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92 Legacy Wagon - Inspection Results


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Just bought a 92 Legacy Wagon AWD AT with 107K miles on it from a local dealership.

 

They dealership didn't want to put any money into it, so I offered to take it off their hands. Woo!

 

Any info on how big/expensive the below items are?

 

1) Valve cover gaskets leaking

 

2) Water pump leaking

 

3) Cam seal replacement

 

4) CV Boot

 

5) Baffle Plate Leak

 

I've done some research and most of these items seem to be normal wear and tear.

 

Cheers,

 

-dave

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Fuel filter air filter.

 

I would also do the timing belt thing to, just yank the engine and do everything with the engine out, it will make all the work go that much faster, especially for the baffle plate leak (if that is what you are calling the seperation plate?)

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Pull the engine and do a reseal. $225-250 you can do timing belt, all idlers, water pump, all the cam seals and o rings, front crank seal, oil pump reseal and o ring, separator (baffle) plate reseal/update with new steel plate if needed, and valve cover gaskets. Don't forget the $2 o-ring under the rear wrist pin access cover. (It's the diamond shaped cover left of the rear main seal)

 

Step by step picture write-ups for all of the above can be found at The Beer Garage: http://beergarage.com

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The water pump leak could just be the bypass hose or the thermostat housing. I'd try to confirm the source of the coolant leak and address that first. The separator plate leak can be put aside for a little while just keep an eye on the oil level. If you find the water pump is leaking replace the front cam seals and put a timing kit on it when you replace the pump.

 

Good kit on eBay: http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=260925109309&index=0&nav=SEARCH&nid=42621810424

Comes with cam and crank seals. Aisin water pumps are OE for many Japanese cars.

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Andddd if I happen to not have the time or tools to do an engine pull at this very moment. Perhaps this summer...

 

should any of these be tackled ASAP?

 

-d

yes - due the valve cover gaskets now. they are really easy to do and can often be the majority of the leak. you might find the leak subdued significantly with that easy amount of work.

 

the coolant leak needs attention immediately. you don't want to overheat your engine...that can cause immediate failure/stranding and long term damage like bearing damage that will hose your engine later.

 

it could be a simple hose - there's a hose and thermostat housing on the water pump. check those and make sure it's not at least a really simple leak.

 

if it actually is the water pump - then the timing belt has to come off - making it pretty much turn into a water pump, timing belt, cam seal, crank seal, oil pump reseal job since all of that resides behind the timing belt.

 

timing belts are actually really easy on these. they can be done in an hour or less....add a lot more time for water pump and seal installs though and first time.

 

fantastic engines - they routinely make 200,000 miles with ease, if not 300,000. if it's never run hot or low on oil it's likely to do just that.

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all good advice above.

my 2 cents for a new subie owner.

 

diy job difficulty: easy --> harder

valve cover gaskets

cam seal / water pump

CV axle replace

baffle plate

 

while the maestros may pull an engine to do these jobs, its only needed for the baffle plate (do when the clutch wears out).

 

rough estimate of parts costs: diy newb job time

valve cover gaskets $80 online dealer: 2-3 hours

seals, water pump, oil pump reseal, timing belt $130 ebay: long day, maybe 2 if complications

CV axle $80 no parts store axles please: long day, maybe 2 if axle seized

baffle plate: cheap part, lots of hours for engine pull

 

doing these yourself is possible, build up a base of tools searching this board to figure out what you need. go slow, ask for help when you get stuck. hire mechanics for jobs that you aren't ready for...yet. doing the clutch in a shop might set you back $650-800. timing belt half that or less. cv axle maybe $250, don't bother fixing the boot. shop around find a place that knows subarus.

 

like others have said, coolant leaks could shut you down. oil leaks are less of an issue except that leaking cam seals can hurt a belt but engine is non impact so some might not care until it breaks. if axle isn't knocking around corners you could leave it for warmer weather.

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Baffle plates weren't plastic till 93... maybe 93.5. Possible - but in my experience it's probably aluminium.

 

Even if it's not I wouldn't pull the engine for a reseal since you won't be doing HG's. Just reseal all the usual suspects - V/C gaskets, cam seals and cam support/disty cover o-rings, crank seal, timing belt/WP/idlers, etc. IF the baffle plate is leaking it's likely not as big of a deal as all the other leaks combined. Probably cut oil consumption down to a manageable level with an afternoon of replacing what I listed above.

 

If you don't want to tackle all that stuff I can have you fixed up - one day turn around. All that stuff shouldn't run more than about $400. The CV boot would be another $120 or so - depending on if you go with a new axle or reboot the existing (probably factory) axle which is a good idea if it's not clicking. Call me if you want to swing by and have me check it out:

 

Superior Soobie and Import

503-880-4084

 

GD

Edited by GeneralDisorder
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Great feedback USMB!

 

GD - I'll give you a call tomorrow!

 

I knocked out the valve cover gaskets today in about an hour. My wrenching experience is on VW Aircooleds so these horizontal engines are familiar.

 

cheers!

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The Subaru engines have German origins but not VW. The design was derived from a car called the Lloyd. A distant competitor to VW and Opel back in the 50's and 60's. They went defunct in the mid 60's and the design was copied and used as the basis for the 1970 Subaru FF1 - their first FWD front-engine car design.

 

GD

Edited by GeneralDisorder
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