agree with you about these 30 yr old parts. I was laughing at myself at the pick n pull in Michigan, in the heckin' snow, pulling a CTS from a Loyale that hadn't had a hood in who knows how long expecting that would solve my engine issues. The car side connector crumbled in my hands. I"ll be doing tests tomorrow.

I've was looking at a service manual today and checking out pin numbers and corresponding sensors ect, but I didn't see how to check them. Is there anything on this in anyones FSM? Would I positive probe whatever number I'm checking and ground to body or use a ground off ecu side? If ECU side does it matter which one? Seems there are a few. Ground Pins as listed in 89 service manual PDF (got it off here) 30 35 42 44 50 51 example - Pin 23 (water temp sensor) *positive probe pin 23 and negative probe to car body ground or would I connect to a ground pin listed above??

My check engine light is either out because of ECU issue or burned out completely (not showing in dash). I'm going to fix that tomorrow and re-set the ECU codes since that light is instrumental in knowing if I've cleared properly.

Is this 5v reference with key on only? I’m pretty bad with electrical stuff never had to get into it until now. if someone could give me a quick run down that would be great. I know I’m askin’ a lot.

Thanks GD, I’ll get to reading now.

Hey Ya'll - Posting here of course hoping someone can point me to something I haven't thought of yet related to my issue. 1) Basically it's getting very cold at night here in Michigan now and when I go to start the car in the morning it's pretty impossible for it to warm up (erratic idle, stumbling, stalling out) unless I stay out there and keep it alive with the gas pedal. Here's the thing though as soon as the car gets to operating temp, BAM smooth. Idle returns to normal and it's stays on no problem. 2) Car drives around okay, lacking power in 4th and 5th for sure can barely get it up to 70mph on the highway. Really falls flat in 5th. Also surging and bucking a bit on take off until I give it some gas then seems to smooth out. was throwing codes 11 - Crank Angle Sensor 21 - CTS 24 - IAC 31 - TPS 34 - EGR (this was the only code without green or white connectors plugged in) 51 - Neutral Switch Always ON SO FAR I'VE CHANGED CTS (2 used, didn't test resistance using water method) TPS (3 used all seemed in spec) IAC Dizzy Body (that code 11 had me thinking dizzy) MAF Sensor Checked Fuel filter for flow (looks good) Checked for Vacuum leaks (none showing up) It seems to me like it's something related to how the engine reads temp since at least it idles once it's warmed up. Maybe the 2 CTS I tried are all bad. At some point I'm thinking we can't keep swapping 30+ year old parts out for 30+ year old parts and expect spoob to work, but what do ya'll think? Anywhere else I should be looking? Thanks ya'll Oh and HECK WINTER.