DerFahrer

One of the reasons I prefer a manual I would pursue this a bit more. I, for one, would want some fair treatment for the fact that I just bought a $25,000 car from them. If it gets worse, I would definitely start making some noise...

You drain the tranny from underneath the car, there's a large drain plug at the front of the tranny. The dipstick is accessible from above the car, it's in the back of the engine bay on the passenger side of the transmission. And do a search about tranny gear oil and synchros, it's been discussed very hotly around here in dozens of threads...

Night and day difference. The Legacies are MUCH easier to work on than any 80's Scoob. A few examples in favor of the Legacy: 1) One timing belt 2) Axles slide right in and out of hub 3) Electronic ignition 4) Wiring is MUCH simpler 5) Window regulators are gear-driven, not cable There are plenty more I'm sure. But keep in mind the Legacy was not only designed to be tough as nails; should something go wrong, it was also designed to be easy to fix. In fact, in 1991, the Legacy received an award for being the easiest car in America to work on! Now the 80's Scoobs still are a lot easier than other cars. I really don't have a great experience with working on all types of cars because I'm so spoiled with my Scoobs. Don't think for one solitary second that I would DARE attempt doing a timing belt on a DOHC transverse V6

I will post my unbiased observations about synthetic oil: 1) I had been running Valvoline partial synthetic 10W40 in my Legacy for a year or more. If I drove it hard, I would sometimes see a quart of oil gone in a week I knew I wasn't leaking that much, my undercarriage is pretty dry. So I had a friend drive the car away from me and sure enough, a puff of blue smoke on the 1-2 shift. That is the only time I have ever seen blue smoke out a Subaru tailpipe. So I decided to switch over to Valvoline full dino 10W40 about 500 miles ago. The only reason I did not keep every last drop of that oil is because I have a cam seal leak. In other words, it has not burned a drop since! 2) I was using the same partial synth oil in my XT and I realized that if my 91 Legacy was doing as described above, my 88 would only do it worse. So I put the same dino oil in the XT as I did in the Legacy. Not only did it leak more slowly, but the XT's oil pressure gauge indicated an increase of about 3-5 psi!! 3) The Guinness Book of World Records shows a 1966 Volvo P1800 coupe as having over 2 million miles on the original engine. Not ONCE has that engine ever used synthetic oil I think that makes a statement, don't you?

I don't know how Subaru dealers do this, but at my Toyota dealer, we do a "package" deal: Timing belt, water pump, tensioner, and seals. If you bought such a package from the Subaru dealer, or the water pump shows up on your invoice, or basically you paid for it and it wasn't done, you have every right to take it back to them and have the pump replaced gratis. And no, don't expect an original water pump to last much more than 120k miles...

Sure sounds like a blown headgasket to me. Steve, don't you WORK in a junkyard? I've seen pics of the sea of Scoobs sitting around in the yards, piece a motor together...

Strange that you're concerned about the engine. Believe it or not, 220k miles isn't all that much for a 1st-gen Legacy. Some people put 1st-gen Legs with more miles than that through tougher things than you could ever dream of. My 91 Legacy is still sucking its thumb with 127k miles. I am not lying to you when I tell you the car runs better than most new cars I've driven. They're simply fantastic cars. I'm also 6'3", and I have plenty of room in my seat. Nevertheless, if you still want a Subie with similar reliability, go with what Suzam said and try to stay with a 2.2. The Phase II 2.2's, while they did have some piston slap problems, are still much better than a 2.5 Subaru I'm afraid. You could look into a 95-99 Legacy wagon with the 2.2, or an Impreza wagon in the same age and with the same engine. I too prefer a manual, but keep in mind that you really can't slam a Subaru gearbox around like say a Honda. The synchros aren't designed for it. Good luck, and you might wanna post your car for sale on the Legacy BBS, that's a forum just for 1st-gen Legacies, might spark some interest there...

They do make adjustable KYB's for your car, they're called AGX's. The non-adjustables (what I'm getting this summer) are GR2's. They will be a night-and-day difference. I have 2-year-old Monroes on my Legacy and they're complete garbage. I expect a big difference just by switching to GR2's. Others have reported similar results.

Coolness! I swear Subarus are like Lay's potato chips: You can't have just one! I am almost positive I will have a 3rd Scoob by 2005! I have my eye on a very special one right now:brow:

I agree. I haven't bought any engines from CCR, but when they save your life by selling you a rebuilt Hill-Holder valve so you don't hafta get reamed at the dealer, you start to like them!

Plenty of us have done a 2.2 t-belt/H20 pump change, so you can probably get more help here than any manual Do any and all oil seals that you can reach while everything is off. Front crank, cams, oil pump if you like. I only did the front crank, and now that it looks like my left cam is leaking, I wish Id'a done it the last time Also get a new tensioner. That way, you don't hafta worry about compressing the old one (which can get complicated) and the new one will perform better anyway.

After starting off with Scoobs in my Legacy, and now learning an 80's Scoob, my XT, I can assure you the Legacy is MUCH easier to work on. The axles are a snap, you only have one timing belt, FI is much simpler than carbs IMO, wiring is much simpler, no distributor, gear-driven (as opposed to cable-driven) window regulators, etc. etc. I like my XT, but I LOVE my Legacy

I'm in FL too, and I have nothing but praise for my Michelin Symmetries that I have on my Legacy. They cost a pretty penny ($400) but they are worth every penny IMO. Excellent ride, very quiet, very grippy both wet and dry. Stay away from Firestones, period. It's not just Ford Explorers, trust me. My grandfather had a Firehawk tire on his Honda blow to smithereens instantly going about 20mph in town. Defective tire, and I've heard other stories too...

Geez!! Where do you guys go??? 1991 Legacy 127k miles 1988 XT 105k miles Both original everything... The Legacy is going to be a brand-spanking new car before 2005, I guarantee it. Almost all oil leaks are stopped, the engine runs absolutely flawlessly, transmission is A-Okay, and it's getting a better-than-new paint job this summer. The XT needs a bit more work, I'm afraid . Just realized today that one of the manifold studs stripped out the threads in the head so when I get the Legacy back on the road hopefully tomorrow, I'll park the XT and start doin some work to it. I will probably keep both cars until they no longer move under their own power.

Tie-rod and caliper? I only pop the balljoint out of the knuckle. That's the only thing I do to give myself room to pull the axle out...

Hey Michael, you've got two options for IAC valve replacement: 1) The stealership (mine list was over $360!!! ) 2) A junkyard 3) A parts warehouse like http://www.4subarusuzukikiaparts.com I don't know of anyone that rebuilds them and Autozone or Advance won't have them. Replacing one isn't exactly a picnic either, but I do remember how to do it and can offer plenty of advice on it... Good luck!

I'm pretty sure the reason Legacy777 asked this is because he thinks maybe your MAF sensor is on the fritz. If the sensor was determined to no longer function correctly, it would put the ECU into a "safe mode" in which it will only allow the car to go to about 3000rpm so you can get home... While you claim that's not one of your problems, it might be worth taking your MAF sensor off and possibly testing it with a multimeter to assure it's operating properly. They can get real finicky sometimes and otherwise operate normally.

Arrrggg! Okay, torxxx, I'm going to do exactly what you said to a tee. I put the weak stuff on the studs this time, and just today it started making noise again. It's not actual Loctite, just some off-brand... Dunno if the stud or the nut is coming loose. I might just get 4 new studs (can't be that expensive) and clean out the threads in the heads. I also think I'm just gonna take the midpipe off and have a muffler shop weld a new flange on it. The Legacy should be on the road Wednesday so I can let the XT pout in the garage for being a bad girl...:-p

I would rather send it flying off, since pulling the pin out with pliers isn't exactly fun. You don't hafta worry about losing the pin anyway, because you should be replacing it

The two do look very similar, but check the code on the block where Craig mentioned... There are plenty of ways to get cam seals out, everything from just prying it out with a flathead screwdriver (without knicking any surfaces) or drilling a hole in the seal, putting a screw in it and then pulling it out... etc. etc.

Subedew, you have a PM..

Why would they tell you they wouldn't fit??? Dealers :brolleye: Josh has a parts list for everything BC-BF Legacy, and he knows what he's doing. Order that part# with confidence. I'd trust him far more than any stupid dealer...

A friend with a 90 Legacy blew hig HG's and he also rebuilt the heads. He said when he reinstalled them, he had to keep after the coolant and had bubbles simply because there was so much air in the coolant passages in the heads from taking them off. It takes time to refill them...

If your compressor locks up when you turn it on, do something really simple: don't turn it on If the clutch itself is seized and it won't turn on or off, just take the belt off, that belt drives the compressor only...

Regardless of whether the engine is interferential or not (Subaru3, I thought only Phase II EJ22's were interferential, coming out in 99) the fact is this shop screwed up BIG TIME and owe you a new engine!!! If they don't fully comply with this statement, then get yourself a lawyer, as sprintman replied!