johnceggleston

so that's what's wrong, his new wife isn't draped across the hood.

95's have 2 bolts on the inside of the door that thread thru a bracket on the door into the door handle mechanism, also a spring clip. on 95's, one bolt is easy to reach, one is much harder, for me any way. i have had my door lock cylinder / keyway and handle out of the door. when i reassembled, i left out the 'harder' bolt, but put in the easy one and the spring clip, (same side as the harder bolt). everything works fine. in earlier posts, (last year?) 93 owners have said door handles are easy. 93's must be different than 95's. you might run your hand inside of the door at the bottom, if screws fell out that's where they'd be. go slow in case there are any sharp edges.

so , did hte canoe become a missle or a torpedo?

i read the miata description, and disagree on one point. replace the timing belt, seals and everything else that's original. you may not ever get to go into this engine again. (although, there probably is a way to release locktite.) when this happened to my 93 leg the shop said they could fix it, but that this was the last time anyone could. i don't know if that was an exageration, but we did the water pump, seals, belt , etc. i bought it with 98k miles, drove 55k miles and then made this repair. it ran great. my repair price was only slightly more than same work without a bad keyway, but if it got me another 60k miles, it was worth it. i wrecked the car the following year (20k later), but it was running great. i sold it to the insurance company for 2500$ in 2000 with 173k on the clock. edit: before the failure, it did have the crank pulley wobble mentioned in the miata write up. ( i was not smart enough to know it was a problem, what a dummy.) i also noticed this on my 95 leg a couple of years later, and imediately had it repaired. keep an eye on the crank for wobble. has any one seen this problem on 2.5 liter engines??

how do you keep subaru owners busy??? give them a picture and tell them to find the fault!!!

if it is the gear in the diff, i'd replace the cable to the speedo and other parts as well. something caused the failure, i'd hate to go through the process of front diff removal only to have it fail again. but as 777 said it could be the piece pictured, and thats easy to check.

ok i'm a dummy, what's a tone ring and what's it look like??

you might check with goodyear and see how long the belt is supposed to last, 60k or 100k? but regardless, if it fails all it will hurt is your arrival time at your destination. 95 is non interferrence engine and t-belt failure does no harm to the engine.

FWIW this is probably not related, but my 95 leg steering started making noise and hard to turn. topped off the fluid no change. was planning on replacing the pump. a week later the belt failed, new belt , no more problem.

www.car-part.com here's a good place to start your search for used parts. these things aren't too scarce . sort your search by distance. another option would be to buy a wrecked outback with a 4eat. even if the trans in your car is good, you'll need front diff parts. as mentioned above, they usually come as a set. there is an ID plate under the hood on the driver's strut tower with your trans part number. an identical part will work, 97 and 98 outback will also work. what is your trans part number, TZ102Z2ABA? the 'bold 2' defines the final drive ratio, (actually it means it's a 2.5L engine but this defines the final drive ratio on automatics). legacy trans of the same years will work but you need the rear diff too. (legacy final drive is 1:4.11, outback is 1:4.44) i understand you and your son have more time than money, but i would hate to see you do the work on the diff, just to learn that the trans has problems. and the AWD unit already has torque bind. so 2 of the 3 sections in the transaxle need work, get a used one.

in my opinion, as long as the rear output shaft on the 4eat is spinninig and the speed sensor on the rear of the trans 'sees' it, the car will be happy as a FWD car. no binding, no undue wear and tear, no more damage to the AWD/trans. as nipper suggested, the weak link will be the support bearing for the front section of the drive shaft. long term, it may not be happy and start to vibrate at high speed.?? but i don't know.

this is not normal, mine did this just before it failed and i almost had to scrap it (93 leg). my second one started doing it and i had it repaired (95 leg). i don't recommend letting it run this way. if the bolt gives up the only thing holding the crank sprocket is the key. if the key gives up you have a real mess. i wonder if the crank sproket has a wobble? the difficulty in removing the key may have been due to some damage there. ? i don't know. just my opinion.

i can't help with the part number, but, somewhere i read,,, that the trans side of this shaft and the 'whatever-it-is-called' was welded together. this sounded so strange to me i didn't believe it. but before you go and start tearing it apart , you might double check. i found this unbelievable info when looking for the difference between AWD and FWD. FWIW.

maybe these real time pics wil help. see if 'image013' helps. 3 down 2ND from the left. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v204/All_talk/Subaru/4EAT/?

your color code should be on the id plate under the hood on the drivers side strut tower along with the engine and trans numbers. as for colors available in 95, try http://www.cars101.com.

they are almost, if not exactly, the same, except for the diff ratio. common wisdom here is to also get the TCU that went with the 95 trans. this will ensure the trans will work, but it will work like a 95 leg not a 98 obw. my guess is you won't need the TCU but i have no experience to base this on. if you do this swap you will have a slightly lower final drive ratio, 4.11 instead of 4.44. i would love to know how it drives & handles. the difference may be so small it's not worth mentioning, but subaru chose to put different ratios in the outbac vs. the legacy. but the outback final rdrive ratio was determined by the engine size not the weight of the car. the 97 leg gt sedan has the same rear end as the outback wagon.

check the id tag under the hood. if the trans number starts with TZ102Z2... then any 97-99 with the same 7 digits will work. if the trans number is TZ1A2... (or something like that) then you have a phase 2 trans and have to use the same. (phase 2 trans wiring harness is different). '99 phase 2 was a 1 matbe 2 year trans, by 01 they have a different part number, i think. all my soobys are 95 -97 so i tend to forget info '00 and beyond. why do you need to replace it?

i don't know for sure, but i would start with the part number list above and search it at one of the online parts suppliers. one of them will give you actual subaru part numbers. most of them will let you look up a subaru part number for price and what it fits. foresters are a pretty late model vehicle and the trans may be different. but i believe impreza and legacy use the same part. when i was checking the price at the local dealer, the parts guy comment ' they should all be the same', but i would double check. i would be surprised if subaru developed a different AWD unit for each model. but i continue to surprise myself.

is this AWD or Fwd? the fuel pump access is from the trunk/cargo area just behind the rear seat (on 95 - 99). AWD have 2 access panels since the gas tank strattles the rear diff. there are several fuel lines accessible there. from the wheel well, they go forward in the passenger comparment and run along the rocker panel on the driver's side to the front fender. i would think you could splice onto good fuel lines at the fuel pump access panel under the carpet in the trunk/cargo area. have you got good/sound fuel lines on the lower end, in the wheel well, before they enter the passenger compartment so you can splice on them? good luck.

some one posted an exploded view of the trans / transfer clutch housing a couple of months ago. i saved it but it's now lost. you might try end wrench.??

i really don't have any way to judge how the ac is cooling except to say i think it could be better. how cold should the output be? should i just take it to the ac shop for a 'tune up'? or can some one offer instructiuons / link on how to do it myself? will 'topping off' the freon(?) help it make colder air? i've had it 18 months, bought it with 98k on the clock, now 115 maybe, this will be my second cooling season. thanks, john PS: i bought a box of misc. subaru parts which included bearings for AC idlers (8 - 10) and compressors (3 each). they do not have subaru part numbers. given the unknown nature of these parts, i'd be willing to send you one and you can pay me if it works. i would think matching the new to the old would be a good test. i looked up the part numbers with the manufactures but they fit so many different cars, i got tired. let me know if you are interested. cheap.

i would try and make them take it back. short of that i'd try to get them to fix it. assuming it cost 800$ to replace the gaskets, would have bought the car for 5000$ ? make them take it back!! get your cash and buy from another seller. if you swap cars with them, they are going to work the deal so you pay for the repair.

these are thge part numbers from nipper when he had his done at the dealer. ON LINE PRICES ARE LESS. 31523AA420 PLATE SET- TRF CLUTCH 173.28 31942AA090 VALVE AY TRANSFER CLUTCH 112.94 (DUTY C SOLENOID) 806735210 OIL SEAL 19.20 (I THINK THIS IS FOR THE VALVE ASSEMBLY - DUTY C) 31337AA129 GASKET TRANS CASE REAR 8.78 (MY TRANS SHOP USED SILICONE or similar) 44022AA020 GASKET 16.64 (TWO REQUIRED) EXHAUST MANIFOLD GASKETS for the record labor was 510.50. Also took 4 qts of tranny fluid. careful when reassembling the case, you don't want to 'pinch' the duty c wire like bserk did. good luck.

this warning light is most commonly associated with a bad duty c solenoid and torque bind. it could mean any number or trans problems, but duty c seems to come up more often than others. does the car jerk or shutter or bind when making tight turns at slow speeds, if so, insert the FWD fuse under the hood and see if it goes away. if yes to both of these, then you have a bad duty c solenoid, which controls the power split front and rear wheels. do a search here for 'torque bind' or 'duty c' and read untill you fall asleep. or go to the dealer and have check it out.

i would still look for the pigtail plug at the left rear tail light first. if it's not there then this is one of the few real differences between legacy and outback. the consensus here is that all of the wiring is in place on all cars, but trailer hitch connections may be too optional.