porcupine73

I had a stuck crank sprocket on my '94. After I got it off I was surprised just a small amount of rust makes it not want to budge. I kept putting on Kroil and tapping it with a plastic hammer. After a couple days it came off.

Is there any larger front rotors and corresponding calipers/brackets from another model you can run like maybe the turbo or a WRX? Granted might need larger wheels though of course.

The core charge is typical, actually $22 core charge for a caliper isn't too bad, usually the parts stores are around $50 (at least for calipers that include the mounting bracket). I would say doing both sides is typical. The home mechanic could replace stuff on just one side, but it's usually best to do both sides so that they're 'matched', i.e. same types of pad on both sides, so that one side doesn't grab substantially harder than the other causing strange handling. I've had many calipers sieze up, it's not uncommon on older soobs I would say in areas that use salt. A bit of water gets in around the caliper seals and starts to rust the piston and then it gets stuck a bit in the bore. Or the guide/lock pins get rusty or the grease dries out and makes the caliper 'hang up'. Also often the pads will get stuck in the little ears on the mounting bracket if the bracket gets much rust on it. I always file down the ears a bit so the pads have a slightly loose feel in the bracket (there was a bulletin from Subaru about this). Sometimes you'll get a click sound when you apply the brakes but it's better than them getting stuck.

Maybe not your issue, but it's an easy thing to check, on the bottom of the air intake line are some hoses, two of which lead to the valve covers. It's easy for one or more of these hoses to come off during work without being noticed. Then it allows air to bypass the MAF and could cause strange idling/running issues. On my '94 the plastic T on the intake that those hoses hook too had cracked off so I JB Welded it back together.

Right CEL/MIL? Almost sounds like maybe it's having issues right around when it goes to closed loop at 150F coolant temp?

Looks like that's still a group size 35 like my 2000 Outback. In my 2000 (and 96 and 94) the largest size I could fit was an Odyssey PC1500. It presses against the A/C hose a bit but it did fit. If you get the reverse terminal configuration you won't have to extend your + battery lead. I don't know if that will fit in a 2008, just noting that the group size is the same and it did fit in a 2000 AT. I did not get the reverse terminal though so I extended the + lead. I think the reverse terminal model is PC1500R. I got two from Summit Racing and later one from Amazon, it was a good price and qualified for prime which was perfect since I needed it fast.

91-94 Legacy Turbo looks to call for 21111AA065 about $90 per subarupartsforyou.com. That would be for U.S. spec vehicle but it seems likely Canadian spec would be the same on this part? In the diagram it looks like there is an extra nipple on the return, the n/a's have just one nipple for the heater core/bypass return I think.

Thanks Dave. Now it's doing it under load and when coasting. It's loud enough now that I don't feel safe going over about 45 mph with it. It's hard to tell exactly where its coming from but it seems loudest on the passenger side more up toward the firewall. I'm stopping driving it and have a shop look at it. I'm guessing if it's something in the trans or front diff that's going to be a couple grand by the time the trans comes out and another one goes back in. Not sure if its worth it, at this mileage, head gaskets never done and it does use coolant but I just keep it topped up, and nearly ready for another timing belt change.

That clicking when you press the brake pedal sounds like the shift interlock solenoid, so that you can't shift out of park without your foot on the brake. Right cruise might not work with the CEL/MIL on. Not sure on that sound in reverse, I have a '94 Legacy and it has always done that in reverse sounds pretty much like yours.

On my '96 I jammed a small pry bar down in the access port on top of the engine. It did manage to block the flywheel somehow though I couldn't quite see what it was grabbing. Usually it is from not tightening the crank bolt enough after replacing the timing belt.

Hi, I have a 2000 Outback 2.5L 4EATII automatic 195,000 miles. In the last 50 miles or so I've started noticing a slight gear noise when coasting. It's not very loud but with the radio off it is noticeable. I feel no vibration. It seems to be coming from the transmission/front diff area. It seems related to wheel speed not engine rpm. To me it sounds sort of like pedaling a 10 speed bike backwards. It's not a whine, and it is not a grinding sound. It sounds more like two gears not meshed properly or gear teeth rubbing on something. Coasting is when it is most noticeable. It does seem to be there very very very slightly under load as well. It seems to do it in gears 2,3,4 or coasting in neutral (auto trans). I didn't notice it in reverse, and locked into 1st it didn't seem to do it but I might just not have been able to hear it. Thoughts? I checked the AT fluid level and front diff gear oils, both were at the right level and clean. The front axles seemed to be fine, no excess looseness, didn't seem like the stub shafts were coming out of the diff or anything. Thanks. I'm just trying to figure out if it's something to worry about and hoping it doesn't grenade or something on the highway.

Sounds good! I only recognize the stub shaft because it came out on me when doing an axle once. Maybe the air in the brakes was air in the caliper that was swapped in rather than air getting into the line when disconnected?

Or to test fans on most soobs of that era if you just get the key to run (don't even need engine running) and turn on the a/c both fans will (well should) come on.

Ahh that's where the picture is worth a thousand words. It looks like it worked? The Subaru piece is an axle stub shaft out of the front diff.

I couldn't get the bolt on my '96 even after drilling out the back of the bolt. I ended up just drilling out the entire bolt and then using a longer bolt to 'bolt through'. The thing that really hung me up is when I drilled out the bolt, a very small amount of metal remained inside engaging the ball joint lip, and it would not come out like that. Once I figured out that's what was keeping the ball joint from popping out it wasn't too bad. But I snapped the drill bit off in the hole, plus I was using a cordless drill, and when the bit got stuck and snapped, the drill kicked and punched me in the face and pushed my head into something sharp under the car. That wasn't the best wrenching day.

I've had this problem on my '94 Legacy many times. It's been especially bad this year, but then, it's been especially cold around here the last couple months. On mine, the first couple of brake presses work fine. But that third or fourth press - that's when it acts up. And that is the worst time for it to do so. I have trained myself to press the brake about a dozen times before shifting out of park. When I get to that 3rd or so press I feel the pedal get hard, then I keep nancying the pedal along until I feel it release. Then it's fine after that, until it cools overnight and repeats the issue the next day. I sprayed some lube in there a couple years ago, I think it's time for a refresh.

Hi dburton, on yours the knock sensor might be cracked, that was very common on that era. You just need a socket and an extension. I have no idea why the manual says to remove the intake manifold, that is completely unnecessary.

The bearing is brilliant! The price is nice. They have parts listed for lots of makes/models. Guessing they probably just buy them in quantity from a Chinese manuf. who makes aftermarket parts for lots of different sellers.

Is it automatic transmission? If so a few times people have said the oil seal between the trans input and the front diff went bad. I can't remember which way it goes but if the ATF leaks into the front diff, it could then leak out the breather tube at the top and onto the highway maybe without leaving much evidence of where it went. Just brainstorming. If gear oil gets into the ATF that's bad, the sulfur based EP additive in gear oil eats up the friction materials.

I would say first off scan the codes and see what comes up (as for the CEL/MIL being on), and go from there. The 2.2L you have would be the most reliable option. The 2.5L was more prone to head gasket issues. (Though at this age and mileage you can have HG issues on the 2.2L as well).

1. I'd says depends on your risk tolerance. Myself I'd just take care of it now rather than know something is potentially on its way out and it is something that could leave you stranded and usually will fail at the worst possible time (assuming it is the alternator that has the issue). 2. Don't know but intermittent problems do occur. 3. Some people love the parts store alts; some people hate them. They do seem to have a lot of defects right out of the box. People say they like the lifetime warranty but I figure it's still your labor to R&R it each time, though granted on Subaru alternator replacement is pretty easy. You can get genuine reman but for that year it is probably like $300. You can use one for say a '96 Legacy, those are only like $70 genuine reman BUT the connector is a little different so you have to splice it in or get a harness piece from a '96 to replace the existing. I did this on a '94 Legacy and it's been working ok so far.

Haha that's funny. All that talk of expensive materials and fine workmanship -- and then it has a 1 year warranty. The way they're talking it up it should be a 10 lifetime warranty. Maybe it needs some translation ... 'the finest pot metal we could find in China'. Hm if you zoom in you can see some part # on the seal, it's 20201AA030R. Googling that turns up a bunch of sites in Russian.

I don't think there really is such a thing. I'm not sure ODB1 had any kind of data interface port or did it? Or if it does it's probably very limited, in kind of a pacman vs call of duty sort of way.

Hope it works out. How the tech could be needing a half dozen or more turns on the tie rod ends to center the wheel and not be saying 'wow how could it be this far off' I don't know.

Or you can pop in a 560k ohm resistor to keep her happy, but the ecu will not then be able to retard timing if it does detect spark (but if everything is sound mechanically usually running premium fuel will let you run like this). Right that code _never_ means it is actually detecting knock (there is no indication to the user when it detects knock; it just retards the timing).