johnceggleston

www.car-part.com sort by distance Al's Auto Parts, Inc. USA-PA(Trevose) E-mail 1-888-396-2199 green, brown and blue $250

the exhaust from any 96 - 99 legacy L, LS, LSi, outback, GT, or brighton will work. probably 95 as well, as long as it has 2 o2 sensors, i think they do. even the exhaust on your 96 obw will work. apparently used cats are a no no to sell, you might look for a wrecked car or the like. buy the wreck, use the parts, sell the wreck. also look in the for sale threads and post in the wanted section. www.car-part.com sort your search by distance.

there's no reason not to use the engine, i just wouldn't give it to my sister expecting it to last a lifetime. but since you have it, i'd use it. and since it's a non interferrence engine, you could in fact justify just doing the minimum, belt and noisey pulleys, unless you go off roading a lot. worst case, you do it again after a tow. but any number of things could go bad before the belt fails next time, including an auto accident. of course, the added expense to do it all is not huge, especially considering what you plan to do with it. worst worst case, you have to find another 97 - 98 to drop in 50k miles from now. IMO, if the 89 - 96 EJ22 is bullet proof then the 97 - 99 has on a flak jacket. just as good as long as the maintence is done on schedule.

nope, when in park, only the front axles are locked, the rear shaft spins freely. it doesn't engage until the aft pressure makes it. you will have to lift at least one rear wheel though.

i'd probably go with the lower miles/ newer 97, and replace anything that might break in the next 100k miles. 100k is a long time, even at 20k a year it's 5 years. that car will be 16 years old by then. she'll probably be ready for a different car, or a new timing belt plus and another 100k. the 95 with 235k, may not make it another 100k.

lots of people know more than i do, but... putting another 22k miles on the 98 sounds ok, it will then have 135k miles on it. i would think the original pulleys would last that long. putting another 39k on the 99 means it will have 200k miles on it, this sounds like a lot for original pulleys, if they are. this seems like a bigger gamble to me. you might consider a mid point inspection. just my .02 worth.

checking the pulleys is the same work as replacing the timing belt. the only difference is the cost of the belt. but you may be buying pulleys instead. the way i see it there are only 2 problems facing you for a pulley inspection, and neither is huge. 1. the hamonic balancer / crank pulley can be diffficult to remove due to rust or corrosion. but yours was off recently so that may not be an issue. i rented a puller from autozone. 2. lining up the cam pulleys when reinstalling. one side is not an issue but the other side wants to jump or spin around. but lots of people have over come this and had good success. lots of help here on how to... the only question i would have is, if you are going through all this labor to check the pulleys, why not spend another 50$ and put on a new belt. then you don't have to go back in for 100k miles.

somewhere i read an article about a hesitation shift, 2-3 maybe, and the cause being an engine sensor, i think, TPS maybe. the idea was the trans wasn't sure where the throtle was, once the sensor was replaced, all was fine. i guess you could try cleaning first. i wish i could remember.

have you tried shifting manually to see if it does it then? or drive more aggressively in 2nd, and back off on the gas when it goes to 3rd. this may cause it to skip 3rd altogether, but who knows?

have you considered droping both down with the wheels, tires and cross member, (keep the sway bar attached?) and lifting the chassis up and then sliding the eng/trans forward. it works great on donor cars because you can cut away all the cross members in from of the engine. i've also read of someone doing it in a replacement situation. i think pulling both from above is a real challenge.

if this spring has 'hooks' at one or both ends, it is probably off the 'park lock' mechanism. the thing that keeps the car from rolling when in park. it is a surprisingly simple device located low in the trans, visible after removing the extention housing. third row down, far right picture, in the centerof the pic near the bottom, does it look like this? http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v204/All_talk/Subaru/4EAT/?

pulling the pan to replace the filter on the trans is not necessary. it doesn't have one, just a screen. and the pan gasket, actually the pan rim can be difficult to reseal if it gets twisted out of shape. better off to leave it alone if you don't have ot go into it for any other reason.

is this true? i thought there were 2 part numbers for the legacy belt? 60k and 105k belts.

also , next time you are back at your regular shop, ask him to check to make sure the bolts a tight. if loose , it leaks.

it's easy to lift a legacy up by putting on outback struts. springs, if the come with used struts make the job easier, but they are the same on outback / legacy. then you can use outback wheels and tires. now the real question is how, if you can, do you lift an outback????? any hints??

now that i think about it , i had to drill the hole from below in the frame rail ,one each side. i mounted the other bolts through the tie down loops first, see below, and then drilled the holes where i needed them. i didn't care too much as long as it bolted up tight. i fished the nut 'with the handle' in from above, i was working with a wagon, 97 obw,, and had to pull up the carpet covered hard frloor panels on either side of the spare tire compartment. mine didnt have the extra long curved device pictured above, but it was a nut mounted on to a oblong flange so when tightening the bolt from below, it would not spin. or it could have been a bolt from above with the flange and thre nut from below. i used a coat hanger to snake/sneek it in to the right place. the other two bolt on points were as mentioned, they bolt through the existing tie down loops on the a$$ end of the frame rail. there is a bolt, matbe a spacer the same thickness as the tie down loop or slightly less and then a bracket it to clamp to the tie down, and then the washer and nut. i tink i mounted mine one on the outside and one on the inside. it was just easier, and again i didn't care as long as it bolted up tight. if you bought yours new for a subaru, go back and get the hardware you need. you were short changed.

double post

that's the way mine worked.

from what i've seen , it's easy. a snap ring on the hub and they come right out. the trans shop i used to do mine, used a rtv type gasket on the rear extention housing.

it wouldn't hurt. and if you don't need it some one else may. some say which TCU you use does not matter, some say it MAY make a difference. i would suggest you stay as close to your year as possible, and same body style. if you have a wagon get a wagon TCU. it is my opinion that the shift points are programed slightly differently between the two to compensate for weight differences and such.

glad to hear you found it and fixed it. the bad tcu is the first i've heard of causing TB. sure would be nice if you could test for a bad TCU before you pulled the extention housing.

if you drive less than a mile, slowly to get the tire repaired, no big deal. if you drive at speed for the rest of the week, month , year, you can damage the AWD unit. if you have a flat, drive directly to the repair shop, that's your safest bet. the spare tire is a 'temporary' tire, not a replacement tire.

it will think you have been test driving a honda!! or worse, turning wrenches on toyota!!

if you install a fuse, any fuse, in the holder marked FWD under the hood near the fire wall on the passenger side, and this cures the binding then it's probably isn't your duty c solenoid. the duty c has to work to with the fuse in to relieve the binding. it could be the tranfer clutch plates them selves. if the fuse does not relieve the binding it probably is the duty c. you can order them online for about 75$ be sure to get 2 gaskets. (the clutch plates will cost another 100 - 150? maybe, i can't remember) the duty c is located in the rear extention housing of the trans, it can be done without dropping the trans, just the extention housing, drive shaft and exhaust. you could install a used one but unless its from a known good working trans you may be doing it again. use the search function and look for "duty c" or torque bind. you'll have enough to keep you busy reading for a while. some people opt to swap out the whole trans but that may not be necessary. read up. EDIT: the dealer cost for repair is ~900$.

i'm not sure exactly what you mean. the large light assembly that streches all the way across the hatch is one thing, the light assembly that lights up the license plate is another. which one are you talking about. you have to remove the inside panel on the hatch to remove the 'hatch wide' light on the outback wagon. the panel is held on with round plugin clips. usr a putty knife or screwdriver to pop them out. try not to lose them and / or brake them. once the panel is off you will find several (4,5,or6 more ?) bolts coming thru the outer skin of the hatch. most of these are easy to remove, one i think, maybe 2 need a deep well socket. remove the nuts, and then gently start at one end and slowly work your way across easing the light fixture off the hatch. the good news is that you are replacing this so if you break it no big deal. if it does not want to come, you probably missed a bolt or 2. (i think there 1 on each side on the outer edge of the hatch, IIRC). i used WD40 on the upper edge to lube it so it would come out and in easier. the lenght of the bolts can be challenging because the angle has to be right to get them to clear the mounting holes both coming off and going on. reinstall the same way, again using wd40, and GO SLOW. don't force it. i didn't use any sealant on mine, the rubber? seal around the rear glas sealed to it preety well and i have seen no evidence of leaks. welcome to the party, and good luck.