Tommymc

I just did an oil change...Please educate me about the problem with Fram filters....I've used them on most of my cars when they're on sale.

I dunno nipper....Your link shows the 1990-1999 2.2L at 60k. BTW, I read that from 97 on, the EJ22 had solid valve adjusters. Since this is a used engine, I don't know for sure what year it is.....any way of telling? And would that make a difference? Update: I took it into a local shop that specialized in Subarus today, and they seemed to think it had solid adjusters. Also that the noise was loud but "normal".

Long story...my daughter was driving the car when the water pump went. She was at school out of state but had a friend who's father was a service mgr at a Volvo dealership. He worked on the car after hours as a favor. After replacing the pump, he found that the engine ran poorly and had been damaged from the overheating. We ended up replacing the engine with a used one.....he swapped out the new water pump and replaced the TB. I'm pretty sure the replacement interval is 60k on this engine.

The engine has about 163k (going by the salvage yard figures) We had a new T-belt put on when we replaced the engine about 50k ago. Yes, I know that the belt is coming up on it's change interval at 60k.....just another cost to factor into things.

Thanks John. The mileage is a moving target as both the engine and tranny have been replaced. There's 230k on the clock but I think the engine has around 163k and the tranny has 150k. We bought the car with 70k and have had to replace several wheel bearings....more than any other car I've owned. I'll continue to drive the car for a while and see if she quiets down.

The back story: I have a 96 Legacy wagon with a EJ22 engine. It was a "spare car" for the kids to take to college. College is over and now it doesn't get run much. Last fall I was fixing it up to sell and it needed a muffler to get by inspection. The muffler shop talked me into the cheap route of welding in a generic muffler. I think it was from some model of Ford. Anyway it's smaller and a bit louder. Circumstances changed and I never sold the car it sat around all year and was only driven a couple of thousand miles. Now one of the kids wants it. I've been driving it for the last week and noticed that it's a lot noisier than it used to be. I'm pretty sure there's a rear wheel bearing going but there is also a lot of valve noise. At idle, it's just a ticking, but it gets a lot louder while driving, especially under load. I know that Subarus are known to have loud valves, but this seems over the top.....I just don't know. Anyway, I'm wondering if the muffler might have caused or be adding to this problem. It seemed to develop about the same time. Different backpressure? And then the decision of what to do with the car. Repairing a wheel bearing seems pointless if the engine is on it's way out. If swapping out the muffler would help, it might be a deciding factor. Any advice is appreciated.

Here in the Northeast, rust is a constant enemy. It seems that rust forms in predictable places...on all cars....and Subarus are no exception. I've fought the slow progression on my 96 Legacy wagon for many years and no amount of rust converter, tiger hair, bondo, undercoating, etc seems to do anything to stop the spread. After watching this progression on different cars, I'm starting to suspect that the root cause may be less obvious than salt on the roads. Certainly salt is a factor...all the under-side is exposed. Salt kills the suspension, brakes, lines, fuel tank, etc...but what about the body panels? For years, I've assumed that salty water gets in to the fender at the lip where the inner and outer parts are crimped and welded. From there it migrates to the lowest spot and rusts from the inside. Well maybe that's so, but I've gone to great lengths to seal this area. Lately I've been wondering if the moisture doesn't originate from condensation. In the winter, the inside of the car has warm moist air which can condense against the cold body panels. There is no way for it to drain from the inner fenders....it may eventually evaporate...or not. This would explain a lot about the way the corrosion moves. If this is the actual mechanism, would it make sense to fill the cavities with expanding foam? No air = no condensation. What do you all think?

Thanks for the replies. My thinking was that for under $200 I could replace both pipes and have it look good for inspection. Um, the rocker panels are getting punky (I just patched them with tiger hair) so I was hoping to limit the times this thing goes up on a lift. I do have a local guy who will probably weld for cheap. I'm just not sure the muffler can be saved. The pipe is separated as it enters the muffler chamber. The metal "looks" solid there...the sheet metal of the chamber isn't rusted. I guess I can have my guy check it out.

My 96 Brighton wagon needs a muffler. The pipe behind it is rusted to the point that there isn't enough left of the flange left to work with. I could bring it in to have a new muffler welded...or for about the same cost, I could buy both pipes and replace them myself. There are some online parts retailers that sell the parts at a substantially lower price than I can pay locally. AutoPartsWarehouse has the parts with free shipping. I'm looking at these parts: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Subaru/Legacy/Bosal/Muffler/1996/Brighton/4_Cyl_2-dot-2L/W0133-1654272.html?loc=Rear&tlc=Engine+%26+Drivetrain and http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Subaru/Legacy/Replacement/Muffler/1996/Brighton/4_Cyl_2-dot-2L/REPS961102.html?tlc=Engine+%26+Drivetrain I'm not too concerned about length of warranty...I'm fixing the car to sell. Just need to get it by inspection. Any down sides to ordering online? I'm mostly concerned with the proper fit.

Thanks for the info. Since the car is in Rochester NY and I'm in VT, I have no way to check the sender myself. Unless anybody can recommend a good mechanic out there, I'm going to check the Car Talk Mechanx files and find somebody nearby. She has AAA so towing should be free.

My daughter is away at school with our 96 Legacy wagon. The 2.2L engine has aprox 150k on it. She called and reported that the oil light came on....the oil was a little low but not enough to trip the light under normal circumstances. She has topped off the oil and let the car idle for a minute or two, the light is still on. The only thing I can think of is that the oil pump must be shot.....or the oil pressure sensor. Any thoughts on this? I've told her not to drive it until we get the problem resolved. I'm thinking that we need to tow it to a garage (she has AAA) Thanks for any insight.

Thanks Dave, I found the website online. If the stuff is as good as it claims, I've got a lot of other uses for it too. I agree with you, the leak isn't coming from the oil pan. The whole front of it is really rusty though, so I'm thinking an ounce of prevention here. In VT at least, I'm told they rust through a lot.

Looks like it might be just what I need. I tried find it at Advance Auto and Tractor Supply but neither of them carry it. I can order it online, but I wonder if you know of likely sources locally.

So here's the update: I installed a pair of re-manufactured calipers today. The operation went smoothly as expected. After bleeding the lines, there was a little more pedal but not up to where it should be. I decided to bleed the rear, and while I was at it replace the rear shoes. They had some life left, but shoes are cheap. After everything got back together and adjusted, the brake pedal is up to where it should be. I have a suspicion that one of the rear brake adjusters wasn't working as well as it should causing excess travel to activate the shoes. In the end it seems there were several issues that were contributing to cause a big problem. Thanks for all your help and advice.

Well I cleaned the whole pan off, and it's only rusted in the front. The rear of it where all the oil was is solid. It's leaking from either the seal around the pan or something above and to the rear. I'm not worried about a small leak at this point unless it gets a lot worse. I think for now I'll try to treat the rust and just keep an eye on things.

Thanks for all the great info. I'm not worried about my ability to change the calipers....I've already had them off to replace the rotors, and I checked to make sure the hose connection would come off. I've bled lines before: is there anything special about these that I should know? I've always used the hose in a partly filled (with brake fluid) soda bottle method. Helper to step on brakes.... I guess that since the calipers need attention anyway, I'll go after them first. Not sure yet if I'll go with remans or just a kit.

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering about that. To my eye there is leakage in the rear coming from up high, most likely the gasket. So the rear oil-soaked part of the pan seems to still have paint on it. The front is rusted but I don't see any leakage. I may spray degreaser uo there to clean it off and get a getter handle on the condition. The leakage isn't too bad.....at least not enough to be causing excessive oil use.

Great. So from what I've read in other posts, it sounds like the motor has to lift 2" to get the rear bolts out. There is a crossmember just behind the oil pan which has a bolt holding the motor mount. There is one on either side. Are these the only two mounts, and if I loosen them can I jack the engine up enough without removing the exhaust? Thanks.

But if there was air, wouldn't the pedal come back when I pump it? It doesn't. I don't quite understand how the calipers cause low pedal either, but the shop was quite sure it wasn't the master cylinder. Any simple way to check that? Also I'm still trying to figure where all the fluid went. Some rear lines were replaced a year ago by a reputable garage that specializes in Subarus. I didn't check their work but I assumed they properly bled the lines and filled the reservoir. BTW, I have loosened the hose connections to the calipers....it's going to be an easier job than I had hoped for. I will say that the calipers are rusted and the guide pin boots are torn. (and have been a long time before this problem arose)

Continuing on the list of repairs needed to my 96 Legacy wgn. (see olipan thread) My daughter drives this car and recently mentioned that the brake warning light came on. Sure enough, it was almost out of fluid and the brake pedal was very low. I topped off the fluid and also replaced worn front pads and rotors. The brake pedal is still almost to the floor. It is solid when it grabs and you can't pump it up like if there was air in the line.I took the car in to be checked out since there are other issues like a cv joint. The garage is sure the problem is bad calipers. Does this sound consistent with the low fluid? I can't find any leaks. They want $640 to replace the calipers ("we use only the best parts...") I'm thinking that when I changed the rotors, I was just one rusted hose fitting away from replacing the caliper. Is there anything special about bleeding these that I haven't encountered with replacing wheel cylinders and lines on other cars? Should I trust the garages diagnosis and replace the calipers myself? These guys have a good reputation, I just want to cover all bases before jumping into this. I have a gut feeling I'll be replacing rusted lines as well. Winter salt hasn't been kind to the wheel wells.

So for parts purposes, all EJ22 engines are the same and year doesn't matter? I guess engine removal/lifting explains the high labor charge. Thanks

I have a 96 Legacy wagon. A few years ago, we had the engine replaced with a used one from a salvage yard. I suspect the replacement is not the exact same year because some of the EGR connections are different. The car originally had the 2.2 liter engine but I suppose I can't even assume the new one is the same. Now I'm told that the car has a $1300 list of needed repairs. Financial circumstances being what they are, I can't put that much into the car. So it's either park it or DIY time. One of the repairs is replacing a rusted oil pan....to the tune of $400. Now it's time to find out exactly what engine is under the hood so I can get the right part. Any tips on where to find numbers on the engine that will ID the size and year? What's involved with the oilpan replacement that makes it so expensive? I asked the garage if there was anything structural in the way that made removal difficult and they said no. (is this true?) They made it sound like you needed to have mystic powers to apply the sealant correctly, clean and reseat the bolts. Is this a straight-forward (if messy) no-special-tools-or-knowledge DIY job? Any tips appreciated.

Update: My daughter checked the MPG on the way back to school and got 32 mpg highway. I guess the fix hasn't adversly affected mileage.

Ok thanks....I'll leave it in. She's headed back to school tomorrow. It's a 7 hr drive and any loss of mpg should become apparent. Only problem is that then I can't undo it till she comes home for spring break.

Well, this is a lot of info to digest! Yup, I realize that. I just thought I'd try the cheaper option before springing for a simulator. I haven't checked the MPG recently because this is the car my daughter has at college. When it was the family car, it got around 25 mpg. I have wondered if there was something killing the cats. Wouldn't a rich mixture trip a code on the CEL? If there is something else wrong, I'd prefer to fix it before running through another new cat. So I drove the car today, and the CEL reset itself. Now I'm just confused about whether shrouding the rear O2 sensor will adversely affect the car's performance. I'm hearing yes, no and maybe. Is there any difference between the anti-fouler and using a real O2 simulator in this regard? They are both sending false readings, correct? Should I just keep an eye on the mpg and leave the anti-fouler in.....or deal with the annoying CEL until it's time for an inspection sticker?