heartless

Thank you VERY much for that info Texan! I will be sure to pass it on to Madkow. So we should look at replacing the idler pulley as well? Using mech. stethoscope it sounded pretty good, the tensioner one sounded awful, tho - squealing like a stuck pig when car is started - quite loud and grindy sounding with stethoscope...

thanks guys. He is pretty happy with it so far (need to get him back in here and posting - lol). I got to drive it a little on the trip home - aside from the bouncy bad strut it rides very nice, and is comfortable to sit in, too...plenty of giddy-up-go as well, hehe after driving the ol' Mercury for about 1/2 the trip home, getting behind the wheel of this one just felt "right" - everything was familiar, even tho it is a bit different than what I am used to. want him to get the new struts in, then go find some curvy roads and play with the sport shift! LOL

or no thermostat at all if it takes a while to warm up, and cools quickly.... I second grossgary's advice. Make sure it has either an OEM Subaru thermostat, or a Stant Exac-stat, part number 48457 Burp cooling system properly on refill, new radiator cap, and see how things go.

We have finally done it! Madkow is back in a Subaru, and what a Subaru it is! 2006 L.L. Bean edition Outback, 120,000 miles, H6, 5spd auto with the Sport Shift, heated leather seats, 6 disc CD, etc, etc... Overall in pretty good condition, obvious the previous owners took good care of it, but it does have a couple of minor issues... Needs new rear struts (passenger rear is shot - very bouncy) and the accessory belt tensioner pulley is making some pretty ugly noises. Both of these things will be taken care of soon. So, anything specific that we should be on the lookout for with this model? The H6 is a completely new beast to us - the learning curve just got a whole lot steeper... (and no, those are not his actual plates - a little bit of photoshop magic. )

Hi and welcome to the USMB! If the car is in otherwise good condition (not rusting apart) I personally would keep it and fix whatever the problem is - 165K is low mileage for a 94 - only a about 8250 miles/year... I have a 1990 that has over 265K on it and still runs/drives great, and a 95 with 212K and going strong. just to clear the obvious, has the auto tranny fluid level been checked? (dipstick for this is on drivers side) car needs to be fully warmed up (drive it a little to get tranny fully warmed up) before checking level with engine running, and parked on flat, level ground. Does the 94 have the external tranny filter? if so, when was that last changed? What does the fluid look/smell like? should be fairly bright red - if you have a bottle of tranny fluid, compare what is in the bottle to what is on the dipstick - they should be very close in color, smell, and consistency. Dark and/or stinky is dirty or "burned" pinkish is contamination with other fluids (gear oil, water, etc)

agree that the belt is in desparate need of replacing - ASAP! seriously, get a complete timing kit, do it all and be done with it, and have a little piece of mind for a while. tooth count is 44 (passenger side) and 40.5 (drivers side) per Timing Belt section of FSM found here (tooth count is on page 4): 1996-2001 Impreza FSM - Timing Belt

Yes, they retired September 2012...any shows you hear are "reruns" http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2285752/ciao-tom-and-ray#latest Still funny stuff to listen to, but no calling them now.

tire size calculator: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html will tell you how much of a difference in size & how far off your speedo will be with different sizes

pulling the motor really isnt all that hard if you are even a little mechanically inclined. rusty bolts/nuts are a bit of a concern up here (I am in Wisconsin) but other than that, the hardest part is often getting motor & tranny separated. Flywheel bolts can be a bit of a pain too... definitely use car-part.com to search for available options around you, upnorthguy covered what to look for pretty well - 95 plus. (90-94 has completely different wire harness connections) Also, make a note of which type of exhaust you have - single port or dual - it does make a difference. You will want one from an automatic car for the EGR setup (saw that in your video) - I guess manuals didnt have EGR. You will have to do multiple searchs using the different yrs/models - Legacy, Impreza, etc. you can sort by distance from you, or by price... and dont be afraid to call ones that dont actually list a price - sometimes they are better deals than those that do have prices listed. I can tell you to stay away from North Imports Auto in Shakopee, MN - bunch of friggin crooks. Bought a tranny from them that was supposedly good, only 31,000 miles - 30 day warranty - cost me $500 plus the 7 hours round trip & fuel costs to go get it. They then tried to blame the shop for screwing something up when the tranny failed within 5 miles on the test drive after install - insisted it had to be shop error that caused the failure, but they refused to talk directly to the shop - wanted me to be the go between. Never did get any money back from them.

good to hear they are standing behind thier products. I have used thier timing kits several times on older, non-interferrence EJ22s with no issues.

try looking here for the wiring diagram http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy%20Outback/2001/Service%20Manual/

Can do that easy enough. Thanks Fairtax.

Hey guys - 95 Legacy L, EJ22, Auto, with 212K on the clock - Have had a misfire code set on 2 different occasions recently - both times a cyl 2 misfire - Both times under the following circumstances cold engine start, after sitting for at least 30 hours warm & humid weather conditions scenario goes like this...a week ago - weather very damp and warm - go out and start car, normal start up. 1st time it began to miss almost as soon as I put it in gear, gave it a bit of gas to keep it running, and it cleared up and ran fine all the way to work, and home again. Checked & cleared the code with the scan tool when I got home (P0302), and it was fine the rest of the week with dryer weather conditions. Yesterday, very similar weather conditions (& car sat most of the weekend), go out and start car, normal start up, normal idle, left the driveway and about a 1/2 mile down the road it starts to miss - again, gave it some gas, and it cleared up and ran fine all the way to work - popped the hood at work during a break and that is when I found the unplugged vacuum line. Car ran fine on the trip home. Again, got out the scan tool, checked code - P0302 again - cleared code. could the unplugged vacuum line to the EGR valve have had anything to do with the misfire? Today it is quite damp out - foggy even, but cooler - will have to see if the misfire comes back or not...

Welcome to the USMB and congrats on your first Subaru.

Sorry, but no... ABS ground is quite short - only about 3.5 inches long, is a much heavier guage, and bolts to the top of chassis as shown in this pic I just took from under the hood of my 1990 Legacy LS. I am aware that there were a couple of different ABS units in play during the early years of the Legacy, but from his pictures, we have identical ABS units. the two down on the side - bolted down together - go where I previously posted.

it is possible, but pedal box, clutch operating mechanisms, and center console (shifter area) would all need to be changed/added/modified Given that Subarus are kind of like Legos, anything is possible...change out the above items with the appropriate year parts and it could look factory. a look at your VIN number will tell you what the car came with from the factory... http://www.cars101.com/subaru/vin.html

A Subaru is not an old Dodge truck... you're comparing apples and oranges there. you can get wiring diagrams for just about any yr/model here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/ After going out and popping the hood on my 90 Lego - of the two ground wires on the passenger side - one goes into the main harness under the radiator, the other runs up to the lighting harness (headlight/marker light). Hope that helps.

also here: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

Oil separator plate - depends on what type you have on whether or not you need to actually buy a replacement Metal just needs to be resealed. Plastic ones definitely need to be replaced, along with new screws. The early cast alloy ones are the best if you can get your hands on one, but the later stamped steel ones work well, too. (it is not RockAuto that has the aftermarket one - it is PartsGeek.com) My 95 had a plastic one, I salvaged a cast alloy one (with screws) from a 91 block I had and it fit perfectly. The valve cover gaskets are a very common leak source - they are a rubber seal that gets hard with age/heat. Replacements can be had fairly cheaply from Rockauto.com. I got a set for my 95 for under $30, including both gaskets & new grommets for the bolts. Only accessable with motor & tranny separated: Oil separator plate Rear access cover o-ring Should be addressed while doing a timing job: Camshaft and crankshaft seals Oil pump O-ring Cam support o-ring on front of drivers head Can be addressed at any time: Cam plug o-ring on rear of passenger head Valve cover gaskets & grommets Oil fill tube o-ring Oil pressure switch

the oil pressure switch leak is far more detrimental to the life of your Subaru than a power steering leak is. Like I said earlier - mine was pumping enough oil out to go thru a quart in under 50 miles - and this came about rather quickly, it wasnt a gradual increase.

the new one should come with sealant already applied, simply take the old one out, put the new one in. very easy job.

yes, oil pressure sensor/switch, and that is a common leak location. Just changed the one on my 95 - was pumping out nearly a quart in 50 miles! replacement can be had for between 10-15 bucks at any parts store

Texan - depends on how badly they start leaking as to whether or not the leaking gets to the belt...on my first Subaru timing belt job (89 GL with EA82), I didnt do the seals and paid the price about 2 months later having to do it again because the oil leaks were bad enough to cause damage to the belt - it ended up with several teeth sheared off one belt because of oil damage, and left me stranded on the side of the highway on a cold winters day. Lesson learned the hard way. To me, it just makes sense to do it all while you are in there and be done with it for the service interval - especially so with an interference motor. Why skip doing something to save maybe $20-30 and a little extra time, when it could end up costing you much, much more down the road? as for the pulleys/sprockets...older models had metal. newer models all have the plastic/fiberglass composite type - done mostly for manufacturing cost savings... It is much cheaper to produce the composite parts than to produce the cast metal versions.

98 Forester struts are a straight across swap to a 95 Legacy - I cant personally speak to any other years as I havent done it, but would take the advice of those here that have. stock 90 Legacy on left, lifted 95 on right with the Forester struts - nearly 2 inches in height difference with stock size tires (185/70R14). Before the swap the 95 sat slightly lower than the 90 due to worn out struts & broken springs.

for the chain type vice grip - this one - Irwin chain vice-grips I have these and they do work very well in most cases (not all) - the chain is about the same thickness as a bicycle chain. use a piece of the old belt wrapped around the sprocket to cushion/protect it. breaking the bolts loose before removing the old belt usually works best, but again, not always. And with the plastic sprockets on the 2.5, i suspect it isnt that uncommon to have them break