gbrand

Hate to point at something that may be real obvious, do not the AT Legacies have TWO fill points, one for the ATF and one for the front differential? May want to do a search, I seem to recall some threads here where people had thier cars serviced and trans was drained, and ATF was added to diff causing big problems. (my Legacy is an MT so transd and diff are all one unit) Let us know what you find out.

I use a vise, compress it slowly. A large C clamp might work as well

Has anyone ever sued this stuff http://www.rxp.com/ esp in context of reduciing NOX emissions. Normally have pretty dim view these types of aproducts but test results , both listed and in comments from users, appears to have some favorable results. Also surpiresed to see Ed Wallace, who I feel is a no BS automotive columist I have read for years recomends the stuff.

I am not sure it can be done on a subaru-most OBDII cars cannot be but contrary to poplular belief some can be read such as the Accura you have listed. My 97 Nissan truck 2.4 engine can be read by rotating a small potentiometer on the ecu. On thing to beware of at least on my nissan is that the numbers that flash on the engine light are different fron the numbers that are read with a code reader-so yu need a look up chart for whatever way you are reading the codes-or you get WAY off base in trouble shooting. Again i don't about an OBDII subaru, mine is OBDI

OK, here is my update for today. Timing marks- I pulled the #1 plug, rotated the crank with a screwdriver in the hole and found what I felt to be TDC. Marked pulley, fired up engine, my new mark lined right up with the 20BDC so I dont know that other mark signifies but know the idle timing is good. Collant sensor-I pulled it, a moderate PIA, after removing air hose assy's for PCV I was able to get a 3/4" deep well on it and get it out. Read 5.45K @ 30F, 2.16K @ 72, 790 O @ 122, 220 O @ 180 Specs in my Chiltons were 7-11.5K @ 14F, 2-3K @ 68, 700-1000 O @ 122 But specs in Autozone online repair manuals, normally a good source of infor, listed 133.9-178.9 @ 122F, 47.5-56.8 @ 176, 26.2-29.3 @ 212 , 14.9-17.3 @ 248. My sensor seemed to follow the specs in Chilton, so figure it is good and reinstalled it. Checked vacuum, good, did some spraying around intake maifold to see if there was leak, nothing detected. Ran 1/3 can of Seafoam throught he PCV valve, then ran the snot out of it. more to follow

If this machanic can't read your codes, find one who can or do it yourself-it is very easy. Legacy777(Josh) has an excellent write up on how to do it. http://www.surrealmirage.com/subaru/engine.html It could be many things, a coolant temp sensor is certainly possible. i would also look at the fuel pressure regulator, plugs, vacuum leaks, etc. Read the codes and do a visual inpection. Let us know how you do.

Thanks all-I had Seafoam in the tank, will prolly get some and run through the intake to try to clear carbon from combustion chambers. Car always starts and runs fine. I cleaned the MAF using contact cleaner, didn't see any obvious gunk, maybe a little dust. Now for the strange part-put a timing light on it tonight just for grins. Assumed little "V" in front of front of pulley was timing mark, and the spec 20B mark was just a little clockwise of 12 Oclock facing the pulley. Now the number one cylinder the timing mark showed to be at about the 3-4 Oclock position, as well as the other front cylinder. The back cylinders showed the opposite position, about 9-10 Oclock. Almost as if timing mark on pulley was 90 degrees clockwise from where it should be? Again the car starts and runs flawlessly so don't see how the timing could be out this far out but couldn't see anything else that looked like a timing mark. I will look at some other stuff tomorrow too, and make sure it is very hot upon retest. I tried to find the coolant sensor today while waiting for the DSL technician to show up, is it the 2 wire sensor under the intake manifold on the pass side of the car toward the rear of the engine? I saw a one wire and a two wire sensor in that area. Thanks again...will post results good and bad.....

Failed inspection tailpipe test today-91 legacy non turbo FWD 2.2L 5 spd. NOx was 951(limit 970) on low speed (15mph) test but on high speed(25mph) was 1074 (limit 878). HC and CO very low, HC was 18(limit 128) low speed and 9(limiit 128) at high speed. CO was 0.03(limit 0.73) low and 0.01(limit 0.69). Afer searching the net and finding information such as http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h64.pdf and others I conclude I am running lean and/or have higher than normal combustion temperatures. Probabale causes are timng(not adjustable on this car), EGR passages plugged(no EGR on this engine, corrrect?), O2 sensor giving false readings, carbon deposits raising compression, or as last result a bad cat conv. Looked at O2 sensor with scope, seems to be switching OK, no vacuum leaks in hoses or accessories, did change PCV valve as a little dirty. Read about a car(93 buick century) that was failing NOx, problem was gunk on the MAF sensor casuing engine to be sucking 25% more air than MAF was telling the ECU, cleaning the MAF brought the A/F ratio back to spec and the NOx dropped dramaticly. Car runs fine, good performance and MPG's despite high miles. Has anyone cleaned the MAF in this type of car, or have experience corrrecting lean condition or high NOx emissions? Thanks for your input.......

Hope Boy George wasn't driving....... Seriously I would heed the advice about insurance others have offered, and plead/witch on the phne to them that before the accident you did have a good reliable vehicle to drive to work, school, vacation etc. and today you are bumming rides. The value of a reliable vehicle, old or high mileage not withstanding, is worth something. When a soccer mom pushed my parked truck from the street in front of my house into my front yard, the ins company didn't want to pay much since it was old, and had "245K miles"-the adjuster had misread the odometer as 245K when it actually was 215K. When I pointed this out, they said it really didn't matter as anything over 200K was of little value. I climbed down thier throat and told then dont give me that crap last week I could haul a load of lumber or a water heater, travel in adverse weather conditions, go off roading or on vacation, not to mention being a backup vehicle for my other cars. Today I have a pile of scrap that the city was ready to write me a citation for non operable vehicle on. They relented after an hour of screaming and kicked the ante up 500 bucks to a fair price, the best hourly rate I have ever made.

I asked that question a long time ago. MOst older 4x4's had lockout hubs available, were RWD with the front drive train added as an option. There are some who argue that they really fon't buy you anything in terms of wear and tear savings, I don't know. I have experience with 72 Dodge, 73 Chevy, 85 Ford and my 83 and 97 Nissans, all with Manual hubs on the front. Of course the subarus are(were) FWD cars with the rear added as an option, like my long gone 80 wagon. I am not an expert on Automatic hubs, have heard some negatives in terms of reliability and on some the drive cycle needed to lock and unlock them-to engage put in 4wd and drive straight forward 6 feet does you a lot of good when you drop in a hole and you need 4wd NOW to get out. I will say if you have lockout hubs, make sure they are good ones (and keep them greased)-I have seen the plastic ones fall apart at the worst possible moments, the hubs on my 97 Nissan got so bad I replaced them with all metal Warn lifetime warrenty hubs.

I used to buy the clamps seperatly, Perfect Circle was the mfg I think, as the ones that came in the boot kits were wrong size and or din't work with my crimping tool. Have also seen some universal clamps on racks as well

Have seen this one on and off in area near me over last few years, finally got a picture of today-is this anyone's from the board?

Was out running errands and just got back, went by the building in Hurst(just north of HWY 10 on NE loop 820). Definatly still under construction, prolly at least 20-30 people working on exterior, landscaping, A/C etc. Sign still says "Opening Soon, Teape Subaru", no date listed. My guess is building at least a month away from being ready.

Was giving my 91 Legacy the look over under the hood tonight, noticed dried coolant trails down the end of the radiator stemming from the air bleeder plug. Now this radiator is less than a year old, was disappointed to pull out the bleeder plug to find the plastic POS was cracked bigtime and the rubber washer falling apart. Ran down to the parts store, could find anything to use of same thread, so ran over to harware store and among everything else in Metric hardware section was bin of Oil Drain plugs, Metal with washers. M12 x 1.25 was the size for mine.

I looked at the Actron units but ended up buying an Innova (Equus?) 3100 a couple years ago. All units of this type were 150-160, and the 3100 went on sale for 120 so "Santa" bought it for me. I know prices have come down in general. Has been very good for my 3 OBD2 vehicles, 96 pontiac sunfire, 97 nissan KC 4x4 truck and 99 Buick Lesabre. More than paid for itself esp. knowing if car is ready for inspection, Texas smog counties use OBD2 for exclusive emission test on OBD2 vehicles. Have also used on Ford Winstar and Chevy S-10. (my Legacy is 1991 so is not OBD2). Keep in mind a code reader is just that-will read the codes, and status of monitors, and can use to clear codes. To read indivdiual parameters, freeze frame data, program flash etc. esp in real time you need a real scantool-or an adapter/software for your laptop/palm pilot-can start at 400 and go as high as 5000. All depends on what you want to do and are willing to pay for. A very good resource for OBD information is http://www.obdii.com/ let us know what you find out and the codes on your vehicle

There is stuuf that is a substitute for R-12. I have never used, but some swear by it. It is easy to put in even a novice can do it. A conversion is going to be more expensive, prolly good alternative if you have a major compnonet fail, like when my compressor did. I had compressor, reciever dryer and evaporatior replaced along with labor and refrigereent for 800 something-ouch. When the compressor siezed in Spring 2004, I got JY one for 65, new reciever drier for 35, flushed the lines out and put in oil and took to shop for system to be vaccummed and recharged-all in all about 200 bucks.

Apparently they bought the old Arlington Subaru, but have had a building under construction in Hurst(http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28457&highlight=teape) had not been by to see how close they were to opening in a couple months, will go check out. I hope they turn out to be decent as the Hurst location will be very close to me.

Show regulation to the mechanic and his mger-if they still don't want to do it complain to whatever state agencies license/certify the inpectors/inspection stations.

watch your egine rpm versus speed-if rpm climbs and speed is constant this is the first sign Mr. Clutch is headed for the graveyard. If will get worse quickly, don't delay getting it replaced if that is indeed the problem(I have done mine twice). 186K on a 91 Legacy? Lots of life left, mine has 248K and still running strong, does not use any oil..... Let us know what you find out

agree-prolly needs a top off charge of R12. Had my 91 Legacy converted to R134a when compressor siezed, and then replaced compressor again with a JY last spring. Had to top off this spring but still ice cold in Texas 100+ heat. Ther are some good posts on the how to by Legacy777 and others if you ever need to convert. disagree-moist air cools easier than dry air. Moist air hold more heat per unit volume, therefore takes more energy to cool down. Also, considerable energy is spent condensing the water vapor out of moist air and some of that enery drips right out throug the drain hole onto the ground.

I grew up in the LA area, haven't lived there for a looooooooooong time, but have been out on business from time to time, and took my family out there last summer for a vacation. Depending on your interests, and time, Disneyland and the beach are of course obvious ones. The LeBrea Tar pits and meuseum are very interesting and unique as well-http://www.tarpits.org/ hope you have a good trip and enjoy!

prolly more important that you change on a regular basis with the filter than any particular brand that meets the spec for your car. I have been running Castrol in all my vehicles for last 20 years, the insides are very clean if any disassy is done. In the 91 Legacy 2.2 I use 10W-40 most of the year but in the 90++ Texas summer use 20W-50 per owners manual, with Walmart filters, change at 2500 miles. At almost 248K on the engine still not using oil!

Same thing happened to me when I replaced the rad in my 91 legacy-the replacement units are set up to fit either M/T or A/T cars.

I had a similat problem on my 80 wagon. Every once in a while all my dash lights would come on, and on that car the engine would die due to the alt output being used as a "kill switch" for the fuel pump.(I had rigged up an overide switch to keep the car running because of a previous problem) Anyway I found wiggling the "T" connector on the back of the alt would fix it-could actually hear the engine speed decrease as the load from the alt engaged. Spray out with contact cleaner, bend the prongs or replace connector if this is the case-it drove me nuts but I think I solved as I found the same connector in my junk and spliced it in to the wire harness. Not sure if your problem, but wiggle the crap out of it with the engine running and see if it makes a differnece let us know how you make out

After car shopping again, brought home another one 2 weeks ago.Not a sube, 1999 LeSabre(had to have seating for 6), but last weekend stayed up and watched the movies "Used Cars", which we had quoted from to the salesman at the dealership during the test drive/negotiations(he had seen the movie also). If you haven't seen it, it says it all. And private sellers can be just as bad as dealers.