heartless

Welcome HardDog. sounds like you got a keeper. The biggest issue with the older Subarus is usually the lack of general maintenance by previous owners. Trying to play catch up on that stuff can get frustrating at times - BUT - once you do get everything caught up, these are GREAT cars. Were you able to get any kind of maintenance history, besides the short list you gave? such as when the last timing service was done? Some will say 70K on belt service, others 100K - either way, unless you know exactly when it was done last (and what all was done, some will just throw new belts on and call it good), it might be a good idea to invest in a new timing set - belts, pulleys, and front seals, and a water pump while in there. It isnt a huge deal if this year pops a belt - no internal damage done - but it will leave you sitting if it does go...

I dunno, Ben - the cargo carpet looks like it could use a little more work. i see brownish spots... (just teasing Tom - lookin real good. the seats look fantastic!) + 10 on What TomR said about the metal lines. get a good flaring kit for making the double flares (about $30 for a good one), and a bending tool so you dont crimp the lines. make a few practice flares on an old piece of line just to get the hang of it before working on actual replacements. its not hard, just fiddly. make sure you have plenty of the appropriate size connectors as well, you can always return if you dont use them.

PM replied to.

it is my very humble opinion that you should replace that battery - you have, by your own admittance, run that thing down so far that it will probably never take and hold a proper charge ever again. Take it in, get a new one - most places will give you a small discount towards a new battery if you bring in your old one for recycling - around here it is usually $5.00 - not much, but better than a kick in the pants. this could be a great majority of the entire problem at this point... Start with a fresh, new battery to go with the new alternator, and new voltage regulator and then see what happens. just my humble .02 cents worth.

ok - pictures... (i hope) it looks oily from the power steering pump being removed and the fluid dripping from the lines - yes, it is a bit on the dirty side - we do live on a dirt road after all, but as you can see, the fuel injector ports were covered up when they got pulled. it is mostly complete aside from the injectors, and some hoses and vacuum lines (that should be replaced anyway) and of course the front accessories (power steering pump & alternator) funny, but this one is the least cannabilized (under the hood) of the three parts cars - our thinking was that this motor would be the one used (in the best shape) if one of our daily drivers took a dump... we do have one other that is totally complete - car is complete for that matter - but it has a LOT more miles on it (well over 260K) Still runs like a champ tho... was the other half's daily driver until a few months ago.

+1 - the stock guages are not the most accurate - running your own would be the better option.

um, no - there are plastic strips with screws in them at the base of the seat backs, remove those, and the carpet will seperate into two sections, one for the seat back, and one for the cargo area. only if you dont work slowly and carefully - i have removed all of them without breaking any. they are a 10mm. pb blaster is a rust penetrating oil available here in the US, not sure about in Europe - use what you have available. using a small socket set, work slowly and very carefully on those nuts, if you feel ANY resistance, stop and soak them again, might even tighten them just a tad so the penetrating oil can get down in better. use a small wire brush to help break up and remove rust scale, makes it a little bit easier to get those nuts off. if your car is an AWD version, there is a secondary pump on the left side under a round cover - the main pump is under the oval cover however. and yes, the emptier the tank is, the better - but it can be done with a full tank - just be prepared to have some fuel seepage from the lines when you remove them.

i can get a pic for you later today (just getting moving here...) we actually have several parts cars here - but the one I mentioned has the least amount of miles on it, and was a known running car.

uh, why do the job twice?? just curious

we are up near Marshfield WI - about 3.5 - 4 hours north-west of you.

+10 watching this one and waiting for the awesome results.

yes, bad alternators can cause all sorts of problems, including damageing your battery - and other things that you wouldnt think would be related.

just to clarify - the motor I am offering up is in a 91 Legacy LS, auto tranny, awd sedan. was a running car before we started stealing bits & pieces off of it - we drove it home from Illinois.

you mean to tell me you couldnt find your way back out here to the middle of nowhere??? ROFL guess maybe I should have said, you have been here(regardless of whether or not you remember how to get here), and you know me...

have a motor that would drop right in that car - $200 you come get it. you would need to swap over some bits and pieces from yours (like fuel injector rails, and a few other bits), but the block is in good shape, around 135-140K miles on it TheLoyale knows where we are.

The shop i go to wont do only a front wheel alignment - they feel that is only doing half the job, and i would have to agree. matters not if it is front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, or all wheel drive, if you only do half the job by doing just the front, and the back end is still out of whack, you are still going to have problems, and you will be scratching your head trying to figure out where...

LOL - the thumb drive itself isnt the problem - the aftermarket head unit is thinner/shorter than the old stock unit was, leaving a gap between it and the little cubby that is in that location stock unit was close to 3" tall top to bottom, new one is only 2"... have been kind of planning on putting in some aftermarket guages - a volt meter, and an oil pressure - i kind of miss having those - and since i dont use the cubby in the middle, it would go bye-bye and the guages would go in that space. I know, not the best spot for viewing a pair of guages, but better than nothing, and they would fill in that space nicely.

my first thought was bad strut, or bad tire... bad tie rod ends and/or ball joints usually cause funny wear all the way around, not just in one spot not sure about costs down your way, but up here in north central WI a full 4 wheel alignment costs about $70 - 80, give or take if the shop is any good - they will check things out before doing any alignment work and let you/her know of any problems that should be addressed before doing an actual alignment - as in "aligning is pointless unless you take care of X, Y & Z first". they will probably assess a labor charge in that case, but it shouldnt be too terrible.

my 1st gen had the aux input, but that didnt help when the head unit itself took a dump - seems they are 2 seperate pieces and the connection between the two crapped out after 20+ years... anyway, i went with a cheap aftermarket unit that has a usb connector right up front - load up my favorite tunes on a thumb drive, plug into stereo, enjoy. and no - the thumb drive does not interfere with the shifter - it did kind of get in the way of the cupholders, but i solved that by moving the stereo down in the bracket & the little cubby up - still have a small gap between the two, but i can live with it.

quick disconnect list: drain coolant - yes drain A/C - no - unbolt the compressor and swing out of the way disconnect power steering - can also be unbolted and swung out of the way (dont forget the two small bolts that hold the metal lines in place on the passenger side) fuel lines - yes air intake - what Miles said wire harness - yes brake booster hose - yes throttle cables - yes - rotate the plate and slip the cables out - no need to mess with adjustments that way battery - yes - in fact, this one should be first! other items: unbolt exhaust headers and motor mounts. still easier than going in underneath huh? i will believe the wisdom of the board, since i have done neither on this car before. Yes, it is MUCH eaisier to pull the motor than to try to get the tranny out

not sure if yours has it or not - but both of the 90 Legacys we have here with auto transmissions have the external tranny filter - looks kind of like an oil filter with 2 rubber hoses going to it - mounted down low on drivers side (look down slightly behind where the battery sits...) it is possible it blew one of those rubber lines.... otherwise, good luck, not gonna be a fun job.

i didnt break my key, but bent it pretty good a couple weeks ago - to the point of not being able to get it in the ignition after trying to straighten it out...had to steal the other half's spare so i could get to class... (good thing he was home at the time!) had 2 new keys made a few days later...locksmith was impressed that I still had the original key with the numbers stamped in it.

and if the doors locked when the car is put in gear, then if you do hit a deer, they would still be locked... So again, I see no reason for them to lock on startup... and yes, crazy things DO happen in accidents! no argument there! hehehe, yeah, i can see where once you got used to it, it would be a nice feature - but never having owned a car with remote start, or automatically locking doors, I guess I just dont "appreciate" these things the way you do (altho the other half now has an 04 Merc with auto locking doors - but they dont lock until the vehicle is actually in motion...woudl still be locked if we hit a deer tho... )

well - phooey - still having surging issues once warmed up more than a month later.... again I ask... for those that dont want to take the time to read the whole thread... 1990 Legacy LS, AWD, Automatic - now has 222K on the clock have already replaced: IAC valve from a lower mileage car that was a known runner - cleaned out before installing Coolant temp sensor all the smaller vacuum lines Radiator replaced recently and filled with fresh fluids, system burped PCV valve (larger hoses need replacing - see above) MAF sensor (from the same car as the IAC valve) oh yeah - O2 sensor was replaced last year... anyone have any other thoughts, suggestions, comments????????

@ eulogious - to each thier own i guess, but i live in a very rural area, very low crime rate - even on the high dollar, high end vehicles (of which there are a few around) - so being car-jacked really isnt an issue here...you have a 100% greater risk of hitting a deer than getting car-jacked... I can fully understand the doors locking automatically when the vehicle is put in gear - but locking upon start is just plain silly to me, as I also live in northern Wisconsin and it is VERY common to start the car, then get out, shut the door and scrape the ice off windows/remove snow from the vehicle while it is warming up. leaving the door open is not a good idea when doing this, unless of course, you like sitting in snow... and - the greater majority of us are human - we do forget things occasionally...