I have two questions regarding my '95 Impreza L (1.8l 5mt)...
Firstly, I installed new struts and springs last month and since then, two of the strut mount nuts have backed off. The left-rear I caught before it was a problem, but the right-front, well, i'll just say i'm glad that the threads on the strut look okay. It looks like the problem was a lack of locking nuts (the nuts sent with the struts were non-locking, but the shop guide mentions the use of self-locking nuts). The problem is, I can't find anywhere to buy a nut in that size - it seems to be an M14, but every store I've been to only has M6-10, M12, and M16 (and most only had locking nuts in M10 and M12). I've got to get this fixed by friday or I'll be out of work another weekend (delivery). Where the @&%# can I find these nuts?
The second, less pressing issue is that of what the subaru dealership called a "solenoid valve." the couldn't tell me what it did (the shop guide, which only covers the EJ22, EJ22T, and EJ25, mentions two solenoid valves, both of which can be clearly identified as something else on my engine) but only that it cost roughly $65 and was not kept in stock. It's bolted onto the intake above the #3 cylinder, has a plastic, threaded plug with a spring around it at the top (the spring appears to have no function, as neither the plug nor the lower seat of the spring moves) and two small hoses (roughly 3/8"), one running to the intake manifold, the other running to the intake duct between the filter and the TB. There is a wiring harness with three wires but I can't see the wires themselves without cutting the insulator wrapped around them. The engine does not seem to run any differently when the connector is unplugged, or when either hose is disconnected (as long as it is plugged off to avoid a vacuum leak), and seems to serve no purpose other than a holster for a hose useful to suck Seafoam through. And in my case, to allow a very small amount of unfiltered air to enter my intake duct.