heartless

Ok, I have searched, and searched and found lots of info regarding the later plastic seperator plates that from what I little I have been able to glean were used on 93 & up EJ motors...most of the threads i found were about 96's and later, both 2.2's and 2.5's My car - 1990 Legacy LS, EJ22, 4EAT, AWD, 211K leaking oil like a sieve... now from what I have been able to find, my seperator plate "should" be aluminum, correct? I know it has been said to get the steel replacement one anyway, but I really can not afford to at this time unless it is an absolute necessity, so...I "should" be able to re-use the aluminum plate, use the ultra grey sealant and it "should" be OK - correct? (and use locktight on the screws - really hoping the rear main is ok) It would be really useful to know the answers to these questions asap as there are USMB members coming up tomorrow to help me pull, reseal, and re-install the motor - will also be doing timing related stuff as it will be that much easier with the motor out and it is due anyway. If I absolutely must get the steel plate (& screws), I would need to do it today and the nearest dealer is about an hour away... Thanks in advance for advice.

i'm no expert by any means, but i would suspect a stuck/gummed up idle air control valve (IAC) especially since it seems to go away when the car is warmed up...

Well, I ordered, and recieved last night, two of the mizumo auto timing kits for our Legacy's - and of course just see this post this morning...so GD - I am going to take your word on the kits and go ahead and use them - both cars are slightly over due for this service...really do not want to put it off any longer if i dont have to. One will be done this weekend for sure... there is one thing that I would like to say about the seal in question however... never, ever assume (rump roast-u-me) if something doesnt seem right - CHECK IT OUT! I did, however, just run out to the garage and check all the seals that came in my kits, and they do seem to be fine, nothing appears missing or mis-manufactured. I honestly dont really think that it is fair to slam the supplier for what is probably a fluke mis-manufactured part, and they DID offer you refund money for your trouble in an attempt to make things right with you. a $40 refund for one seal seems way more than fair to me. just my thoughts...

D/R stands for Dual Range - which is what you are looking for - the 4 whl hi & lo - it has a seperate lever for selecting FWD, 4 HI and 4 Lo PB or Push Button 4WD is a single range set up that has button on the shifter to engage/disengage

and that is why you need to figure out your fuel mileage like i explained to you...USE that trip meter!! once you have done it a few times you wont really look at the darn guage anymore, all you need to do is check your trip meter to see how many miles you have gone, and you will know when you need to fill up. guage in my car only works correctly when it is either damp or cold out (or both) warm dry weather it gets weird...I do NOT rely on it, i rely on the trip meter. (god forbid my speedo breaks!! LOL) reset to zero when you fill up and dont touch it again until next fill up. make note of # of miles driven, and how many gallons at next fill up, reset to zero again - repeat each time you fill up. like i said - you wont even look at the guage after a while.

and 151 lbs!

if you take good care of it, you could feasibly get 3 or 4 "100K" years out of one - seriously. yeah, Miles has some AWESOME videos! hopefully I will get to see tha man in action in person this weekend!! (just so long as I dont end up in one of them videos - the car can be, but not me!)

first - have you checked the fluid level?? low fluid level could be a factor. some delay in shifting in cold weather I am told is normal (my 1990 Legacy with the 4EAT also does this - the colder it is, the longer the delay), but the hard shifting is not - unless you are really revving it? I go easy on mine until it gets fully warmed up and is shifting properly thru all gears. in really cold weather (sub-zero) it could take as much as 5-6 miles of driving even after a 5-10 minute warm up period in the driveway. my car has 211K on the clock and as far as i know, it has never had the fluid flushed (i have only had it for 3 yrs)

my old 89 GL wagon, 5 spd, FWD had over 265K when it finally got junked due to rust - still ran great, but she just wasnt safe anymore. I bought the car with 152K on it - drove it for nearly 8 yrs - rust got so bad that a jackstand put a hole in the front subframe when i was attempting to get it up in the air for some brake work... (i live in Wisconsin - rust belt) Knowing these old Subies as well as i do, i would not hesitate to get one with 150-200K on the clock - perform some basic maintenance on it and drive it till it drops. Still going to be cheaper to maintain than pretty much anything else. Out there in the PNW - your cars will last much longer as you dont have the rust issues we have here. some other examples of cars that I or my other half have/had over the years - 89 GLwagon 1.8 w/DR 5 spd - 250K (+/- a few) - 1990 Legacy LS wagon, 2.2 auto, AWD 211K and counting - 1990 Legacy L sedan, 2.2 5 spd FWD, 264K and counting (purchased this one with 202K on it already) I know, 150-200K sounds like a lot of miles, but on a Subaru, it really isnt all that much, especially on an older car - 200K divided by 22 yrs (for an 89 model) is only 9091 miles a year average - given decent care they will run darn near forever - it is things like rust that kill these cars, not high miles. keep the cooling system up to par & keep oil in them and they are pretty happy. now, getting to what to look for - if you want to do offroad you want the dual range 5 spd. best of all worlds with that tranny - FWD for "normal" daily driving, 4wd hi & 4wd lo for your offroad/nasty weather needs. I personally would go for the SPFI version of the 1.8 as they have fewer issues than the carbed ones IMHO and usually get a little better in the mpg dept. (the 5 spd DR wagon we had got 30-31 mpg when driven "gently" - not too shabby for an "old technology" car) the 3 spd autos are not the best - especially if you plan to do offroading - fuel mileage also suffers greatly - 24-25mpg with the 3spd auto vs 30mpg or better with a 5 spd...your choice tho

Type of Wrenching: Shadetree, Maintenance How long doing it: since i got my first car at age 18 (now 47) Other skills: (Anything else you do.) Pretty much anything and everything that I can manage - construction, woodworking, electrical, plumbing, wrenching on cars & motorcycles, welding, fabrication, you name it, i have at least tried it, so... Jack (or in my case - Jill) of all trades, master of none - know a little bit about a lot of things and whole lot about nothing.

keep the peace?? yeah, right just tryin to prevent a rip roarin flame party here...hehe seriously tho - I meant it when i said that it doesnt matter what make/model you talk about - one person will rave about it, another will slam it - just the way of the world. you like GM, i like Ford - and of course, my Subaru

I would use a fogging oil for the upper cylinders - comes in a spray can and I think it should have one of the little straws to make getting it in the sparkplug hole easier - and be generous with it. put the old sparkplugs back in the holes to keep dust and moisture out while it is stored. you dont need to buy new ones until you get back and take it out of storage. fill it up with the high octane (takes longer to break down) and add the fuel stabilizer (i personally would use a stabilizer) make sure it is thoroughly mixed in - as in when you are filling for the last time - add the required amount of stabilizer to the tank (read the directions on the product for the required amount), then fill, then drive the car to it's storage location - this will ensure that the stabilizer is completey mixed in and distributed through out the fuel system. The reason for filling the tank is to prevent excessive condensation moisture from forming inside the tank and rusting it from the inside out. jack stands are a good idea - takes the weight off the tires and potentially prevents wheel damage from tires going flat over time...

We all need a road trip now and again! Hope you are allowed to join the party, too! I know you are a GM fan - so I hope you dont mind classic Ford products! I have a 1967 F-250 and the other half has a 1973 Lincoln Mark IV... We also have several "antique" (as defined by the DMV - 25 yrs or older) motorcycles cluttering up the garage - 1974 thru 1985 models - 2 Honda, 2 Kawasaki & 1 Yamaha

hey, the more the merrier as far as I am concerned - but you will have to check with the boys... the "plan" so to speak, is for Tom & the Fox (and maybe others??) to come up here to middle of nowhere land (near Marshfield) this coming weekend (I hope) and help me pull, reseal, and re-install my 2.2...it is going thru like a quart of oil a week, and i hardly go anywhere! (200-250 miles a week or so, +/- a few) Plus they are going to haul away a whole crapload of EA82 stuff (including an entire car) we still have sitting around here collecting dust - we are tired of lookin at the stuff, and I know the alliance could put most (if not all) of it to good use. So yeah, if the boys dont mind, come on up!

yup, you would - not to mention that there is metal behind the headlight housings, too, that is all a structural part of that... honest truth is you probably have more "bent" than just that little kink in the upper rad support - in fact i would put money on it that there is more. Take a tape measure to it and you will find it...

ok, after seeing the other side in comparison - yeah, it is pushed down and probably back a little too - the rad bracket will move with the support quite a bit before being noticably tweaked. I am willing to bet that if you measured both sides - say from strut tower forward, there would be a difference.

ok, i am sorry, i apparently misunderstood you. I thought it was a brake line fitting that was leaking. Good luck - hope you can get the problem resolved

Hey, Long time no see!! hows things?

Um, most "modern" cars (pretty much anything after say 92-95) are designed to be throw-aways (IMHO) the dealers WANT you coming back every 3 to 5 yrs for a new one - if they really built them to last, they wouldnt make enough money - and the greater majority of people that buy new will do it. then you have folks like us - too broke to buy new, cant even arfford 5-7 yr old used - no, we have to go back 15-20 yrs! LOL We, who will do pretty much whatever it takes to keep our "antique" running and getting us around - and most of the time we succeed - sometimes we dont. It really makes no difference what brand you prefer, chevy, ford, kia, mazda, or our ever popular Subaru - somebody will have a story about the car model that just wouldnt die, and someone else will have a story about that same car model that was the biggest P.O.S. ever.

and please bear in mind that these are only 60 amp alternators - adding aftermarket high wattage items like amps, driving lights, etc will kill them quickly. There is an "upgrade" out there for using a 100amp alt from another vehicle, but requires a little more work - do a search for the info.

disclaimer - i am not a pro by any means, but... here is what I would do (follow manufacturer directions for the products you are using for tack/dry/recoat times) 1. sand the area, feathering the existing paint/primer so that it feels relatively smooth when you run your hand across it. your "working" area will end up quite a bit larger than the original spot you are trying to repair. 2. tape off a slightly larger area than you will actually be painting 3. prime with a quality primer - self etching if possible 4. apply paint, usually in several thin coats, building up to desired thickness, feather edges, allow to dry completely. wet sand with very fine paper to smooth and blend edges - recoat if needed. 5. apply clear coat, usually done in one thin coat, and one "wet" coat - but follow manufacturers directions... after all is good and dry, some light wet sanding & polishing should blend it in nicely. Good Luck.

hmmm, if torqueing it down more seems to aggrivate the problem - i have to wonder if perhaps the end of the line itself isnt cracked or damaged somehow??? IF that is the case, then replacing the ABS unit will not solve the problem i honestly have a hard time believing that the unit itself is the cause of this problem...i would be more inclined to believe it is a line/fitting problem. Before spending ANY money, any where, I would unscrew the problem fitting and inspect it closely, also inspect the housing where the fitting goes in...check both for cracks, gouges, pin holes, dirt/debris, etc...anything that could potentially cause it to leak my money is on a bad line/fitting.....

it may have a similar looking crease on the other side, but the chipped paint is a clue that something is out of whack here.

just a quick look at you r pic - arrow A - broken mounting tab arrow B - crease in upper radiator support between those two things, that could account for the alignment problem but not being able to physically see the car, hard to say...

we have 2 of the 1st gen Legacy's here - a sedan, FWD, 5 Spd and an AWD auto wagon - both have over 200K, both run like champs - the sedan is in the 260K range, my wagon is 211K The sedan gets in the low 30's for fuel mileage - 32-33mpg depending on how it is driven the wagon averages around 28 or so (summer - 25-26 winter), have gotten as high as 30 but that was freeway driving with the cruise on. the non-interference 2.2 is about the best Subaru engine you can get, imho - your mileage may vary.