alias20035

Fram fuel filter ($20-$30) at you local auto parts store, identical to Subaru model which is made by Purolator (Fram).

If the dealer wants to tear the transmission apart to change the viscous coupling, verify that they have fully investigated all other options. Vicsous couplings DO NOT clunk (at least I have never known them too). I am placing my bets on the sway bar bushings as they are such a common problem. And ball joint problems are mostly a one sided issue. I would try the straight line one wheel over a speed bump test. If it clunks the sway bar bushings are shot (well at least 90% of the time). It is possible that you ball joints are also worn, as you are past the normal replacement mileage for them (80-100K miles). Subaru tie rods are fit for a Mack truck, with very few problems. Subaru steering racks always clunk a bit, but the dealer might note that the steering rack clunk is a little excessive. I have never seen a hot/cold problem related to ball joints/hub assembly. But I have seen cracked hubs that are due to mechanics using torches to remove the ball joint assembly or an impact wrench to tighten the ball joint retention bolt. I would personally like to whack every mechanic that uses an impact wrench with said wrench, as they tend to create some serious problems down the road with stripped studs and threads, and in some cases broken/cracked components. I find that most mechanics dial there impact wrenches to the max (usually 200-250 ft lbs), which is not needed on any bolt that I know of. I have never needed an impact wrench to do any work on my Subaru's and I have had them almost completely apart. I have occasioanally been know to use a big mallet and slide hammer though! I hate those darn 32/36 mm punch in locking axle nuts....

I did the work on my rear doors today as I indicated in my reply. There are no real issues with rear speaker size, you just need to cut out the stock plastic speaker retainer. There don't appear to be any issues with window glass clearance either. Here is my rear speaker install guide My guide is for the 2000-04 Legacy/Outback, but the 1997-99 models are very similar in design when it comes to speakers and door panels. Good luck....

On the cable (mechanical) speedometer, there are two vehicle speed sensors (VSS), one for the cruise control, and one for the ECU (and maybe the ECU will use the cruise one as backup). These VSS sensors are built into the speedometer gauge (dash). The cable directly turns the odometer gears, and also a magnetic wheel which will pull the speedometer needle to the correct speed (hopefully). If the spring which resists the pull of the magnetic wheel is defective, or there is a problem with the speedomoter needle spindle, the speed reading will be erratic. This magnetic wheel also trips two sensors which generate one electical pulse for each speedometer cable rotation, these are the two vehicle speed sensors. The VSS system works in an identical fashion to the bicycle computer with a magnet on the front wheel spokes and a sensor on the frame. The newer Subaru's are electronic and have no speedometer cable and I think your 99 Impreza falls into this category. A sensor within the transmission generates a pulse which is sent to the speedometer/odometer head, ECU and cruise control. I don't know if the pulses go to the cluster firstand then to the ECU (which would allow for a similar wiring structure as the speedometer cable setup), it doesn't matter though. As far as I can tell the speedometer needle is still an analog system which just moves to the correct speed based on the frequency of the electrical pulses from the VSS. The odometer simply counts the pulses, as each pulse equals a set distance. If you have a LCD digital odometer, you should have the VSS built into the transmission, otherwise you should have a cable to the cluster which contains the two VSS's. It might still be possible to have an LCD odometer driven off the VSS within the speedometer cluster which uses to old style cable. In any case if your ECU is not complaining about a dead VSS (check engine light) and your cruise control is working, the problem lies with the mechanical components of the speedometer. You will need to find one at a scrapyard. If you know what you are doing it is possible to transplant your original mechanical odometer (if working) to the replacement speedometer gauge, so your indicated mileage will not be affected. If you have the digital LCD odometer, these units can not be disassembled (they break), so it will have to be programed with your mileage, or you will have to register the mileage change with your state licensing agency (if required by law). There are shops with odometer programmers, just take the replacement odomter to one of these shops while your original odometer is still in place and working and they will set it to match, they may insist that they install the odometer though but it is less than an hours labour (25-40 minutes). You should be able to tell whether you have a speedometer cable quite easily. Behind the dipstick (between 12-18 inchs if I recall) a cable will come straight up out of the upper passenger's side of the transmission. If this is a thick (pencil size) cable which is quite stiff which makes its way to the firewall heading straight at the speedometer it is the older cable based unit. If there are flexible wires and an electric harness on passanger's side of the transmission behind the dipstick, it is the newer model with transmission integrated VSS and electronic speedometer. The wiring harness on the other side (driver's) is the reverse light activation switch. The warranty on this item is 3yr/36000 (bumper to bumper) so it would not be covered... I think a VSS failure is covered to 5yr/60000 though, but not the speedometer.

Hold off on any work to the rear doors. I will be removing my rear door panels from my 2001 Outback on Saturday (Nov 22nd). I will measure the depth of the speaker mounts. I have a set of Infinity Kappa's 62.2 6.5" coax's back there and they fit fine, but these come in normal and shallow depth, I don't recall which ones I have, I'll know for sure when I get them out. I am considering fibreglassing a small sealed speaker enclosure in the rear doors to contain 6.5" subwoofers, so I am going to investigate what work I need to do. I will photograph and document the door panel removal procedure and post it on the web. Crutchfield's concern is most likely Subaru's plastic speaker retainers which only fit the pathetic magnets of the stock speakers, they are easily modified with a hack saw, Dremel, tinsnips, etc to accomodate larger speaker magnets. If you use a hole saw be sure to place a block of wood in the door so that you can't damage the outer door panel if you abruptly "punch through". I would also use a dremel to smooth the cut edge and paint it to prevent rust. And by hole saw I assume that you mean a the 3 or 4 inch round ones for a drill? A Rotozip or Dremel rotary saw will not cut metal very well, it at all (at least I have never had any success with them). Another good thing to do is apply Dynamat to the area around the speaker. Dynamat Speaker Kits are about $15 and include two 10"x10" squares (for two doors). Dynamat will reduce rattle, and add a bit of bass. It is well worth the investment. At least do the fronts, and use the spare dynamat that you cut out for the speaker hole around the rear speakers. Just be sure that you DO NOT use dynamat near the edge of the door (about 1" from edge), otherwise it could prevent the door panel from being properly reinstalled.

I don't now a lot about the tensioner internals, just that they are not 100% reliable. They definitely are hydraulic, but whether there is a spring in there as well, I don't know. The tensioner is self contained. BTW you will need to remove it, compress it in a big vise and insert an nail, drill bit, etc to lock it compressed (note the holes in case and plunger) when reinstalling the new timing belt. When you get the belt on, you pull the pin to tension, crank the engine twice by hand and confirm that the belt is properly aligned. If it takes a reasonable amount of effert (maybe 150-200lbs?) to compress it is ok, it should not be compressable by hand. All I know is that when the tensioners fail all hell breaks loose, and the tensioner will be very easy to compress, if it has any spring action at all, and often it is torn from the front of the engine (could be due to loose bolts). When reinstalling the tensioner use threadlock on the bolts (and for all idler pulleys as well), I have seen these things come off even when torqued properly. With the high mileage I would take the oil pump off and replacing/rebuilding it. The pump is most likely loosing pressure because of a loose back plate. Very easy to do. The oil pressure in my 93 Legacy was good at 466,000km, and I never needed to remove it, but I had an aftermarket oil pressure gauge to monitor for any problems. And I have not had to assist with the replacement on any of my friends' Subarus (34 of them and counting). Someone else will have to add information regarding rebuilding or replacing the oil pump. I think there is an inexpensive kit, or the whole pump is inexpensive, all I remember is that it is not hard and not expensive. Do you have any hydraulic valve lash adjuster noise (clicking)? If so it is likely the oil pump that is causing it (more true for old EA series engines, but also common on EJ series engines as well). If your engine was quieter than normal, then perhaps normal was a rough sounding water pump!! I am a little concerned that the idler pulley self destructed, not to expensive to replace, but is there any damage to the soft aluminum threads of the engine block? Last time I got a new water pump it was $80 Canadian from a dealer, I was shocked how little it was. The reason I would not consider a rebuilt one it that it is timing belt driven and if something goes wrong..... While you've been down that path.... Rebuilt water pumps were at Canadian Tire (a combination Walmart/auto parts store here in Canada) were about $70, so not worth saving the $10. How old was the timing belt? Perhaps the oil contamination caused this failure, or a problem with a vibrating belt (due to bad tensioner) cause the cam oil seals to fail. They due fail on there own on a regular basis, but you've got "mega damage" to the timing drive system. Be sure to clean out the timing belt cover area of all grease and oil with brake cleaner (because it leaves no residue) before you start to rebuild. As for a replacement timing belt I recommend a Subaru belt since they have timing marks on them to line them up with crank and cam pulleys. I seem to remember that the crank pulley has two marks on it, its been a while since I did a belt, but I seem to recall an arrow on the crank angle sensor tooth was the correct one, not the arrow on the front of the pulley which is at 3 or 9 o'clock to the other mark. Someone please confirm this. Normally this would not be an issue since you don't turn crank or cam when just changing a timing belt, but you have to align from scratch. As mentioned in another post, be sure to torque the crankshaft bolt properly to 130 ft/lbs, they have a habit of coming loose. You can use a section of your broken timing belt to wrap around the crank pulley and lock it in position with a chain wrench to torque it. Also be sure that the crankshaft key is in excellent condition (half disc of hardened metal which prevents the crank timing and accessory pulleys from free spinning), if in doubt, replace it. And insure that the slot for the crank key in the accessory pulley is not damaged. If the slot is larger than the key on the accessory pulley it will wobble causing the crank oil seal to fail, and damage to the oil pump and front crankshaft bearing. I've seen this happen a few times. Generally not an issue as long as the crank pulley was always torqued properly and the A/C compressor hasn't ever seized. I've seen 2 A/C compressors seize, and 1 of them caused the crank pulley to fly off denting the hood and puncturing the radiator.... Are you replacing the crank timing belt pulley, was it damaged (broken/bent crank angle sensor teeth)?. Also check the driver's side camshaft pulley's camshaft angle sensor teeth for damage.

All Subaru EJ series SOHC are non interference and DOHC are interference. Just curious, did your wife hear the squeal of a the timing belt on the seized water pump pulley? or was there no squeal? I would have thought that a seized water pump would cause the timing belt to snap way before overheating takes place. It probably takes at least two minutes for the engine to overheat with a seized water pump, and I would have thought the belt would last maybe 10-15 seconds. I have have seized two water pumps on my 85 GL, and when they went the V belt broke before I could stop the car when I heard the belt start squealing on the seized water pump pulley. The belt went way before there was any increase in temperature. Of course it was a weaker V belt.... I have never seen an EJ series water pump seize, was this a rebuilt replacement water pump? I never use those...... I would install a new pump, timing belt and crank timing belt pulley. Be careful to inspect the cam belt tensioner, it may have been damaged. Change the crank seal and inspect the crank key and the crank accessory pulley to insure a tight fit, it is possible that they were damaged as well. The camshaft seals should also be replaced unless recently done. It is actually possible that a defective cam belt tensioner caused this. I did see a case where a failed tensioner destroyed everything in the timing cover including the water pump. Fill the engine with water and pressure test the coolant system for leaks, if all is ok, then run the engine. If there are bubbles in the overflow tank, you have a blown head gasket (the bubbles are exhaust). Run the engine for a few minutes after the thermostat opens (rad will suddenly get hot) to be sure. Stop the engine immediately upon the sight of bubbles. When the thermostat opens there might be a rush of bubbles, and this is normal but should stop in about 30 seconds or less (its just trapped air). Note that you will have to open the bleed valve (left top of rad) to get the air out of the coolant system when refilling (on cars with bleed valves). If you don't encounter any exhaust bubbles, put the car back together and run it carefully for a few weeks (don't take any trips where you could get stranded). Check the coolant level daily (or two or more times a day) to see if it changes, a loss means a head gasket is gone (unless there is an external leak somewhere). And watch for overheating and sweet smelling steam in the exhaust, both of which are signs of a blown head gasket. If you get through a month without blowing the head gasket, all should be ok (but you never know). As MilesFox said, a compression test can reveal a blown head gasket, but it sometimes does not. A cylinder compression leak down test would though. Filling the cooling system and watching for bubbles is a sure fire method though, and you are not going to do any more damage than what has already been done. The EJ22 engines have very reliable head gaskets, so it is possible that they survived. But you did seriously overheat the engine.... I have seriously overheated an older EA82 engine with no apparent consequences (it ran for at least another 200,000km). When my water pump seized, I drove it over 100km in 5-10 km bursts giving it time to cool down. It was -30 C out though, which aided engine cooling.

Please confirm the following: The first shift from first to second gear after the engine is started is always slow. And that the second and all following shifts from first to second seem to be ok. By clean fluid, did you dump it all out or just look at it on the dipstick? It is possible that the dipstick fluid is clean, but the fluid in the tranny mechanism is not..... There are a couple of things you can do: Reset the ECU by disconnecting the negative battery cable for fifteen minutes. The ECU will relearn the sensors when reconnected, sometimes this takes care of gremlins, sometimes it doesn't. If it has not been done recently I would change the ATF fluid and filter, and BE SURE to flush the fluid from the transmission cooler within the radiator and its associated lines (pump fresh fluid through to get the old fluid and sludge out). There should also be a second external ATF filter between the radiator and transmission on the return line (added as part of a recall campaign and stock on 92-94 models I think?). Change this filter too. Since it does it only on its first shift it is rather puzzling. Perhaps the hydraulic solenoid for second gear is empty on the first shift, at which point it fills up and stays full as long as the engine is running. If this is the case, new ATF fluid and filters may correct the problem, or you could need a new solenoid and/or seal (not too expensive). When you remove the transmission pan to change the filter, the solenoids are right there, no need to remove the transmisison (if I recall correctly). The bands on the transmission can be adjusted buy turning bolts on the upper left side of the transmission case (?), but I am not sure what affect this has (I have never needed to adjust these). I think the adjustments are more for adjusting the quality of shift (firm or soft), not the shift point (which is electronically controlled). As long as the transmission seems to shift firmly into each gear and not slip as well as properly lock the torque convertor, your problem should be quite minor (<$500). I would inquire at your local Subaru dealer, odds are they have seen this before. I know that Legacy Turbo 4EAT's do have some unique problems, and do require very regular fluid changes to stay alive.

Never heard of a fuel temp sensor on a Subaru, perhaps they are just there and very rarely go bad...... Coolant temperature sensor failures are very common, let us know when you recheck the code. Just curious, is your car a California/north east US emmisions model, or just a normal (used to be referred to as 49-state) car? Have Autozone reset the ECU (or disconnect the negative battery cable for fifteen minutes) and see if the code comes back, you can fix a problem but the ECU will not clear the code on its own.... Subaru gas tanks are a little weird as they stradle the driveshaft and rear differntial. The pump is on the right side, and there is a venturi setup which uses the fuel return pressure to pump gas from the left side to the right over the "axle hump". If the newer Legacy/Outbacks are like my 1993, there should be two access panels under the carpet immediately behind the rear seat. The right one is for the pump and should be were the sensor is, unless Subaru has gotton creative by placing it somewhere else. BTW: in tank pumps are good because they are submerged in fuel which acts as a heat sink to keep the pump cool. Running the car on empty a lot can lead to premature failures of the fuel pump. Ideally you should always refill BEFORE the low fuel light comes on. Also in winter you should keep the tank above 1/2 full all the time as doing so will reduce moisture buildup in the tank which will reduce the chance of a frozen fuel line, and reduces corrosion in the tank. It also means that you will have "extra" fuel in an emergency. Tomorrow I am doing some audio system wiring in the area, so I am going to check the fuel pump wiring harness under the rear seat on my 01 Outback to see if it has extra wires (for temp sensor) compared to my 93 Legacy. Not sure what a fuel temp sensor would do, perhaps adjust the engine running for fuel evaporation rate (which slows with lower fuel temp), or adjusts the evaporative purge system. Diesels have had fuel temp sensors for years, but diesel turns to sludge at about -15 C. You should be able to check the resistance of the temp sensor to see if it works properly. Use a glass of cold water, check is temperature with a thermometer, and then check the resistance. Recheck with warm water. There should be a table in the maintainance guide which indicates the resistance at various temps. Perhaps Phillip's CD has this table.... You could also test with the sensor still in the car if the car has been sitting in the shade for a few hours. The fuel temp should be close enough to the air temp to verify the resistance. My ODBII code list does not show any code for fuel temp sensor, but the book is for 96-97 models.

LSD is stock on the WRX, Legacy GT and Outback. It can be added to any Legacy, but it is not cheap ($500-$1000). You need the LSD with the correct final drive ratio, as Subaru uses 3.7, 3.9 and 4.11. There is a tag on your new Subaru's rear differential noting the final drive ratio. Also you MUST get a differential from a 2000 or newer model as the 89-99 models use the Hitachi R160 diff, and 2000 and newer use the R180. It is possible that the R160 and R180 are bolt on compatible, but I don't know for sure. My 93 Legacy had an R160 and my 01 Outback has the R180, they don't look any different on the outside. In addition to the diff I think you have to change the axle shafts as well. I seem to recall that the outdrives of the LSD diff are different, perhaps this only applies to the older R160's. So I think you will need a diff and axle shafts from a 2000-2004 Legacy GT, and perhaps one with the same transmission type (5MT and 4EAT's sometimes have different final drive). I have driven both LSD and non-LSD Subaru AWD wagons for many years, and can only add the following points about the differences: 1. LSD cars will accerate straighter (less wandering) than non-LSD cars, but the surface has to be really slick (ice). 2. LSD cars tend to plow (understeer) through corners in loose traction (like snow and ice), sometimes requiring the driver to slide the rear end around. 3. I have been stuck in snow with both LSD and non-LSD, it doesn't make any difference, as you usually have high centered the Subaru to get it stuck. 4. On anything but hardpack snow and ice, I don't notice difference between LSD and non LSD. If you had more than 165 hp (like a 227 or 300 hp WRX), you could have a lot of fun with the LSD, but the 165HP Legacy doesn't have the power to make full use of it. If you have driven Subaru AWD's without LSD in snow and ice you have probably noticed that they tend to drift towards the low side of the road when accelerating from a red light. The LSD does reduce this considerably, but does not eliminate it. I would beware any used car that was used as a rental, they tend not to be well cared for by the rental agency or by the drivers. And the rental would be 4EAT would it not? You want stick.... Did you mean Leased instead of rental? If the dealer adds LSD it should be covered under its own warranty (which is 1yr/20000km in Canada) and not impact the warranty on the car.

I don't think its torque bind, since torque bind will occur turning left as well. Your car is a 5MT with a viscous coupled center diff. Only the 4EAT models suffer from torque bind. At worst your locking center diff will lose its locking capability and then you may end up in a situation where all power may go to a single wheel instead of two (or three if you have an LSD in the rear). Also torque bind is not a clunk, it is a "rumble" like vibration and the car will feel like the brakes are applied when turning tight corners. I would suggest that you check the following: 1. tire pressures (probably not any problem, but humour me) 2. ball joints 3. tie rod joints (inner and outer) 4. steering rack (for play) (all Subaru steering racks will clunk a bit though) 5. Spring/strut assembly. There is a rubber gasket (I don't know if their called gaskets, but I think you will know what I mean) on the lower spring cup, sometimes these wear out or come out of place. Some Subaru's have lower rubber gaskets and upper gaskets, and some have none at all. A while back Legacy's were recalled to install a gasket to prevent this clunk. 6. exhaust system loose? or heat shields? 7. engine and transmission mounts 8. sway bar bushings and end links If the sway bar bushings are the originals, there are definitely worn out as the seem to last at most 3 years. When the bushings wear out you will get clunks in turns, and not always when turning in both directions. You will also note that if you drive one of the front wheels of a speed bump (instead of both) you will get a clunk. There are two bushings costing less than $20 each. It is an easy job to change. The sway bar end links can also wear out, but it is usually the bushings. If the bushings don't correct the clunk, change the end links as well. You can disconnect one end link and drive the car to see if the clunk is still present, if is gone the sway bar is the culprit. My 1993 Legacy had a front end clunk that was never identified, it clunked for over 350,000 km. Every front end part was changed, but the clunk was never found. It was a somewhat minor clunk though.

My 1993 Legacy EJ22 had a dual port exhaust, did they change the EJ22 to single port at one point? In 95 when they went from 130 to 135 HP? I know it was dual port, because my 1985 GL wagon was single port... very different design. Perhaps it was a Canadian thing, as until 1995 all Subaru's in Canada came from Japan, and none from SIA. I even have friends with the more powerful DOHC EJ22 that were stock in their 1991 Legacy LS wagons (5MT's only, the 91 4EAT's were SOHC).

The water pump is "flat side" driven. I have never seen a EJ22 water pump seize. In fact if it seizes you will probably have the engine explode on the spot since it will melt and break the timing belt very quickly (perhaps less than 10 seconds), but that did not happen. The car overheated but continued to be drivable for some time. How much time?? Rubber belts do not like to move over stationary metal at high speed for very long. The ECU will not allow the engine to run if the cam and crank sensors detect that the timing belt has slipped more than a couple of teeth. But the engine should have shut down immediately. In fact if the valves and pistons are out of sequence, the engine will barely run. If the cam belt sensor is defective or the belt is broken the spark plugs will still fire off the crankshaft reading. The ECU can fire spark plugs with either the cam or crank sensor not working, only with readings that indicate a belt slip will the ECU prevent firing. He said no spark, not no spark at the coil. Perhaps a confirmation needed. It is easy to check the timing belt, just pop the outer (left and right) timing covers off and rotate the crankshaft to TDC (align notch on crank pulley with "0" on timing mark on center timing belt cover. The camshafts should be at either 12 o clock aligned with the mark, or 6 o clock where you would have to rotate the crank one more time (2 crank turns to each cam turn) to align with the mark. If the coolant system pressure test does not reveal anything, then you could check the timing belt before doing the cylinder compression test. Or check the belt first, it doesn't really matter as at some point it will have to be disassembled. If the water pump is bad coolant might leak out of it during the coolant pressure test, and if so the water pump will have to be replaced, and the pressure test performed again (you could still have a blown head gasket due to the overheating, or the water pump could have failed because of coolant loss relating to a blown head gasket).

There is an antenna extension cable from the radio to an area near the drivers side heating duct where it connects to the antenna cable (or at least there is on my 2001 Outback and 1993 Legacy). I think this extension is there because Legacy's can have roof, side-power or integrated glass antenna's. You should be able to find this extension without taking anything apart, but if you can't it is not all that hard to pull the radio. On your 98 the climate controls are separate, unlike the 2000+ models.

The BMW you drove may have had the STEPTRONIC transmission, which is an automatic transmission that can be manually shifted, and it does have the problems that you indicated. The BMW SMG system is brand new for 2004 (in North America) and it is an actual manual transmission with clutch, but uses electronically controlled hydraulics to release the clutch and to shift gears. It shifts gears much faster than any human could, and it does not interfere as much as the Steptronic model does. Porsche, Ferrari and others use the same technology. It was developed for Formula 1 racing, and Subaru started using it in the WRC about 6 or so years ago.

There is an adjuster nut in the centre console to take slack out of the cables. Remove the seat heater switch (or the panel where they would normally be) and you will see the one cable from the lever go to a bar where there are two cables to each brake. Sometimes it is easier to remove the whole console (like 3-5 screws to do this). You will still need to adjust the drums if the bar not pulling in an even manner. You didn't mention the car, it would help.....

But what if you break your left leg while skiing? Remember the Subaru commercial from the early 90's where they were demonstrating the Justy ECVT with a driver that had a broken leg and arm (it looked like he was in a full body cast)?

Don't try overwattage bulbs!!! The Subaru headlight wiring is very fragile, and if you exceed 75 watts or so the wires will melt!!! 85watts = melted wires. I have seen it happen many times. I suggest getting the Sylvania Silverstar bulbs. They are a premium bulb, with a very high quality filament for more light output with no additional power requirement. The have a blue coating to produce white light. They are considerably brighter than the stock bulbs. I think the part numbers are ST-H1 for H1, ST-9006, ST-9005, etc. You can not measure a light bulb based on its wattage, as wattage is a measure of power usage, and not light output. Light output is measured in Lumens. Since you are a photographer, you already know this, but other readers may not. One thing to note is that Subaru uses very high quality bulbs throughout, they are built by Osram (Sylvania) and are among the best. How many Subaru's do you see with burnt out lights? Compared to Ford? I can't get over the fact that most of the 2002/3 Ford Explorers that I see have 2/3rds of the rear lights not working. Either the Explorers alternator is not producing stable voltage or their bulbs are crap. I did note that the Silverstars were rated for 150 hours? and the regular bulbs were about 1000 hours? Maybe a read the Sylvania book wrong, but 150 hours is like 3 months of night driving for me. BTW the daytime running light system powers the bulb at about 70-80% power, and has little effect on bulb life. But if you constantly drive with the switch in the headlight position you are shortening the bulb life and wasting gas (the alternator has to work harder to produce electricity for the headlights and taillights, which will reduce fuel economy).

The Legacy's with hydraulic clutch do not have a hill holder, your 96 must be one of the ones with a cable clutch. As of 97 all Legacy's are hyrdraulic clutch, but most of the 96's that I see are also hydraulic. I think it depends on when in the year it was built. I don't agree with the 30% power loss claim for the automatic, sure you lose a bit of power, but the torque convertor will amplify torque, which is why the 4EAT's tend to be faster off the line (the 5MT overtakes at about 30MPH though). The only real perceived power loss of the 4EAT is the 2000+ models extremely slow downshifts. 5MT's are more fun, except in traffic jams. My next Subaru will be the 2005+ models with the sportshift 5EAT transmission. For MY2005 the sportshift controls are on both the transmission lever AND on the steering wheel. This would be the best of both worlds....... I have driven the BMW SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox) which is an automatically shifting manual transmission (uses a electronically controlled hydraulic clutch and shift linkage so you don't need the clutch, or gearshift). It works in both automatic and manual mode, and the system even sorts out the throttle to match speeds when changing gears. Subaru has a similar system in development (co-developed with ProDrive) and also on the WRC cars, but I don't see it hitting the market anytime soon, as it would be at least double the price of the 5EAT transmission. It would add 1 more gear though (6 speed).

The door panel should come off to change the speaker. The grills are permanent (at least they are on my 93 Legacy and my 2001 Outback). Some people pry the lower part of the door panel off and jam something in to hold it away while you change the speaker. I am not a fan of this method because there is a risk of damaging the door panel and the space to work in is limited.

First of all, are you changing to an aftermarket head unit with a cd changer, or are you adding an FM modulated CD changer with a wired control? I am not aware of any aftermarket CD changer being able to work with a Subaru head unit, and there are no adapters that I know of like there are for Alpine changers to work with Honda radios. I have heard the argument that the Subaru system is either Clarion or Panasonic so their changers should work, but they don't. The Subaru changer is made by Clarion or Panasonic, but it is a low end piece of junk and Subaru insisted that it have a Subaru specific connector. Also, all Subaru changers are 6 cd changers, a 10 won't work at all with the Subaru head unit (unless FM modulated). I have a guide for the 2000-2004 Legacy/Outback radio installation here. The 1995-99 models are somewhat similar, in fact so are the 89-94 models...

The prices for the bushings are a lot higher than what I pay in Canada, but perhaps my dealer is giving me a break? I would just change the bar bushings, and keep the old end links unless damaged. The bar is one peice of wire that is bent by a computerized machine, it is kind of like a pipe bender. Once bent the ends are stamped and a hole is made for the endlinks. I would take the broken bar in to a Subaru dealer, and perhaps leave it with them to show a factory rep. As I have said before, these things just don't break......

When a head gasket goes, the high pressure within the cylinders when the engine is still running will more or less prevent a substantial amount of coolant from entering the cylinder. When you shut the engine off, the pressure in the cylinders falls to zero, while the coolant system still has about 14 or so PSI of pressure, thus causing coolant to get into the cylinder. When you tried to restart the engine, coolant probably contaminated the spark plug. When coolant contaminates the spark plug, it reduces the resistance between the arc, causing a very weak spark, and also isolates the air fuel mixture from this weak spark. Stick to the initial problem you found and find its cause first, in your case overheating and loss of coolant. Don't go off on a tangent checking coil packs, sensors, ECU, etc. Not all blown head gaskets cause a visible amount of coolant in the oil, nor a visible amount of oil in the coolant. Pressure test the coolant system, which involves pressurizing the coolant system to operating pressure (14.? PSI) and note how quickly the pressure falls (it should not fall if all is ok). This is often referred to as a coolant system leak down test. It will identify if the coolant system is leaking but not where the leak is. Since you don't have any sign of external leak, the only possibility would be a blown head gasket, or cracked head or block. There is an adapter which replaces the radiator pressure cap which allows the coolant system to be pressured. Once up to pressure let the system stay pressurized for 30 minutes and then recheck the pressure, it should not have changed. If the coolant system pressure test is not revealing you can also perform a leak down test on each the cylinders to identify a blown head gasket. Sometimes this test is far more revealing because cylinder compression is between 160 and 190 PSI, much higher that the 14 or so in the coolant system. This involves the use of a cylinder compression gauge, and cranking the cylinder to TDC holding it there. Note the pressure and how quickly it falls off. All cylinders should lose pressure at a slow and equal rate. BTW: A coil pack failure will cause a misfire code to be stored in the ECU, and it would in fact cause the engine to run rich and cool. A problem with the fuel system (pump, filter, injectors) could cause lean burn which could cause overheating (but a lot of engine knock first).

With the low water and no apparent leak you probably blew a head gasket. Blown head gaskets have a few symptoms: bad running lots of sweet smelling water vapour in the exhaust AND severe overheating (exhaust gas gets in to the cooling system, causing loss of coolant) You probably now have coolant in your cylinders and contaminated spark plugs which will not fire. DO NOT CRANK THE ENGINE unless you are positive that the cylinders are dry. Cranking a wet cylinder is bad, because water does not compress like air and you can break the piston, connecting rod, crankshaft or even blow the whole head off the engine. You should pressure test the cooling system to determine if there is a leak. You can also test the coolant for combustion gases (but this is usually done on a running engine to detect small head gasket problems). You can also pull the spark plugs and see if there is water in the cylinders. If you crank the engine and water comes out of the spark plug hole, you have a blown head gasket. Given that the car was driven overheated you may have done serious damage to the engine, such as warped heads or block, you wont know until it is pulled apart. Subaru's have no "overheat" safety mechanism, other than to retard ignition timing and dump more fuel in to lower combustion temperatures. The only "overheat" systems are those on V8's that can run on alternate cylinders even if there is no coolant such as the Ford Triton and Cadillac Northstar engines (I still would not do this though). Only when you are sure that the head gaskets are good should you look elsewhere for the problem. You can determine if the ECU is working by noting if the check engine light comes on when you turn the key to "on". If no check engine light either the bulb is burnt out or the ECU has failed. BUT I am 100% sure you have a blown head gasket based on the low coolant and overheating symptoms.

I reread your original post and just noted that it broke near the frame mount. Is it possible that the sway bar bushing is totally worn out? Or is there any sign of damage to the crossmember, or metal bracket that holds the bar? Since the sway bar is low to the ground and ahead of the front wheels. hitting a curb in a parking lot or a rock could damage it. If the bushing is worn, or there is damage you could get metal to metal wear causing the bar to break, or there could be friction preventing rotation of the bar limiting cornering stress to one side of the bar instead of the whole bar. In fact if the bar "jams" each bump you hit will place a great deal of stress on it, which would definitely cause it to fail. When you install the new bar get new bushings, and end links, as these typically wear out every three years or less(when they fail you get steering clunks, particulary when turning and one wheel hits a bump). The bushings and end links are about $30. If there is damage to the metal bracket, you should be able to get these cheap as well. They are common replacement parts due to rust. If the subframe is damaged, it is not likely a job you can do yourself as a body mounted engine retainer is required to remove the crossmember so the engine will not fall out. Since the sway bar is one peice of wire that is bent to shape there should be no welds to fail or weak areas (aside from the ends). As I stated the only bar failures that I have seen are accident related. So it is really important to determine the cause. If the bar failed for no determined cause I would still deal with Subaru since it could have been a manufacturing defect, which they should cover regardless of mileage. In fact they may have a TSB or secret recall for the problem. As I indicated earlier a failed sway bar presents an extreme hazard.