SaltCar

A brand new windshield is a wonder to behold. Unless you can find a new one in a junkyard, go ahead and buy a new one. Should be $140-$200 professionally installed. Think about it, you look at (through) the windshield more than any other part of the car. If you have comprehensive insurance the windshield is probably free.

My hatch lock was corroded inside and I had to take it out and take it apart to free it up. I thought I had key problems at first.

I have seen porous aluminum but it was blasted or cleaned with oven cleaner. If you remove the anodization, it will leak. Leaky crankcases on a two-stroke can drive you crazy.

Instead of wasting money on air filters why don't you spend a little on a code scanner? I bought one for $45, on sale. Search for the thread by Nipper on the ScanGuage, costs more, I want one.

Change it now and change it again while it still looks new, before it deteriorates. You can flush it yourself, this article tells how to do it. Here is a link to an article about changing the fluid in a ford truck but it is the same technique. http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/9/057/article/Changing_ATF_Fluid_in_a_E4OD_and_4R100_transmission.html

I put the box in the driver side panel but I had to run a wire under the hatch sill to the other side.

Caustic Soda is Sodium Hydroxide or Lye. You can buy it as drain cleaner, Red Devil or the equivalent. It is also what gives oven cleaner its kick. This stuff is very dangerous and will blind you or eat holes in your leather boots if mishandled. Don't use it on aluminum, it will eat up the anodization and make the aluminum leak. If you don't want to create a toxic waste dump to get it clean, an automotive machine shop will probably throw that line in their vats for next to nothing.

Back in the 1970s you couldn't switch radials from side to side, that has changed. Unless the tire has a directional arrow or other recommendation from the manufacturer to not do so, you can switch modern radials from side to side. Tires with power to them wear more evenly. Tires that freewheel tend to wear the leading or trailing edge of the tread unevenly. The unevenly worn tires may benefit from crisscrossing to the other side to even out the wear. If you wait too long the tires will be noisy for a while after the swap.

I just went through the leaky filler neck thing with my 1996 Legacy. It had a metal filler neck from the gas cap down to about where the back axle is. Then there was a flexible plastic hose that went above the tank. Exactly as described above the shield held the salty dirt against the metal and it rusted through. If your car has one, take the shield off and clean up in there as best you can. Take it to a car wash, whatever. Pour in a little gas with a gas can or at the pump. Watch under the car to see where it is leaking. When I say pour in a little gas I mean count to three or five while pouring gas. If you can't see under the car take a board or two with you and pull that tire up on them to give you more height. Use a flashlight. Break down a cardboard box to lie on to keep you out of the dirt. If the filler neck is rusted and leaking, shop around and buy a new one. Patching the old one is false economy. Take off the tire to give you room to wrestle off the bad filler neck and install the new one.

Interesting threads, thanks. The Paraut pump I bought cheap for my pending timing belt job on the '96 2.2 has the cast impeller.

If the guys at the muffler shop can weld it you may save yourself a lot of grief.

Air conditioning is limited to about a forty degree difference between ambient temp and vent temps. After your car is parked out in the direct sun for a awhile it is probably 120+ degrees in the car and on the pavement. For a while your AC will do all it can to blow 80 degrees or so out of the vents. As it cools the car the vent temps will drop. Make sure the condenser and evaporator coils are clean and then check the pressures compared to the ambient air temp. If you do not understand a temperature-pressure chart let someone else do this. If you want to learn ac, read about subcool, superheat, sensible heat and latent heat. Read about the difference between a system with an orifice and a system with an expansion valve. When you can understand where the refrigerant is and what it is doing you can fix an ac.

The timing belt cover gasket is a dust and weather seal it does not hold oil. Read about timing belt changes and head gasket changes and all of the related work. You are on the right track thinking about the clutch. I would have to at least consider getting another car at this point. If you want to drive this one another 100K, fix it, if not, maybe sell.

Is this a common problem with the 2.2? I also have a rough idle sometimes when the car is fully warmed up and I have noticed that there is some greasy looking deposit around one of the intake runners on the head. I have done nothing to diagnose this condition because it is really just an annoyance and I thought that I would do the timing belt first in case it is related. I have done no tune-up type work to this car besides filters and fluids. Anyone have any thoughts for testing? I could run some propane at the joint to see if it smooths out the idle. Hook up a vacuum guage to check for irregularities.

The topic is pretty well covered but here are some towing ideas. When you stop for a break, feel the tires and wheel hubs, heat usually comes before failure. Shake the whole rig and see if you can find anything loose, wheel bearing, hitch mount, etc. If you blow a tire or lose a wheel with this rig you will likely end up in a ditch. Don't fight for control if you do blow a tire. You will only be able to gently suggest a direction and will likely make it worse if you fight it. Check your emergency flashers occasionally. If they work you probably have brake lights and turn signals also. Your brake fluid and transmission fluid should be clean when you start. If you don't know that they are clean it is time to change them before they are a problem. The balance of the trailer is critical. Read about tongue weight. If you have more weight behind the axle on the trailer it is very unstable and dangerous.

After all of the above and probably least important, for the purge solenoid code 35, check the solenoid with an ohmeter. If it reads out of range grab one at a junkyard. I couldn't find a new one reasonably priced. You could stick a resistor in there to fool the computer until you find a good solenoid.

Besides mileage, how did you decide that you needed injector service? Is there a test?

Glad you found your problem. Why were you having problems with the scanner?

You can buy silicone grease from SCUBA shops or paintball shops. They use it on O-rings in high-pressure systems. A welding shop may have it, haven't ever tried them. I will try the silicone grease next time I bleed brakes but I will have the ever trustworthy helper to pump the pedal also. You could suck air through the threads on the bleeder as well as around the hose.

When I first started driving my '96 and was trying to check mileage, range and fuel capacity, I gave the fuel pump at the filling station an extra click after the car was full. My car threw a code shortly after that a couple times. I reset the code and quit overfilling the car, no more codes. Here's hoping yours is something as easy.

Even if you can polish the scratches out it will never perform as well as a new windshield. A new windshield will cost between $130 and $200. It is money well spent. It is surprising just how nice an new windshield is. After looking at the options I decided that messing with old windshields is not worth the time and expense involved. Find the best windshield at the best price and pay for it. Even a second job at McD is time better spent than goofing around with an old windshield. Spring a couple extra bucks for new wipers while you are at it. You will be amazed at how much better you like your car when you drive in bad weather with a good windshield and good wipers. Money well spent. Comprehensive insurance will pay for the windshield (cracked) with almost no questions asked. Comprehensive is only a few dollars a year more and pays for deer crashes too. A new windshield will pay for many years of comp.

It's in the FAQs on one of the legacy forums.

My '96 is the same way. When you hit the defrost button the recirculate light goes out. I guess defrost is fresh air only. But you can turn up the heat on defrost and get warm (ambient) dry air blowing on the windows, very effective.

Talk to a lawyer, friend of the family, etc, only way to go. Next time you buy a used car don't pay more than the actual cash value. Even then you still get screwed.