4FOR4

Does the tach connect to the distributor? I had another strange thing happen, The metal piece that is on the top of the rotor came off and I found it and the rivet that holds it on, laying in the distributor. Could I have missed a piece? Could this cause a jump in tach rpm indication?

I'm having a strange problem with the 86 brat and could use some advise. Has anyone experienced the engine appearing to rev(from 3 to 5rpm, according to the tach) and the engine acting all jumpy? I at first thought it was the clutch, but on steep climbs i can't get it to do it, and I'll also see and feel it happening with the clutch pedal depressed, so the clutch would be out of the picture. It will usually start after the car is at temp. I don't have to be giving it alot of gas, sometimes it will do it while coasting. The tach starts to jump up, and the car pulses, sort of like a slipping clutch would feel. What feeds the signal to the tach? Is it just a cable with a sensor on the cam? Is it electronic? Is there a brain in an 86 GL that would control engine idle and increase it without gas pedal involvement? I can also hear a winding noise when the tach jumps up. So far I've replaced the alternator, coil, and gas filter (lower). Anyone have any suggestions or insight? Thanks for the help

Looking for some diagnostic advise for the turbo of a 92 legacy sedan, auto, 2.2 Suddenly it doesn't want to go faster than 38 mph. When it hits that speed, the turbo sounds like its dumping and the engine sputters and sometimes stalls. Is the dump valve releasing too soon? What other controls should I check?

I think you'll want to test in place. Try to start compressor, if the compressor stops, check the switch you found and check if its open. Was it closed before pressure built? Do you have a meter? To make your life alot easier, find someone who has a refrigeration manifold set so you can see the operating pressures of the system. Otherwise your flying blind.

Every refrigeration system needs some sort of metering device to provide a point at which the hot liquid can drop pressure and become a gas and absorb heat in the process. This is going to be nothing more than an orifice plate or similar. On the Subarus I've dealt with, the metering device is located in or near the cylindrical component near the strut tower, passenger side, under hood. The line coming from the condenser (which is up by the radiator) should be a solid, possibly aluminum tube, and will run to the cylinder in question. Out the other side of the cylinder (which may be a refrigerant reservoir) is a smaller tube that leads through the firewall to the evaporator in the passenger compartment. I think there should be a high pressure switch right near that, possibly just before the cylinder as the line approaches from the condenser. Its not very big and will have wires connected to it.

Have you checked the high side pressure? What is it when the compressor quits? The sensor is a 2 wire device located in the line going to the metering device. I think they are normally closed, opening on high pressure. Try a jumper wire between the 2 leads.

If putting oil in it filled the cylinders (making it a pump), you'd know if there was damage because the compressor would be running terrible, not compressing, etc. My A/C instructor said it best "a compressor becomes a pump, just before it becomes a wreck". If you have a set of refrigeration gauges, connect to the high side as well. It sounds to me like the compressor is going off on high head pressure. There is a safety switch that will trip at about 350 psig. Normal operating is in the 200s but will change with load. If you find that with only half a can its going off on high head, your metering device is probably plugged. I had this happen when a compressor went bad and metal pieces were migrating around the system and got stuck in the very small hole they use for refrig control. To clean it out, I blew the line backward, from the low side connection, through the evaporator and metering device out the other side of the silver can gismo with the line disconnected after the can. With that disconnected you might want to do the other half of the system too to insure debris removal from that side. Now of course you'd blow this clean with some inert gas like nitrogen because letting refrigerant out is illegal and environmentally unfriendly. If you do find alot of metal, which will be very shiny specs in the oil that is pushed out, you have a compressor thats failing and should be changed out. Good Luck.

The cones on both back speakers on my 92 Turbo sedan seem to have seperated at the top. Shouldn't they be fully attached all the way around? Plenty of rattling going on. Does anyone one of a good, drop right in replacement for the Clarions that are in the back window/ trunk deck? Thanks

Drive it like you stole it. Go through a few cycles of quick acceleration to get the rpms up. Watch the temp needle on the dash. If you see it rise like its overheating then drop back down quick, that's when a bubble of exhaust is causing flow to stop in the water jacket. When this is going on (once it starts it usually will go for awhile) pop the hood and look in the overflow reservoir of the radiator. You should see bubbles. When the bubbles stop, the needle on the temp gauge goes back to normal. When the repair shop didn't believe that it was a gasket problem, I would take it out and get it to behave badly in about 10 miles. Warm it up and race it. That was a pattern for my 98 OBW anyway.

The prices I showed were for the better quality, higher nickel content rotors. All the parts stores had $20 rotors too. Is there a huge performance or longevity difference between the low cost standard ones and the better quality? Should I look at it like if I buy the cheap ones I can replace them again and still be below the cost of the better ones?

I need new rear rotors for my 98 OBW. PLease offer opinions on which way to go. Advance Auto: Bendix $48.88 NAPA: United $64.00 CarQuest: Rabestos $37.08 Subaru dealer: Subaru $75.00 Thanks for the help.

I don't know what it is but my 98 OB has the same noise, and I just had the RR bearing replaced for the second time in 12 months. Luckily the dealer covering the second under warranty. Mine has 140,000 on it. I also had the transfer gears replaced in the back end recently, they were locking up causing the car to jump like a 4X4 on dry pavement. I'm going back Thursday for them to take another look.

Before you throw the baby away with the bath water, a 96 should have the 2.2 in it, which isn't the HG problem engine, that's the 2.5. Bubbles all by themselves don't mean you have a bad HG, it could just be the normal expansion/ contraction of the coolant with the engine temp. Or possibly some air that wasn't fully removed, or a bad radiator cap. Maybe the cooling fans aren't working which is causing coolant to boil which could cause bubbles. Have you lost any fluid? Is the overflow filling up with coolant and not returning when cooled down? Check out possible other causes first. When it overheats, or you start to see huge temperature fluctuations on the gage, then get concerned. I don't think we'll be showing you the secret club hand shake just yet!

Isn't there a switch on top of the steering that turns those lights on and off?

WE finally had a warm dry day here so I was able to dig in to the fuel gage problem. The way I see it whenever the original problem occurred they didn't go far enough in the diagnosis, causing the repair to make things worse not better. In the Turbo there are two sending units, main and sub. I found the sub unit unplugged at the connector (2 wire resisitor, blue in green out). I think this was the original problem. Whoever tried to fix it only went to the main, 5 wire connector (pump and fuel indidcator) and thought there was a bad wire. The cut out the section that went under the car (from under the rear, passenger side seat it leaves the inside of car and travels to top of fuel tank) and spliced in 5 new wires. By doing this they removed the part of the curcuit that included the sub unit connection, which is a series connection into the main unit resistor. I wired the sub unit back in and the fuel gage works correctly once again, or maybe for the first time as I would suspect the unplugged connector was a factory miss. Josh, I have a very clear wiring schematic of this that I would like to scan and send to you for posting on your site. Thanks for the help gang, keep off the path!

Get the hood if salvageable, they are hard to find for the Turbo

Thanks Glen, I was thinking the same thing. My son got a diagram from the shop he works at and it seemed to me that if both reastats weren't operational it would only travel half way. I'll check as soon as its warmer and stops raining. By the way the low fuel light will still work if the gage doesn't. I let it get low so I could check and even though the gage was better than half, the light came on. Do you know what ranges the resistance should be in?

I've run 6 or 7 tanks through now and it still does the same thing; top it off it goes past the full mark, run it for 250 miles (about 11 gallons) it fluctuates around the 3/4 line. Plugging the driver side connector back in, didn't seem to have any effect. Could it be a couple of wires are swapped? Does anyone know where to get wiring diagrams for this?

The fuel gauge on the Legacy I just picked up only went down from full to 3/4 after 200 miles. I put 9 gallons in so it should have been almost empty, at least to 1/4. When vacuuming the car I noticed wires coming inside from under a oval cover in the trunk, passenger side just behind the seat. I took the cover off and found that the original 5 wires to the sending unit plug in connector had been cut and new ones were attached. There has obviously been a problem with this before. Finding another cover at the other side of the car (driver's side) I took that one off too and found a 2 wire connector that wasn't plugged in to some other fuel tank sensor. Can anyone tell me the relationship between the 2 sensor? Could the 2 wire not being connected throw off the reading on the gauge? I guess I'll find out after emptying the tank again but wondered if anyone has played with this before. Thanks

Somebody has to be able to give me a yes or no

I grabbed one out of a junk yard for $100 and added it to my 98 OBW. It's a single CD player that was an option and fits right in like previously mentioned. The hardest part is the 8 or so screws holding on trim and radio. A few months ago I posted the whole process, maybe you could search and find it. If not let me know and i'll sit in the car and retrace steps. The option plugs right in, no fuss, no messy rewiring

Can anyone give me details on who would be eligible for the reimbursement if gasket repair was done to an effected car? Does it have to be the original owner or does current owner count? Does anyone have a copy of the letter they can scan?

If you're doing the CD install yourself, I just went through it and can offer some tips on trim removal, what screws where and so forth. Just ask

Was there a CD option for the 1992 Legacys. Looking to add one and would like to put in an original versus taking existing radio out.

Have you checked the fuse block? There should be one just for the radio. Sometimes there is another in the power line right at the radio. Is there a CD add on? Does the CD player work? Two other problems I've experienced: -Reset the radio by pulling off a battery cable, removing all power from the system. I've had lock ups before that were fixed by this. -If radio lights are on but no sound comes out, you may have a speaker wire that has gone to ground, drawing down the output. To check you have to take harness apart in back and use a meter to look for ground. How much electrical troubleshooting experience do you have?