gbrand

oops, meant to say cut slot in the brackets for the brakelines-then the clips will still retain.

Take a dremel tool and slot the clips for the brake line-then can remove without having to fart with bleeding, broken bleeder screws, etc. Do it to the new struts too if they are closed clips. Good luck

Second on the CarFax-also has a buyback guarentee if they say is good and some major problem comes up-but check all sources for info-door stickers of oil changes, look in glovebox/owners manual for reciepts, etc.

OK, I have not seen one yet, except in pix. Looks like worth looking into though, in 5 years or so as a used vehicle if it holds up well. Why? Seating is for 2 in front, and 3 in mid row seat-so can haul 5 people and stuff or use all 3 seats to haul 7. (many minivans are only 4 seat without rear seat room) My pet peeve is there are so few 6 passenger cars around with room to haul stuff, I just bought a 99 Buick LeSabre yesterday for that reason. (Don't even mention that F word that offer 6 pass cars) I certainly sacrificed the 4wd the sube would have provided, last decent 4wd minivan was the 1998 mazda MPV but dang hard to find with 4wd and 2+3+3 seating option on market. Will be interesting to see "in the flesh", jsut my opinion

Couldn't help but chuckle at the mechanic who can't figure out how an engine can run without timing belts or chains. Oh how technology changes so fast....I am not familiar with the EA81 but am with the EA71-it (and many other older american engines) used gears, that directly meshed, no chain required. Timing chains used to be considered weak links, now are looked upon by some as superior to belts. One of my hobbies is to find objects/procedures that were common 20-30 years ago and show them to my kids or young adults and see if they can figure out what thier purpose was. One example I remember I would like to find a picture of is the first auto reverse cassette deck i saw circa 1975-actually had a mechanical arm that would come up, pick the tape up, turn it over and place it back in the deck just like you would do by hand. Just my opinions, good luck on the car!

My advice would be to consult an independent exhaust shop for a (honest) second opinion and prolly would get you in and out quickly.

I did mine last year-a 91 as well. I replaced rec drier and compressor that had locked up. I believe the tech at the shop where i took it to to be vacuumed and charged told me to put in 6.5 oz of oil, about 2-3 in comp, 2 or so in rec drier , and split rest between evaporator and condensor, not super critical on the distribution. Mine had already been converted from R12 on previous failure, but he stressed to use ESTER oil if converting from R12 as it would mix with any traces of the old oil that was used with R12.

My thoughts exactly(I live in Watauga). Always a pain to stop and run to Irving, Dallas or Lewisville to get some Dealer only part to finish a project. Hope Teape works out to be be a good dealer. Did your friend find someone to take care of her Legacy? I took my Sunfire to kaufman tire in Hurst today to have the A/C system vacuumed and charged after I replaced the compressor, drier, etc. Have been using them for my tires for a few years, seem to be honest/reasonable and helpful(free flat fixes, etc.) and they do quite a bit of other work too.

Arlington Subaru bought by Teape Subaru, is under construction at Hwy 10 and Loop 820 in Hurst-will be open later this year. I do almost all my own work, so I can't recomend a mechanic for normal maintainance, but Subaru of Dallas has helped with parts in the past-having things in stock and at half the price of others.

Pull codes using instructions on Legacy777's site-it is for pre-OBD2 cars like your 90 and my 91. After connecting connectors under dash, light on dash will flash to let you know what code(s) is. No reader required! Good luck and let us know what you find out.

Also may want to check the parking brake mechanism, it is seperate-brake shoes that use the inside of the disc as a drum on the rear. Hope it's not a wheel bearing that is getting hot.......

Check for a blocked or kinked return line-I have read that can cause higher than normal fuel pressure.

Could be many things, yes the 2.2 seems to be a pretty bulletproof engine(my 91 Legacy L has about 243K miles on it and still running strong). I would approach it not as a Subaru but as a car-it is overheating, check each component and see if it is consistent with the symptoms. If the thermostat has been changed, can prolly rule it out but can always get a bad one off the shelf-or it was installed improperly. To help us diagnose, does it overheat idling? Driving around town? Or only when you get it on the highway? Depending on your mechanical ability/experience, I would check for a clogged radiator, functioning water pump, etc. Or have a trusted mechanic do it for you. If all checks out then yes, a head gasket could be the problem, if you see bubbles in the radiator or a "sniffer"test confirms it then that would be an issue but the 2.2's do not seem to have the HG problemsthe 2.5's have had.

http://www.subaru.com/owners/care/carcaretips/middle.jsp?pageID=towing If I owned a 4wd new gen subsaru I would carry a copy of this page to hand to tow truck drivers-just in case they sent a truck to try to tow it 2 up. Unfort my Legacy is FWD only so that is one worry I don't have.

Forgot to mention, coat the spring pin with grease or oil before install-will make removal next time MUCH easier and reduce the chance of breakage.

quick search on the net shows they can be had elsewhere-sorry for misleading you, I have only been able to find at dealer so far but that is not too much a problem for me. http://www.maximumautoparts.com/ Navigate though your year, model and click on drive axles, they list the CV roll Pins.

I would do a compression test before doing much else. Make sure that there is not something wrong with the engineesp on the cylinder that is giving you the code.

quote-In the process of turning the hub and rotor out to better access the ball joint, I pulled the distant end of the front drive shaft out of the splines "distant end" meaning the end that attaches to the transmission? That end is held in place with a "spring pin" (big hollow roll pin looking thing) that goes through the end of the axle shaft into the stub that comes out of the transmission. . If the axle slid off without removing that pin, then the pin is missing-perhaps not replaced by a previous repairer. Alingment is crucial, believe that in order to get the pin to line up in only one position. Double check the hole and see if your pin is missing, if so they are a dealer item and you may have to wiggle the end so it seats on the spline or disconnect the ball joint to rotate to the proper position. let us know or if i have misinterpreted what you are seeing as the misalignment

My solution in pre cup holder cars-use those wide bottom coffee cups. you know the ones that have an inverted "Y" shape" cross section. With a good rubber grip on the bottom, it takes a real lock up from high speed to turn them over. I drove with those for years in my 73 maverick and 80 sub, just set it on hump or pass seat floor-in small cars the pass seat floor is still within easy reach. I still have a box full of them if anyone is interested, all my cars now have cupholders

For axles, the best place I've found is A.P.E. (Auto parts exchange) in Ft. Worth and i think they have one in Grand Prairie. They do clutches, Axles, and A/C as thier specialties, parts to carry out or installed pretty quick. 817-624-1100 is ft worth number.

Plastic bag blown up onto exhaust from road? Had that happen to me....

My brother had an early 70's torino as one of his college cars-as he went on for a masters(got 2) and a Ph. D was in cheap mode for a number of years. The 'rino had lots of salt damage, and didn't get better with time. His first real job was in Denver, did the commute from Colo Springs and rust was so bad president of first company "banned" him from parking next to other vehicles in parking lot as he was convinced rust would "jump" to the minivans, BMWs and Volvos driven by "respectable" people. He always carried a snow shovel in the trunk as part of his winter emergency gear, and hear a slight noise one day, and looked in the rear view mirror to see the snow shovel in the middle of the road. He picked it up, but figured with a holes that big(and getting bigger) it was time to retire the 'rino. he bought a new Infiniti, and after all the negotiating was done asked-what about my trade in? He needed somewhere to get rid of the thing, and the salesman begrudgingly gave him 75 or 100 bucks, and stated that in his 20+++ years of selling cars that was absolutly the WORST POS he had ever taken in trade-and speculated it prolly would stand as a record for the rest of his carreer.

Before you get too gung ho about heat, check the PCV. Some were made of plastic, some metal. When I buy a replacement I always make sure I get an all metal one. (the same valve is used on my my 91Legacy and the 2 Nissan trucks i have owned). I have always found that while heat works well, cycling hot/cold is very good too. I would spray with Liquid wrench or PB Blaster, let soak in, then run engine to warm up. Then spray the valve, the idea is to cool it so it shrinks slightly while the manifold remains warm. I think you will be able to break it loose with no problem. As far as liquid nitrogen goes, some metals get VERY brittle at those temps and shatter like glass. Dry ice is usually easier to find and not as extreme if cold is needed. Put some liquid teflon thread sealer or anti sieze on the threads of the new valve and it will come out easily next time. I just changed the one on my 97 Nissan truck, was located way up behind the alternator and only accessable through the fender well-I'm sure it was orig as it was almost impossible to find let alone change. A soak, heat and soak allowed to break loose with out too much mojo.

That I believe is the part that generated the vac leak that caused my car to run on 2 cyl only. If it has a big connectoion to the right(drivers) side intake manifold replace or plug it.

Had a 1980(base model) 4wd wagon w/EA71. Was the best car I have EVER had in snow, and on ice was unstoppable(no pun intended). I have driven 6 other 4x4s and none came close. Had big vacuum leak in some pollution control valve(anti backfire valve?) that caused car to run on 2 cyl only, a long determined diagnosis session found that and a plug in it caused the car to run beatifully. yeas, check over all your hoses and brakes and stuff , should be good to go. Beware if your alt quits the fuel pump will die too and the car will die in about 30 seconds-i rigged and overide switch to get me home after a night with an intermittent alt. And it came in handy several years later when the belt broke, I got to get off the road and put on a spare. Good luck and this board will get you any tips you need!