heartless

there are only 3 bolts holding it in there - pull it out and see what you can. may just need a good cleaning out - dust, dirt, rodent presents, etc new ones are listed for $57.48 & up on the Parts America website (Advance Auto, Schucks, Checker, Kragen stores) and that is without the cage on it - the motor only.... I am sure that if you post in the parts wanted area you could get a decent used one pretty cheap - may even be able to come up with one here - we still have a couple of parts cars left... btw - did you ever get that front end sorted out?? I hope so.

also check the exhaust for blockages - seems to be a favorite place for building nests for the rotten little you know whats... have had that problem in the past - car seemed to run great for a short while, but eventually the nest materials get very compressed in the exhaust and wont let the gases escape effectively killing the engine. the further forward the nest, the faster the car will die.

if I may make a suggestion - try melting some parifin wax into the gap on the knuckle... heat the area of the pinch bolt and then drip some melted wax into that area keeping the heat applied so the wax can seep into the threads. May help. the other half uses this method on his work truck frequently when PB just wont cut it. you should be able to get the parifin wax at your local grocery store - it is used to create a wax seal when making jellies and jams. a brand name is Gulf Wax...

DOH! forgot about that... Porcupine73 - thanks for the link!

would this hold true for the 1990 external tranny filters as well?? Have a 90 LS wagon with the external tranny filter and would LOVE to give it a fluid & filter change but have not been able to find any part info....filter itself is in pretty rough shape so no numbers to be seen there.

some great pics here for sure! Have hauled a lot of stuff on my old wagon, 6ftx6ft chainlink dog kennel panels, doors, lumber, siding & trim but my favorite i think is this.... 3 - 6ft tall pine trees complete with root balls loaded inside the car.

been a while since i did the horns on my GL - i did re-use the existing wiring on mine - works fine since it was the horns themselves that died. BTW left the old horns in place - too much of a pain to get to them to remove! LOL Will go check things out later today and get back to you on how i did it.

the horns on these cars usually crap out with age - they are located behind the front bumper cover (at least on my GL they are...) if you remove the corner markers you can see them, but they are a pain to try to get to. would recommend you go get yourself a set of aftermarket horns and install them using the wiring for the original horns - or install new wire if you prefer.

and why are you over-taching?? need more info....

definitely start gathering your parts - also start soaking those rusty parts with the penetrating oil of choice NOW. Ball joints are relatively cheap - from $11.50 each - sorry, but I would not go used on them - used axle is one thing, used ball joints - no way. might actually have some "extras" here, need to look to be sure tho. will get back to you on that.

If your problem is the balljoint - it wont "come loose" it will break - usually at the most inopportune time. Ball joints are a ball in socket joint (think hip or shoulder) - when they are worn out - as it sounds like yours is - the ball slops around in the socket and will eventually break free from the socket. This is VERY bad. Get it replaced ASAP! They can be a pain in the butt to do if things are rusty (sounds like an issue you have considering the wheel thing) but it CAN be done in less than a day. You need to invest in a couple of things for working on your Subie... 1. a BFH of some sort - even a 2lb mini sledge can be very useful. 2. PB Blaster - Very useful stuff for helping loosen rusty, stuck parts. Generously spray into all crevaces around the wheel/hub to loosen a stuck wheel - including around the lugs and around the center hub/wheel mating surface. 3. Anti-seize - used in places such as wheel hubs to prevent wheels from rusting to the hubs...slather generously around the hub center where the wheel meets, and any of the hub surface that the wheel touches - no more stuck wheels. getting back to your ball joints... Get that PB out and spray it into the the cracks and crevaces around the ball joint mounting points ahead of time (ie: a day or two before you plan on changing) actually spraying things down a few times over the course of a couple of days will make the job go that much quicker - gives it time to seep into all the built up crud/rust/etc. Honestly, I would recommend doing both sides - if one is gone, the other probably isnt too far behind, and replacing only one puts more stress on the other, older one causing it to fail quickly anyway. this is not an absolute necessity - just my preference/opinion.

you want to be careful honking the horn during rut (late Oct into Nov) - the bucks will charge - been there, done that. I live in rural central Wisconsin - farm country - LOTS of deer around here. I try very hard NOT to swerve, but do get on the brakes hard - I figure the deer is going to do less damage than flying into the ditch, or hitting something else will do. Yes, I fear having one come thru the windshield - but the chances of that happening are pretty slim by comparison. Actually hit a small buck in the EA82 wagon once - took out the corner marker and made the dent in the passenger fender larger than it was, but the damage could have been a LOT worse had I swerved to avoid the darn thing. (i did have my revenge tho - he broke his neck on impact, so we had some real tasty loin steaks for dinner!! hehehe )

the pulsing when applying the brakes is either a warped rotor, or the ABS system... I feel the pulsing of the ABS system on my 90 Leg Wagon, but not to extreme - if it is excessive would definitely be checking the rotors...

just a thought, but how old are the tires? would start by checking them - you could possibly have a bad belt on a tire (you did mention it sounding like "something stuck in a tire") also would check the strut mounts/nuts - after replacing struts on the other half's car he had one making an odd thunking noise - turned out the big nut (on the strut shaft) holding the top strut mounting plate was not quite tight enough - tightened that up and noise went away. (kind of a pain to do while on the car, but can be done!) might also give a good checking to ball joints and tierod ends...

not to mention that a bad alternator can fry a perfectly good battery as well...left too long and you will be replacing both!

have had success "fixing" a loose oil cap by prying the seal out and flipping it over - put cap fully back on then back it up until it "tightens" - worked for me anyway...

not sure about the XT, but my old EA82 Wagon, FWD, 5 Speed was getting 32-34 for mileage in the summer - average speed around 62 mph - country driving (not city, not freeway) dropped to 28-30 in the winter time with warm up and all... average RPM reading around 3000-3250 at the above mentioned speed. Seems yours is revving a little higher than the ol wagon did, so your mileage may be a little less. oh, car had over 220K on her too.

dont think it is the coil pack - pulled the plug and checked for spark - plenty strong there, just not firing at the right time... besides - if the coil pack went south, wouldnt both the cylinders that it serves be "dead" i could be wrong....

Thanks - found the write up on the EJ22 Timing belts easily - just had to go look update on the car - pulled both outer covers off, and lined up the mark on drivers side - it appears that passenger side is slightly off (no notch in the cover on that side?) also did the pull the plug wires thing - #4 was not hitting, altho it does have spark. anyway - it looked like the water pump pulley was turning - at the time, anyway...also looked like tensioner pulley was turning ok... Took a big chance and decided to try limping it home - about 8 miles. She made it, but it was rough all the way... Have i ever said that I LOVE non-interference engines?? Cause i definitely do!!! Would never have done what i did with a standard interference style engine! :-p Anyway, now that she is home i can get into things further. Plan is to R&R the whole front end - new water pump, thermostat, cam & crank seals, timing belts, etc - and thanks for the tip on the oil pump, GD - will have a look see at that, too Thanks again for the info, GD, you may have saved me several hours of headaches trying to figure out what the heck went wrong.

thank you for the reply GD - at least now i have a general direction. I did kind of wonder about the water pump going south, but was unsure about it...didnt think about it causing the timing to jump... Have done the timing belts on an EA82 a few times (several cars!) but this will be a first time on the EJ22 Is there a good write up on the EJ timing belts like there is for EA82? time to go do a search i guess. Thanks again!

ok, car: 90 Leg LS, 2.2, Auto, AWD, 162,000 miles Heading in to work this morning, going along fine, then BAM - all of a sudden it starts running like crap - almost like it was only running on one bank. could not accelerate - car would just shudder, almost violently. Found a reasonably safe place to pull over - would not idle without me feathering the throttle. Shut it off and popped the hood. Oil - no obvious dripping/leaking anywhere - cool Coolant - overflow bottle was "overflowing" - hmm - found an antifreeze drip trail along where i had been when i stopped. (note - temp guage never read hot, or even semi hot - never moved from its normal spot) Car will start and run, but runs crappy - when cold it seems like it's running on three cyl's... any thoughts as to what might be the problem??? Will not be able to mess with it until tommorrow evening. Suggestions on what to check (besides the obvious of pulling plug wires to verify what cyls are firing) am kind of new to the EJ22, so any help would be appreciated. Not sure if it is related or not (probably not), but will also add that the ABS light came on this morning as well

to get an idea of what the car is worth check the following: http://www.nadaguides.com/ http://www.kbb.com/ I prefer the first one because it will give you several prices depending on the condition of the vehicle. Use the prices listed as a basic guideline - adjust up or down as needed for the condition of the vehicle you are looking at. Just to give you an idea....looking up a 94 Impreza 4 dr "L" model in Wisconsin the average retail price is $2000. May be higher or lower in your area.

well, after getting under there and checking further - the drivers side had a torn outer boot (at the hub) and there was quite a bit of slop...changed it out and no more clicking or vibrations. the passenger side has a torn inner boot (tranny side) and was torn when we got the car - had originally purchased the axle to replace that one but hadnt had the time...funny how fate can intervene...now i need to get another axle!

have the HF 1/2" drive 0-150 ft/lb one here - a MUST for axle nuts and crank pulleys - have no real complaints with it. works just fine for the occasional use - if I had to use one every day I would go for the high end Snap-on. also picked up the HF in/lb version as well, only used that one once so far, but seemed to work fine. i do agree with turning it back to a low setting before putting away - we also store it in its original packaging & NOT in the tool box where it can get banged around.

sounds about right to me as well - 90 Leg LS, Auto, AWD, 160K on the clock - getting 28-30. check mine on every fill up.