Bserk

I did my 96 2.5 dohc a few weeks back, no special tools, no problem. It was out of the car, which helps a lot, and I have experiance with other timing belts. But I considered it no biggie. The odd thing for me, working from Nissan experiance, is that you do not set it at TDC, as Skip said... and Im sure thats to prevent piston/valve interferance if things move a bit (and they did, with me) I was doing head gaskets, etc along with the TB and I bought all genuine Subie stuff. The Subie belt has all the marks, why take a chance? The tensioner, while also very similar to me (it works exactly like the one on a dohc VG Nissan engine from a 300ZX, if anyone is interested), is not rocket science. You have to compress it, I used a large bench vice, and pin it so it stays compressed until you have everything back together and aligned. Maybe Im over-simplifying things, I do have an advantage working in the field, but if you are into doing it yourself, I wouldnt let the DOHC scare you off. My 2 cents, again

In the heading, Nipper. 96 Legacy OBW

Ive actually worked at a Nissan dealership since before the 720 days. Im racking my brain trying to remember the transfer case differences. One thing Im sure of, is King Cab vs. std. cab made no difference. The driveshaft lengths made up the difference. There were long and short transmission tailshafts, with the newer 720s using the short version. Im guessing that change was made in mid- 83(?) when the updated 720 became a NISSAN instead of a Datsun. Im not going to bet my life on it, but I think any 80-86 720 transfer case would be nearly the same and work for your purposes. 86 1/2 was the big change, no more seperate transfer.

Realized today while checking my 'new' car, that I had no parking or tailights...I was aware of the switch on the steering column, and that it allowed the park lights on with the key off. And with this switch ON, all the lights work. I actually thought for a minute that maybe that was how its supposed to be? But I read the owners manual and searched the threads here about all the unintentional use of that funky switch...Hmmm. I'll spend a little more time on it tomorrow, Im thinking bad contacts in the 'normal' headlamp switch, or maybe there is a seperate fuse for park lights when turned on with that switch, opposed to being fused directly to the battery on the column switch. I just wondeed if this was a common failure that may save me some time. Hey, as long as I remember to turn BOTH switches on, everything is fine....

Well, ya'll. Ive gotton my 96 Legacy OB back together, in no small part to all the advice I found here. Last night, one of my co-workers installed the new rear struts, the last piece of the puzzle before I put the girl on the road. Today, we get hit with the biggest snowstorm of the year, in fact, the most snowfall in one storm, in many years! I have close to 4 FEET of snow here from this storm and its still snowing...We left work at noon because things were getting real nasty, roads were closing, blizzard warnings posted. Borrowed a dealer plate, left the old faithful Sentra at work, and drove the Subie home. Her maiden voyage with me, other than a few short rides around work, and in the biggest f**in storm you can imagine! I made it home, into my unplowed drive...and planned to stay and ride out the rest of the storm. But my friends were stranded.....couldnt make the hill on their road, and it would be a couple mile walk in what really was by then a full fledged blizzard. SUBIE to the rescue! I picked them up, helped push their inferior car into a gas station, and drove them home in the Subie. Visibility: near zero. Snow, on the highway: 7 or 8 inches. Stranded and abandoned cars passed: several. Up the steep and unplowed road to their house....simply amazing. I passed a F-150 4X4 stranded (ok, he got off the side and I lucked out, the visibility was that bad. But I made it, he didnt) The work and aggravation was all worth it. Im sold. LOL! What a day to try out your 'new' Subie.

My 2 cents, from Nissan experiance again.... We see this all the time (Same style bulbs and wiring on a lot of Nissans) Everything said about loose connections building heat is, of course, true. But where I see it happen ALL the time is aftermarket bulbs, usually the higher wattage babys...or the no-name cheapo ones from AutoZone, etc. (I know it sounds far-fetched, but I think those cheapy bulbs use lousy metals for the 'prongs' or something) I would stick with name brand bulbs, and if you want to run the brighter ones, I'd go with some heavy duty sockets and run relays. We stock the heavy duty sockets which come with larger gauge wire pigtails, and use them for all socket replacements.

good point, Brucey. Im the last to knock any car strickly on its look. My first impression of the Tribecca was: Hmm, the front end of my first Saab, grafted to a Murano...but truly ugly, IMHO. If time proves it a worthy vehicle, than who cares? Unlike the Aztek, which is horrible looking AND a lousy car. LOL! Still a newbie, hope I havent stepped on more toes.. I cant WAIT to get to work tomorrow and drive my Subie out of the shop under its own power, for the first time in front of the crew.....

All back together this morning and running like a clock! After I picked the engine off the stand, I pulled the flywheel and replaced that seperator plate w/ a steel one- something I definitly would have missed if not for all the great advice here. I filled her with coolant and idled for a while, revved it a few times, etc. I let the fans cycle a few times, I saw no bubbles in the radiator, had great heat inside the car...so I took it for a short road test. We had fresh snow last night and the parking lot next to our shop was not plowed. Damn, I had fun over there. LOL! Back on the lift, I see no leaks, and no problems. Sweet! Next: The blown rear struts, and the 'C' solenoid issue. I had to drive it first and convince myself she was gonna 'live' I should have this thing on the road in another week or 2. Then she gets detailed by the guys in that dept. of our shop (they owe me a few favors for keeping their cars alive...) She is gonna look great! Thanks again for this great site and all the great knowledge/advice.

At one point, Nissan owned a share (I dont remember how large) of Fuji Heavy, and there was a lot of parts/supplier sharing going on. I dont think this is the case anymore, I believe GM bought Nissan's share in Fuji Heavy several years ago. Personally, I wish this hadnt happened. I think that Nissan and Subaru would have made better partners than the GM/Subie or Nissan/Renault deals we have now. Too bad.... Just recently, we had a Outback wagon on the used car lot at the Nissan dealer I work at. It needed a power window switch and one for a 98-01 Altima was an exact fit. This morning, I got the engine back in my 96 Legacy OB and a Nissan air filter (that fits a ton of Nissans) was an exact match also.

Couldn't agree more, Thatswhatshesaid... I have no interest in owning any Jeep after the demise of AMC. Ive said for years that AMC deserved to survive and prosper, while it was Chrysler, building JUNK, that got the Govt. bail outs that rescued them from bankruptsy...it has always bugged me! And now, after the US govt. saved them from collapse all those years ago, they are owned by the Germans!! Believe me, that is not a good subject to bring up with my WWII vet father! JEEP?? Owned by the GERMANS?? agggh! That new Jeep Compass is a total joke, they should be ashamed. Ok, I'll get down off my soapbox. LOL

Ok, its far from a Subie, and I didnt get it new, but I have owned my '68 Fairlane conv. for 31 years... Henry is part of the family and will never be sold. I have put him in my will. Im very jealous of the man with the '79 280ZX..I actually had a brand new Datsun/Nissan that year, my very first brand new car..it was a 310GX coupe. Long, long gone... So to have kept his 280 all these years is awesome in my book. Keeping any car that long is awesome!

An update for anyone interested, and a plug for a great Subie dealership. I got the heads back this week, a trusted local machine shop cleaned and checked them and told me all is fine. He told me they were perfectly flat and did not even require resurfacing. Encouraging news.. I know a Nissan head thats been overheated is usually warped, so this tells me the previous owner shut her down as soon as it overheated (as she told me, but I wasnt convinced-LOL) Major reassembly this morning. The service manual that I had picked up had some very confusing/contradictory head toruqe procedures, and not wanting to screw this up, I had our parts manager call the Subaru shop where we had ordered the parts. 5 minutes later, I had the faxxed pages from the Subie manual in my hands, with clear procedures for the head torque. Now that is service! And on a Saturday. They also gave me 20% off on all the parts. Not sure if this is a dealer-to-dealer courtesy, but this was the first time we had dealt with them and I am impressed, especially with the service manual pages being faxxed! They are Goldstien Subaru in Albany NY, and they deserve a plug. I hope thats ok to do here.... So the engine is back together. I had no trouble with the timing belt, it is so similar to doing a DOHC VG engine in a Nissan 300ZX..even the tensioner is a similar design. Next weekend....back into the car! Wish me luck. And thanks again for all the advice and encouragment. This is a great site!!!

Its the 258 straight 6, complete with original plastic, forever leaky valve covers

OK, I hope Im not beating a dead horse here, but this will be the next thing I deal with after I get my 96 Legacy OB back together (heads are at the machine shop, pick them up tomorrow) Obviously Im going to change the ATF, and since the engine is out I may as well pop the torque converter out and dump what I can out of there too... but I did have the flashing AT temp light issue before I ripped into this thing (and before I found this board and I knew a lot less than I do now!) This means an electrical problem setting a transmission code, and most likely the solenoid issue Ive read about here on several threads. Obviously I will check the harness, etc before I tear into that, but if the light was/is flashing a trans fluid change alone is not going to cure this...right? Speaking from Nissan experiance, I would say no, but I just want to be clear on this. Thanks guys.

My Fairlane conv. is named Henry. (Henry Ford, not so original) But Ive owned that car so long that everyone refers to 'him' as Henry. LOL My Scambler is Jerry the Jeep, also well known to family and friends. I named my Nissan truck 'Bruise' aka Bruce, because he is black and blue and looks pretty abused. Ok, now you know I'm nuts, maybe I fit in better. LOL.

You sure are right about winter in these parts, I live on a lake that is normally safe for anything by now, it was still wide open water last week... I guess no trying out my old ice racing skills with the new Sube this year.. (where in Upstate NY are you?)

So Im not the only one that gives my cars names. Thanks for making me feel a little less weird. LOL. My Legacy has been Christened Sarah Subie, after my great aunt.

Hey all. I just found this site last weekend, jumped in on the Newer Generation board, got a lot of great advice....and inadvertantly stepped on some toes I guess. Allow me, if you have a couple minutes, to introduce myself. And maybe convince you that I meant no malice to ANYONE, with my comments or my credentials. Name's Doug. I have been a car freak since I was a kid. My dad used to impress his friends by having me state the year and make of every car that passed by, at the tender age of 5... I have a tendency torwards the out- of- the- ordinary in my personal cars. My first car was a Saab, a 2-stroke 3 cylinder FWD, at a time when RWD was the norm here in the US. A lot of my friends laughed at that car, until it made it through a snowstorm that left all their Camaros and Mustangs stranded.. I had my share of 'muscle' cars later, including a 68 'Stang conv. I still own a 68 Fairlane ragtop, and have since 1976! I also have a 82 Jeep Scrambler, with all 3 tops, and <40k original miles. Toys, man... the one who dies with the most toys wins! After reading these forums, I realized I lied in a previous post. I did own a Subie before that I had forgotton about. A 79 4wd wagon. If you own so many cars for so many years.. LOL For the past 29+ years, I have worked as a tech at a Nissan dealership, so naturally my daily drivers have mostly been Nissans. And there has been a lot of them. I also have, ever since entering the computer age, been posting and advising on a bunch of sites. Im not bragging, but a lot of similar people to you guys, that drive Nissans, have had stuff diagnosed by me, with nothing but a 'thanks' expected.. Which leads me to the point I wanted to make, here on the meet-greet.. 1) I genuinely LIKE helping out my fellow car people. 2) Anyone who knows me would tell ya, Im the last one to argue with anyone. period. 3) I dont post anything unless Im damn sure its correct. That said, I hope Im still welcome here. Now that I got the engine outta the Outback (or am I sposed to call it a Legacy in 96?...I really prefer Outback) I'll be using my lunch hours to get the timing belt and heads off... this is gonna be a long project but with your encouragement, Im still happy I got involved. I think its gonna be a great driver when Im done. Take care, Doug

LOL....but remember, I bought it for $850....in that price range, they come on flat beds.

ok, I said I was done with this thread but I forgot one thing I was going to add to my last post. The car Im replacing with the Outback is a 94 Sentra...and Im giving up on the poor old girl because the salt has taken a heavy toll on the body/frame, mechanically it runs strong and clean yet. Bought it from the original owner 7 years ago, and have records from day one. 223,000 miles. Engine never touched, valve cover has never been removed! 5W30 ALWAYS, summer and winter. Not a Subie, but similar aluminum heads and clearances, I would bet. Ok, I promise, done with this thread. LOL

I wasnt trying to 'impress' anyone, nor was I trying to start a battle of 'knowledge' with any of you. I would also agree that, like any other certification, there are some ASE certified techs that have 'skated' through and aren't worth their salt, so to speak. (But if any of you think the ASE exams are a breeze, I suggest you go take a couple) I guess I mentioned being ASE certified as a way of introducing myself as someone who has been a tech for many years and has stayed on top of newer technology and takes pride in that fact. Im not going any further with the oil discussion. I have seen OHC Nissan engines sieze cams until the cam has actually snapped in half, destroying the head in the process. Not once, but several times. And its always in extreme cold weather, and always with a thicker grade oil than was specified. This isnt my theory, Ive seen it happen, folks! You live where it doesnt get cold, I guess it wouldnt be an issue. Around here (upstate NY) it is. And thats just a fact. Sorry for being a newbie and apparantly stepping on someones toes, I'll get out of this thread and back to getting some great advice on my Outback!

Ok, Im brand new to the board, and brand new to Subarus too, but I am a ASE certified master, with 30 years experiance with Japanese vehicles (99% Nissan) heavy weight oil WILL, in a modern low clearance engine, in cold temps, cause severe damage. Ive seen it. Ive repaired it. Putting 20w50 in a car designed for 5w30 is asking for camshaft seizure in cold weather, Ive seen it first hand. Stick with what is recommended for the car. They didnt pull those recomendations outta the air. Lighter weight in cold weather would likely be ok, better than the opposite

Well guys, thanks for the encouragment and advice. I went in this morning while the service dept. was closed, put the ole' girl on the lift and went to work. Took me about 2 minutes to decide I wasnt going to try getting the heads off in the car, so out came the engine. Piece of cake compared to most Nissans! So the engine is out and on the stand, pressure washed and drying. Thats as far as I got since I had other stuff to do this afternoon around home. My plan now is to deal with the heads, timing belt, etc., get the thing running and deal with the rest after I can run the thing and see what it needs.

man, I think you have ruined my evening. Yes, it has torque bind, and yes the AT oil temp light flashes... Im getting discouraged more and more. I did drive the car around the lot, after it was flat bedded to our dealer.. I was prepared for the head gaskets, etc, but this stuff??? F**K! anyone wanna buy a 96 Outback? Guess I'll go back to looking for a California Sentra....

somewhat dreaded torque bind, ???????