edrach

Too bad you're not local anymore. There's a double RX weekend in Chehalis, WA in August. Hard to believe there's nothing in NC.

Smart Service in Shoreline and Mukilteo. Pacific Import Auto in Tacoma. All Wheel Drive in Kirkland. Shop in Burien has been under new ownership for 5 years now; original Subaru guru is no longer there. If Snohomish isn't too far for you, drop me a PM and I'll get you a phone number.

EJ22 dipstick is weird. One side looks like too much oil and the other side seems correct or the other way around. From a 30 year experienced mechanic (only on Subaru), the correct way to read the dipstick: Notice that the dipstick has a hole at the upper end of the fill reading; and a notch in the side of the dipstick about 1/2" higher. If you've just pulled in to a level spot and waited about 5 minutes to check the oil level it should be up to the hole. Let the car sit overnight and the oil level should reach up to the notch when you check it again.

As GG said, make sure all the tires are the same size and equally worn. If it's the center diff, start looking for a good used one; a new one runs around $575 from the dealer. Okay to run it for a while that way; I ran mine for about 4 months looking for a used one. It finally got bad enough to buy a new center diff and replaced it.

Someone else will need to supply the details, but it boils down to XT6 parts or early Impreza parts. In either case, I believe, is the need to use custom front axles.

Two places to investigate. Do you have the same size tires front and rear with the same amount of wear? Small difference in tire size will give you the symptom you describe. If the non-suby shop did a service on the rear diff it's likely they just replaced the diff with a used one out of a junkyard. I'm not sure what rear diff is correct for your car, but it may be that the shop installed a rear diff with the wrong ratio. For the manual transmission cars of your year a 4.111 diff is the correct one; but a 3.900 diff is much more common in the junkyards. Somewhat far-fetched, but it bears looking into. I'm not familiar enough with the automatics to know what rear diff ratio is correct for your car.

5 lug conversion for the rear is easy if you pull the parts off an XT6. The front is a little more difficult. I'm still trying to decide how best to do the fronts and complete the conversion on our '82.

My understanding from the person I spoke with was that the VSS output alternates between 0 and 5 VDC.

Answer to question one: look in the Old USMB Repair forum. Follow this link: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=65969. Someone else will have to offer info on your second question.

By the way, I got confirmation that the VSS was a hall effect device. Just another piece of the puzzle.

I wouldn't worry about wire color so much. The VSS wires can be any color; it's when they go through a connector and become part of the wiring harness that I would be more concerned about the colors. In any event, the diagram I have is not specifically for your model. But, as I said before, Subaru likely has the same basic wiring for many similar models within a reasonable span of model years.

I can only tell you what I see in the diagram. It shows 3 wires. If the two wires that you see are green/yellow and green/black then I think it would be correct that the VSS is grounded through the case of the transmission. The diagram shows the ground through a black/red wire.

I dug up the wiring diagram for a '95 Impreza with similar VSS and EJ22 engine (and a non-cable driven speedometer). Wire colors might be different, but I think the main connections and wiring is similar enough to your car to help track down the culprit. If you'd like a copy of the diagrams I have (3 pages) I can scan them and send them to your email address. VSS wiring: VSS pin #1: green/yellow wire to pin 10 of the instrument cluster for the speedo and tach circuit as well as pin24 of the B135 ECU plug. VSS pin #2: black/red wire tied to ground. VSS pin #3: green/black wire tied to pin 7 of the OBDII connector as well as pin 7 of the instrument cluster (the other side of the speedo and tach circuit) as well as pin 5 of plug B152 (fuse 18 for 12VDC power).

I ran my Impreza for about two years and people kept telling me that it was showing smoke. Certainly not as bad as yours, but consistent and a puff of extra smoke when I shifted. I don't remember how much the oil consumption ran to, but I was using the car as my DD and I just had to watch the oil and add a quart or two between changes (every 2500 miles). My solution was to install another engine that was rebuilt down to the rings by a mechanic I trust. That engine has been in use now for over a year and it still doesn't burn oil. The mechanic got my old engine and confirmed that the rings were the major cause of its burning oil.

I'm sorry, I missed the part about your not have a cable driven speedo. My bad. The alternator spiking high is significant. My thoughts go back to the VSS on the transmission or the ECU in that case. Someone must have an FSM for your model to verify the wiring between the VSS and ECU (and any connectors in between). I should think that would narrow down where to be looking for an intermittant connection.

If you're local you can certainly come by, even if only to spectate.

Yes, intermittants are always tough. I use a scanguage II regularly in my car and never had any problems with it other than it sometimes forgets that it's in a subaru and I have to reset that function. I run undersized tires and appreciate the fact I can adjust the mph readout when necessary. I've been looking into the VSS since I'm looking for a source of reliable odometer impulses for a rally computer I'm installing. I'll let you know how that works for me. Back to your issue: The VSS sends pulses to the ECU which in turn sends the information to your OBDII connector and then to the scanguage. Part of the wiring diagram shows another connection between the VSS and pin 83. It is apparently the connector on the rear of the instrument cluster from what I've been able to tell. If your speedo AND scanguage both fail at the same time, I'd expect that connection to be the intermittant one in the chain. Removing the instrument cluster and reseating all the connectors might resolve your problem. Other than that, the VSS itself might be at fault in which case the only solution is to replace the speedometer/odometer portion itself since I believe the VSS resides inside that unit. The last thing I would suspect would be the ECU although that would be the easiest item to replace. Your year of Subaru is getting pretty common at the boneyards and finding a used replacement shouldn't be too pricey. I think the Seattle area pull a part yards charge $25 for an ECU.

I have a '97 Impreza with a cable driven odo/speedo. The VSS is shown in the FSM and is built into the Speedometer itself. From the wiring diagram one side of the VSS is tied to ground and the other feeds to the ECU at terminal 83. Judging from the diagnostic info in the FSM, the VSS generates 4 pulses per cable revolution. My susupicion is that the internal VSS is a reed switch dropping terminal 83 of the ECU to ground 4 times per cable revolution. I'm not sure how this helps. If needed, I can scan the appropriate pages of the FSM and send them out to you.

If you are coming a ways (like from Portland, or Ellensburg, or Canada, or any other place), I believe there is camping available at the fairgrounds. Watch for info as it's posted as well as google the fairground website.

Actually, you can run both morning and afternoon events. On the ORG event, the AWD and 2WD distinction is made if you are running for ORG series points. However, regardless of class you can run in the Time Only class is you want more seat time. Come on out anyway. Lots of us will be glad to answer your questions before you actually sign up and spend your money. Definitely come and check out the OCE event on Saturday, run it, and if you enjoyed your time, come back on Sunday for the ORG event.

$35 (for the ORG event I believe); not sure of the cost for the OCE event. Since both events are Run/Work format (i.e. half the group drives and the other group works; and then they switch) so your 2WD and AWD option won't work. But you could run in the morning and then again in the afternoon (the course is reversed). But you'd have to pay for both morning and afternoon sessions. Come on out and ask. Not that far from Lacey to Chehalis.

Yes, numerous times over the years on many Soobs. Only exception was once when someone mis-wired the fan on an old GL and it was running in reverse and fighting the normal air flow through the radiator.

My experience has been that a Subaru that doesn't overheat in normal driving, but runs hotter the faster or harder it's driven points to a radiator that needs replacing. With 148K on it, I wouldn't waste time/money backflushing or anything else. Find a new radiator and install it.

Welcome to the area. You've come at the right time; summer will be starting on July 5th this year so you've missed all the earlier gray and rain. Lots of like minded people up here who are involved in similar things that you describe.

Too late Craig. Jeanne is driving again. But come out anyway, maybe we can find a work-around.