legacy turbo.

[jrcrum]

looking at a couple of legacy AWD turbos as a possible commuter. my current work situation has me driving 120 miles a day, and I'd like to have something with cruise and AWD that and I don't trust my GL for the trip in the winter.

 

I guess my question is this. one is a 91 at 110k the ad doesn't mention if its an auto/manual. and the other is a 94 with 150k 5sp. I guess my questions are as follows.

1. are there any major concerns with milleage on the turbos?

2. if the 91 is an auto is the auto tranny a POS.

3. what kind of live expectancies do these cars have? are fairly reliable?

[heartless]

personally, for a commuter car, i would not go with a turbo - but that is me.

 

the 4EAT are 500x better than the old 3spd autos - have one in a 90 Legacy LS wagon and it is fine - i get around 29 mpg on the hiway (when it is cold they dont like to shift to that last gear until fully warmed up)

 

the 5 spd would get a little bit better fuel mileage, but with AWD, not sure how much better (the other half has a FWD 5 spd & gets 32-33mpg running country roads - not city, not interstate)

[idosubaru]

The legacy auto's are great transmissions as far as automatics go. It's the 4EAT, they are very robust but your major concerns as with any vehicle is how it's been treated over the past 20 years.

 

They "can" be very reliable but you've got 20 years working against it. Turbo's have more parts to have problems with over time. More hoses, clamps, places to leak and the turbo has seals itself so they can also fail. Failing turbos is a bad thing.

 

If you need reliability I'd plan on changing fluids and a complete timing belt job - including all new pulleys (the ebay kits tend to be $80 for older stuff but i've never bought a kit for the turbo's before). Checking the turbo for shaft play would be nice and making sure you don't have old/brittle hoses.

[Kyle S]

looking at a couple of legacy AWD turbos as a possible commuter. my current work situation has me driving 120 miles a day, and I'd like to have something with cruise and AWD that and I don't trust my GL for the trip in the winter.

 

I guess my question is this. one is a 91 at 110k the ad doesn't mention if its an auto/manual. and the other is a 94 with 150k 5sp. I guess my questions are as follows.

1. are there any major concerns with milleage on the turbos?

2. if the 91 is an auto is the auto tranny a POS.

3. what kind of live expectancies do these cars have? are fairly reliable?

 

I just sold a 91 turbo legacy,great car but stick with standard trannys ,it will perform better in a winter climate.And also you will love the turbo response in cold weather,and dont worry to much about the millage ,there very reliable.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Kyle S
To add more info

[GeneralDisorder]

I own a '91 Sport Sedan (5MT).

 

They *can* be reliable. There are a few trouble spots - the upper water tank nipples are almost always a problem at this age, and you will want to replace EVERY coolant hose on the car if you want daily driver reliability - the turbo's are extra hard on the cooling system.

 

The stock exhaust is very restrictive - plan on upgrading it. An upgraded, free flowing exhaust is easily worth 15 or 20 HP without changing anything else.

 

They have no intercooler but benefit from one greatly - the added cooling will extend the life of many components and the engine as a whole as well. Plus it's good for a bit more power.

 

The mileage frankly sucks. I've driven trucks with better mileage. I average 16 to 18 MPG. I don't drive like grandma and it's not my daily so if you keep your foot out of it mid 20's are possible - but what's the point of owning a turbo then?

 

As other's have stated - the Automatic's, while reliable, are really a waste of this beautiful engine. I wouldn't own one with an auto.

 

If you buy one - plan on going through the entire cooling system (about $200 in hoses), replacing any hardened hoses in the PCV system, etc, the knock sensor (they crack), doing the brass-nipple mod to the upper water tank, timing belt, tensioner/idler bearings, cam and crank seals, water pump etc. These engines are fairly valuable these days and it's often the case that the engine will cost more to replace than the car cost in the first place. It may sound like a lot (well - it IS a lot - probably $800 to $1000 to make one a reliable daily), but it's better than being stranded somewhere. Turbo's are finicky creatures and must be given a lot of parts and time compared to something like the EJ22E.

 

The manual transmissions often suffer from syncro failure past 100k miles so it's fairly common to see people swapping in WRX transmissions. The stock unit's won't hold much over 250 HP either so people often rip gears out of them after a couple mods bring them up to WRX performance levels.

 

GD

[wtdash]

Check out http://bbs.legacycentral.org/. There is a ton of info specific to the '90-94 Legacy-NA and Turbo.

 

I have the AT in my EJ22T (swapped into a '90), and 'might' get 24 MPG highway, but since I'm a boost addict, I'm usually around 20. This is w/double the stock boost (17psi), w/some other upgrades, including the Revtronix chip, which helps w/tuning.

 

The AT is a strong tranny, if fluid is maintained and kept cool (put a tranny cooler on it to help make it last).

 

The upside to the higher maintenance requirements of the EJ22T is that the block is arguably the strongest Subaru ever made.

 

I'd look @ which one has the best maintenance history, so you know what you're getting into.

Have fun,

TD

[ericem]

Kind of disagree with the cooling system comment. Seems like the cooling system's on these cars are extremely stout. The nipples on the water tank only crack if you stick your hand in there to replace that knock senor and hit the nipple, they don't just crack. The hoses seem very good too, but if you touch them they can create problems.

[GeneralDisorder]

The nipples on the water tank only crack if you stick your hand in there to replace that knock senor and hit the nipple, they don't just crack.

 

I must dissagree with you. I've had several bad tanks and the plastic the nipples are made from is obviously detrimentally effected by the years of hot coolant. It breaks down to a whitish colored paste which when dry just flakes away like dust.

 

The fix is so simple that there's no reason to not do it. You cut the nipples off, tap the tank to 1/4" NPT, and install brass nipples with tru-seals. It couldn't be simpler and cheaper and not doing it is just asking for one to crack and dump coolant while driving (I've had it happen).

 

The rest of the hoses suffer from being old - plain and simple. The rubber on old hoses is subject to breaking down. Most especially the turbo coolant hose from the water tank and the heater core hoses but the rest are no better. For the cost of replacement I wouldn't risk it. I've had more coolant hose failures on old Subaru's that left me stranded than ANY other type of failure.

 

GD