no-coast-punk

^^^^ Bloody fantastic! That's one of the best shade tree fixes I've heard in my life... and I've heard bunches.

DO NOT flush the transmission with that kind of mileage on it unless you have documentation that the fluid has been flushed every ~60,000 miles. The reason for this is that when transmissions do not have the fluid flushed regularly, the clutch packs begin to break down and glaze over. The fluid becomes very gritty as a result. This gritty fluid is hell on all the other moving parts in the transmission, but the only thing that is allowing the clutch packs to get enough friction. You could find that after you flush the transmission with new fluid the car will not go into ANY gear. It could very well be that governor gear. If there is an internal leak in that valve assembly, the transmission shift hydraulics won't be "seeing" the real vehicle speed. The transmission might only see 20 miles per hour with no need to shift to 3'rd when in reality you're doing 60. Be warned, that the valve body coming out = dumping all the fluid. You could very well fix one problem and cause another. Check for obvious things like loose vacuum lines and what not (if there is a line popped off the modulator valve, it could cause this as well). If there is nothing wrong externally, and the transmission has sufficient fluid in it... well... time for a re-build. Re-builds aren't cheap, but not as expensive you'd think.

Moisture in the system can cause foaming as well. Moisture is very difficult to get out of a system after it has sat for a long time, and most shops won't take the time to do it right. Some shops don't even have a means of drawing a vacuum on a system. The only foolproof way to resurect an A/C system that's been through what yours has is to use a proper A/C machine to draw a vacuum on the system and let it hold the vacuum for about an hour. This will force any h20 in the system to boil off. Bring the system back to almost atmospheric (just an inch or 2 of vacuum) and let it sit. This will cause any moisture still remaining to spread through the system. Apply a vacuum again and let it sit for another hour. If the system is leaking, You will know at this point before you go wasting refrigerant. If the system is leaking, use your favorite leak detection method and fix the leak. Replace the reciever dryer and then charge the system to capacity. Assuming your compressor is healthy the system should now give you years of trouble free service.

Hello all, This is my first post over here. I'm a regular to the tech forums on NASIOC under the same name. I know gobs and gobs about the newer subies, but the old stuff is beyond me and I'm looking for a new project. I'm sorry if there are already 100's of threads on the questions I'm about to ask, but I need to be getting to bed soon and I want to throw these ideas out there before I get to sleep. I have a '98 impreza that has been through 4 engines ranging from the stock 165 hp to the current 470hp. Not much is stock chassis wise either. Basically I have an entire garage full of parts in boxes and nothing to dump them into. A little voice in my head was whispering things about a brat. I think I have already sourced a clean donor vehicle, but I would like to seek the advice of those more knowledgable than I on the old stuff. With the parts I have in the garage I will be able to slap together a good running EJ engine doing about 260hp naturally aspirated. Now for questions as to what I will need: I know the EJ engines will drop into EA applications without TOO much difficulty. I'm a master mechanic that can weld/cut so not much scares me. However I still don't know EXACTLY what needs to be done. If there are existing threads on the topic can somebody point me in the right direction? I would like to use the 5mt case out of a WRX I have sitting on the floor, it should hold up to the power I will be making without any complaints. I realize the CV's will be vastly different than the transmission that comes out of the car. I'm not too worried about this, which brings me to my next point. Is it possible to use either impreza or legacy hubs/knuckles without too much headache in these cars? I have a very nice set of fixed caliper wilwood brakes and rotors that I would like to donate to this car, along with all the other advantages of the newer style hubs (larger bearings, better wheel selection, etc.) Rear differential... Do the brats come with the standard R160 diff? Something else? Can an R160 bolt in? Will I need to fabricate a rear crossmember for this purpose? If using the newer style knuckles is completely out of the question, does anybody make adapter kits to use impreza/legacy calipers with a 5 lug hub? Thanks in advance.