zyewdall

Yeah, in snow you should be fine, however it may have a tendancy to fishtail pretty bad, like a rwd vehicle, since the back end will be trying to go a bit faster than the front. On a non-slippery surface, expect to come to a halt in 10 feet if you have it in 4wd...

I put about 10,000 miles on my '89 wagon after the outer boots failed. was clicking pretty loud on turns by the end, but still no clicking going straight. On the other hand, I had the replacement set of non-subaru axles get so bad they were almost undriveable because of the vibrations in 10,000 miles after they were new, even though the boots were still good.... YMMV

They will fit on a '97 OBS.... I know because I'm running 185/75/R14 snow tires on my OBS. However, like he said, I think the OBW has bigger calipers and needs 15" rims.

Yup. Second that. I have gnarly studded snow tires on the Justy, and I can jam on the brakes on a packed snow road, and it just stops. Since putting the studded tires on it, I can go up stuff in 2wd that was squirmy in 4wd with the all seasons on it. I was driving the legacy yesterday, which has almost brand new all seasons on it, and on the same packed snow road, it's quite squirrelly.... it'll go fast, but turning and stopping are another matter -- I did an interesting slide last night when I came around the corner to find a truck parked in the middle of the highway with no lights on -- didn't hit anything as I went around him, but if I'd had snow tires, it would have been completely under control. I saw another subaru up in someone's yard on top of the landscaping in the morning -- road was a sheet of ice there, and he didn't have snow tires either. Subaru's are way better than most SUV's because of lower center of gravity, and better weight distribution... but with all season tires, anything sucks.

Kind of sounds to me like the gear that engages the rear output shaft of the transmission is stripped... that usually only happens when people are running in rear wheel drive and putting all the power through that output gear instead of half of it through the front diff.

No I haven't... I've been looking at relays inside the engine compartment. I'll see what I can find under the dash...

I know of an old FE (late 70's two door coupe, I think that's the FE?) in Arizona... complete, no rust, no dents. No windshield, so the interior is kind of...... Ran about 6 years ago when parked, but didn't have brakes, is the story. If I bring a big enough truck to tow it back off the reservation, I bet I can get it. It was the grandmother's car, and she just passed away last year, so they're not quite ready to let it go for free... but, how much would someone buy it for?

Hmmm... I finally give in and buy an EJ (two of them actually) and find that they have problems the EA's didn't The right front rotor of the legacy has a pretty bad warp to it -- due, I think, to a misadjusted hill holder overheating that wheel before I bought it. But I did overheat the rotor on my old '82 wagon once to the point where it was glowing medium orange -- misadjusted hill holder again... and it didn't warp the rotor there....

Don't know about the Outback, but I have a coworker leasing a 08 Outback sport for only $200 a month and no down... he did it right after the economy tanked in 2008, so dealerships were willing to go pretty low then... Z

The one I'm using is from a 1987 GL wagon... kind of a reverse to the normal EJ swap, but much the same adaptors. It's down at the shop (CCR) in Denver now, but I'll post a thread on it when I get it back. As far as the 2.2 being powerful enough that the dual range isn't necessary... I don't buy that one bit if you drive like I do. In deep snow (top of the hood), the EJ22 stalls or you risk burning out the clutch, whereas the old EA82 in low range would still go (till the wheels got lifted off the ground, that is On really bumpy roads the low range helps too... there you don't need more horsepower, you need less speed and even an EJ22 can't idle at 500 rpm. For everyday use for most people... yeah... not needed. But most people probably haven't avoided getting a subaru newer than 1989 simply because they stopped doing low range in them (in the US) that year...

1991 Justy... low beams only operate intermittently, and I suspect the low beam relay is sticking sometimes. Sometimes turning the headlights off then back on will restore them...sometimes not. They usually turn on when I first start the car, but not always, and often they do not come back on after switching to hi beams. Hi beams always work fine. I don't even know where to look for the relay though... I've tried a few under the hood, and they weren't it. My old '82 wagon had the exact same problem, and I never tracked it down...rust ate the rest of it about the same time With it getting dark earlier now, I have to use the lights, and part of my commute is in traffic where using hi beams is out..... the auxiliary driving lights work okay in a pinch but really aren't the best. Z

Not on a subaru, but one I made for my VW golf Just some electrical conduit, C-channel, and expanded lath, and a wirefeed welder. It's not really strong, with the way it's just bolted to the top of the bumper, it can flex a bit. Would be better to make it go down to the subframe.

The nicer legacies are around $2000, but if you get ones that need a little work, you can get them for alot less... I just picked up a '90 wagon this summer for $500 -- put new struts and tires on it and gave it an oil change and took it on a 2000 mile road trip. I'm considering driving it down to Florida from CO now.

If they don't switch, it's usually because there not getting any vacuum. Mine always switch... but I think the accumlator or check valve is bad, because if I really floor it going up a hill, it looses vacuum and switches back to default.

'82 wagon had 224k when I finally gave up on the body... rust.... engine was still pretty good except for the carburetor was getting old. '84 wagon had 220k or so on it... I sold it and the new owner put in a new oil pump and I saw it a few years later going up the canyon. '85 wagon had about 215k on it when I sold it. It was junked by the new owner (still running fine but needed a new starter) about a year later. '89 wagon had 243k when it lost a little chip of the exhaust valve... everything else seemed good inside though when I took the head off. the "new" '97 OBS has 240k on it now. Seems to run great still.

Sound easy enough. It's got brand new snow tires on it... and you're right, it's not nearly as bad as other newer subaru's I've driven with bad summer tires on them. But, it still annoys me sometimes

Is there a simple way to do this with an electrical signal? I'm thinking that that might be good to hook to the lo range output of the new dual range transmission going on it, so the ABS is disabled when it's in low range. I don't mind the ABS on the highway, even though I'm used to cars without it..., but at lower speeds the ABS is very disconcerting, and sometimes doesn't stop very well because it won't lock the wheels up. Most situations where that's the case -- deep snow, loose gravel and mud, etc, I'm going to have it in low range already though, so it seems like a good way to set it up if there is a way to take that output through some sort of relay (I can figure that part out) to turn the ABS on and off. Thanks Z

Sounds alot like a bad center bearing on the driveshaft. Or maybe U-joints, but I haven't experienced them first hand. Could also be a bad DOJ on the front axle (I've had it even on brand new ones.....)... but that is more constant vibration when applying power, not just at very low speeds. Driveshaft tends to be worse at low speeds, and just a gentle hum at high speeds even with really bad bearings, because centrifical force kind of keeps it straight I think. Z

If it's just a loud click and nothing else, it's a bad starter... the solenoid is clicking in when it gets power, but the motor isn't turning. Pretty common failure on the old EA81's (at least three of them I've owned, around 200k miles). You can rebuild the starter, but I usually just replace it since it's only $25 for a used one. New ones are around $120ish I think. Z

Aren't the injectors for the EJ22 in the heads, not the throttle body... so they should have a separate harness for them I think.. Not sure though. Also, this is assuming that you are in the US... which didn't get an '89 legacy anyway, so maybe there is a SPFI EJ22 in other markets that we didn't get??

Got 24 to 26 in the old '82 4x4 wagon -- maybe up to 28 on the highway. '89 4x4 wagon averaged 26 to 27, up to 31 on the highway. Down to about 22 when snowdrift bashing. EDIT... that's with the CEL on for the past two years on the '89 wagon for a bad O2 sensor.

Hmmmm...... sounds kind of like the fuel pump isn't working great. Can you hear it running?

Yeah.... I'll take the winters in Colorado any time. We get more snow, at wackier times, it seems, but we don't get those nasty ice and freezing slush storms and such that farther east gets.

195/75/R14's fit with only minor rubbing on a stock '89 wagon.... 205/55/R15's are actually smaller than those (never tried them on the old wagon, but I have the 14's on the impreza now, and they are slightly larger than the stock 15's). Z

It does sound suspiciously like low coolant...