Rooster2

You are not stupid for more than doubling your money. I would like to double my money on any car that I have ever owned. Your heart ache is that you really liked Izzy. I can understand that. Moving on to the Outback that you have heard about may be a good way to go. Now is a good time to buy a new or used car at a reduced price. Dealerships and private owners aren't selling much these days with the economy in the dumpster. Also, want to be buyers are short of money because of holiday spending. Let us know what Subie you finally purchase. Think of it as a nice Christmas present to yourself.

Not likely to come clean, very likely to tell another lie. Once a liar, alway a liar. Find another salesman, find another dealer.

If your car is an automatic with AWD, I read somewhere that 90% of the pulling power is directed to the front wheels, 10% to the rear wheels. Guess that explains why chains should always be placed on the front wheels only.

That is the worst salesman BS that I have ever heard! Anybody can sell anything at any price, even if it is at a loss. Been better to take a hike to another Subie dealership, or ask for another salesman.

I assume you are interested in the engine and wiring harnass, so you can swap the entire engine into your 87. If so, have the guy selling the car start the engine with a jump start. There is no point spending time and around $200for a motor that you later find out is bad after purchase.

If you live in a warm climate, water flush as described by 98OBster. You can also add a can of chemical flush, drive for a few days, drain, water flush, add 50/50 coolant/water to finish the job.

Suggest the first thing you do is to replace the half shaft as soon as possible before you suffer a major break down. The clicking and grinding says that the CV joint bearing is shot. Brakes and clutch are two separate systems. Check your brake fluid level. It may be low, and may have sucked some air into the system to cause spongy feel. Suggest you bleed the brakes extensively to get the air out. Also, check your brake pads to see if they need replacing.

When I did the swap, I don't remember any seals. It was simply unbolt old unit, rebolt new unit, hook up hoses (I think there are hoses), and tighten the drive belt. No seals involved.

Suggest first cleaning the battery cables where they connect to the battery. If corrosion is present, it can cause the problem you are having. As others have said, a starter going bad will act up exactly as yours is.

From the pixs, unable to see what is oil or coolant leakage. My advise is to top off the radiator/overflow container with antifreeze, and keep on driving. Low coolant will prevent the heater from putting out really hot air. Check radiator and heater hoses for any leaks. If everything is too wet with oil and antifreeze, to find a leak, take your car to a do it yourself wand car wash, and give the motor a good bath. With a clean motor, you will be better able to find fluid leaks.

Did the battery/alternator dash warning lights come on anytime before the car stalled? Once a car is running, the battery doesn't do much, except to get charged by the alternator. Usually a dash warning light tells you the battery is not getting charged, which is another way of telling you that the alternator has failed. I suspect that your alternator is the culprit, and as you have said, the battery is not strong, so you may need to replace both the alternator and the battery.

Glad to hear that you found a used one. Swapping out old for new is very easy on a Subbie. Only took me about 20 minutes of work, no special tools needed.

I hate to bear possible bad news, but there is a possibility that you have a blown head gasket that is causing your trouble. The 2.2 motor is not known for this, like the 2.5 motor, it can happen. I had a 91 Leggie with the 2.2 that blew a head gasket. Yes, it would idle just fine, and not over heat. But, drive it for 10-15 minutes, and the temp guage would quickly head for "hot". Lots written here on this forum about HG trouble, what to look for, and how to test for a bad HG. Suggest you read the archives.

Too bad you can't get that car into a warm garage somewhere. My guess is that your radiator is frozen up. Suggest concentrating your heat lamps, maybe use an electric blanket around the radiator and top and lower rad hoses will help. Another thought is to take your car to a repair shop, if you can limp your car in without over heating. Ask to leave the car in their warm garage over night to thaw out, then have them flush and change the antifreeze. That can't cost much. When I was a kid, my dad had a gas station. He often left a customers frozen car in the bay over night to thaw out. Didn't charge them anything for the thaw out service.

Is there any chance that you can get that car into a heated garage, or to a garage that you can heat with kerocene heaters or something. You really need to melt down everything that is icy. Using blankets etc outside in freezing conditions won't help much. Suggest that you drain and replace the antifreeze, then go with about a 75% antifreeze, 25% water mix. Add some type of coolant stop leak to the system to seal up the leaking heater core. Don't add much stop leak product, or it can block the flow of coolant through the heater core. The result would be a heater that won't produce much heat.

IMO, I think buying a good used p/s pump from a wrecking yard near you in the UK is the way to go. $750 if that is in USD is outrageously priced. The USD exchange rate to UK Pound is bad these days. Does earning UK Pounds, spending UK Pounds makes the purchase of a new one more reasonable?

Sounds like you are not getting coolant circulation. Maybe water pump is bad, or thermostat bad. Doubt that you would have air bubble in the cooling system, or you would have noticed that some time ago. Recheck coolant to see if your antifreeze is indeed good for -32F. If you weren't the guy who put in the antifreeze, there may not be enough antifreeze in the system.

I had the same thing happen on my 99 Leggies OBW in the front. I took out the turn signal bulb, found the base coated with electrical vasoline. I cleaned it up, or put in a new bulb, (can't remember which) and that fixed the problem. The front lens slides out after screws are removed. It is kind of a wierd way to affix the lens, but it works.

I had a p/s pump go bad on a 91 Leggie. Prolly a bearing on mine, as belt got real loose and floppy. For about $25 bucks, I replaced it with one from a wrecking yard. It was a simple swap out, ez to do. Never had any more p/s trouble after that.

Well it is possible that you have some air in your brake lines, but I would doubt it, unless you let the reservoir level get too low, or you opened up the hydraulic system to do work, which allowed air to enter. If you think you may have air in your system, you can tell because the brake pedal feels real spongie upon applying the brakes. I question if you possibly need a new master cylinder? That would be my suspicion. As far as bleeding the lines, I have been told to start the bleeding sequence at the road wheel farthest from the mc. However, I did not know that last summer, when I used a one man bleeder system to flush out old brake fluid that had the color of ice tea. I simply bled the back brakes, then the fronts. That worked out just fine. I guess in retrospect this could have been bleeding from the furthest point back from the mc.The one man bleeder prevents air from entering the hydraulic lines.

Agree, much easier to simply swap in an entire instrument cluster. If you go this route, be sure to turn on the head lights to see if any bulbs are burned out in the donor instrument cluster before completely reinstalling. If so, you will want to replace the bad bulbs before finishing the project. Use bulbs from your old instrument cluster if needed.

No, does not matter if donor car is auto or standard.

Prolly any Leggie from years 95-99. They all have the same dash, instrument panel, and guages. I wouldn't think there is any difference if the tach came from either a 2.2 or 2.5 motored car, as rpm read out is simply that on either motor. Prolly easier to pull the instrument cluster out as a complete unit from a car at a wrecking yard, then swap out the tac at your kitchen table at home. Spread out some old newspapers on the table before working, so the table stays clean. It makes my wife a lot happier when I use the newspapers for this type of work.

Suggest you get a front end alignment. If you have worn suspension parts, the alignment guy will tell you so. Your OBW looks exactly like mine, even the same color. Looks like I am looking at my own car!

my same thoughts........drain, flush, refill with fresh coolant, and add a new OEM Subie thermostat. It is very important to use only a thermostat from Subaru. For some odd reason, thermostats from other manufacturers are made cheap and junkie.