heartless

That could be a Canadian manufacturer? Ivan is in Canada...

Thank you everyone for the replies. Miles - sending you another pm about that driveshaft...

Did a bunch of searching, and found lots of discussions asking about replacing the "staked" u-joints on the Legacy/Outbacks, but it seems like no one has actually done it to provide feedback on the job? Also found several links to various reman shaft suppliers, This one: http://www.provenforce.com/driveline/subaru_drivelines.html#Legacy looks like my best bet for a "reman" replacement (cost wise) and they are reasonably close to me, too... Saw the reman place out of Texas, but their prices are higher than the above, and much farther away, so would take longer... And the link for the Rockford Driveline replacement joints w/instructions: http://www.rockforddriveline.com/replacem.htm The 95 Legacy I am getting a new/used tranny put into has a "notchy" rear u-joint that is going to cause problems - of course the shop says "we cant service that, would have to replace the whole thing" - to the tune of over $700 (they were told to put the existing driveshaft back in "as is" for the time being) Carrier bearing seems to have a bit of slop starting as well...possibly due to the notchy rear joint causing extra stress? Looking at car-part.com, the driveshafts are listed as separate front & rear sections...and of course the front section seems to be almost non-existant...and I would rather do the whole driveline as one unit to avoid future issues... Has ANYONE actually tried using the Rockford u-joints??? either themselves, or taken to a machine shop for install? Darn car is going to cost me a ton of money - but should be pretty rock solid when it is finally ready to roll....

Well, I guess I need to do a bit of tire window shopping - see what I can get my little paws on locally. Thinking I may go with something "middle of the road" size/speedometer wise, depending on what I can find. Thanks for all the info, guys.

The 2 sensors are side by side in the coolant crossover pipe, under the intake. You will lose a little coolant when you take the old one out, so have a rag underneath to catch it, and have the new one ready to stuff in as quickly as you can to avoid losing a lot (keep the cooling system closed up tight to minimize the loss, too)

the only reason any of the swapping is happening is because I just happen to have the Forester on hand - it was supposed to become another running vehicle but seems to have too many issues to make that happen, so... If the trailing arm difference is only 1/8" (give or take), I dont think I am going to mess with it. Once the taller struts are in, I should have no problem fitting the 15" wheels on, right? Looking at tire size that will be close to the stock size in diameter so speedo isnt too far off... Legacy stock size: 185/70-14 Forester stock size: 205/70-15 = speedo reads nearly 5mph slow (60 is more like 65) (info from http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html) If i go to 205/65-15 = 60 is more like 63 and 205/60-15 = 60 is more like 61 and a 195/60-15 is almost exact speedo wise... Thoughts?

pretty rare for the coolant temp sensor to actually throw a code on its own, and also a very common failure. Advance auto is a good source for the sensor, as Fairtax said - place the order online using the coupon codes to get the discount, then do a store pickup.

not so worried about the sway bar itself (altho, may upgrade it in the future) but more concerned with the links at the ends - the Legacy has at least one broken link (probably from having broken front coil springs?) that will need replacing, and I may snag the rest off the Forester for future use.

1. Small typo - he meant factory clamps. 2. Marine terminals can be found at any place that sells boats/boating supplies. 3. If the battery cable is corroded, it would be best to replace the whole cable - corrosion causes resistance = hard starts. It can also be much deeper into the cable than just on the visible ends If the battery cable is in good shape, all you would need to do is get an eyelet that crimps on to the end of the cable - it would need to be one large enough to fit the battery cable however, and the appropriate size can be a bit more difficult to find. If you decide to replace the negative cable, get one that has factory eyelets on both ends - then it will be easy to install the marine style clamps.

Thank you 86Bratman! you just made my morning!

already planning on putting Forester struts/springs under the 'new to me' 95 Legacy, but need to know if the sway bar links from a 98 Forester are compatible? They look mighty close.... the 95 has a broken front sway bar link (along with both front springs being broken one more reason for the Forester swap)

Yay - glad to hear she is starting properly for you.

did you follow the steps outlined above for refilling? did you raise the front of the car while refilling? it is entirely possible there is an air bubble in the system and that is what is causing your "overheat"

changing radiator is easy on a Subaru. Drain coolant disconnect all hoses disconnect, unbolt, & remove the fans unbolt the brackets that hold radiator in place on top (2 bolts) lift out the old radiator Swap over flow bottle to new radiator install is reverse... when refilling... Connect lower radiator hose, fill block with fresh 50/50 coolant - slowly - from upper rad hose - connect hose, remove the small plug at far right top of radiator and fill radiator - slowly. Helps tremendously to have the nose of the car on ramps or jack stands while refilling. Once radiator is full, reinstall the small pug on right side, install cap and fill overflow bottle to full mark. Start car and let it get up to full operating temp - ie: fans turn on. Shut car off and let it cool completely Check overflow level, and add to full mark if needed. Note: if overflow bottle is completely empty after intial warm up/cool down period, you need to repeat the warm up/cool down process until it stops pulling all of the coolant out of the overflow bottle...

if she is blowing bubbles into the overflow, you definitely have a problem. You might be able to baby it thru the winter, but I wouldnt count/plan on it. It is possible to change the headgaskets on the 1st gens without pulling the motor - you may want to consider doing the job now - before things get worse - rather than waiting until it fails completely in the dead of winter...

As they say - you can lead a horse to water.... I, too, appreciate the non-interference design and much prefer it over the small hp gains of the interference motors. I am not trying to win races - I want, and need, reliability first and foremost, because I live in the boonies - lower repair/maintenance costs are a plus in my book. But - all that said - not everyone is willing to go with a car that old - '96 is 17 years old now...and in the salt belt, finding one that isnt falling apart from salt induced cancer is tough. For someone that wants something a bit newer (10 years or less), one has to look at what is available in the age range they would like to have and decide what is going to work best for them all the way around. Since Subaru did away with the non-interference design 17 years ago, that isnt an option for someone wanting a car less than 10 years old. (unless of course they care to do an engine swap, which, with the electronics changes over the years, presents its own difficulties in getting everything to play nice together)

2007 and up = fewer headgasket issues, so yeah, that would be a good year to begin with a thorough inspection by a trusted mechanic is always a good idea - especially if you are not a real "mechanical" kind of person. Paperwork - evidence of the recommended services at or close to the recommended intervals (from the owners manual), regular oil changes, etc Other things to look for/at... general interior condition - does the wear seem to match the mileage? is it clean, dirty, etc. Holes or rips in the fabrics/leather? Condition of the carpet?

start with the first code - coolant temp sensor... there are 2 sensors on this car - a 2 wire unit for the ECU (this is the one you want to change) and a single wire unit for the dash guage. Change the 2 wire CTS sensor for a brand new one (not that expensive) - clear the codes - disconnecting the battery for 30 mins to an hour will accomplish this. Start & drive the car - see if any codes return. If they do, again, address the first one... It is quite common for one issue to cause multiple codes.

get some heat shrink tubing, close to the size of the wires (it comes in many sizes) there are 2 types - a plastic looking type (shiny) and a rubbery type - the rubbery type is the better product by far. Cut a piece of the heat shrink tubing about 2 inches long Strip the ends of the wires about 1 inch Slide the piece of heat shrink over one of the wires & out of the way. Twist the stripped wires together tightly, like this: Slide the heatshrink down over the twisted bare wires so it covers about 1/2 in of insulation on both sides of the repair. Apply a heat source to the heat shrink (a common cigarette lighter works fine, just keep it moving), starting in the middle and working out to the ends until it has shrunk down snugly around the repair - it should look like this when done: I have made many, many wiring repairs using this method over the years, both on cars and on semi trucks, and have never had a problem with them corroding inside the repair. Even repairs that were very exposed to the elements - such as wiring for marker lights on a semi trailer - for extended periods held up just fine.

Sorry, but this is not true. the 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 engines rarely had headgasket problems, and those that did were caused by careless owners/drivers. The "random" headgasket problems are primarily a 2.5 issue. Much to our chagrin - the dual range trannies in the Legacy/Outback generations are not/never were available in the US market. We have not had a dual range since the last of the 80's GLs... I do agree with written, verifiable maintenance history being a huge plus when used car shopping. I also agree that judging a car based on mileage can be deceiving. Low miles can indicate a lot of short hop driving which is actually harder on an engine than longer, sustained drives. Or the car didnt get driven, which can also be hard on the engine...In the US, the average annual mileage should be somewhere around 12-15,000 per year. A 10 year old car with only 50,000 miles on it would be highly suspect in my opinion - I would want to know why it was that low (50,000 divided by 10 = 5000/year = WHY?)... I would be much more comfortable with a 10 yr old car having 150-175,000 on it, along with a good maintenance history. All of the Subarus that have made thier home in our driveway have had 150,000 or more on the clock when we got them - and they were/are driven to well past 250,000. We had one that was pushing the 300,000 mark when we sold it (for more than we paid for it) - still a very driveable car, but quite rusty & ugly. Living in Wisconsin, our biggest problem is salt induced rust - ends up causing structural problems long before the engines give up. Ideally, you want a nice, clean, well cared for car with around average mileage, and some kind of maintenance history. The bad thing is, those tend to be few and far between when it comes to a Subaru.

hard starting in cool/cold weather sounds (to me) more like the coolant temp sensor is shot. There are two - the one to check and/or replace is the 2 wire unit for the ECU. Where in Minnesota are you?

cycling the solenoids should have no actual effect on the ECU. The green connectors are test connectors - plugging them in allows one to check the function of the various solenoids, the engine fans, fuel pump, etc. They should not be left connected, however. leaving them connected could potentially be the source of your fuel issue - not saying it definitely is, but it could be because they do cycle the fuel pump on and off...

any allen wrench of the right size will work - that is basically all the "tool" is.

Yeah - We can only dream of prices like those...no such thing as a "pick-n-pull" around here anymore. They have all either closed shop, or gone the other route - they do the picking & pulling & charge for the labor for doing so....

true, it does make it easier to get to those bolts, but not completely necessary... I simply removed the PCV hoses to provide better access (fewer finger ripping hose clamps in the way, too ) 12 mm offset wrench and out they come. It is also nice to have a helper to rotate the engine and hold it steady while breaking the bolts loose.