Rooster2

If your 2003 is like my '99, you have two "V" belts that run off the crank. I tighten mine to the point that I can only finger twist the belt 90 degrees at the mid point of the longest length between pulleys. With a new belt, I recheck the belt tightness after driving the car for about a week. New belts sometimes stretch a little when first put into use, then are fine there after. It is very important to buy a good belt. I buy the most expensive the auto parts store sells. It is just a few bucks more. The cheapies, I have found will continue to stretch, requiring retightening about every 4-6 months. That hassle negates the cheap price. Hope your daughter continues to enjoy her Subie!

Okay, learned something new. Thanks............Rooster2

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought all 99 Legacys came with the 2.5 phase one motor, not the 2.2 motor. Unless, the 2.2 was swapped in later? The 99 Legacy model year (I have one) is prone to have delayed forward engagement, when shifted from reverse. Yes, adding Trans-X to the trany fixed it, but I am still concerned that the problem could return.

Have you ever read this?...............http://www.endwrench.com/current/win...gineRepair.pdf .

The A/T dip stick is calibrated in that the low to high hash mark is a pint. Sounds like you need to drain a little more than a quart to reduce over fill. Check AT level with engine running, trany in Park, engine warmed up to operating temp, and car on level pavement.

Warranty replacement is the way to go, if your car still qualifies on millage. If not, at http://www.Autohausaz.com, they are selling a Bosal cat, part number WO133-1842851 on sale for $366.44, that fits your 03. Their ad says that the Bosal unit replaces both the front and rear cats. Bosal is a good name in exhaust products, so I would trust their product. I am confident that it would perform well on your car. I am with you, it is insanity to spend $1,500 on a dealer cat. Lots of profit in that high figure.

Glad to hear that you fixed via the re-tap method. Best regards, Rooster2

My guess is that those depressed places you speak of on the floor pan rail, are there for use by the jack when changing a flat tire. As far as your rear cat problem, I could never figure out why Subaru and other car companies use the flanges with springs and such. Whenever I need a new cat, I go to a cut and weld muffler shop. They just torch off the old cat, then slide on a new cat, then use muffler "horse shoe" style clamps to secure everything. This would work particularly well for you, as the second cat does not have an oxygen sensor screwed into it. Don't know where you live to find a bend, cut, and weld muffler shop in your area. Chain shops like Midas, Car X, etc. won't do this type of work, so no use contacting them. The chain shops would want to install an entirely new muffler system from the first cat all the way back to include the final tail pipe for about $800...not where I like to spend my hard earned money.......btw.........welcome to this forum. Lots of good folks here to help you keep your Subie on the road.

I haven't tried this, but a friend who has, says it works........ Use some JB Weld product. Coat the bolt with a light film of Vaseline, so the JB Weld won't adhere to the bolt. Apply JB Weld to the stripped threads. It takes very little product. Wait until the JB Weld is just beginning to harden up, then gently screw the bolt into the threaded hole. Finger tighten the bolt. Let it harden up over night, or better for 24 hours, before gently tightening the bolt just a little more. Don't tighten the bolt much, or the new threads may pull out. Job is done. Only catch, is the JB Weld needs to dry (cure) where the air temperature is at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit, sorry, but I don't know what that temp converts to in Celsius, as I see you are from Canada. Hope you can get to a warm garage to try this fix, or rig up an electrical heater for warmth.

Think I borrowed a smaller puller from AutoZone, when I replaced the A/C clutch pulley on my VW years back. Seemed easy, don't remember the R&R being much of a project. Still remember that I did not have to remove the compressor from the system, forcing an evac and recharge of refrigerant.

Prolly impossible to verify, even if the yard showed you the car that the trany was pulled out of, you would still not know if that was the truth. Like you say, check the vin against Carfax, and maybe learn something. Pretty hard to believe a 95 model would only have 45K on the odo after almost 15 years. If the yard is so proud of this trany with 45K miles, maybe they will give you an extended warranty.

Use a very long screw driver as sort of a stethoscope. Touch the end of the screw driver on the bolt head (or very near by) the suspected bad bearing, then touch the other end to your ear, or side of your head. The sound traveling up the screw driver will be a lot louder where the problem is. This is an old trick that my dad taught me, when I worked at his gas station many years ago. I know it sound a little dumb, but this technique works really well. Of course you do this while the engine is running. Just be careful not to let that screw driver slip out of your hand while moving it around those moving pulleys and belts. Agree with other poster, it could well be your belt tensioner. I have replaced those when the bearing goes bad, and starts making noise.

Yes, changing the water pump while changing the timing belt is very worth while. I always have that done at that time. Swap out the front oil seal is a good idea too.

If making noise when A/C is turned off, then it must be in the clutch unit at the front of the compressor. Suspect the bearing in this unit is going bad, so compressor unit prolly still works okay, and I bet is still pumping out cold air. Years back I had a similar problem on a VW. I just replaced the clutch unit, which is right at the compressor belt pulley to fix the problem. The compressor unit did not have to be replaced from the car to do the work, so there was no loss of refrigerant. I bet you could snare a clutch unit from a wrecking yard without much difficulty. Update: Subarupartsforyou.com sells pulley assembly AC idler for $22.

disconnect the positive cable to the battery, wait a couple of minutes, then re-connect. It might fix the problem.

Your having bought this car at an auction, then found in the paper work that the car had been confiscated by State of New York, did you run into any issues on getting a clear title for the car?

IMO either one works! I buy one or the other at AZ, for my two Subie, one a 98, the other a 99, and have had no issues over the past four years.

Yes, that is correct, but now Dextron 3 denotes a standard, and many manufacturers sell product meeting that standard.

Suggest using the Dextron type ATF, the type used in GM cars, and doing so three times. Read past posts on this subject using the search mode on this forum.It would be a good idea to replace the external transmission filter. It looks just like an oil filter, but has a different filtering media. The one I bought cost about $35 from a parts store.

glad to hear that you fixed the problem. $50 is a cheap price these days for any repair.

may need to replace the coil pack, and or, spark plug wires. You prolly have a crack or split in one or both, so that water/moisture causes an electrical short. Suggest replacing your plug wires first, if they are your originals. Welcome to this forum, loads of friendly people here with good advise.

I have had good luck with this outfit..........AutoPartsWarehouse.com. They don't use part numbers so much. They use part name, and have good pictures of the part next to the name. Do a google search for foreign car parts. You will see a number of on line parts houses.

The 96 thru 99 were the worst years for HG problems with the 2.5 phase one motors, that could leave you stranded on the side of the road. 2000 thru 2003 2.5 phase two motors still have some HG issues, but not as severe, and won't leave you stranded on the side of the road.

I have a 98 Subie OBW, the front end is the same as your 97. So, I know what you have. Someone, about 6 months or so ago, talked about an inexpensive way to replace the fog lights. He bought the low beam sealed beam headlights that were used in cars back in the mid 60's through mid 70's. The system where cars had four round sealed beams for their head lighting system. This type bulb is easily found at all auto parts stores. The guy said he removed existing fog light, leaving the backing shell, then glued the sealed beam to the remaining backing shell. Bulbs fit in the shell perfectly. He drilled a hole in the middle of the backing plate, then used existing wiring to wire the bulbs. Finished job was said to look great, perform well in the fog, and was very inexpensive. sI think he drilled a hole in the middle of the backing plate to attach wiring. If you hit the search function on this forum, should be able to find the original post. I seem to remember the guy was happy with the result. The new bulb fit nicely, and worked well in the fog, and the bulb was inexpensive, according to my memory.

Like the looks, like the Subie turbo motor. Just wonder if their is enough of a market for sportie coupes these days for this Toyota/Subaru product to be successful. Wonder what the price point could be?