dave833

Oh Boy! I can't wait... I picked up a used 5 spd transaxle from a '96 Leg AWD today for when THAT happens.

What confused me at first was the randomness of it. Before the brakes locked up completely, they sort of dragged and released randomly for a while. If they had locked up immediately after I disconnected the HH, I would have figured it out sooner. It must have been vibration/motion moving the HH lever around to random spots. It's been two days now, the HH and spring are reconnected, and the symptoms have not returned.

Doh! My SVX's don't have hill-holders. I didn't realize disconnecting it could ENGAGE the brakes!

Been driving the car all day with NO rear section of the driveshaft. Front section is in place from the tranny to the carrier bearing, as is the rear diff and axles. I'm not sure what the VC is doing, but sufficient power is definitely getting to the front wheels. I haven't noticed any really unusual vibrations or noises, and it definitely eliminated the torque bind issue I was having! I'm not planning to leave it this way, but I wanted to verify it was a VC issue before I dropped $500 on a new one. (see my other post for the accompanying brake snafu that MAY have been a contributing factor!)

I am just FULL of questions! How long can I drive my '95 Legacy 5 speed without the rear section of the driveshaft with no damage? I removed it as a temporary solution to the center diff coupling binding, but the front section to the bearing and of course the rear axles and diff are still in place. No fluids leaking out anywhere that I can see (it's a 5 speed.)

Brakes working today after I bled the offending wheel cylinders and reconnected the hill-holder. I bled them first, they still would not unlock until after I'd reinstalled the hill holder. Not sure why the right rear was locked up if the hill holder only works on the LF, but I suspect the LF was locked because I'd taken the return spring off the hill holder and it had flopped over into the "engaged" position.

My 'fun' foray in to the world of Gen 2 Legacies continues! I was driving slowly around in the parking lot near my house trying to isolate what I thought was a torque bind problem when my left front and right rear brakes locked up completely! We're talking 'steel grip of death' here! The car would NOT move! I finally had to pry off the LF caliper and disconnect the line, after which both calipers released and the car rolled free. (should have removed the brake line first). What's the deal here? Are these calipers both on the same circuit or something? The car is a 95 Legacy L AWD 5 speed with ABS. Oh, and the hill holder cable's disconnected, but I left the spring off. Could this be the problem?

I'm replacing the center diff viscous coupling on my '95 Legacy L 5 speed and I'm wondering what else might need to be replaced inside the diff while I have it open. I'm replacing the coupling itself and the tail housing gasket, but the parts guy at Subaru said there might also be some bearings that need changed also. I'm not sure what these would be. Anything else (besides tires) need to be done to prevent it from failing again?

'95 Legacy L wagon AWD MANUAL: Severe binding when backing/turning. I jacked up one back wheel and it only turns with great difficulty. Front wheels don't seem to bind. I think it's the center diff viscous coupling, but is there some way I can verify it's not the rear diff?

I 'normally' work on SVXs and bought one a couple of years ago with a 'bad transmission' (4EAT). Turned out there was a huge crack in the front diff case which either caused, or resulted from, the front diff gears detonating. So I dropped the tranny and swapped out the front diff with a known good one and everything was good! (well, it wasn't quite that easy, but the tranny worked fine after that).

So I suspect the viscous coupling's gone south on my '95 Legacy L AWD 5 speed manual- I'm getting terrible binding when I back up and turn sharply out of a parking space. I can feel the wheels skipping sideways and then the car stops completely like there's some kind of resistance. Now it's starting to do it in forward turns, too. Does replacing the differential/viscous coupling require dropping the tranny? I've dropped/replaced 4EAT diffs, which DOES require pulling the whole thing, but the manual tranny in my Legacy looks like it's divided up differently. Where is the viscous coupling located?

Ok- I'm stupid. I was reading this great thread here about how to check CEL codes on a '95 Legacy this morning and forgot to bookmark it. I can't find it now to save my life! It had a diagram of the dash noting connector locations and a list of the codes. I understand the '95 Legacy is sort of a hybrid, with some OBD1 features and full OBD2 compatibility- I don't have a code reader yet, but I wanted to see if it was throwing any OBD1 codes (ECU blinks) which would explain my CEL coming on. Also, what's the easiest way to reset codes without an OBDII reader?

I'm looking at a '95 Legacy "L" AWD wagon and wondering if the EJ22 in that year is interference or not. VIN # is 4S3BK635XS6329172. Thanks!

Oh DUH!!!! This is why this forum is so useful. And I'm not new to Subarus- I've had many since my first one in 1986. I have three now. Makes me feel even stupider!

OKay... here's a weird problem. The front corner and rear marker lights on my '89 EA82 wagon won't turn off! The headlights turn on and off with the stalk switch and when the key is turned off as they're supposed to, but the marker lights never go off! Of course, this causes the battery to die after a while and is not a real desirable situation. For the moment, I've pulled the fuse, but this means no driving at night until I figure it out. Anyone else had this problem?

Do yourself a favor... PAY for it FIRST, THEN get it running. Do it AWAY from the owner! It's funny (not really!) how the price of non-running cars goes way up when you make that minor or not so minor repair and it fires up and runs like a dream. "Well, I couldn't possibly let it go for $200 now, it MUST be worth $1500 at least", they'll say. It's happened to me.

I know 1990 was the last year for the EA82T and also the only year it was offered in the Loyale. I have a '90 Loyale AWD EA82T wagon that runs and drives great but the body needs serious rust repair. I'm wondering if it's rare enough to save, or if I should just part it out. It's got the dreaded 4EAT tranny, but seems to shift great-

I got stung on one of those non-running car deals a few years ago. A guy offered me a fairly nice Honda Accord that wouldn't start for $500 a few years ago. (before I came back to the Subaru fold) I suspected a jumped timing belt, so I changed it right there in front of his house BEFORE paying him for it (bad mistake). It ran fine after about 5 hours work, and then he jacked the price up to $1800(!) My appeals to honor and honesty turned to threats and name-calling, but he wouldn't honor his deal. He did end up paying me for the work, but I didn't get the car. The moral of the story is that if you're going to work magic on a non-runner, do it after you've paid for it and out of the sight of the seller!

I pulled the EA82 on my 1989 DL wagon to do all of the gaskets and noticed it had a VISIUN clutch. I'm wondering if it's an OE Subaru part, or a newer replacement. Also wondering if it's made with asbestos?

Well, it was about three years ago so the details are getting hazy, but it was night and I was leaving a parking lot of a business trying to turn left across a six-lane street to go north on that street. The Porsche was proceeding south and was stopped at an intersection about half a block away. The light hadn't changed yet and I thought I had plenty of time to make my turn, so I went. I guess the light changed right then, the guy in the Porsche floored it, (0-60 in 3.6 seconds!) and we met in the middle of the street. He actually hit the left front corner of my car trying to go around me in the lanes of oncoming traffic(!) The collision peeled my bumper forward and broke my corner light, but caused at least $10K of all-over damage to his nearly-new 2003 911 turbo targa with only 6000 miles. Of course I got the ticket for 'failure to yield to oncoming traffic' or something. The Porsche owner was surprisingly cool about the whole thing, but did happen to point out that his car was worth $95,000. I didn't think it was a good time to bring up the commonalities between my boxer-engined turbo AWD Loyale wagon (that cost me $100 at a charity auction) and his brand-new Porsche. After it was all over, I got back in my battered Loyale and drove 15 miles home, while the Porsche was towed to a body shop. I was ready to fight the ticket in court-- had witnesses and everything, but it ended up being dismissed on a technicality and does not appear on my record. My insurance company settled with the Porsche owner, and I (tried to) put it all behind me.

The point is that the body of the '89 GL is in much better condition with very little rust, original paint, and no dents. The Loyale, well, has plenty of rust, is 3 or 4 different colors, and bears the scars of a collision with a $95K Porsche 996 targa turbo. (now THAT's another story... suffice it to say that I drove home, the Porsche didn't.)

I've got an '89 DL EA82 5 spd wagon with the engine going out and a '90 Loyale with a good EA82T (automatic) in it and I'm thinking about swapping the turbo engine into the '89. Is it a pretty straightforward swap? Is the 82T the same as the 82 except for the turbo? Thanks.

My '90 Loyale AWD turbo's making a strange ticking sound from the rear end somwhere when it's rolling. It's gotten louder over time. I've checked the diff oil level and it's fine. It doesn't sound like a bearing noise, either. My gut feeling is that it's a CV joint, but all of the boots are good. Could a joint be bad anyway? Could it be the driveshaft and/or u-joint? The car has 142K miles. Thanks, Dave

I'm looking at an '87 Brat for sale in my area. It's a 5spd GL with 182K on the odometer, moderate rust but nothing appears terminal yet, straight body except for the LR quater which is bashed in along with the taillight and back bumper- looks like it could be pulled out though, exhaust system is shot, seats are torn but covered, started easily but killed once, then seemed to idle fine. I didn't get to drive it, but moved it back and forth a little and the clutch seemed good. A/C is there but no belt, no power steering. Good tires and chrome aftermarket wheels. The owner wants $800- is that a good deal? I paid $225 for my '84 GL coupe and $100 for my '90 Loyale wagon, both in better shape than this one, but I've always wanted a Brat... any advice would be appreciated. (I'm not really anxious to go back to a carb though!)

134,7XX on my '90 Loyale EA82T, probably about 25 mpg.