a97obw

I got the CEL today in my 97 OBW for the first time in more than 2 years and 30k+ miles. Plugged my code reader in and it was "misfire detected on cylinder #3". Funny, that is the same code it did more than 2 years ago, TWICE in about a month at very nearly the same spot on the interstate. Today I was within a mile of that spot going the other way when the CEL came on. I've had the "whistling" as well on the hard acceleration for a long time. I just clear the codes and keep on trucking (after throwing plugs, wires and coil pack at it the first time!). Every now and then I'll get the rough idle, but nothing ever below 900 RPM or the sorts. 90k miles now with timing belt and plugs done at 74k.

The bolts on the oil pump cover as well as the water pump get tightened to inch pound specs and not ft. pound specs! Note how they just "crack" when you break them loose to get a feel for how tight they should go back together. You might even just lean on one getting it loose to see how that feels. Both on my 92 Legacy wagon and the 97 OBW, I've removed the oil pump cover to change the front crank seal. Get the O ring for behind the cover as well. If you install the crank seal in the cover before you put it back on the engine, be real careful and pay attention to the crank seal and specifically its' spring around the inside of the seal. If that comes loose it's going to leak. If you can see a wrinkle in the seal it probably came loose. Pull the cover back and start over. Patience is a real virtue here!

My 97 OBW had the clunking front end problems from about 50k miles. Now it just turned over 90K and two days ago I replaced both the front struts along with the new upper mounts. Couldn't discern any problems with the rubber in the upper mounts, but the small bearings that the top of the strut pass through were definitely shot. Very gravely feeling. The driver side strut had a definite dead spot in it where it had virtually no resistance. Long story short......NO MORE LOG WAGON !!! The clunk has vanished! Yeah!! And the steering when sitting still or barely moving is very very smooth. Drives like a Towncar.

The "unofficial shade tree mechanic" version of testing the alternator used to rely on nothing but a screwdriver. If you hold the screwdriver lightly, as in a plumb bob, behind the center of the alternator and you get a magnetic attraction to the alternator with the screwdriver that would tell you that the alternator is charging. No attraction, no charging. This of course with the engine running. Tested and proven many times on the side of Highway 61 and various iggly iggly parking lots.

Alas I spoke too soon! My legacy blew out the front left Toyo 800 this morning on the interstate. Nuts! As for how it performed in the snow, well, it does on occasion snow in Mississippi, and they did pretty good, even on the "black ice" we had a few years ago. Quite some fun with the anti-lock brake system. Well, this Legacy is destined for Montana. So with that in mind, I decided to visit the Wally world and find a tire that can be replaced if need be at the local Montana Wally world which I hear aint so local. Anyway, I went with a set of the Goodyear Viva 2's which looked fairly decent. I was NOT impressed one bit by the Wally world garage, as I had to take it back to have the NEW valve stems I paid for installed. So remove the wheels again.....careful of those soft wheel studs with that Brrrrrraaappp gun there fella......break them down yada yada....the fact that they had to add a LOT of weights to balance the tires tells me the tire quality may be lacking......I did get compensated by the service manager refunding the cost of the stems and the road hazard warranty, only to have me wait in line at the customer service counter for 30 damn minutes before the Spanish/Asian gay fellow didn't take my word for what was written on the invoice by the service manager and had to do a "auto dept. please call 151".....not that there is anything wrong with Spaniards, Asians or gay people......one of those days I guess.

Bought my 97 as a used vehicle with 38k on it in 2001. It's now got right at 90k and hasn't (no evidence before I bought it) had a head gasket failure. I did have to replace the O ring between the oil pump and the engine case, along with the front crank seal as it began to leak like a stuck pig at 74k. I put a new timing belt on it at that point since I was there. Other than some bogus check engine light scenarios ("misfire on cylinder 3 or 4" twice on nearly the exact same spot on the interstate over a 3 month period~freaky!) it has been pretty good. Well, except for the front suspension that knocks and clunks like all the others do. The major difference between the 97-99 were the valve train. 97 has solid ceramic shims atop the cam followers (ala formula 1 and Fiat) where you adjust the valve clearance by the thickness of the shim at 100k miles; I think the 98's had the traditional rocker arm with adjustment screw that should be very easy to adjust, and finally 99 went back to the hydraulic lifters that need no adjustment. But if that is a concern double check that info for the 98 and 99.

On the legacy/Outback models it is very easy for a passenger to bump the rubber drain tube and disconnect it from the evaporator which is behind the glove box. Then all the condensation that should drip out from below the car on a hot humid day will not drip there but rather in your passenger side floor board. Hence mold and mildew! If your floor is damp, look towards the front of it below the dash and see if you see a disconnected rubber hose.

For the 2.2 engines (as I just did mine the other day) The crankshaft pulley should be oriented so the "tang" with the indention is at the 12 o'clock position in line with the mark on case. This will put the "arrow" pointing to the 3 o'clock position. As for the cams, the mark on the cams align with the notch in the rear timing belt covers for both of the cams at the 12 o'clock position. If you are using an OEM Subaru timing belt it should be marked with a line, then to the right of that 44 teeth on the belt a dotted line, then 40.5 teeth to the right of that another line. It should go on with you being able to read the writing on the belt looking at the front of the engine. The far left line goes on the left cam at the spot where the mark is. The dotted line goes on the crank at the mark (indention) on the tab at the 12 o'clock position. The other line fits the mark on the right hand cam. It is easiest to remove the lower left idler pulley to initially put the belt on and make sure it is in the correct position. Then lift up on the belt and re-install that idler bearing assembly. I'm assuming you know how to deal with the tensioner.

Ok, here goes: 1) You've got a glob of crud on the crank angle sensor, or it is loose. It is in the top of the cast aluminum oil pump cover and is secured by a single 10mm "across the flats" bolt. You can see it right in the center of the engine below the alternator and above the plastic timing belt cover. 2) You got some really crummy gasoline and the engine is advancing the timing to compensate. 3) Your fuel filter is so clogged up that the fuel pressure at the injectors is out of parameter and the ECU is making up for that. Has anybody suggested disconnecting the battery in order to reset the ECU (read "computer")? And what was it with the 96 Outbacks requiring premium gas? Was it the 2.2 or was that the first of the 2.5s? Note: I wouldn't go to the bank with either of the 3, but who knows?

Well, for what it's worth, my 97 Legacy Outback wagon with the 2.5 engine, 5 speed manual and stock 15" wheels with OEM type Michelin tires runs about 3200 RPM at 70 MPH. Across the board, my 92 Legacy AWD wagon with the 2.2 and the automatic running the stock 14" wheels and tires is 15 MPH faster than the outback at the same engine speed on the highway.

The Toyo 800 Ultra tires are really nice tires. I put a set of them on my 92 Legacy AWD wagon about 5 years ago at 92k miles. I drove the car daily for a couple years and had to replace two of the tires due to nails. Fast forward, now the wagon has 159k miles, hasn't been driven more than 500 miles in the past 3 years, stored outside and the tires show no indication of dry rot. They don't have flat spots yet the 2 that are probably 20k newer have no indication of wear on the sides as the other 2. Unfortunately, the local dealer said they do not carry the 800 Ultras anymore. I wonder why.

Note to self: Do NOT break down in Petes' neighborhood!

The cam sensor and the crank angle sensor are fixed in their location. So if the computer is seeing the crank at X and the cam at Y then they didn't put the belt on correctly. How does it idle? Normal RPM at idle? If it idles really fast I'd suspect a vacuum line is not installed. I don't buy the slipping clutch idea. If nothing else you'd smell something really bad if that were going on. So to recap, you had the shop change the timing belt and the seals and now this happens when you left the shop. I find "coincidence" hard to believe.

Josh, Yes, I found your picture amongst "searching" for a topic discussing the routing of the transmission lines. I'm replacing the one on my legacy wagon, and the kit came with a new bracket, new lines, the filter etc. Had I taken a picture of the connections before disassembling it I wouldn't be here. Had I known it was going to be 2 weeks before finishing the water pump, front crank seal, timing belt etc etc I would have taken a picture! I think how it goes is the: Bent upwards metal line at bracket to rubber hose on "IN" side of filter, "OUT" side of filter via rubber hose to upper connection of radiator/transmission cooler; lower rubber hose from the body just above the lower radiator hose to the lower connection of the radiator/transmission cooler. Looking for a confirmation on this. Thanks!

Has anybody got a schematic or photos of the connections for the external filter kit for the 9<img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/Huffmeister/IMG_0476.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">0-92 Legacy automatic transmissions? Thanks! Hope this is correct, anybody got one they can look at?

I changed the water pump on my 92 Legacy wagon earlier today. I didn't have to remove the camshaft sprocket as the Haynes manual suggests. I found this forum the other day when I was contemplating using a gasket sealant in conjunction with the correct Subaru OEM gasket. The consensus was no gasket sealant required. However, I did use just a very very light film of the Permatex brown stuff in the can with the brush just to get the gasket to adhere to the pump in enabling it to go on correctly. Of course make sure you remove the plastic dust guard strip from the side of the old pump....the one in the pan of coolant under the car.....and put it on the new pump before you install it. Don't ask!

Unlikely, unless........they removed the valve covers themselves to verify #1 cylinder coming up on the compression stroke by observing the motion of the valve train?

Wow! Great forum here! Getting my 92 legacy wagon with 159k ready for a trip from Mississippi to Montana, where it will be donated to my nephew with absolutely no mechanical experience. So among the things I'm replacing is the timing belt which was done at 120k several years ago; the 92 has only seen about 1k miles in four years since purchasing my 97 OBW. So I'm faced with the crank sprocket being stuck on the crankshaft. Doesn't want to slide off like it did at 60k and 120k. No amount of Kroil or "bumping it" with the front pulley will loosen it up. So here is a tip, perhaps it is old news. What wound up removing the sprocket was to purchase an M8 X 1.25 tap and big handle, a couple of M8 X 1.25 grade 8 bolts and a couple flat washers. The crank sprocket has a circle of holes around it, and two of them are slightly larger in diameter than the others, and they are opposed in direction across the crankshaft. The tap very easily cut into these holes, and then using the cast iron tensioner assembly from the air conditioner belt and placing it across the end of the crankshaft I put the two bolts into the sprocket and started tightening them which pulled the sprocket off the shaft. It would go so far, and then I had to use a socket inbetween the "bracket" and the crank to finally get it off. Anyway, thought I'd post that tip, I'm off to finish things up including a new water pump and replacing the oil pump O ring and crank seal. Found the search on what type of sealant to use on the water pump gasket (none is fine by me!) here in the forum. Thanks and wish me luck!