porcupine73

Hello! Yes there is a difference among coolants. The top recommendation is do NOT use OAT type coolants in a Subaru. These include GM dexcool, prestone all makes/all models, and many others. How's about some pics!!!!

http://www.subarupartsforyou.com has some basic diagrams. Here's one I have on file....

You could read the codes from the ABS unit. There is an article on http://www.endwrench.com that tells you how to identify your abs system type, and then how to get it to flash out the codes. Even if the light isn't on currently it will show the historical codes (unless erased by disconnecting fuse/battery). Some '05+ soobs have ECU reflashes available so that might be something to check into too.

Yes Subaru OEM ftw! You may be able to get a Subaru SPT 'low stretch' belt for your engine, though I think the interval on those is 60k miles............

On a new oil pump, I usually clean the area around the screws with some solvent and apply loctite green (wicking type), and it will soak down into the threads. The new screws are in there pretty tite and you risk stripping them if you try to remove with just a screwdriver. Yes Haynes manuals are available for those model years, 90-99. If you bought your haynes before 99 it might say '90-98 or some earlier year? They have some sections where they just give their 'boilerplate' standard instructions which leaves some room to be desired. Valve lash adjustment, timing belt, and many other good articles are available free on http://www.endwrench.com (click archives, then enter search term ie valve timing etc)

Yes, I have bought several oem pad sets and they always include a few layers of shims and new caliper bracket clips. I think a lot of places don't bother with the shims, just using a good antisqueal grease instead of gluing together the two layers of shims.

Hm...maybe I will check out iphoto plus. I have actually just been using microsoft paint to do captions, which works ok. But on .jpg I don't see any option for quality on saves. I think it defaults to quality 70 which makes things blurry. But yours look sharp!

I think that is something they do to differentiate the engines; the difference may just be 'nominal' only.

Yes blower is typically behind the glove box. Sometimes leaves, mouse nests, nuts, seeds, etc etc get in there. Nice pic skip! What software did you use to put the captions on there?

My '96 legacy 4eat has a pretty firm shift on 1-2 most of the time. I think I did see that resistor in the diagram for the '96 and was going to check it but never got to it. I think it's near the RH/passenger strut tower if it has it.

Here's the official Subaru list of the external hg peeping leak engines that qualified for the extended hg warranty if the conditioner was put in under the tsb. Soob doesn't seem to stick necessarily exactly to this list. I forget if the ~'03 fix was model year or build date.

If the '96 happens to be a manual trans, then she'd have the 2.2L which is very solid. But yes at 300k miles lots of things are going to be tired on the vehicle. If it's a second car to have fun with it should be great!

If it's cheap enough and you like it then maybe check it out. Even if it has or gets the hg issue that is fixable with the right parts technique and $. Ok well $$$$.

Hi. Mine is tapped in with those quick splice connectors that like pierce the insulation on the wire. It's not the way I would do it, but that's the way the vehicle came.

I had a similar problem on my '00obw but since yours is impacting the headlamp and fog light maybe it is different. My problem was with the bulb I think it's the H1 style in the headlamp that has that spring wire contraption to hold the bulb in place. If I even touched the spring wire then the bulb would work again. I had to bend it some, sand it, etc to get it working again. It didn't appear to be corroded or anything.

For a tach hookup, on my '96 2.2L brighton (no dash tach!), I pulled the gauge cluster and traced the wire from the circuit board back to the wiring harness. Then I spliced in there, I think it was a green/blue wire. I believe you can also tap in right at the coil pack, like to the RG or L in the diagram. That is how the remote start tach signal is connected on my '00obw.

Hi. Pretty sure '99 would have been the last year for that gen. '00-'04 was a redesigned model year and looks a bit different. '05+ was another redesigned model year.

Yep, she goes in the freeze plug hole nearest the water pump. 14mm hex is the size of the freeze plug. On my '96 legacy it took about 60 seconds of impact beating at maximum power to get the plug out. Ditto on the wear, I don't really need the block heater in Buffalo but I also like that I get heat a little faster with it. I use a timer for two hours before departure time.

Yes Subaru OEM heater kit is good value too. It's maybe $25 and installs with just a 14mm hex male socket (impact works best), and a 1-1/16" socket I think it was to tigten in the heater. I believe it is a 400 watt element. Can give more details if desired. You can also get a soob oem battery heater.

For the '94 the stockers are relatively new futura I think they are, I think it's the pepboys 4 tires $99 special; they were on there when I bought the '94 last summer. They seem to be ok, they seem a little sloppy though, like side to side movement wise. The '96 has bridgestone I think for the non-winter tires, those seem to be ok. '00obw has pirelli p400 they seem fairly good but one has a separated belt or something messed up with it that if I put it on the front it makes the car shake like crazy above 50mph but is fine on the rear.

I have the DS2's on my '94 (so they're the smaller ones, like P185/70R14), they're awesome in the snow with deep tread but yes on dry pavement esp if it is above freezing they feel very squishy and I'm sure don't help in an emergency maneuver.

Id start by checking the sway bars and endlinks, make sure nothing is broken or loose there. How does she fare in the 'bounce on the bumper' test for the struts?

Oh and the valve cover bolts torque is low, like 3.7 ft-lb(f). I just gently snug up each bolt and then repeat that a couple times (since as you tighten each one the others might tehn feel a little loose as the gasket compresses a bit). These bolts will snap off pretty easily with much more torque.

Hi. Yes I just did the valve cover gaskets on my '96 2.2L. They're only three bolts each. The RH/passenger side is very easy. The driver side is easy too if you have the battery and washer tank out of the way. I think I removed the oil filler neck (just two bolts - BUT there is some sort of o-ring in there). I replaced the o-ring but it didn't look right so I put a little permatex ultra grey around the mating surface just to be sure. MAin tip for valve cover gaskets: make sure the area around the valve cover is CLEAN before starting, like blow it off good with compressed air. Any grit around there will promptly fall on the valvetrain otherwise. I got the Subaru kit that included the two gaskets and six bolt hole washers. No spark plug tube hole seals required since on this engine the holes don't penetrate the valve covers. VCG AA012 KIT VALVE COVER GASKET SET WITH 6 GROMMETS FOR 90-98 LEGACY 2.2 ALL (for both sides)

mmm, not sure. The worst that will happen is the valve covers will leak oil. With pcv valve she might 'drink' more oil than normal. How much are these parts at napa? Then we can compare with prices of a typical Subaru dealer sellings parts online..... :Y