Virrdog

How is this possible? Combustion chamber pressure = horsepower. Nitrous, turbocharging, and supercharging all increase cylinder pressure... thus they increase the horsepower. That pressure pushes on the piston, which turns the crank, etc. etc. etc. So I doubt lugging it will blow headgaskets because of cylinder pressure since that is no where near the peak horsepower of the engine. Now it might be something else, like higher heat, but I'm not seeing the increased pressure.

Oh... THAT'S where you put it. I would recommend first of all cleaning up the coolant mess and then seeing if it comes back. The problem might have resolved itself or possibly somehow spilled there.

You'll be fine as long as your engine sees those kind of revs at other times. But they definitely don't have to be exclusive (engine braking and, umm... brake pad braking) use the brakes every once in a while to keep your revs in check if it worries you. I love my Hawk HPs because of how they handle high heat (with increased grip) but supposedly they are rough on the rotor. So by time you replace the pad, you will probably be getting new rotors. But that is not that bad. Having good fluid is key since the boiling point of the fluid will drop as it ages. Putting SuperBlue or some other synthetic fluid in will also help with its improved ability to handle high heat.

You'll be fine, its part of growing up. They are just cars. I had to sell my Brat with its custom House of Kolors paint job and all the things I had done to it in the 4 years I had it... And just recently I had to sell all my uninstalled goodies for my Turbo Legacy because taking care of family is a way more important. I had my lifelong dream parts sitting in the basement, it was hard to sell. But they unfortunately were worth lots of money (more than I paid). But they are all things that can easily be obtained further down the road (if you care about it that much still... The Brat was the MOST fun I had, pre-turbo, but I can do without). You will definitely miss them but you have to be able to move on at times. (turbos make it easier )

You'll be fine.

Turbo Legacy rears and '02 USDM WRX front brakes seem to be a great combo. With the right pads they should work great for your car, plenty of heat soaking capacity. I outbrake many a car at the track because I trust them implicitly. Any bigger and the only way they will help your braking is you'll be going slower from trying to turn such heavy butt rotors (unsprung weight baaad). IMHO of course. But if it's for show, get the biggest you can find I guess.

Typically those are from the factory saying this has been set to spec, don't touch it. If you do, bye bye warranty (if it still matters).

Yeah, sorry. 1989 Subaru GL 4x4 SPFI Wagon Supposedly only the california emission models got this sensor, not the federal emission ones? If someone could point out where this sensor resides I'd greatly appreciate it. My code 34 is staying away. I have a set of resistors wired up to net ~64 ohms, the closest I could get it to 68.

So my car went through the EGR valve solenoid problem dealio. I fixed it with a resistor. Everything was fine and dandy for quite a while. Then the CEL start coming back on once in a while. Then it went steady. I figured my quickie job with the resistor was not cutting it, so I redid it last night with shrink wrap and real connectors and the whole bit. I get everything installed and the light just stays on. Not a problem I think, since it probably needs reset. Well, it doesn't work using the connectors. I check the codes just to make sure it was code 34 again before I do a battery reset. Nope. Code 55. EGR temperature sensor or circuit. I frustratingly try to look it up on here but EGR and 55 are both too short to search for (hint: search for "code 55" with the quotes). I read up on it being a California emissions only code, really a phantom code, blah blah blah. I do the battery reset this morning. Check engine light goes off. I drive a mile down the road and the CEL pops back on. Read the code... Stupid Code 55!! What do I do now? Can I check to see if my car has a EGR temperature sensor??

Subaru won't want it with a second engine in it... original engine, they might jump all over it.

Takes 5 minutes in your Legacy also. I've had mine out umpteen times.

Don't forget transmission mounts... may sound odd, but I replaced my fluid with generic autoparts store fluid and put in a Group-N tranny mount and it is now my smoothest shifting Subaru I have (93 SS 197k). So replacing the tired mounts along with the old fluid may have a positive effect on your shifting also.

I hope everyone remembers you can't squeeze every last ounce of gas out of the tank. Anything less than a gallon left and the car is prone to hesitation and bucking from the gas sloshing away from the fuel pickup... in the BC/BF chassis anyways. You can only make it as far as the pickup can keep sucking up gas.

Whoah, completely didn't realize my wagon had those one there all along. Guess I'll go snatch them off tonight! I've gotten 29 mpg with my 89 GL 4x4 Wagon full of camping gear, tools, and the A/C running intermittantly. Mostly state highways going no faster than 60mph. And keeping a used car is ALWAYS cheaper than buying new, especially when you factor in things like insurance. You could even figure in getting a rental car a couple weeks a year for maintenance downtime and still come out way ahead. (<-- I keep extra Subarus laying around for that... )

Check the ground for the washer pump. Try running wires directly to the battery to see if that helps. That should let you eliminate whether its a pump problem. And try pinching the hose to the good one and see if the extra pressure makes it to the spurting nozzle.

I'll have to disagree on this point. Quite a few cars still have the original factory spark plug wires, since its the one things owners never think needs to be replaced. Same thing happened with my Legacy, 10+ year old plugs. It made QUITE a difference in power. I didn't know my car could spin its tires with the AWD, until it happened on accident a couple times after replacing the wires. On top of that, when the typical owner of an older car gets parts for it, they cheap out - especially when they see the price of a good set of plug wires. So right there you have a great majority of cars with incredibly old wires or a cheapo set. I've personally seen numerous times where people had old or crappy wires that were making their Subaru run like crap. So I don't know if I would call that rare. And I don't know of anything that handles thousands of volts for hundreds of thousands of cycles that does not eventually start to break down in some way... Lastly, in the tune-up portion, don't forget to change the PCV valve. If that is stuck open/closed it will affect your engine. Most people don't know where it is, not to mention how easy and cheap it is to replace. I'm pretty sure this is what brought my Sport Sedan out of the middle teens into middle twenties for highway driving. Everything else had already been replaced.

Only really major things I can think of are: If its an auto, you might deal with torque bind and duty-c failure, etc. All well covered on this board. And the second is the crank pulley wobble of death. Everything else is pretty much typical subaru. BC's are pretty easy to work on, even when compared to the EA82. The SOHC engine and suspension layout are quite the joy to work on (*cough* just got done breaking loose and tightening the axle nuts for a simple front brake job on my wagon *cough*). And not quite so major is shifter issues for the 5-speed. Put on a new transmission mount (preferably the Group-N piece), change out the fluid, and replace any missing shifter bushings and all problems will likely be reduced to insignificance. <-- new word?!? bbs.legacycentral.org is your friend for this chassis.

Boy, you love barking up the wrong tree, don't you? There is plenty of enough experience on this board to tell you something that major does not exist on a certain model line. And if you do find one with an airbag steering wheel, find where the front sensors mount, the airbag wiring loom runs, and where the airbag computer resides...

What is there to lose? Either way the original rack hits the junk yard. Personal believer here. When I bought my Sport Sedan the only leak was a weepy rack. A little fluid and 4 years later not so much as a peep from the rack and not a drop of fluid lost.

Another possiblility is to check out the steering rack bushings. Replace them with polyurethane pieces if possible, like the Whiteline version.

The key phrase I saw was that you are considering buying another used Subaru... Well, you have one of the most bullet proof, easy to work on (SOHC! but as always debatable) engines and a great car around it. You've had minimal work done in 4 years and have minimal work to be done as it is. Oil leak and radio are really none issues unless you have a rear main seal leaking. Buy another used Subaru (any year) and you could get a host of problems that will make your current car look like a dream car. Its like Russian Roulette with cars. I currently have a Subaru I wish I never bought because the problems are well... annoying. Not bad enough to make me want to tear it apart to find the issue (if it can be found) but annoying enough to make me want to sell it. If you figure out the money you will lose on selling your current car to buy another used one... you could probably drive for years on the difference in nice premium gas - not to mention fixing up the new one. And have you changed your PVC valve recently? I do believe it helped my turbo Legacy get decent gas mileage.

Parts are easy to come by for both Loyales and early Legacy models. '89 was the first year for the Legacy in Japan. '90 was the first LHD year in the states. So something is mistated or confused.

I obtained lots of new found power when I changed the plug wires in my Sport Sedan. The ones on there were the originals at almost 10 years old! Change spark plugs often and keep your plug wires fresh if you want to keep your engine in tip-top shape.

Fuel injected is a big bonus. (But my '89 has lap belts for the rear ) Biggest problem I can think of would be frame crunching rust...

Good work. I always wuss out on doing jobs until I've done them once... then its sooo easy!