johnceggleston

check the VIRGIN SWITCH on top of the steering column. it leaves the parking lights on when you turn the key off so you can park your car on country roads in foreign countries and not have your car run into. also is a great way to meet other subaru enthusiast when you have to go online and ask for help about "how do i turn off my parking lights?"

check to see if the air filter box is installed correctly. is this a new sound or a recently purchased car, ??

there have been some reports of the humming continuing after the car is turned off. maybe that's next. i think there is an improved replacement part for the 95s

how much was the shipping and how far did it ship.???

the mechanic says the crank shaft has too much slop in it due to bad bearings which is causing excessive oil leaking from the rear main seal. not end play but excessive up / down bearing wear.?!?! ther was a little oil stain on the rear main seat, about 1 inch wide in the 6 oclock position. there was the evidence of excessive oil leaking from the oil sep plate, as usual. you and i both know that the oil seperator plate is leaking, but has any one ever heard of slop, movement, in the crank shaft. supposedly, the max allowable is .005 and the mechanic says it has .02 movement. the hand motions he used in describing the slop was up and down like a see-saw. i assumed this was one hand on the front of the crank and one on the rear. there are a lot of things i question about this diagnosis, up and down seems an odd direction for a flat engine to wear? was it really the rear main leaking? etc. the shop is good, they work on a lot of big trucks & cars and because it is in SW VA, race cars, dirt track probably. but not a lot of subarus, i don't think. the car ran fine before the engine was pulled. no noise, no vibrations, no overheating. it was pulled for oil leaking "from the rear main seal", and it was really leaking. no other issues. it has already had the head gaskets replaced. what are the chances that the crank is fine and these guys just don't know what they are talking about. he simply found a traditional explanation to fit the excessive oil leak evidence?? anyone ever heard of this kind of crank / bearing wear in a subaru? would you risk re-installing the engine with a reseal?? or is this the forerunner of a rod knock from overheating / bad gaskets???. i would love to think that the engine is fine, but i sure don't want to install it only to learn 6 - 12 months later that it has rod knock. '97 GT ej25 5 speed ~150k w/ new head gaskets. input please. many thanks.

a used ej22 is more sure than a used ej25. the ej25 would have to be pretty cheap fore me to swap it in for an ej22, and the ej22 known to be bad.

and any 2.5L 96 - 99 or 00 - 02 maybe 03 has the likelyhood of bad head gaskets. if you plan on installing one, the only garantee you have of not going back and doing the HGs is if you do them before you install it.

since they have different part numbers, i'm surprised they don't twist in opposite directions. maybe the springs allow for the weight of the driver? or torque of the engine?

i went to opposedforces.com to see if they differentiate left from right. i couldn't get to the lego or outback pages, some error, but on the impreza page, the springs are the same, no left or right. just make sure you orient the new spring the same way the old one was.

how are you going to mark your top strut bolt to avoid a new alignment? with the old strut gone you'll lose your mark. or just have it aligned again?

i was thinking the whole axle, but what ever.

shouldn't be an issue on either count. if the inner boot is torn installing it in a different orientation might help and on the other side of the car will definitely help.

most say it does, the opposite of the way it went in. but i have done it both ways, out of ignorance, with no ill effects. one side is dimpled, it should come out that way. 3/16 inch punch, no larger. you will regret using 1/4".

i've never had a problem with subaru door panel clips, but i have with other cars, especially the cardboard door panels. lego panels seem slightly better than that. speaking of tailgates, i'm working on a 98OBW swap and i have noticed that the rear gate struts are much stronger than 95 - 97 legos. my 97s are slow and i usually have to help it. and even if they were new i don't think they would be as good as this 98. i also looked at another 98 recently and it was stronger as well. so the next time you are at the pull apart, grab the gate struts off a 98 and swap them onto your 97. you will be much happier.

the subaru ej auto trans is surprisingly durable, in spite of the fact that you see a fair number of legos with bad trans. i had one fail in a 95 lego sedan, but i bought it at an auction w/ 75k and drove it 90k without ever servicing the trans. it is possible that the trans went 165k on the original fluid. i think that makes it a durable trans. change the fluid now and then when you change the oil in the engine over the next year, drain the trans and refill. (about a gallon per drain.) this will keep the fluid fresh and if any dirt has collected in the trans it will help remove it . then you can follow the scheduled maintenance. although some folks do a trans drain and fill with every oil change every time. if you are doing it yourself it just adds the cost of a gal. of fluid, $10 - $15 ??

although the original post was for old gen cars, i followed it for my 97OBW and have had no starter trouble since. my car info: 12/05 i bought a 97 OBW w/ 98k miles, added starter relay a year later. the car now has 138k miles and i have had no starter problems since i added the relay. thanks skip for the original post, 2003. (at some point someone helped mr by posting a diagram, but i think some of that stuff has been lost. i'm just glad the thread has not been lost.) QUOTE from 2003: There are currently several active posts on starter engagement problems. I thought this may be of interest. (Please note, this article only refers to 1989 and earlier Subarus, newer Loyales MTs may have a clutch interrupt switch, see ** below) First to dispel info given in reference to any relays involved. There are none, repeat no relays come on a factory equipped car. As will be seen it is a reliable fix to add one, but there is no relay used for starter engagement. The ignition switch, when in the start position, feeds battery voltage directly to the starter solenoid unless the vehicle has an automatic transmission. In this case, there is an inhibitor switch in the console which only allows the control voltage to reach the starter solenoid in the park or neutral position. Just a switch no relay. (Note: Some may argue the starter solenoid is a relay, in an operational sense they are correct, in semantics -- I will refer to it as the factory does.) **Newer Loyales may have a clutch pedal switch. This switch located up under the dash in the path of the pedal swing arm, is depressed and thus in a "closed" position, when the clutch pedal is in a fully depressed state. If when you turn the ignition switch to the start position the starter fails to engage - A) It is possible that a battery cable or it's connection is dirty, loose, or corroded - thus creating high resistance. Here is a quick test. Hold the ignition in the start position for five seconds. Open the hood and place your hand on all battery connections and cable ends to feel for a warm connection. IF the starter has engaged and there is some current passing through a connection with high resistance - heat will be generated. Green colored or other "odd looking" connections are always suspects. It is possible that the starter solenoid internal contacts have burned and are not making full contact. While holding the ignition switch in the start position a sharp "rap" on the solenoid may jar the contacts into a closed position allowing the starter to engage. If this is the case you can elect to repair/replace the contacts or replace the solenoid/starter. C) If the above tests prove unsatisfactory, it is likely the ignition switch itself has problems. The starter solenoid needs a fair amount of current to energize. This puts the contacts in the ignition switch under duress. To test this, connect a "jumper" wire from the positive battery terminal to the small spade connector located on the starter solenoid. One will have to remove the factory connector before "jumping" the solenoid. (Please make sure car is in neutral or Park before doing this test) If the jumper wire allows the starter to engage, there are several fixes that can be employed. 1) Replace ignition switch - labor and $$ intensive, beyond the scope of this article. 2) Install a "Never Fail" button/ switch. This button (momentary switch) is wired to feed the control voltage to the starter solenoid, thus bypassing the ignition switch. A "make shift" solution at best. It will work and is a simple matter of wiring. to wit: a) Get a 10 amp momentary switch from the source of your choosing. Find a suitable mounting point for said switch. Most dashes have several "blanks" to choose from, or mount it under the dash as a secret switch. you will need a "feed voltage source". You could i) probe your fuse panel for an ignition switched "hot fuse". ii) run a fused connection directly to the battery iii) place a tap on the main ignition feed connector under the steering col. Since you will be running this voltage to the starter and through the bulkhead (firewall) a fused source should be used. This "feeder" is connected to one side of the procured switch. c) The other side of the switch is wired to the small spade connector on the starter solenoid. The proper method is to splice solder the wire to the existing wire, but some may stuff it under the female connector and slide the spade back in place. Please use a grommet or other form of protection when passing the wire through the bulkhead. These connection methods will allow the use of the normal ignition switch start position but when it fails the "Never Fail" button is used. If you choose to simply put a female spade connector on this wire and plug it on to the starter solenoid, the "Never Fail" will be the only way to get the car to start. 3) The best method, in my admittedly feeble mind, is the addition of a "start relay". This relay supplements the ignition switch and requires no "Never Fail" folderol (like in a case where some one borrows the car and you forget to tell them about the "Never Fail") The relay is controlled by the ignition switch and it in turn feeds the current necessary for starter solenoid engagement. An "auxiliary lighting" relay is a good choice, but any 12Vdc 10 amp relay will suffice. I mount mine under the hood and in the general location of the starter. This allows use of the factory female connector and simplifies getting a fused battery feed voltage. Here is the wiring of said relay. original thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8263&highlight=starterrelay

some times you just have to let go. at least you tried, hard. it's his car and he can spend his money anyway he wants. even if it is a mistake.

a 1000 lbs trailer is kind of like having a large family of 5 and all of their vacation luggage. not unreasonable. but you have to ask, what else is in the car? people? luggage? i hate to turn anyone away from a subaru and i would like to think it could do the job nicely. if the trailer had electric brakes and the car had an ATF cooler i would consider it. but i would probably not drive much over 65 mph.

none, no harm until it snows and you get stuck. there are 2 speed sensors, one on the front diff out put, axle, and one on the rear output, drive shaft. the computer compares the speed difference to see if more rear wheel power is needed. the front vss is easy to unplug the connector. the rear one you have to remove a bolt and pull the sensor out of the hole. you might try disabling each one in turn and then both to see if it makes a difference. the ECU/ speedo uses the front one until it fails and then it will use the rear. if the trans computer does not see both, it will not engage the rear wheels. if disabling the rear vss stops the speedo, then your front one is bad or disconnected. (it should throw a code tho.) if disabling the front one stops the speedo then the rear one is probably bad. understand?

either you have no fluid pressure going to the transfer clutch or your transfer clutch discs are shot and not grabbing. or maybe as mentioned you have a failed vss2, front speed sensor. i'm not very familiar with that and may not be a lot of help. do you have a CEL, check engine light?

what did you spray in?? wd40 will actually wash heavier grease out of a hinge / joint.

read the linked thread below. do not clear the code until you have read it. drive the car till it flashes, ground out pin 5 on black connector, B82, under the dash (see link below) and watch for the flashing code. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=81497&highlight=transcodes

use the search function tab at the top of the page. search for "readtranscodes" or "transcodes" and find out how to read the codes.

search for "readtranscodes" or "transcodes" and find out how to read the codes. if it is flashing i would think it has a code stored, but who knows. i would try to read it with out turning the car off. hope this helps.

or just replace it, there should be lots of them floating.