bheinen74

actually new belts are more prone to stretch after the first few months. they are kinda like blue jeans or new shoes, they stretch around to break in when you wear them the first few times, and new belts are the same, they stretch some to fit the pulleys etc. then they won't stretch again til they wear down. when you buy a new car, the first service checkup is for them to re-tighten the belts, etc, along with change fluids...And I do see that you have a newer belt on yours.

says pre tension, pre load on the bearing. you check it by first marking where the retainer is, i use a sharp chisel and chisel the mark, and also a white paint pen. the paint can rub off, so then you have the indention mark. then, snug up the retainer until it is firmly resiting. Count the cogs from where it was to where it is when snug. upon re assembly, you do the same. take it to the mark, then check to make sure it gets firm the same or about same number of cogs. On mine, i snugged up mine 2 notches due to the wear etc. Ideally you would snug both sides of the diff the same number and i tried to snug my driver side the 2 notches, but that retainer isnt budging, with the lack of correct tool for it. .It is the wear also that loosens these and caused the gear to wear more over the age as well as heat. So snugging a little more, keeps the speedo gears from moving around so much.

"With the axle out, Subaru recommends swapping the axle shaft seal" sounds like some dealer wanted to make sure you bought a new seal. The pic you show, there is no leaking from the old seal evident, so leave all alone would hae been the wise choice. now you dug out the old one and in for a pricey repair if you are paying a shop to do this, otherwise if you are doing it yourself, only the cost of the seal, which is cheap. those seals have lefts and rights, according to the way the axle rotate most. Doubt any of the cars newer than 1990 will need those seals, even most of the 1980's cars only weap some oil but not enough to mess with them.

wanted to add, this is the job one cannot afford to pay a shop to do, it would be cheaper to swap in a different trans than paying a shop to do this job.... And most people cannot figure this one out. lots to factor, and you have to know how to check preload on the bearing etc..and have tools, which i don't even have the correct bearing removal tool, or the side retainer tool. But for me, it is parts about 36 bucks, oil at 11.99 a qt, x 2, and my own time If i had the right tools, i could have this done in 3-4 hours.

wow where is that trail, the outside the car is a awesome trail...

clutch plate friction disks (there are like 9 of them) in the rear output shaft of the trans may be worn and not catching. so even though duty c works or is new, there is just no way for the car to know if the plates are worn and slipping or not.....it may be turning but not turning the rear driveshaft if the plates are trashed. Car being towed with rear wheel down could cause that, or mismatched tires, etc. please check under hood to make certain nobody put a fuse in the FWD holder.

89-94 Legacy all came standard with power windows. now, the setup from a impretzel (it had cranks on lower models) may be close enough to mod it work on a 90 Legacy.

winter is here in a week. snow in North NE and Wyoming/MT, and CO tomorrow night.

dealer here charges $8 a qt, fred beans it is $6 a qt. When you do the drain and refill 3 times, that is like ~ 10 qts, so either 80 bucks from dealer here plus tax, or 60 from Fred Beans no tax but have shipping.

if it not smell at battery, and you eliminate a overcharge of say like 15.5v or higher to like 18v, then yeah cats, or cheap gas.

The alternator you just put in there no good, take it out, get a good one in there, not from autozone, etc. did you smell the battery and touch it for hotness to verify my cause. could be cats too.

your battery is bad. and maybe it is the alternator voltage regulator failed too which is cooking the battery to begin with. touch the battery after a drive, it is hot and smells like rotten eggs.

This car only the small gear was damaged, but they need to be replaced in matched sets. (this is the 3rd Legacy I have had to do this on, usually the big gear is cracked due to heat, etc) Getting that darn C clip back on is not very easy when you are doing this when it is in the car. Speedo works and so does cruise now, and no CEL code for vss, also car knows when to shift now too. Before, the speedo worked like lets say 75 percent of the time or less. And according to the owner, it just started not working in the past 5k. I chose Mobil1 Synthetic 75w-90 gear oil, which is much better than the ATF, which I drained out of the front diff. I figure synthetic in the auto diff is better, cause it can take the heat better, and is much thinner in extreme cold, the thick oil in cold can strip the gears too. Anyway, the gears i put back in it are same part number to a 94 turbo wagon, which are what tires will be going on this anyhow, going from 14" to 15" This time around I just wrote the part numbers for the 2 gears and the o-ring seal on the page in my FSM so i dont have to dig thru boxes of old parts bags looking for numbers on the parts...... Did this job on: 94TW 93SS sedan and now this car, all jobs of this repair have been done when the trans and engine still in the car. enjoy. and to those who say cannot be done with trans in the car, lol, this is the 3rd one i have done. No it is not easy, especially instaliing the snap ring, but i love a challenge. I think this job takes about 5 hours hard at it, you know, gotta drop the exhaust out of the way, remove lower arm bolts to slip axle out of the way, check bearing retainer pre-tension, remove the cap, remove the bearing, remove the axle stub, remove the speedo big gear, pull off the snap ring, slide out the small gear, install new small gear, install c-clip, install the axle stub, install new big gear put on the bearing, put new o-ring on the side retainer cap, install side reatainer, check preload vs the start step, install exhaust header, install axle, install control arm, fill gear oil, etc, etc et, etc...... I could cut down the time considerably, if i had the actual tool that was designed to unthread the side bearing retainer cap.....

here are the pics, who knows what I did today based on the pics? Fun.

Moar lights installed on the front, this time NOS SOA fogs. light my way........ This picture shows low beams, high beams, fogs, and center light all turned on.

The book should be tossed in the trash or burned, it is wrong 100%

yes interference. Don;t let your buddy near your car. His book is wrong, and if he touches your car, he will ruin it.

or try to put a little more tension o n the belt, probably wearing down by now and needs some adjustment to proper tension. If a bearing is going, you would hear it. But you are not? Sounds like belt slip with your description. Belts as they age, do somewhat stretch, and periodically need more tension on them

just fogs fogs and low beams fogs, low, high beams fogs low, high, and cyclops center light.

NOS SOA foglights, with switch, and the mounting template. Does that count as rare?

unfortunately did not come with wiring instructions or wiring diagram. On the back of the relay are 4 prongs, labeled : L B S G guessing isn't working, i thought maybe L-to lights B - battery S- switch G grounds. Anyone have similar setup that can tell me more info would be appreciated. did a temp hookup a few different ways, switch lights up when on, relay clicks, no lights. i did hook 12v directly to lights and they come on very dim with no relay but both worked. Maybe there is a "old school" Subaru service person on here who remembers working at a dealer and installing these and could direct me....here's to hoping for help

did not come with covers, but did come with the switch, harness, and relay. nice score for 25 to my mailbox. now, for the mounting location on my BRAT, anybody have ideas for location to mount them?

Lots of contradicting info so far in here. I see: -some say it cooks the battery -some say it works they have had it now for while no issue/ -some say it takes out fuseable links after a few months -some people say the EA has 2 wires, and the ej has 3 wires, but look at the evidence above in the square with 2. -etc. etc Now, any internally regulated alternator, with a failed regulator, will cook a battery, and maybe we are seeing some of that, it is a common fail. Now, maybe we are seeing some that just have not run with it long enough to even know if they are cooking the battery. I can see that too. what I don't like, is how much differing outcomes people have. And i do want to know the right answer, which so far cannot be gotten with the info here. Plus there are 90-94 EJ round connector alts, and then the newer square plugs to throw into the mix as well. Someone clear up what is being discussed. brent

sounds like it is in D check mode, ie, the connectors that are for checking CEL are connected. These are under the sterring column. Green and black single wire connectors. They are not supposed to be connected unless checking the CEL. When they are connected, they will cycle fans on and off no matter what..when switch is to on or accessory, car does not need be running. that is for 91-94 legacy, and I am pretty sure other models as well including loyale and impreza.

My front end measures from concrete to fender arch about 26"