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Took five wheel and tire assemblies to Discount for their road hazard warranty. Only one leaked, others had big cuts in sidewalls etc. They'd ordered five new tires as replacements and then swapped them on to my wheels. When I pulled in to pick them up the manager recognized me and came out of the building and met me in the parking lot to tell me where they had them stacked. He asked about how the car did off road, how far we go, etc. Not necessarily a good sign when the tire shop manager instantly recognizes you. Drove the white Outback to the machine shop last Monday and the trans broke on the way there. Shifted hard (which it does the first few shifts when cold sometimes) then no forward or reverse propulsion. Faint grinding noise when in gear. C picked me up and gave me a ride to my house. Drove the Impreza to the scene and we hooked up the tow bar and lights. Towed it back to my house. Drove Impreza in garage, unhooked tow bar, jacked up rear of Impreza, pushed sideways, drove Impreza out, pushed Outback in. That week I disconnected everything from the trans and on Saturday B helped me swap it out. I refabbed the exhaust to get some driveshaft clearance. Used a steel cone to make the muffler rounder, replaced the most bent/crushed piece of tubing, relocated one of the hangers for more CV clearance. While I was doing that B disassembled the auto and confirmed that the input shaft broke. There were also a couple of chipped gear teeth on the center diff (?) planetary but I don't think that was a problem. I found one of them on the drain pan magnet. After driving it a bit I am still getting used to how much smoother it is. I knew the old trans was shifting hard sometimes especially when cold but I still find myself bracing for a hard upshift or downshift that is now super smooth. Perhaps smoother shifting than ever in my ownership. Sunday my wife and I went kayaking with the Impreza.

Long overdue trip report from early October. B and I decided to revisit some of the challenging portions of the trail riding with T in 2019. Friday morning before I left I shoved a couple pieces of hardware cloth between the radiator fans and grill/bumper. We met at Canyon Falls and headed north a little bit and started trail riding. Many of the trails we were on Friday were not on any of our maps and were quite overgrown. One of them stared getting soft and the Impreza started digging in to the mud. I locked the center diff and got out the folding recovery ramps and was able to get back to dry ground. We saw several different Notice of Authorizations posted for culvert and temporary bridge construction for logging operations. Some of these were about ten years old but we'd never seen them before anywhere. Impreza temp gauge started creeping up, the main fan fuse was blown so we replaced that. Not really sure why, it was fine the rest of the weekend. The hardware cloth in front of the fans did keep getting packed up with leaves and other vegetation all weekend, we cleaned them out quite a few times. Unfortunately none of the trails we explored for the first few hours went anywhere so we had to go back to the highway to go north a few more miles to some other trails. We were heading towards a hill on the topo that showed a trail going to the top so I tried to get there. Again wound up on some trails not on the maps and eventually came to a sign with a skull reading Paul Hytinen's trail of no return. That trail was basically a straight shot to the top of the hill. The first section was a fairly long and rocky climb, the only time I used low range all weekend. And yes that's an interior door panel lying next to the climb. We both made it up with no major drama and the rest of the trail was fairly mild. It was getting late so we camped in the little clearing at the top of the hill. In the morning B discovered that his RF tire had gone flat due to a small sidewall cut. He was able to double plug it. One of the first trails he had us go down was fairly narrow, rutted, and muddy but we made it through. At this point his plug was leaking so he replugged it which lasted the rest of the weekend (sort of...). Found a big tailings pile back in the woods. Found some decent campsites along a road next to a neat stream. Went to one of the stream crossings we'd turned around at on a previous trip with a less capable Subaru. Crossed it easily and continued. Went up a muddy climb that wasn't too steep but had a lot of logs that we're guessing other people put down but probably didn't help us. We both made it to the top but then I managed to go a little too far to the right and slide into a soft spot. Shortly after this I had a small stick jammed in my LF brake heat shield making an amazing amount of noise so we removed that. At that point I realized I couldn't open the RF door because the rocker was smashed up. Found an old RV way back in the woods. Went up to Mt Arvon from the west. Parking area was full of golf carts so we continued northeast. Got to another stream crossing we'd marked and turned around at with T but this time crossed easily. Eventually reached an old railroad grade that started out muddy and rutted which we had also turned around at on a previous trip. A little ways east a beaver dam was flooding a portion of the grade. This pond looks like it was probably occupied. Fortunately there was basically a beaver dam on either side of the road. We dug some drains in the dam on the downstream side and were then able to drive through. We were both briefly stuck but some jacking and logs under the tires got us back on the move. Just east of that was a four way intersection. We continued east on the grade and stopped at another beaver dam. This one was a similar deal but did not seem active, they had kind of dammed both sides so we dug ditches on the downstream side. Frog eating an earthworm, don't think I've ever seen that before. After a little draining It was starting to get a little late so we decided to go back to the intersection which had a big clearing and cook dinner. We then drove back to the beaver dam to check the drainage. Just before we got there B's Forester got stuck in a muddy rutted section and wasn't driving and making a noise that sounded like splines stripped out coming from the rear end. I was able to push the LR IB CV back in the diff and he was able to continue driving. We dug some more in the main section and fortunately kept walking to the far end and started draining a short but deep section at the end. By now it was getting close to sunset so we drove back to the big intersection to camp out. CV popped out of the diff a couple times on the way back. We jacked it up each time and were able to get it back in but it didn't seem like it had popped out far, maybe 1/4”. The next morning we started disassembling that suspension corner and got the axle out. Splines on the IB CV had stripped out, fortunately the diff gear looked fine. Put in his spare LR axle, ate breakfast, and drove back to the beaver dam to survey our work. Water levels had dropped almost a foot overnight. Found some more tadpoles and insect larvae We were both able to drive through, the hole at the far end was still deep enough to be deeper than my bumper so it's a good thing we drained a foot of water out of that. Of course just a little further was an even bigger beaver dam and this one was mostly on the downstream side of the road so we turned around and went back through the one that had been draining overnight to the intersection we'd camped at. Headed south and then continued east. Looped around to the other end of the grade and found another beaver dam quite a ways from where we'd turned around. Headed north, found some cool waterfalls. Revisited some other muddy spots we'd turned around at before and got stuck briefly and turned around again this time. A while later on another trail B got the Forester stuck in a frog filled stream crossing. Some jacking and shoveling and wood under the tires got him out. Then we got to another muddy rutted section. We walked it and poked at it with sticks and it didn't seem too bad except for the far end. Which is where I got stuck, somewhat high centered on some small trees that were fallen across the road we hadn't bothered to move. Probably with a little more momentum I would have gotten through. Took us quite a bit of high lifting, shoveling, recovery ramps, and wood stacking to get it on semi dry ground. Then B got stuck a little before where I had. We hooked up our straps and I was able to pull him up to the decent section of trail. We continued down that trail and just before we got to the major dirt road there was an RV and a giant tent set up in the trail. Fortunately there was a side trail nearby that connected to the dirt road and we continued. Our next point of interest was the beaver pond where T had flooded his Impreza in 2019. If I hadn't had it marked on my GPS we would never have noticed it. The road was built up several feet and a new culvert had been installed. The pond was still there but not much risk of flooding the road anymore. We went to a waterfall B had taken us to before, it's probably about a 50' slide and does have a little parking spot alongside the trail but no signs or anything. There's some metal chairs and pots and pans, a legit grill, and other cooking supplies stashed there but probably not enough flat ground for a couple tents so we decided not to camp there. We continued north and found a spot on a side trail to cook dinner and camp out. We headed back south, not long after that B's RF tire had another sidewall leak, this one probably worse than the first. We just swapped on the spare tire. Headed down a long somewhat rocky trail/road and rediscovered the vintage Barrington IL city bus turned camper we'd seen in 2013 and haven't seen since. Also saw an old plow truck parked alongside the road. Drove up to Big Bay and got gas at the station on the south end of town, it's well stocked with groceries and even has a decent hardware section in the back. Stopped at Thomas Rock Scenic Overlook on the way back to the trails. Excellent view, short walk. B wandered us down some narrow trails in varied forests we'd never been on. Headed back west on a slightly more northern dirt road than we'd been on. This one must have been some kind of major route long ago as there was a concrete bridge near the (current) end of it. Drove around the trails in that area, some good fall views but everything was eventually either bermed off or overgrown. By this time we needed to go back to civilization so we headed south on a major dirt road. Stopped at a boat ramp/park to air up and eat PB&Js and checked out an old truss bridge that's only open to pedestrians. We were entertained by the bicycle hanging from the top and ratchet straps underneath. Convoyed down to Green Bay, got gas, ate dinner, and split up for the rest of our drives home. Shortly after we split off I was stuck behind some old man camped out in the left lane. I finally got a gap on the right to pass him and as I was doing so I saw a cop parked in the median. Looked in my mirror to see the lights flashing and the cop pulling out on the highway. He eventually caught up to me and pulled me over. I assumed it was going to be for speeding. He walks up to the passenger window and asked if I'd been having fun off roading. Then says he pulled me over for loud exhaust. Asked if the exhaust was modified or if something had come loose off roading, I chose the latter option. He came back with just a warning ticket and said he was jealous of the fun we probably had over the weekend off roading. I would definitely like to make the Impreza quieter I just don't know how. I do have a slightly larger muffler I want to try but I doubt it will make much difference. I have a little more motivation to try it now though. Overall we had a good weekend, only major repair was the rear CV axle, good weather, almost no rain, almost no flying insects, no ticks. Saw a surprising amount of frogs. Trails were relatively dry, fall colors were neat. Should probably go up in October more often. Over 200 miles off pavement, spent the majority of our time and maybe miles on trails/roads we hadn't been on before, probably a quarter to a third of our time on roads that weren't on any of our maps. Perhaps the biggest portion of just trail riding of any UP trip I can remember. We were on some major dirt/gravel roads but it was a small portion of the time. Probably only 10-20 miles of pavement driving all weekend. Had to go out of our way to get to a gas station. We'd both dumped our jerry cans in our tanks but I was still probably within a half gallon of being empty by the time we filled up. Definitely further encouragement to get the extra ten gallon tank hooked up. Used the weavable recovery straps a few times for recovery, 5-10 times for pulling/breaking logs out of the trail. Radiator fans getting blocked by vegetation was an ongoing issue but fairly easy to deal with. Glad I put the hardware cloth in front, it may have saved the condenser from getting truly packed and folded over with debris. B didn't have that problem, we're assuming it's a pusher fan thing. I plan on putting the two small puller fans on the primary fan circuit. Those shouldn't attract as much debris and hopefully will be adequate for cooling most of the time. Then put the two big pusher fans on the second circuit, probably with a bigger relay and fuse. One morning the clutch pedal was almost to the floor but still worked. Eventually pumped up and seemed to work normally the last couple days and ever since. Mpact clutch disc seems a lot smellier than the one I had before but worked fine. It smelled like I'd been slipping it badly a bunch of times and while I was certainly working it in the woods it didn't seem to be slipping. Only used the low range once but had the center diff locked most of the weekend. Unlocked it a few times for long gravel roads. It did lock itself a couple times but then stayed unlocked all the way home and the next day of driving. Not making any more noise than usual. The next day while driving parts to heat treat in town some hispanic guys in their 20s were stopped next to me at a stop light. They signaled me to roll down my window and asked if the Impreza was fast. I just told them it had a six cylinder. Driver says me too and asked if I want to race. Sure. Light turns green and I let out the clutch at about 5000RPM and it proceeds to slip pretty badly as the car accelerates. Meanwhile their Chrysler 300 front driver is burning a tire. I had a couple car lengths on him but he stayed in my blind spot up to about 50mph when I backed off. The next weekend my wife and I went up north and stayed with some of her family. Impreza cruise seems to be working consistently, I wonder if the connection to the trans was getting loose/dirty. Has a bit of a wiggle when cornering sometimes. Eventually figured out one of the inner lateral link bushings is shot. Trans was noisy on the way back up north but has been quiet lately. Mostly in the center diff portion I think, when locking that it's definitely quieter (when it's noisy). It does have three different models of tires on it at slightly different pressures. Did lock the center diff by itself a couple times after the rebuild but hasn't in a while.

True. Many times I go DIY on my 1991 Subaru Loyale Wagon. But, I have had to take the entire hub assembly and cv axle to a mechanic to get the axle pressed out reliably as I don't have those tools and the know how. And on my 97 Honda Accord cv axle I did not trust myself enough to not mess things up, so I had my local mechanic install it.

Most only know how to replace parts anymore. Hard to find someone who really knows their stuff.

Hey! All good. Happy to hear that. Every problem has an answer. 80% of fixing a problem is knowing where the problem is. A proper Subaru tech with 35 years of experience would have had my problem sorted out within an hour and a half. But those guys are going away.

Great! I had a similar problem today... Went to back up, and no backup lights. Turn/backup fuse blown. Found one of the wires on top of the transmission rubbed through on the clutch bracket.

Car is now back to running ok. That blown 15A fuse went to the SPFI controller. On top of the engine, the small bundle of wires that runs past the throttle body area was causing the short, with insulation that rubbed away after 34 years. When I lifted up that bundle of wires my multimeter readout went from 0.8 ohms (to ground) up to 14 ohms (to ground) at that 15A fuse location. Yay!

Tomorrow I will check the heater blower motor power connection. I vaguely remember in 2012 hurrying through a heater blower motor replacement. Not sure if that could be cause of problem at Meter Engine 15amp fuse, but I will check tomorrow.

I just now located 1991 Subaru Loyale Wiring 8X11rev3. PDF 76 mb. It's too large to upload here. Can send to you via drop box

If the fuel pump primes when the key is turned on, doesn't that mean both the ecu and the fuel pump relay are getting power, but the same fuse as the fuel pump relay is for the ignition coil, which you say isn't getting power? I must be looking at the wrong diagram...

With key OFF the Meter Engine 15A fuse is already shorted to ground. I have my work cut out for me diving into all of those clusters of wires.

Subframe got here Thursday - broke away from work a little early on Friday to get things swapped out and to do a little more clearance trimming to fit. Kind of a bummer that I had this exact functional part and ruined it, but hey, at least now it'll have some clean paint, new bushings, and no rust. easy swap onto the diff - I've got a small block of wood wedged in at the front between the diff housing and k-frame to approximate the proper angle without having everything bolted up. Here's where stuff gets interesting. In order to get the diff to sit level/parallel with the original front mounting point, I'm going to not only need to weld in some more width in the frame rails themselves, but I'll also need to add about an inch and a half to their height, extending the body of the rails downward towards the axles ever so slightly. My first step here was to trim away enough of the pinch weld to be able to make a roughly flat surface to weld in my frame modifications - the bulk of which I'm planning on making from 3x1.5" rectangle tubing or similar. The sharpie marks in the above photo indicate some symmetrical features in the sheet metal I'm using as reference points to keep my cuts somewhat even with each other on each side of the car. I ended up trimming too much towards the back and not enough to the front - this was a result of me poorly eyeballing the end location of the front diff mount while marking up my cuts. No biggie - cut a little more off the front, I just have to be sure to reweld up these pinch welds when I go and box in the rest of the frame and mounts in. Almost got lucky enough be able to reuse another feature - the middle mount hole for the moustache bar, but it's about 3/4" too far to the rear, and there's too much vertical space to make up for anyway. Rough plan here is to use a boxed-in section of rectangle or square tubing to take up the bulk of the vertical and horizontal space between the existing frame and the subframe, and then use a CNC-cut plate welded to that to take up the rest of the remaining clearance and to get the mounting holes in the right place. Once I have all the pieces loosely made, I'll start bolting and tacking things together starting from the frontmost mount of the diff, ending with the bushing mount plates. Theoretically this should put everything where it needs to be as far as the diff is concerned as long as I'm careful to measure along the way to keep things even from side to side and perpendicularly. I considered taking another semi-reversible approach here and design a bracket/adapter that would require less of a significant welding operation, but considering the forces involved with suspension I decided to bulk the frame itself up and keep things as stiff as I can, and let's all be honest with ourselves here - at this point there's no way this Brat is going back to stock anyway so beyond the aesthetic preservation of the exterior, I'm giving myself leeway to adjust what I need to to get things functional. I'm gonna make a trip to the metal depot this week for some other pieces and parts - should have another update on this soon. Once the diff is mounted securely, I'll be remixing the lateral links, then finding a good mounting solution for the trailing arms, before finally moving back to the wheel wells, CVs, and strut towers. Really hoping to have this thing back on its own tires by the end of the year. Probably kind of ambitious, but hey, so is this whole endeavor. Until next time! -M

anyone?

EA82, SPFI, 5MT D/R. My engine runs *okay* and can do short back an fourths to work alright. However, it has a misfire. The entire throttle body (injector, TPS, and regulator included) is a "good used" part. My fuel pump is also noisy and I have no idea when it was last replaced. TPS is properly setup. Used the 2 feeler gauges. Once I've been driving for a while, sometimes it'll run like a top. Buttery smooth. Other times it idles rough. It doesn't buck the car side to side but it does vibrate. A noticable gas smell comes from the driver side and the plug for cylinder #4 has more carbon buildup. I've had the engine stall 3 times after coasting to the bottom of a hill and pushing in the clutch. My guess is the rich mixture floods as I'm coasting and not burning all of it off. Then once I clutch in and the RPM's drop, the mixture is too rich and it just stalls. I've swapped in hotter plugs with a tighter gap, cleaned the MAF, and checked my timing (15deg BTDC. I'm using carbed cams on a SPFI setup). Coil, alternator, plug wires, battery cables, PCV, and CTS are all new. I don't have any codes. All engine hoses are new. My guess is it's the fuel pump, injector, regulator, or the distributor. (Cap and rotor only have about 3k miles on them). Could also be a tuning issue. I have not fiddled with the idle control. Any thoughts or ideas? :]

Yeah, getting stronger bolts just so you can over-torque them further before they break seems like the exact opposite of how to fix that, or any other, problem... at best you'll end up with a warped pan that will be hard to ever make seal again...

I read in a discussion that the OEM gaskets (like intake manifold gaskets, cam tower oil passage o-rings, etc) are the only gaskets to be used. This is due to the density of the cork "cells". Aftermarket gaskets aren't the proper cork. Allegedly. I used an OEM gasket on my rebuild without sealant and it worked just fine. I also cleaned the sealing surface on the block as well as the oil pan. You can still buy the oil pan gaskets new and they're around $5 USD. Only downside is you may have to order it. RTV is faster and arguably would work just as well. Also the bolts shouldn't be torqued. In my opinion this is a hand tool only job. You can use a screwdriver and "2-finger tight" is plenty. For the rear bolts I use the longest 1/4" extension I have with a swivel on the far end. Snake the extension in from the side and use the aforementioned screwdriver to steer the socket. A shallow socket holds the bolts nicely. If you have the engine out then just use a screwdriver. To drop the pan you must first angle the pan out from between the engine mounts then rotate it 180°. Operation is the opposite for the install, start with the pan backwards. If you over torque the gasket, especially non-OEM gaskets, the gasket will split. It is wood, after all. This creates little openings for oil to leak from. The instinct to tighten the bolts makes the issue worse.

My 1991 Loyale engine [non-turbo] suddenly shut down last night. The Meter Engine 15A fuse was blown and after blowing another swapped in good 15A fuse, I now need to find where is that short in the ignition. Could be a broken wire in the key switch causing a short, or a short in that lower left wire spaghetti mess under the dash behind that panel next to the fuse box. When the engine stalled, I just cranked it over attempting a restart, but no ignition. There was still FULL BATTERY POWER to EVERYTHING except the ignition. Timing belts checked ok. Can hear fuel pump priming with ign turned on. Dash board voltage meter stopped functioning at all. Good battery and alternator. All four fusible links near battery are still ok. Tomorrow I'll disconnect the battery and poke around with a continuity probe. First thing I'll check is the O2 sensor wire to the front catalytic convertor. Real easy to get at.

FWIW: I replaced the BPT - back pressure transducer - that sits on top of the EGR valve and has 4 vacuum lines connected to fix my p0400. These are readily avl. on most EGR subarus from the '90s and Toyotas - I used a (used) Toyota version on my '96 Legacy w/the 2.2.

Hi There, Ive got a '99 Outback and a '95 Legacy Wagon. Both throwing P0400 codes. Tested both EGR valves, cleaned them, and both hold vacuum. Cleaned out different tubes in the EGR system, and still getting the 400 code. Then tested both solenoids and they both actuate when given power. Tested the plug and the plug gives 12 volts. My specific question is about a vacuum test - the solenoid has 2 vacuum ports and when I blew thru them without power, one let air thru and the other port did not. Is this supposed to happen? Or are they both supposed to be closed? Just wanted to make sure this is my issue before buying the part as they are $100 each. Here is a link to the part on Ebay: https://ebay.us/m/PihAzZ Additional detailed question that you can answer or not. The initial code came from the '99, and my '95 did not have a code at the time. So I put the EGR VALVE from the 95 onto the 99 to see if the VALVE was the issue, but the code came back. I think I may have also put the VALVE from the 99 on the 95 and then, to my memory, the 95 then threw the 400 code as well. So I may have caused an issue there. If that helps you diagnose this, great, if not, my main question is about the vacuum. Thanks for the help!

12 volt guy start defeat KISS

Best to just leave the car unlocked. As much as it would suck to have the steering column plastics destroyed I'd rather the plastics be destroyed than glass being smashed. Honestly who would steal an older gen Subaru? And a manual at that. All modern cars are far quicker and blend into traffic far better than these anemic econoboxes. I could see a BRAT being stolen, maybe. In general though these subies have a face only an owner could love.

They go off randomly and constantly, with a roughly 100% false positive rate, pissing off neighbors, shoppers, and everyone else, while not doing a thing to reduce crime, because no one pays any attention to one going off whatsoever, other than contemplating a brick through a repeat offender's windshield.

^ this. although this thread seems like it’s missing the original post/question…

They slow you down bushy tails?

Turns out the IAC needed adjusting. Part of my problem (in my shop) is having too many parts laying around. This GL10 was a rebuild from the ground up and I had parts from my RX laying around also. Which means multiple IAC's to choose from (and not keeping stuff separated). So I grabbed the best looking one and cleaned it, then installed it on the GL. Only messed with it once, after getting the engine running, but knew too much fiddling is a bad idea. I got the car back to my shop last week and after going thru everything (again), I tried a little adjustment on the IAC. It worked like a charm, no more surging and fuel dump is almost gone. No more smoke after startup. It went home last night and the owner took it to work. He txt'd me and said it stumbles, shakes and farts at first, then runs better when its warmed up. I have the 2 10in fans on a switch now, the engine struggles to get to Op Temp but manages after several miles. Big reason is the radiator is a BIG 2 row aluminum rad (In prep for NA/T), so we may find a smaller rad to run temporarily. Now he needs to find another 5spd D/R trans as the current one is almost gone