Subarunation 713

Everybody loves to give opinions so here is your chance! If you have had experience with the 1999 Legacy L 30th Anniversary Edition sedan I would like to know if you liked, disliked, weren't impressed, were impressed, loved, hated or a combination of any of the above. I am looking at a 99 Legacy L sedan, AWD, 5 speed, (is there really any other way to drive!), 2.2 with all of the bells and whistles. My 93 Legacy wagon will soon be put out to pasture and I need something else to drive the wheels off of. Let me know, Greg btw-is there still a hill holder on a 99?

After eating to much Mexican food my axel was loose too but I took some Imodium and it cleared things up! This is not normal on my Legacys (93 and 96). I don't have an answer but something is wrong and I doubt it is the fluid. The roll pins may have come out, see if they are in there. Greg

I would reccommend going to your local AutoZone and borrowing a "pickle fork" or the other tool to break the ball joint and tierod end. I had to take the entire hub/spindle off of my 93 legacy and take the axle and the spindle to a garage and have it pressed out. I was using a big hammer and no luck with the beating routine. It was no big deal as I was replacing the wheel bearing anyway and the garage had to press a new one in. If you have to go this route just use a sharp object and scratch reference marks for the alingment bolts or use some whiteout and paint some reference marks before you remove the strut bolts. Greg

Tell the kid to CHANGE their behavior! Sorry...I just couldn't resist :-) I am with the others, since you have t remove it to change it remove it and get the coins out. See who installs Best Buys radios and get a quote from them to take out the radio and dump the change out. There are only 6?screws holding in the trim and 6 screws holding in the radio. Not a major operation. Let us know the verdict, Greg

My wife's 96 OBW does the same thing. The fun part of her lock issue is it is intermittent! It works better in cold weather than hot, but not always. Sometimes it opens all 4 and the hatch when it is 4000 degrees inside the car in blazing sun....go figure. Intermittent problems suck. Please post back if the switch thing clears it up for you if it isn't a fuse.Greg

I would instal an used transmission and let Aamco do the circus and you find a good independent to instal a good clutch and an used transmission. Al's in Trevose http://www.als-auto.com/ has 2 98 Forester transmissions. He wants $550 each, but you only need 1 :-) (sorry, couldn't resist) With the number of Subarus in PA it shouldn't be hard to find a good shop near Philly. There is a great one in Deer Lake, Deer lake Auto Sales (north of Reading on Rt 61) that my parents use but that is a 2+ hour drive from Philadelphia. He is fast and thurough. Good luck, Greg

1993 Legacy L AWD wagon 2.2 5 speed 202,000 miles Dunlop Graspic snow tires rotated at 7500 to 10,000 mile intervals and inflation at 30 to 32 psi (regular tires are Yokohama Avid T4s and I keep them inflated the same). OK, here is the scenario. Yesterday afternoon was pretty nice in southwest Michigan. Temps in the low 50s. My car is parked with the front facing due west. This allowed the drivers side to face due south and be in the warm afternoon sun. I was going to back over to the neighbors house and unload some stuff. I backed out of my driveway, 10 yards, and made a 90 degree turn to the left. I hit the gas a little (2500 rpms) while still in reverse and as I am backing over to the neighbors after about 20 yards CLUNK! stall...dead stop. Put in the clutch and started the car. Put the car back into reverse and let the clutch out and stalled...nothing. The car acted like it was welded, chained and nailed to the ground. NO GO! I put in the clutch and started the car again. Put it in first. Exact same thing. NO GO! All of the other gears, exact same thing. NO GO! I put in the clutch and put the car in neutral. As I let out the clutch it actually starts forward but it was like I was in 4th or 5th. I ride the clutch and drive the car while it is in neutral to get the car off of the road. Shut off the engine, put the car in neutral and carried the load over to my neighbors and left the car for a solid 2 hours+. I am thinking SWELL, I get to replace a transmission. My wife takes the high road and is praying for the car to be OK. I say a prayer too and get in the car after the sun has gone low in the sky and it is cooler out. I jam the shifter in all gears with the engine off. I start the car and I put it in reverse. It acts like it is still chained, welded and nailed to the ground when I let out the clutch. I put it in first and pop the clutch and jam the clutch back in right away. I do this a few times in random gears. After a few times the car moves but it feels like it has parallelagram tires and wheels. I go back and forth 20 or so feet and it smooths out. I back out of the driveway and go down the road and come back (about 3/4 miles) and it goes through all of the gears fine. I park the car and leave it overnight. This afternoon I drive the car a few miles and it shifts just fine. In fact I rev it up higher than normal before shifts and it acts just fine. When I say fine I mean its normal noisy self. See my previous posts about noise: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26337&highlight=transmission+noise I checked other posts about torque bind and manual tranmissions but actually driving while in neutral?! Will torque bind do that? And why torque bind after a total of 30 yards? OK, impress me with your wild guesses or diognosis! Thanks, Greg

How much snow do you get? Once a week? Once every 2 weeks? How long does it last? Having snow tires may not be the answer for you. If your normal daytime highs are above 40 degrees and you go weeks with no snow than forget snow tires. I live in southwest Michigan and we get a lot of "lake effect snow" so that is why winter tires are for me. If I lived 50 miles south in Indiana where their snow fall is 1/3 of what I get I wouldn't sweat the hassle of changing tires and just run good all season tires. There are many good all season tires that will handle snow quite well. BTW My wife's 96 Outback has Bridgestone Blizzaks and I have Dunlop Graspics on my 93 Legacy AWD wagon. I am very happy with both. Blizzaks are more $$ but a touch better. The Grapics are great and a little less money. I drive more miles and will wear mine out quicker so I didn't want to burn through more expensive tires so fast. Year 3 for the Blizzaks and they still have 75%+ tread left.

93 Legacy Wagon 2.2 AWD 5 speed transmission. I will be doing it on a garage floor with no transmission lift (other than my arms and floor jack) and no hoist. From those of you who have yanked a transmission how big of a pain is this? With 1 being as easy as an oil change to 10 being as painful as smashing your thumb with a hammer 17 times in a row. I know it won't be a picnic but I have put transmissions in VW Rabbits with no jack and only my arms as a lift and I didn't kill myself (at the time I wish I had). I am tight with the $$ so I am willing to put up with quite a bit but I don't want to be "penny wise and pound foolish". Let me know your thoughts, Greg

I had the almost exact thing done this summer. From 1st Source the bill was just about $300. I put on a new oil pump and not a water pump. I had done the water pump before when the front end was open.I did the gaskets and all that happy crap too.

See my post: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26337 It was cold yesterday morning (5 degrees) and the noise was louder. Maybe my transmisiion is just tired. Get all the right tires on yours and see if it quiets down.

The nominalist Franciscan philosopher William of Ockhman states in Occam's Razor that the simplest explanation requiring the fewest assumptions and hpothesisies is generally the most accurate What am I trying to say? Human nature being what it is somebody screwed up some record keeping and didn't want to make the effort to fix their error. Some dealership conspiracy, while not unheard of, is unlikely. Speedometer rollback is difficult and your Carfax report showed no speedometer discrepancies BTW-who is the dealer? I agree with Grosgary, call them up and put somebody's feet to the fire and get an explanation but I think you have a GREAT car. Good luck, Greg

It is right next to the winshield washer tank. You will need a phillips scredriver and a rag to catch the gas and a regular pliers to twist the hose off(don't go crazy and cut up the fuel line with the pliars). If you have a cup of coffe while you do it it should take you 15 minutes. Greg

Are you going to buy that Legacy in Lancaster PA area? It is a fairly salt free area as they don't get the snow they used to. There is some, but not like there used to be when I lived back in PA 15 years ago. Sounds like a decent car. If you can get it back for cheap it is worth it. If you get to Nebraska and it dies, for $100 you paid for it tell the tow truck to take it to the nearest junkyard and rent a car the rest of the way. Greg

I have the exact same setup as UnverViking. I get 27 in the summer with a combination of highway and city and now that it is cold (10 to 30 degrees) I have dropped down to 22 to 24 with the same combination of highway and city. This car has been the same way for the last 2+ years I have owned it and the 91 Legacy before that and the 90 Legacy before that. All 2.2 AWD 5 speeds. You could spend $500 on new o2 sensors, plugs, wires and injectors and probably notice an increase of about 2 to 3 mpg. At $1.80 per gallon $500 buys you about 275 gallons of gas. It would take you 50,000 miles to make up the difference. 50,000 miles divided by 22mpg equals 2,273 gallons. 50,000 miles divided by 25mpg equals 2,000 gallons. There is your 275 gallon difference. Assuming gas stays at $1.80. just my 2 cents, Greg

I replaced it because the rear flange rusted apart on the original rear CAT. It never was an emissions issue. The CEL was not on previous and it had not come on for a CAT issue since.

You can give that a try but I would strongly discourage it. I just bought a 97 OBW for $500. Why so cheap? The timing belt had come off and bent some valves because the previous owner didn't spend $70 for a new idler pulley or $80 for a new timing belt when the head gaskets were replaced. The idler pulley melted apart and there were ball bearings everywhere. The idler was so hot it melted a hole in the front cover. If the idler is making noise it is because of the races in the bearing having too much play and probably not a lubricant issue. I priced that idler at: https://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ Description Year List Price Your Price IDLER, All Models - 2.5L, 1996-1998, $76.75, $57.56 I realize $58 isn't free but if the previous owner of my car had spent $100 (shop cost) for a new idler installed I wouldn't have a sweet 97 OBW for $500 and she would still own a $4000 car! Just my 2 cents and my 2 cents are 50% off between now and December 25! Greg

What about the main fusable link? It is in the main fuse relay box. It is the black wire with a material kind of coating that makes un upside down "U". The ECU is under the carpet where your feet are if you are sitting in the passenger seat. Unlikely IMHO that it went bad. BTW this is my opinion but I am in no way an expert :-) Greg

It is 32mm on my 97 OBW 2.5 auto. It is also 32mm on my 96 2.2 5 speed and 93 Legacy L AWD 2.2 5 speed. Suffice it to say I would just about bet the farm your's is 32mm too. I just take a punch and tap the "bent in" part out a little er, I mean "unstake" the "staked" part. It seems to bend out with a couple of taps.

It made me wonder too, so I bought one. It is about a 98% match. Not perfect but VERY usable and there was no grinding or cutting or welding. In all fairness to Import-Cat I need to remember I was trying to bolt a brand new piece on a car with 150,000 miles so the other parts of the exhaust could have sagged some and the CAT may have been perfect. I replaced the rear CAT on my wifes 96 OBW with 2.2. I got new gaskets, springs and bolts from the dealer and that made it go much better as I didin't have to be careful taking anything off. The 02 sensor threaded in like butter. 1st Source are good guys, but $300 difference is a lot of $$ difference. I am plaesed with my purchase from Import-Cat. Only suggestion to Import-Cat, what in the heck kind of web address is that!? Why not make it a paragraph long while they were at it :-) Greg I forgot to add, shipping was free.

What is all of this CRAZY talk about changing oil? Don't you just put gas in them and go? ;-)

Here is a link for steel rims: http://www.halspartsandservice.com/Default.htm I picked up steel rims for my 93 Legacy wagon at junkyards for about $20 each but that is 14" and you will need 15". We have a 96 OBW with your exact same setup. We got the Blizzak package (tires on their own rims) from Tire Rack. We are on our 4th season. They are OUTSTANDING! You will notice the difference in snow tires on our Subarus when it comes to stopping. AWD with all season tires are pretty decent in getting started in snow and ice but fail miserably when it comes time to stop. The Blizzaks will stop on ice with very little ABS action. I have read good things about the Alpins too. Go to http://www.tirerack.com and read the reviews of Subaru owners who put Alpins on their cars. I have Dunlop Graspics on my 93 Legacy AWD wagon. They are a very good tire and less expensive then the other 2 options. I found them to be a great value when I factor price and performance. $200 for what you mentioned is a great deal. If you don't buy them somebody should!

I use: http://www.1stsubaruparts.com/ they have treated me well and thier prices are really decent. -Greg

The reason the heads are coming off is because the valves are bent from a melted down idler pulley wich resulted in the timing belt coming off. No kidding, the idler pulley melted the cover! When I took the cover off there were ball bearings everywhere and the idler pulley had nearly melted the mount out of the center. The HGs were done about 40,000 miles ago. At that time the heads were machined. I will check the previous owners repair invoice for bolts.

I am in the same sucky situation. My OBW is a "part container" too! You do not have to take the engine out. The professional mechanics seldom will. There are 2 engine mounts to unbolt, take the exhaust off (after saturating the manifold nuts and studs with penatrating oil) put a big ol thick piece of wood under the oil pan and jack up the engine as far as it will go. If you have the right shop with engine lifts and a place to work, then heck yeah, it would be much nicer to pull it. However if we are in the same boat, outside in the cold rolling around on a gravel driveway with no garage, then leave the engine in. Greg