Mikevan10

Any idea what Subaru charges for OEM joints?

So I am safe to shop around for the best deal, regardless of manufacturer?

I need to replace the ball joints in the front end of my 1997 Legacy wagon. Is there a particular brand I should get? Is there a particular brand I should avoid? Where will I get the best price? Thanks, Mike V.

No, I wasn't using any silicone. I forgot to mention, I masured the resistance of the oxygen sensor heater (white wires) and it showed a closed circuit (0 ohms). The Haynes manual says this should measure 20 or 30 ohms (cannot remember exactly). I don't know what this indicates.

With the "CEL" illuminated, I drove the car to the AutoZone which is about 10 miles from my house. The engine was stumbling badly and I was worried that it would die on me. But is never did. Incidently, I tried depressing the cliutch when it stumbled but it would not stall or anything. Anyway, I had the OBDII codes read. There was only one code: P0130 which is oxygen sensor related. So I went ahead and bought a new front Bosch "OEM" sensor. They hit me 100 bucks for it. They also offered a Bosch "universal" sensor for about 60 bucks. I installed the new front oxygen sensor and took a short, 5 mile or so, test drive. No stumbling! I am hoping that the oxygen sensor was the problem but will not be confident until we get some more time and miles on it. I still do not believe this was a coincindence. I am thinking that when I dropped the exhaust system with the oxygen sensors still connected, that even though the fron sesor unplgged itself, it was somehow damaged. Thanks again for everyone's comments! Now I am trying to decide whether or not to replace the clutch in my '92 this weekend... Mike V.

Update: Last evening I went out (in the rain) and started her up and let it idle for about ten minutes. Operated normally. The CEL illiminated when I turned on the ignition and extinguished as soon as the engine started (i.e. right away). After lt had warmed up I went around tugging and pushing around wires and hoses all over the engine compartment. No reaction. She just kept purring. So I decided to take a test drive and see if she would stumble at which point I was going to depress the clutch pedal and see if it would stall or if any lights came on or anything. Well, she never stumbled (sounds like a Bob Dylan song) HOWEVER, the CEL (MIL) suddenly came on! I continued driving for a few more miles but she never did stumble. The CEL, of course, remained illuminated. This is the first time I was ever actually glad to see the CEL. I am hoping that the fault code(s) will clue me in on the problem. I have to borrow a scanner and it may not be until Friday that I'll be able to check it out. Will advise. Mike V.

If I follow your drift, you are suggesting that maybe the engine is, in fact, stalling and continues, of course, to rotate since the transmission is in gear and the clutch is engaged. Then, for whatever reason, the presumed electrical/sesor issue resolves itself and since the engine is already turning, it starts to actually "run" again? Is that what you are thinking? I will depress the clutch next time it stubles and see what happens. Unfortunately this is a Brighton so it does not have a tachometer. And yes, the CEL does come on when you trn the key on and goes off as soon as you start the engine. Thanks again!

And according to the wiring diagram, there is a Neutral Position Switch.

There is a switch that prevents the starter motor from operating unless the clutch pedal is fully depressed. As far as I know it ONLY effects the starter motor, but I do not know for sure.

All test driving has been during daylight but, no, I have not noticed any dash lights coming on. Are you referring specifically to the MIL?

The stumble is quite pronounced. You can be cruising along just fine and suddenly you lose, basically, all power. The car will, oviously, immediately slows down and makes you think it is going to completely die, then, suddenly, the power comes back and the car lurches forward and resumes running properly. It will repeat this anywhere from a few seconds to, say, 20 seconds later. It has never actually stalled. It will sit and idle without issue. Yes, I did clean the MAF sensor with the CRC proprietary cleaner. No help. I still am reluctant to believe this is just a coincidental component failure. I believe it has to be something related to the clutch job. I do have two 1992 Legacy's so I could swap in another MAF if no other solution shows up. It was raining last night and I do my work outside in the driveway so I did nothing last night. If it is not raining toninght (it is supposed to...) I will once again recheck all of the wires and hoses that were, or could have been, touched in the course of the clutch replacement. I will also borrow an OBDII scanner an see if that tells me anything. Like I said the MIL/CEL is not illuminated. Keep the ideas coming! Mike V.

Car has about 245,000 miles on it. No other work was done on the car while we replaced the clutch over the weekend. No other work has been done on the car over the last couple of months. There was no indication of any stumbling or other engine operational issues prior to this weekend. I am very reluctant to believe that, just by coincidence, some component began malfunctioning right at this time. Thanks again. Please keep the suggestions coming!

OK, I will see if I can get it to misbehave by, with the car sitting idling, tugging on wires and hoses. In the meantime, do I understand correctly that the rear oxygen sensor has absolutely nothing to do with how the engine runs? Is it only there to monitor how well the catalytic converter is performing and if the cat is not doing its job, then I will get a CEL code (by virtue of the rear oxygen sensor)? On the other hand, I would guess that the front oxygen sensor has alot to do with how well the engine runs, correct? If so, would it be typical to have intermittant stubling if there was a fault with the front oxygen sensor circuit? And this would not set an error code? Any other ideas out there? Mike V.

I don't think I've ever seen a used pipe on a Subaru that looked like a good candidate for welding a new flange on. At least not one where the flange was in bad enough shape that it needed replacement.

Just to close the loop, I replaced the clutch (again) over the weekend. I installed an Exedy clutch pressure plate (cover) and driven plate. I also had the flywheel resurfaced. Clutch judder is GONE.

Hi Gloyale, Yep, I chacked all of the hose coonections, including the MAF sensor. No detectable issues there. Besides, as I mentioned above, don't you think if there were an air leak somewhere, the problem would be continuous, not intermittant? Mike

How are you guys installing new FLANGES on old pipes?

L.T., The same tank of gas was in the car last wek, prior to the clutch job. Did not throw ANYTHING in the gas tank. And, no, the MIL (aka CEL) is not illuminated. I forgot to mention that before. It comes on when I turn on the ignition but extinguishes immediately upon engaging the starter. This also aggravates me. In the past I have had not been able to pass state inspection because the CEL was on and the car was running fine. Now I have operational problems and no CEL! Gotta love it.

Thanks for the comments Pearl, but Fairtax already straightened me out the sensor connections. Apparantly, the rear oxygen sensor has absolutely nothing to do with the way the engine runs anyway... Mike

Thanks Ivan. I have already checked and rechecked all harness plugs. The coilpack was not touched during the clutch job so I don't know why it would pick this moment to start acting up. I assume cleaning the coilpack would mean cleaning the high tension wire connections? Definitely not a case of getting "more power to the ground" making it more noticeable. First off, the old clutch did not slip. It just juddered when pulling out from a stop. Secondly, this is a very definite loss of power that definitely was not there prior to this weekend. Thanks again. Mike

As noted in other threads, I replaced the clutch in my wife's 1997 Legacy (EJ22, non-turbo) over this weekend. The clutch had been juddering. New Exedy clutch and resurfaced flywheel and the clutch operation is now perfect. HOWEVER, when I test drove it, the engine started perfectly normally and ran perfectly normally for about the first 5 or 10 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, it stumbled pretty badly for a few seconds and then ran fine again. It does this on a seemingly random basis. Like I can drive for a few minutes at a time during which it operates perfectly normally and then it will suddenly stumble for,say, 3 to 5 seconds and then "catch" and run fine again. When I say "stumble" I mean it loses pretty much all power, although it does not actually stall. I am assuming this must be an electrical problem since it is intermittant. I would think that a loose vacuum hose or an intake air leak or something would cause a consistent problem (although I did go back and check all the hoses anyway). I checked and rechecked the two catalytic converter plugs, the speed feedback connection and the mass air flow sensor connector. These are the only things I can think of that were disturbed during the clutch job that have anything to do with engine operation. Very frustrated. Clutch job went well but is always alot of work. Only to finish up and still not have a sound car. As always, grateful for any ideas! Thanks, Mike V.

Thanks once again Fairtax! I connected the rear oxygen sensor up per your advice. Unfortunately, the engine still "stumbles" badly now and then. Something is definitly awry. I am going to start another thread and I hope someone can help. I am pretty much at a loss and it realy s**ks to spend the weekend replacing a clutch (which actually went very well) and not have a road worthy car when you are finished due to some unrelated issue. Mike

Thanks again Tax, but I am not clear on what you are suggesting. Again, the sensor itself has three wires attached to it: Two whites and one black. The connector on the chassis side (that is, the harness that goes to the computer, etc.) actually has FOUR wires attached to it: one black, one yellow/red, one grey/blue and one white/blue. Are you saying that the black wires should connect together? That would make sense. OK, but the what should I connect the two white wires on the sensor to? I just took tghe car for a test drive to see how the new clutch was operating (everything fine on that end). With the rear oxygen sensor NOT connected, the engine ran fine for about 5 or 10 minutes, then it started stumbling. I assume that it started stunmbling when it went into closed loop mode. Correct? Please advise. I need to have this car road worthy today! Thank you. Mike V.

Thanks for the comment Tax, but I do know where the harnesses go. The problem is that the wires that are permanently attached to the rear oyxgen sensor pulled out of their connector plug half. Therefore, I do not know which wire on the oxygen sensor connects to which wire on the chassis side plug. As descirbed above, the wire colors do not match. How do I determine which specific wire on the oxygen sensor connects to which specific wire on the chassis side? Thanks again, Mike V.

We are in the middle of replacing the clutch on the 1997 Legacy 2.2 and I accidently dropped the exhaust system prior to disconnecting the oxygen sensor plugs. The triangular plug for the front sensor unplugged itself but I was not so lucky with the square plug for the rear sensor. Instead, the wires on the chassis side pulled out of the back of the connector half. So now we do not know which wire goes where because the sensor wire colors do not match the chassis wire colors. The sensor (actually bot sensors) has two white wires and one black wire. The chassis side (rear sensor) has one black, one yellow/red, one grey/blue and one white/blue. So I looked at the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual. This only confused things even more because it says the rear sensor wires (chassis side) are yellow/red, black and white. The manual shows the front sensor wires as yellow/red, white/blue and black. The connectors have different shapes so I know they are not reversed. I have to assume that the front sensor wiring is ok since it has been working fine. But can anyone advise me as to how I should hook up the rear sensor?