Hey Guys! New to Subaru, but not new to cars. Impreza questions...

[1996BlackBauer]

Hey Guys! Name is Harold, and I just got myself a FREE 1996 Subaru Impreza Sport with a 2.2L Engine, it's a 5 speed with AWD, so it pretty awesome. Has about 210K on it, and runs and drives really good actually. I was able to look it over on Friday at the shop when I did an oil change(no idea when the last one was even done), and found a few things wrong... End goal is to make it a rally car to beat on, and have fun. Although it was free which was awesome, it does have some issues, so I am starting with this because I am unsure really how to navigate this site so well, I'm sure I'll get better. But I would like to list the issues I have to see if somebody could lead me in the right direction. I am an Apprentice at a GM dealer so I plan on doing all the work myself, just want so guidance from some experts here, because the service manuals are not usually that good.  So here is goes...

 

- The shifter is bad to say the least, it is super sloppy, I mean really bad. the previous owner provided me with some bushings, but not really sure if I have everything I need, or if I can do better. 

 

- The left rear wheel bearing is shot, how bad is this to do? I have a press at my shop, but probably don't have the right adapters...

 

- Front brakes are bad, what are some good economy pads and rotors everybody has been happy with?

 

- It has 2 codes in the ECM

     - P0325 Knock sensor 1 circuit (Bank 1)

     - P0420 Catalyst system efficiency below threshold (Bank 1)

 

Are there any common issues with these 2 codes? if not I'll just address them as I usually would.

 

- It leaks oil BAD!!! Like real bad, It also seems to be leaking power steering fluid as well, The PS fluid seems to be the pump, and maybe even the rack. The oil is just everywhere though. 

 

- I also would like to do the Timing belt, curious how easy, and or hard that would be to do.

 

everything else seems to be solid, so I won't worry about it for now, I just want to make it safe and reliable before I plate and insure it. I will have more questions later about upgrades, such as wheels, tires, suspension, cooling, and power adders. But I have to take it one step at a time. 

 

Thanks in advance for any input! So far I love the car, especially the significant gas mileage increase over my Daily Driver, which is a V8 Ford Explorer. That's even with me not knowing how to drive a manual car very well, lol.  

 

 

 

[mikec03]

 

I also would like to do the Timing belt, curious how easy, and or hard that would be to do.

 

Boy, did you get a good deal!  I can't help you with most of your questions, but I did the timing belt, bushing, water pump, etc myself on four 2.2 engine subarus and I have no mechanical ability at all.  So if you can't do it, you will have to look for a different line of work.  There are things that you have to be careful about, but with all the you tube diy videos, there is no excuse for doing it wrong.

 

Replace the knock sensor without thinking about it using ebay.  They go bad frequently and they are cheap.

 

Oil leaks could be a problem but I'm sure you know that you have to clean up all the oil and look for the leaking areas.  There are a lot of areas on a subaru that leak.  The transfer plate is the worst because you have to pull the motor to get at it.  The valve covers also leak a lot, but that fix is cheap and easy.

 

Good luck.

[belacane]

Congrats on your new Soobie! Imprezas are fantastic little cars. I have an '02 Wagon and I love it to pieces. They're small enough to be agile, yet still tough, they fit enough crap inside, and are overall just awesome looking (in my opinion anyhow =P).

 

Regarding the brakes, it depends on what you feel ok with. Having worked as an apprentice Subaru tech for a while, we'd constantly get people coming in with 'weird noises' coming from the brakes. Turns out, in most cases they put cheap pads on OE rotors. Cheap pads + Subaru rotors are known to be pretty noisy and wear down rotors like they're going out of style, but as far as I know, stopping capability isn't really compromised. You just kinda get what you pay for really.

 

Regarding the shifter bushing, if I'm thinking correctly, it's possible to access and change it without really removing anything besides pushing/tying parts of the exhaust to the side. The smaller your hands are, the better

 

Regarding the catalytic converter, after market ones tend to go bad quickly on Soobies. I noticed you live in Illinois, so you'll need to do something about it for emissions. I know that on my '02 Impreza, if I clear the code, it takes a few driving cycles for it to come back on, so if you do that right before you head to emissions, you might get lucky =P. 

 

As an apprentice tech for Subaru in the past, I saw a good deal of P/S pumps (including my own) start leaking in the late '90s and early '00 Soobies. A nice swicharoo to a fresh one should do the trick, but I'm sure you know how to clean and look for leaks. 

 

Oil leaks.... like you probably know, clean it up and look for leaks. 

Can't say where it's coming from without looking, but I know that a lot of older Subarus tend to have oil leaks from the valve cover gaskets. Those can be easily changed by taking out one of the bottom engine mount bolts and tilting the engine up to each side on an old tree stump / log or something. Don't reuse the washers that go with the bolts or you'll find yourself leaking again. 

 

Good luck and have fun!

[1996BlackBauer]

Thanks for the advice guys, I actually just got her into the garage tonight, so I will probably start on things next weekend. 

 

I can get parts at cost through work.

 

so I'll just the knock sensor, P/S Pump, gaskets, and timing kit through work.

 

As for the Brakes I found some PowerStop kits on Rockauto for $120 for both pads and rotors up front, and about $90-$100 for out back. so I'll probably get those. 

 

If I post the part numbers on the bags for the bushings does that help to figure out what I have, and if I need anything else?

[Fairtax4me]

If you have the small round bushings, about 3/4" O.D. Those are the ones that go bad and cause all the slop. Not hard to replace, just tight to get access to.

 

Oil leaks are a subaru trait. Plan a weekend to pull the engine and do a big reseal. Valve cover gaskets, cam plug o-rings, separator plate, access cover o-ring, oil pump and crank & cam seals. Timing belt and all that can be done at the same time since you have to remove it to reseal the oil pump anyway.

 

Power steering pump is easy to rebuild. About $35 for the seal kit from a dealer (probably less if you get the parts at cost). Comes with all the seals you need for the main body and the reservoir o-rings. Just need to add on a 6203 sealed ball bearing. Napa carries the bearing.

 

Rockauto has good deals on their new brake kits. Hard to beat the prices there.

 

eBay knock sensors usually work well. I got a bum one once but they're like $10 so hard to complain about that.

 

P0420 code may just be because the car needs a tune-up. NGK Plugs and wires, air and fuel filters, Subaru PCV valve (don't cheap out on this), and check over all of the vacuum hoses and breather hoses that attach to the intake, heads and PCV.

[1 Lucky Texan]

car likely needs struts - consider new rears at least since you are changing a wheel bearing.

 

 

KYB is preferred but, you may want some special set-up or new springs or w'ever if you are planning to rally.

[1996BlackBauer]

Thanks for the input, I might try the rebuild, instead of a new one. I am sure it needs a tune up, doesn't look like any of the previous owners have done much. as far as struts go apparently the last owner did them 10k ago, so they should be fine, most likely going to to Forester struts to start out with when I rally it.

 

I finally was able to get the part number off the bags that the previous owner bought.

 

 

 

 

 

No so sure about where the one spring went, don't see any floating around where they where in the glove box, so he must have installed it? does anybody know where all these go? 

 

Part numbers are all Subaru part numbers...

 

35035AA020 This is the part number for the large black bushing

 

35035KS010 This is the part number for the small white plastic piece

 

33022GA081 for the Spring I have

 

33022GA081 For the missing spring. 

 

Thanks for all the help guys!!!

[Fairtax4me]

The spring goes on the shift linkage where it attaches on the side of the trans. There's a large washer with a hook/eyelet. The washer holds the shifter stay rod, which the large black shifter stay bushing is pressed into.

The spring runs from the eyelet on the washer to a similar eyelet on the shift joint. It centers the shifter between 3-4 position when you let go of it.

 

The white bushing is for the pivot at the base of the shift lever in the console.

 

The springs rust and fall off, but the other two there hardly ever really go bad.

 

The blue/purple bushings in the u-joint at the end of the shifter rod are what wear out and cause about 95% of the slop.

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/type_58/manipulation/manual_gear_shift_system/

Shifter pictures

 

92-96 the bushings you need are circled numbers 7 and 8.

 

97 later they are built into a one piece joint and you have to buy the whole joint.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Fairtax4me

[1996BlackBauer]

The spring goes on the shift linkage where it attaches on the side of the trans. There's a large washer with a hook/eyelet. The washer holds the shifter stay rod, which the large black shifter stay bushing is pressed into.

The spring runs from the eyelet on the washer to a similar eyelet on the shift joint. It centers the shifter between 3-4 position when you let go of it.

 

The white bushing is for the pivot at the base of the shift lever in the console.

 

The springs rust and fall off, but the other two there hardly ever really go bad.

 

The blue/purple bushings in the u-joint at the end of the shifter rod are what wear out and cause about 95% of the slop.

 

http://opposedforces.com/parts/impreza/us_g10/type_58/manipulation/manual_gear_shift_system/

Shifter pictures

 

92-96 the bushings you need are circled numbers 7 and 8.

 

97 later they are built into a one piece joint and you have to buy the whole joint.

Thank you very much for the input, although I don't 100% follow what you are saying, the pictures do help a lot, at least I see where most of my parts now go(The large black bushing, and the spring), except for the white bushing I should be OK,I'll have to do some more research for that. I have super small hands for my size, so the job shouldn't be too bad, lol.