johnceggleston

i guess with the rack already on the way out, it doesn't matter that the power steering uses ATF (95-99).

how hard / practical would it be to use a cruise control switch or similar relay as a switch for the duty c? that way, when the car is turned off the so is the duty c switch.

with my limited knowledge and in my humble opinion, there is nothing you can do to make the 4eat a rwd only except remove the front axles, or install disconnects on them. the front output shafts on the trans are a direct connection the gearing of the trans. in theroy, you can remove the front axles and still drive the car but i'm not 100% sure of that. and why would you want to except in an emergency. on the other hand, the rear output shaft is controlled by the TCU through a tranfer clutch and a solenoid the controls the fluid foir the clutch. typically the solenoid cycles on and off at a variable rate (controlled by the TCU) and this controls the pressure on the transfer clutch and therefore the output to the rear wheels. there is no doubt that some of the 'duty c' solenoids have gone 250k miles without problems, but i have one in a 95 leg with 130k that is bad. a bad duty c causes torque bind. one of the associated problems with duty c caused torque bind is that it wears out the clutch plates in the transfer clutch much more quickly. so is it "pretty much a wives-tale?", no it is real. how long can you run with the 'duty c torque bind' before yopu damage the rest of the clutch? unknown!! but it is not recommended. as for the part time FWD switch, you already have one, it's called the TCU. when the rear wheels are not needed for power the TCU only sends 10% of the power to the rear. FWD does not save any gas because all of the rear drive train is still in place and turning. you would have to remove the rear differential to gain any real advantage. this has been discussed here at length.

thanks for the link. i read through the information and have come to the conclusion that the 95 and 96 connectors are the same. apparently whats different from most american cars is the communication protocol. different protocols use different pin configurations. it's hard to believe that the parts stores don't have the necessary item to read the codes. thanks again for the info. john

my son drives it at college and i sent him into advance auto to get the codes read. well, they do not have the adapter, neither did autozone. the shop i used in richmond could read the codes, they did have the adapter. so i'm wondering, as porcupine said, if the pinouts on the ecu are the same, i could swap the connection port and then it would be standard, obd2. the obd2 readers will read the codes, but the connection is different. to the best of my knowledge we don't have emmision testing in this part of VA. so a swap of the ECU and the connector might be a solution. if a 95 ej22 will run in a 97 OBW with out any cel, i don't see why the 96 ecu wouldn't swap into a 95 leg. but who knows? i think the 95 has only one o2 sensor, that could be a problem for the 96 ECU i guess. my understanding of the 95 was that subaru went obd2 a year earlier than required, or maybe went a half step closer than obd1. but didn't go to the standard connection port until 96, but i'm not even sure the 96 connector is standard. but since obd2 was required in 96 i assume it is.

i have a 95 legacy with obd2 but it requires an connectoin adapter for the reader which our parts stores don't have handy which requires a shop visit. i also have a 96 leg wagon obd2 donor car. do you think i can swap the connector fronm the 96 into the 95 without any headache? would i have to swap the ecu as well? any experience with this? does any one know if the 96 uses a connection adapter.? i bought it wrecked and pulled parts, never drove or serviced it and i it's stored 45 min. away. thanks for any info!!

seats are cheap. www.car-part.com sort your search by distance, you may get lucky and find a leather one for cheap. i've got a green one, good condition, in roanoke if you are interested.

double check to make sure that all the wiring connectors are tight, especially after an engine change. then fronmt O2 sensor - OEM; then rear. i got this code in a 97OBW and it was a loose connection.

double check to make sure the wire going to the siren / horn (passenger side strut tower?) hasn't been cut.

my 90 nissan pickup and my 95 & 97 legacys use the exact same key blank and ignition key way. you can actually swap the nissan ignition keyway into the subaru, they must buy them from the same source. i am currently using a cut key that says nissan on it to operate my 97 OBW. and i have had my ignition keyway and door keyway re-keyed to match my nissan truck. now one key fits both vehicles. you can get a blank from any one who cuts keys, if it fits into the keyway, it can be cut to work. if you go to a lock smith you may pay a dollar more for the key, but he will make sure the key fits before and after he cuts it. i once watched a locksmith cut a key by hand with a file, you can't beat someone who knows their job. some of what the dealer parts guy may be saying is that the 91 had a different part number, different shape/type head, the part you hold. and as you say he may not have any practical experience. or the 91 may in fact have a different keyway, but this is the first i've heard of it. i have never seen a loyale or brat key so i have no idea if they are the same or different, but it would be unusual for subaru to redesign the guts in the steering column in mid-model. but not impossible.

it seems to me if some bad guys came and stripped the car while it was waiting to be towed the payment from the insurance would not go up or down. they have already determined the value of the car regardless of it's condition. if a tree fell on it and crushed the roof, the payment will not change. although they are buying the car they are actually reimbursing you for the cost of repair, not exceeding the value of the car. a friend of mine had a 20 year old family station wagon (he bought it new when his daughter was born) and a tree fell on it. insurance was going to give him cash value of the car (cheaper) instead of repairing it. he fought and won, they repaired the car. i have never heard of this happening any other time. could you sell the parts for more than 310$? how much is a rebuilt trans worth? i'd remove the trans. they are giving you car value instead of repair value, the trans does not change that.

it's a 4 stroke engine but the piston only has 2 strokes. the cam determines wheather it's exhaust or compression. i think you should do it the way wolftrack and the book says, forget the arrows. go with the correct marks. your belt may have been correct, but until you are sure it is senseless to look for other problems. on a side note, on a 2.2L, if the crank is in the correct position, and the bekt marks are correct, and the belt marks are correct on the cam pulleys, it's good. no questions. it makes no matter how many times the crank may have been rotated, or the cams for that matter. the only difference on a DOHC is the relative position of the second cam pulley to the first.

here in VA, cars going to the crusher are bringing around $4.50 per 100 lbs. so if the car weighs 3500 lbs, the cash price is 35 x 4.5 = $157.50. plus they have to pay some one to haul it. yeah, 200$ and it's yours. plus , aren't they paying you for body damage. subtract the 200 from their payment. how bad is the damage? does it run? cut the roof off and go topless. maybe not the best idea in the great northwest. or buy it for 200$, remove the trans, and sell the rest to the crusher guy for 140$.

i was afraid it might not be seen in the other thread, thanks for the great pics and the description.

how to seat your torque converter , by mnwolftrack (copied from http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=672461&postcount=64 ) First Photo: Here's a picture of the first stopping point when sliding the torque converter into the transmission (assuming it had been completely removed). The first stopping point can vary a little bit, so don't be too concerned if yours stops in a slightly different spot. Note that I drew a black marker line on the torque converter flange where the mounting bolts go. This line represents what would be the "fully seated" position of the flange when comparing the flange to the front mounting surface of the transmission when looking square at the side of the transmission (e.g. front mounting surface of transmission is perfectly in line with your line of site). As this picture shows, the torque converter is not fully seated yet, as shown by the black line (straight up and down) on the flange which is roughly an inch away from the front mounting surface of the transmission: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Second Photo: From here, I make a "fishhook" with my pointer finger on one hand and suspend the tip of the torque converter in the "hook" to hold it's weight as if it were fully seated. This helps prevent the torque converter from binding when trying to seat it (makes seating easier). Then, I spin the torque converter clockwise a few times and then counter clock wise a few times to see if it will catch to get to the second stopping point (if a few spins don't do it, I do a few more. If it's still a no go, I pull the torque converter back out and put it back in in a different position). Here's a picture of the second stopping point (easiliy confused for fully seated), in which the black marker line is still about 1/4-1/2 inch away from being flush with mounting flange: If you think the torque converter is fully seated (above photo) at the second stopping point, it's NOT! It needs to go another 1/4 to 1/2 inch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Third Photo: To get the torque converter to fully seat, I spin in the opposite direction that just did that got it to seat in the 2nd stopping point. Then, when fully seated, it will look like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forth Photo: Another angle of it fully seated, line of site no longer flush with transmission mounting surface, and you can see the black marker line a little better: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fifth Photo: Yet another angle, fully seated:

96 2.2L going into a 97GT with bad head gaskets, questions: what kind of sealant do i use to remount the oil pump after replacing the o-ring and tightening the screws? ......EDIT: found this answer: i bought the replacement metal seperator plate for the rear of the engine, but not the new screws, is this a problem? i'm planning on using lock tite on the one screw, how about the rest? (the big arrow is really helpful.) what kind of sealant / gasket needed for this? thanks for the help, more ??? as i find them. i'm replacing the rear main seal & seperator plate, t-belt, all idlers, water pump, cam seals & o-rings, crank seal, valve cover gaskets, oil pump o-ring and drive belts - alt & a/c . one of the kits on ebay mentioned a "mouse head" oil pump sela / o-ring, what is that?? what am it missing. thanks, john

you are not going to get money out of their insurance company , or yours, for that matter, with out a repair quote from a body shop, maybe 2 or 3 quotes. the pricing you asked for depends greatly on new vs. old parts, dent repair vs.hatch replacement. etc... the damage doesn't sound too bad. prices vary, but replacement doors can be had for 100$ - 150$, bumper covers less. paint jobs in the winter from CHEAP guys, mid-winter half price special, can be as low as 200$ for the whole car. it all depends on how you need your car to look.

it should bolt right on.

if you have the time and don't mind the inconvenience, how about posting a picture with both struts upside down. this would show if the spring heights are different, or just the strut lenghts. OR you could compare and just tell us. thanks, john

what he said. 95 legacy auto & 96 leg auto w/ y pipe. both of these are NON-interferrence engines. 97 & 98 leg auto w/ y pipe. these are both interferrence engines. and of course you'll want to replace the plastic seperator plate on the back of the engine before you install it. and anything else that's leaking, (rear main seal only if it's leaking, generally they don't). and depending how long before you want to work on it again, the timing belt, water pump, and all the idlers..... but with the 95 and 96 these can wait, if they fail, no engine damage. courious question. when you did the head gaskets, what are the chances you got coolant in the oil?. i don't do internal engine work, yet, but i have read that this is not unusual on other engines, v6s, and will hurt the bearings. are you sure it's not just cold weather piston slap. you probably already know this but... http://remanufactured-engines.com/page4.htm sorry for your head aches. sell the heads and stuff off the 2.5L to get some money back.

i'm not 100% sure but i think most 5 speed trannys from the 90s were either 3.9 or 4.11. i haven't heard of a 4.44 5 speed. but regardless, the 4.11 with your larger tires would put you on back on track. 2.2L legacys came with higher geared final drives and smaller tires. 2.5L legacys/outbacks came with lower geared final drives and larger tires. generally the difference in final drives matches the difference in tire size (% wise). the exception was the GT 96 - 98. it came with the 2.5L engine, lower geared final drive like the outback and smaller tires like the legacy L. this tends to make it quicker? it also makes it a slightly stronger tow vechile. also slightly less economical.

http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/trannychart/trannychart.pdf

since nipper is off resting his back, i'll say it. make sure all your tires are the same size, equally inflated and aren't worn badly. trhis is the first and easiest fix. if you have an AT temp light flashing 16 times at start up and torque bind, then you have a bad duty c solenoid and it need to be replaced( along with 2 duty c gaskets, $75 on line) and it can be done in the drive way. or 300$ at a shop. the other causes are: gunk in the duty c area of the fluid flow. this sometimes can be cured by changing the fluid, it may take a little while for the cleaning to take effect, but if it hasn't worked yet it probably won't. this is prevented by regular fluid changes. i guess it is conceiveable that removing the duty c and fluid lines and cleaning them would correct, but you wouldn't know until you put it back together and if it didn't you'd have repeat all that labor again, so replace in stead. ( i wonder if the crud contributes to the leaking mentioned below?) fluid leaking around/between a bearing? seal? and the aluminum housing where it shouldn't. this is mostly in pre-97 trans and was corrected in 97 by adding a pressed? steel? somthing or other for the bearing to seat into which prevents wear to the housing and therefore leaking. i'm not real sure how this contributes to torque bind, but you have to replace the housing to correct this problem. also the clutch plates can wear grooves into the driven drum which can contribute to torque bind. there is a great write up on the fix, but if you can get a good used unit ( if you are high mileage and pre 97 it might be best) i would do that. new dutyc in good used unit is optional, but for 75$ i'd do it. i have sworn never to install and old duty c again. my 95 leg had very minor torque bind for 95K miles (75k to 170k) only on the tightest of turn. i was unaware that it was a problem, i just didn't know. (if you can feel your trans shutter when you shift into P after parking in a tight space, that's the binding being released. mine was so concerning i would shift into N for a second, to release the binding, before shifting into park.) finally the rear output shaft seal blew out of the trans, i assume this was transfer clutch related. the resulting loss of fluid cost me reverse. i swapped in a trans and it lives!!!! again. when i bought my 97 OBW with 98k miles, it had torque bind and the flashing AT light. i replaced the rear housing with a good used unit (already had it ) and 285$ labor. and it lives!!! in hind sight, i should have installed a new duty c just to be sure. it wuold have added 75$ to the cost. PS Edit: if you can get a good used trans and install it with a new duty c, that might be the easiest way to go. i guess it all depends on price. most yards are reluctant to sell the rear housing off a good trans. you might look for a rear housing off of a bad trans, or 'parts only' or 'core' trans.

i doubt the the larger size of the clip is the problem, but it is interesting that they, or someone , changed the size. my guess is that the clip was a little worn and the the situation , whatever it was, stressed it to the point that it popped out. i'd put it back together and drive it until it happened again. if you have new clips and axles great, if not so what. it may never do it again.

i agree a great buy.!! my advice, drive the everliving crap out of it. sooner or later the problem will become obvious. no, don't ignore the symptoms, and always check to be sure it's safe. but for the price you paid, ENJOY. it may not break for 20k miles.