rlsimpso

I agree, get a wagon. You can get a lot more in the back. The Legacy sedans should have folding seats until 04-05, whenever they went to the new model. I believe the Impreza lost the folding seats in 02' when the new front end came out. The pass though in the Legacy is about size of the fold down arm rest. I think the open is less then 8 inches.

Have any of you ever taking you Subaru's out on a track? It is suprising how far you can push it before it actually understeers. There is a lot of tire noise when you get close, but nothing dangerous. Give a bit more throttle and you can bring it back in to line. A little more steering angle a more throttle and you will have a nice drift. Holding it is the challenge. Non-turbo Subaru don't have enough power to over come the grip of the tires. With that said I have noticed that automatic subarus are less likely to understeer then the manuals. I say this because (at least the ones I have driven) the transmission will not hold a gear, so you are always one to high. Then as throttle is applied as you apex the corner it thinks for a while and then by the time is down shifts you are out of the corner. Ugh. In a manual, brake, down a gear, turn in, apply throttle until the front end starts to run wide, increase steering angle and your out the other side. With the engine in the power band and the tires close to the limit of traction, it is very easy to provoke understeer. I have tried the selectable automatic in the new Legacy GT and that is better, but you can't select 1st, it won't change down when I want it to, and it is too slow on the changes. As jamal stated, to get understeer automatically every time, just go in to the corner too fast. The best tires in the world can't make up for that. In normal driving on normal roads I don't have much trouble with understeer. Consider the conditions before driving. If you slide, you may want to slow down a bit. If you want some bad tires, get a set of Dominators. I think Sears sells them. They suck! aboone1970, you should chime in on the Nokian snow tire thread.

I can highly recommend a set of Michelin snow tires. I have them on a rear drive Mitsubishi van and it is amazing in the snow. They are considerably softer then normal tires. I found I have to run them at full pressure when the roads a dry to get and speed and better milage. I air them down when there is snow on the roads to get better traction. There is noticable difference in the size of the contact patch with the pressure down. This should be the same for other snow tires like the Hakkas. I think this what Jack is talking about. I had the Goodyear triple treads on my 98 Legacy GT and they were dissappointing to the say the least. I suppose they will be okay in the snow, but i was not impressed at all in the ride and handling department. They were very vague and didn't like any speed at all in the corners. Perchance and unenlighted question, but do you really need snow tires on a Subaru? A good set of all season tires ought to be adequate. I remember taking my GL up a snow covered mountain in December on the stock bridgestones. I Suppose if you plug your car in before you go to bed then you probably do need snow tires. Make sure you 4 of whatever you decide. Your drivetrain will thank you.

Warpage is a concern. I stopped driving the car as soon as it over heated after replacing the thermostat, raditor cap, and houses. That is when the oily residue and bubbles in the overflow started. It was clean when I changed everything. I knew the problem as soon as I found that. I may be time for a replacement engine. I am considering doing a JDM turbo engine and transmission swap. I might get in trouble spanking ricers, up to the speed limit:grin: That is for a different forum of course.

I am also planning on replacing the clutch, fork and bearings at the same time. I don't have air tools, so pulling the engine will work better for me. My "more tools" money went to put a new roof and gutters on my house and garage last week, so I gots to work with what I have. This project was going to be an excuse to buy all that stuff. Just look at how much money I can save buy doing it myself, kinda thing. A product review forum would be a good idea. It would make it much easier to get input from people.

I had a suspicion the 2.2 may not be a direct swap. From looking around the exhaust manifold is different, and what I have found in the sub $500 range is just the engine, without any of the electrical bits. I am confident that there is nothing else wrong with the engine. If I mess it up, I am half way to a rebuilt engine, since I have to pull it out anyway. I hear good things about CCR. Does anyone care to comment on an experience with them?

The only special tool I am aware of would be a flare nut wrench, some times called a tubing wrench. They are like a six point box end wrench with a slot cut out to allow it to pass over the tubing. The ones I have seem to fit better then ordinary wrenches. It may be that you need a 10mm flare nut wrench. I got mine at Sears. The set was about $30US

Hmm... Less power, but more reliable, and better economy. That is something to think about.

I know a few people to who those. They are a good all around tire. Very quite and good in the rain. It hasn't snowed yet, so I can't say anything about that. They are not a performance tire. I hope they wear well for what they cost. That poster is great. Any idea where I can get a bigger version? I want to run it off on the DesignJet.

A friend on mine had a similar complaint about his 05 Impreza 2.5 RS MT. I noticed it was not a responsive as my 98 Legacy GT. I was driving an 05 Impreza 2.5 RS auto for a few months and it was not a bad as his. I know an auto isn't quite the best comparison, but it was noticeable more responsive then his. He put in a K&N air filter, which seemed to help a little bit, but not enough. The dealer told him variations in the servos that actuate the throttle cause this and that it was within the specifications, so they would not replace it under warranty. He traded that in on an 07 Legacy 2.5i MT and says it is much better.

Did I say two:confused: Yeah, there should be 4. Its a good think some one checked my work.

The plan is run this car for a while longer. As long as I can get another year or so out of this car I think I will have done alright. I have ~165K miles on it now. My goal is 200K miles. I should hit that by early 2008. By then any problems with the newer SOHC EJ25s with high miles should have manifested. When you say 2.2 swap, you mean the entire engine right, not a 2.2 block with 2.5 heads. I have read several posts about swapping engines and hybrid engine combinations. I am not sure if it is worth the trouble with this car.

They were done about 4 years ago. It was in December as I recall. 80K miles ago. Got to love a car the overheats in the winter. I have no faith that anything was done correctly on it, so I probably have whatever was laying around at the dealer. Better speeches: Bill Kilgore or Adrian Cronauer?

The stock Bridgestones on my mom's 05 Impreza are bad in the rain. I can get the back end out quit easily, and its an auto:headbang: I can also give thumbs up the Potenza G009s. It got a set last winter for my Legacy and they have been great for over all driving. They are not quite grippy enough for brisk summer driving, but the wet and (more so) snow traction are very good.

Okay, so apparently that is the diagram for the sedan roof.:-\ The wagon roof doesn't show enough detail to see where to drain hoses go. It looks like they are still on the drives side. The front drain may be in the middle of the two sections and drain down the B pillar. Either way, it should point you in the right direction.

It looks like there are two drains. The drain hose are listed as 12 and 13 on the diagram. There should be two holes on the drives side in the front and the back of the roof. You should be able to see them with the front roof raised and the rear open all the way. I circled three things but the two toward the rear should be in the same place. This is the good picture I found.

I forgot to mention that the fans works and the water pumps is fine. I replaced the rad caps about a month ago. This is that same car that I discovered the retainer pin still in timing belt tensioner when I replaced the timing belt a few months ago. I suspect the HG work was done very poorly. I love the smell of coolant in the morning.

Some old story: Overheating, bubbles in the overflow, oily residue in the coolant. I did the flush and fill, thermostat, hoses, burping, etc. My favorite is when the heat goes out and temp goes all the way up. Pull over, crack the rad cap open bit, and watch to bubbles in the overflow bottle. Once the bubbles stop, the heat works again and everything is happy for a few more miles. Any suggestions on headgaskets for an EJ25 in a 98 Legacy GT? This will be the second time around. I am going to do it myself this time. What could possibly go wrong? I am wondering if there is a better alternative to genuine Subaru gaskets. Has anyone heard of/used graphite gaskets? I seem to remember turbo guys using copper gaskets on Supras. Also, does anyone know if the Subaru coolant conditioner actually works? Searching other posts seems to say, maybe...

Two words: Axel Nut. Be sure they don't tighten it too much. I got about 20K miles out of my replacement right rear wheel bearing on my 98 Legacy GT because the reputable, highly recommended shop made as slight error during the end of the installation. I don't need to say anything about how that quote seems a high, so I won't:) If they are as good as you say, spend the money and be confident you will get what you are paying for.

Could you shed some light on the holes in the body for pulling the heads? I don't recall seeing anything mentioned in any of the manuals I have. I think my head gaskets may be going (pulling the spark plugs tomorrow) and am considering replacing them myself. It would save me a lot of head ache if I could be done without removing the engine. Although, if you have close to 100K miles, wouldn't it be a good idea to put in a new clutch (assuming manual trans) and replace the rear main seal? If you can change the clutch without pulling the engine, I will be impressed.

I am considering rebuilding my EJ25 or replacing it. What does CCR charge for a rebuilt EJ25? I looked on the sight, but found no prices.

Does anyone have a Scan Gauge II? http://www.scangauge.com/ I have a (now old) scan guage and trying to decide if the new one is worth the cost. It is about $60 more then the original. The unit is much smaller and the display is larger, but there is no indication that it is faster at displaying information. If anyone does have one, how good is the trip computer? Mine doesn't have that, which is were I am guessing the extra cost comes from.

The housing on my 98 2.5 GT is plastic. It has two metal sleeves through which the bolts go. It should be 10mm bolts. Be sure not to loose/mangle the thermostat gasket. It won't seal properly without it. $5 at the dealer:)

I did the timing belt in my 98 Legacy 5spd a few months ago. I had mine in 5th, on rams, with the wheels chocked. With a 4 foot pipe on the end of the breaker I was able to move the car quite easily. I found the parking break could use some help. If you have a second person, have them sit in the car and hold the brakes on. I have used an impact on auto engines. Use a good universal joint and be sure to keep clear of the AC condensor. There is not much space even with the rads out, so the breaker is probably the best way to go. The starter bumpers are much more courageous then me.

Thanks for the info. That puts my mind at ease. I really need to learn how to search better:)