heartless

there really arent any gaskets between the inner & outer covers - or at least none are really needed. The only place there is supposed be a gasket is on the center cover (outer) at the bottom, but even that is not a necessity, and it often gets misaligned when installing. The two end covers sometimes have a thin layer of a foam type seal along the edge that meets the center cover, but again - not a necessity. There are several smaller rubber seals & grommets on the back side of the back covers (that touch the block) - the only way I know of to get those is either from the dealer, or by purchasing a complete rebuild gasket set that will have every gasket, seal and o-ring needed to rebuild the entire engine (can often be found on ebay for around $50-60). You could leave the covers off and the car will run just fine - many here "run naked", myself included - just be aware that there is the potential for problems in certain conditions - such as deep snow (been there, done that) Your 95 is still a non-interference engine, so no damage will occur if it should jump timing, but it is no fun trying to correct jumped timing in the dead of winter.

ha - practically neighbors! LOL just make sure you order the correct strut for each position on the car - each will have its own part number. You may want to consider the seat upgrade in addition to the new struts if your back is bad enough. the Monroes will soften the worst of the jolting from cracks in the road, but they wont take it away completely. I havent been up to Tomahawk in a good while, but if the roads up there are anything like they are here in Clark County (one of the poorest in the state) - try altering your lane position, too...I have found that if I move to the far right side of the lane (right hand tires almost on the white line) it gets me out of the "ruts" and most heavily traveled (beat up) part of the road. It is usually MUCH smoother traveling in that position, than in the standard "center of the lane" position.

yup - it is the entire pump assembly that is coming. the donor was a 98 Forester, AWD, auto, with 114K on the clock (i asked about mileage). the only thing I may have to re-use is the rubber gasket/seal, and that looks to be in ok shape - should be fine with a little cleaning up (stuck on rusty particles). and yeah, I would have reservations about re-using that top piece since the metal nipples were bending when I was trying to remove the rubber lines...that is never good.

yeah, that is fine for the right front - if you dont have ABS (specifies non-abs car), but each corner is going to have a different part number - they are specific to location on the car. go here: http://www.monroe.com/en-US/ - enter your year, make & model info on the left and it will bring up a list of compatible struts - be sure of what you getting as there are differnt versions for different specs (right hand drive, ABS vs non-ABS, FWD vs AWD, etc) I can vouch for the Monroe struts - have them on my 90 Legacy & I like them. We have some pretty rough roads around my area (where in Wisconsin are you? I am near Abbotsford - north central part of the state), and they do help smooth things out a bit.

here is a shot of the nipple end with the fuel line off. There is no way the white part was going to "slide" anywhere...you can see the two locking tabs that snap into place in the slots of the black piece. Because of the crusty rust buildup, I had a hard time sqeezing the tabs in far enough to release the black part...gotta love salt induced rust...Not!

i finally managed to get the darn thing off - was not an easy task as rusted up as things are. but yeah - squeeze the white tabs to "unlock" the connection (they do NOT slide up in the black part further - will get some more pics later), and the black section slides off over the white tabs (again - not an easy task, but it does come off with a bit of effort) there was a small pop when it finally broke free, and I got a tiny little splash of fuel - already had a rag under it just in case. anyway - 12 volts connected directly to the pump itself does absolutely nothing. I think it is safe to say that this pump is dead. "new" used pump assembly is on its way already - snagged up from fleabay last night - just hope the thing is as advertised...seller has a good rating, but we shall see.

push down on what? This is what I am looking at...from the back looking forward: from the side... Has that white tab on both sides - it looks to me like the white parts need to be squeezed inward to be able to slide the black part off?

so, squeeze the inner "clip" portion and slide the outer part off? (hopefully)

ok, so how do I disconnect that "clip on" style fuel line connector? Do I need a special tool for this, or can it be done with regular hand tools? everything is fairly rusty in there, including the metal nipples the fuel lines connect to. I have managed to break all the nuts free - nothing broken so far - hoping it stays that way - but I need to get the fuel lines off before I go much further.

Olnick is correct - get rid of the air suspension (far too cost prohibitive to try to repair/replace) and put in standard struts & springs. Easily done with parts sourced from a junkyard or in the marketplace here on the USMB. I had to do this with my 1990 LS wagon - the rear air struts were completely shot when I got the car. (your picture looks exactly like my car - right down to the color! only yours is in much better condition LOL) Parts list consists of: Struts, coil springs, & top hats (upper strut mounts) to fit your car. You should be able to source the complete assemblies (all the mentioned parts together) fairly easily. Please note that each is specific to a location - LF, RF, LR, RR Once you have all 4 assemblies - simply remove the air struts (a pair of side cutters make short work of the air lines), and replace with the standard coilover struts. You will need to remove the upper cover inside the car, over the rear wheel well. On mine it was a speaker grill & speaker that had to come out to access the strut mounting area - not sure if yours still has the rear speaker in that location - but if it does, just pop the upper cover off (the grill portion should be a seperate piece) then unscrew the speaker, disconnect the wires and set the speaker aside...there are 3 studs/nuts that hold the upper mount in place & 2 bolts that hold the lower end. On the front lowers - mark the position of the upper bolt - it is a cammed bolt that adjusts camber - by marking its position, you can get it put back in pretty much the exact position it was in avoiding the need (and cost) to have an alignment done. to prevent the compressor from kicking in - there should be a small control box under the drivers seat that controls the air system - simply unplug it (there may also be an associated fuse in the fuse panel - it has been about 6 years since I did mine, so I dont remember everything). compressor is hidden behind the left front fender - if you feel ambitious, you could remove the fender and take it out - I just left mine in place - it isnt hurting anything by being there. The button on the dash is still in place as well, it just doesnt do anything anymore. by making the switch to standard coilover struts, it also gives you the option of adding a little extra height by using Forester struts/springs - but you would still need to have the correct top hats for your car.

stock size is inch & 7/8 OD - going much bigger than 2 inch will result in major loss of back pressure (which is needed) and power. 3 inch on a Subaru? ummm... no - waste of money and material on a Subaru. And you WILL need, at the very least, an O2 sensor installed somewhere near the "normal" position The 90MY may be only OBDI, and thus a pretty 'simple' system, but without the O2 sensor you will have issues - big ones. I own a 1990 Legacy LS wagon - EJ22, Auto, AWD - the only part of my exhaust that is not "stock" is the Cherry Bomb Turbo muffler (stocker rusted off). It has a nice throaty sound - not too loud, just about right. has a little grumble when letting off the throttle, kick it down a gear, and she really sounds good. I have used the Cherry Bomb glass packs before, and found them to be a tad too loud for my tastes - the CB Turbo muffler is much nicer. the EJ22s are NOT powerhouse engines, and nothing you do will make them into one. They ARE, however, very reliable when maintained properly, and they get decent fuel mileage - which is what they were designed for. If you want "powerhouse" - go get a big block V8 (Hemi, Chevy 454, or Ford 460).

the reading lasted a couple seconds (didnt have a stop watch handy) but long enough that it "should" have kicked the pump on for the initial prime. the plug itself is pristine white inside - no melting, not even a little discoloration. the individual connections all look good - no corrosion showing anywhere. pulling the pump out is next on the agenda - soaking the nuts/studs good in PB first for a couple of days - kind of rusted up & I really dont want to break anything.

Um - actually, you will want to do the fuel tank BEFORE putting the rear diff in place - there are major differences in the fuel tank between FWD & AWD - the rear diff wont fit using the FWD tank - it doesnt have the indentation that is required for diff clearance. (unless they changed that for the 95 my?)

As a followup on mine - I believe it was related to the keyless entry/alarm setup. Noticed that there was a rythmic clicking under the dash yesterday - like a relay clicking on & off repeatedly - even with no key in the ignition. I found a plastic control box up under there with two plug-ins - 1 fairly large (15 or more wires), 1 smallish (6 or fewer wires), also had an empty socket for a 4 pole plug. After making sure that the clicking I was hearing was definitely coming from that box, i unplugged the wires from it. Clicking is gone & dash indicator goes out immediately when doors are closed. Have not had a chance to pull that plastic box out of there, but will get some pics and report back when I do.

what Gloyale said - 90 - 94 only on the 2.2s. They are a dual port head pipe, but the cat is part and parcel of the assembly..

Honestly, Gloyale - I think we already stole the pump from that donor car for my current dd... got our eyes on 2 different pump assemblies on the fleabay - one is just the main pump assembly, and one has both main and secondary...one of them will be coming here! LOL funny you should mention 95 2.2 into the 98 Foz - we JUST picked up a 95 Legacy 2.2 (w/EGR) with a bad tranny (picked up on tuesday) It is mighty tempting.... But, have other plans for the Legacy, so its motor will be staying put. Car is on otherwise pretty good shape. Once we get the Foz sorted out and running, I will be driving it for a bit - we will be taking the tranny out of my current daily driver (getting exceedingly rusty, but still runs/drives great) and putting it into the Legacy to get it going again, then I will take over the Legacy, and Madkow will take the Foz to get out of his current dd - an 04 Mercury.

well, it would appear that the pump itself is dead. oh yay... this car has turned into quite the money pit.... anyone know anything about the O2 sensor question??? nevermind - figured it out - there are actually THREE different styles of plugs for the downstream. Plan on calling Rockauto tomorrow

will see what i can come up with...have some old plugs from other things lying around, maybe I can get the actual connector parts out and use those... is there any way to test the relay? (and relay location?) or am I correct in thinking voltage at the plug would mean relay is fine?

nice thought, but the what remained of the donor car went bye-bye last week...

so we finally got the new starter for our 98 Forester project, got it all installed, along with new front O2 sensor (got a rear one as well, but that is another issue), brand new plugs & wires (both NGK) exhaust is all hooked up, air intake is all hooked up, battery installed...turn the key - she turns over great, but doesnt fire. it WILL fire with a quick shot of starting fluid, but then dies right away - so I am assuming spark is ok. Pulled the cargo area covers out (and yet another issue rears it's ugly head) and opened the fuel pump access - using a multi meter - we do get a brief reading of 12 v at the fuel pump plug when the key is turned to on - but I do not hear or feel the pump kicking in at all when it is plugged in - even with the access cover off... dead pump? with a voltage reading at the pump plug, I am guessing fuse & relay are ok - correct? so what else could it be besides a bad pump? ok - on to the "other issues" rear O2 sensor - were there 2 different sizes of plugs for these? Ordered from Rockauto - for the 98 Forester 1 upstream - triangular plug - fits fine, no issues installing 1 downstream - square plug - the sensor side of the plug seems way too small - will not plug in. any thoughts on where water could be getting in to fill the drivers side rear quarter area (the space behind the rear wheel well - found this after removing all the cargo area covers to do some cleaning out) - the car is not rusty at all so I have no idea how the water got there (not to mention it hasnt rained enough in weeks here to get that much water in there! it had to have been in there when I got it back in June. Passenger side is dry as far as I can tell (cant get my fingers all the way in there to be sure) The spare tire well also had water in it - found a missing body plug in there...under the thick rubbery lining - but - if the water couldnt get out thru that hole, how did it get in there?

well, turns out that the starter is junk - the shop called yesterday - his exact words were "this starter is beyond rebuilding" I guess with over 364K on the car & probably the original starter, it was bound to happen. New starter has been ordered from Rockauto, just have to wait for it to get here. got the new O2 sensors a few days ago - just need to get out there and install them. really hoping to have this car up & running soon since we now have another project to play with...

engine casting number will be on the block - look down in between and behind the alternator and the power steering resevoir - it may be dirty down in there judging by the picture you posted, so you may need to use a rag & wipe away some crud. The 2 engines are very similar looking on the exterior, so your picture is pretty much useless for identification purposes. knock sensor being bad wont cause any "damage" per se - but it will cause drivability issues. Get the codes read and get them posted.

thanks for the info fairtax - wasnt sure if they were still the hydraulic lifters or not in this one - good to know they are. it does have the typical cam cover seepage from old dried out seals, so no doubt there are other things needing resealed as well.

well, I guess i need to quit running around with a trailer attached to the pickup...another Subaru has followed me home... This one is a 95 Legacy L, 2.2 with 205K, 4EAT with no reverse... Starts fine, has a bit of a tick after starting - sounds kind of like lifter tick, but not sure - does this year still have the hydraulic lifters? or do they need to be adjusted? Oil level is good, altho pretty obviously overdue for a change - but the dipstick is heavily varnished making me think there has been a little abuse over the years. (my 90 has over 234K and the dipstick is nice & clean) Moves forward fine, drove it up onto the trailer with no problem. But there is definitely no reverse - no amount of fiddling with the shifter will get it to go - back up lights come on when they should, but no movement. It did kind of try to move once, but that was it. Had to pull it off the trailer. So it looks like it is going to need a tranny transplant. Otherwise, the car seems to be in decent shape for its age/mileage - has the typical rear wheel well rust holes, and some rust on the roof where the front of the roof rack sits - gonna need to pull that off and fix that for sure. Drivers seat is pretty worn - outer bolster is completely broken down, but that is minor stuff. Got to get her moving in both directions under her own power first - lol

I am curious about this one myself - noticed the same thing happening with our 98 Forester when I had a battery in it recently - dash "door ajar" indicator stayed on after key was off & w/all doors closed (this one does have the keyless entry stuff installed)