Johnnz

Got a call back from the guy we got the radiator from and he has sorted us out a new one which he is freighting up for us. Turns out that our legacy must have had some frontal damage in the past and had the mount where the radiator sits built up to accomodate the newer (mid '90s) radiator which is shorter. Gas isn't cheap in NZ - at least 25% dearer than in the US too: See this graph: http://www.bp.co.nz/about/pricing/index.html Still looking for tips on bleeding the cooling system etc. Cheers, -John.

Hi all, Thanks for the tips and advice. I decided to go the DIY route and remove the coroded old radiator and replace it myself after paying the premium price last time (and finding out that the fan belts hadnt even been replaced at the same time as that other work was done ). So, I called around numerous car wreckers in the nearest city and got hold of a guy that assured me he had an as new radiator for our 1991, automatic, non turbo Subaru Legacy for NZ$150. So we made the trip down there (4 hours return), but unfortunatly this morning when I went to instal it it turned out to be 35mm too tall:banghead: . I called the guy back who sold it to me, and he was surprised to hear of a different height radiator, but I wont hear back from him until he gets back to work tomorrow to find out if he has one of the shorter ones. At least we got to visit my sister down there so it wasn't an entirely wasted journey. Oh, and I was wondering what the procedure is for bleeding the transmission oil and radiator cooling fluid once I get it all back in? Does anyone have some links links where I can find step by step procedure for that? Cheers, -John.

Just after opinions really... we bought a 1992 subaru legacy (150,000kms) for NZ$1850 a couple of weeks back... turns out it wasnt the best automobile purchase to be made since the cam belt replacement job (including new water pump and oil/lube job) cost us NZ$1077 This old car only does 6.74km/litre of fuel which I think is in large part due to its aging auto transmission that seems to start in second or third half the time. There is no blue smoke visible from the exhaust though so it seems that the engine itself is ok. Just a few days ago (before getting the bill for the cam belt and other work) my girlfriend was driving along when the tank on the side of the radiator burst open splitting top to bottom. I'm not sure if I can get it out myself to save on labour costs at the garage (it has to be sent away to the city to get a new tank crimped/welded on) - would I be able to do this job with a socket set and other assorted tools? So, the question of economics is... should we sell this car after getting its cooling system functioning again (I guess if we are patient we might be able to get $2500 for it?). We have only had it for about 4 weeks so it has obviously been a money drain till now, but considering its fuel economy is so poor its not really going to pay for itself in kind, is it?? All opinions much appreciated

Just wondering still about the flushing thing - still havent got the bill from the garage yet so not sure how much money we've got to do more work on the legacy. How good are the chances that after flushing the 4 wheel drive will engage when driving up a muddy slope? (thats what we need it for). Also, can someone please explain what flushing actually is? My guess on it is that some kind of detergent must be pulsed through the cavities of the transmission to remove oiley grime to free up the moving parts inside the tranny- is this right? cheers, -John.

By the way that is 180,000miles you mean not kilometers, right? The legacy that we have has 150,000 kilometers on the clock. Do American subarus have imperial odometers generally?

Sounds like flushing is the way to go By tyre matching I guess you just mean to have the same tyres on all four wheels, right? Thanks for your help guys.

Thanks for the reply Nipper. We just went back to the garage this morning to pick up the legacy and the mechanic had taken it for a test drive and suggested we take it to a place down the road that has some special equiptment to do a transmission oil flush on it because it was showing its age by taking too long to change gears during acceleration. Just wondering if this is a good idea to do the flush. I guess it would cost too much to tinker with the transmission itself. I dont think it is woth spending too much on it really.

Hi all, First post here, having just helped my girlfriend to buy a 1991 Legacy automatic with an EJ20 150k on the clock. Now we are living in a rather how to say "rustic location" and have to battle a muddy sloped driveway to get to our crib. I have a 97 T/tb Forester which has no problem getting straight up the hill, but the 91 legacy slips and slides and wont go straight up. I first thought that the 4wd(awd?) system was not working at all but one night I got the torch out to look at the wheels while I was driving up the hill (my girlfriend refuses to drive her "new" car until it gets the cambelt replaced and otherwise checked out at the mechanics ) anyway, I saw that both the front and back wheels were skidding but never at the same time - it was either full power at the back, or if I turned the steering wheel across the slope then the front would start to skid and the back would stop until the car was on an angle to the slope and it got traction to move along. Has anyone any idea what needs doing to balance the power between front and back to get more control from this car? I guess the tyres may be a factor since the forester has 215/60 R16s but the Legacy has a lot narrower tyres, but I am sure that if it were possible to diff-lock the Legacy it would make it up the driveway:-\ Thanks for any ideas.