Numbchux

When was the last time the wheels were off before the first issue? When the issue came back after the wheels were rotated, was it the same wheel as before? As has been mentioned, lug nuts need to be retorqued 50-100 miles after the wheels have been removed, especially important with alloy wheels. Off the top of my head: Cheap lug nuts (I've seen 20 generic ones seize on to the point that we had to break off ARP studs to get the wheels off after 2 days of rallying, and less than 10 removal/install sequences, always using a torque wrench to 75 ft/lbs) Cheap lug studs OE studs damaged from loose lug nuts aftermarket wheels OE wheel damaged from loose lug nuts Corrosion on the backside of the wheel causing it to not seat correctly on the hub Snow/ice/sand/dirt/grease on the backside of the wheel " " " Corrosion/snow/etc. on the lug nut seating surfaces wheel/tire assembly out of balance/round wheel bearing/brake problem causing excessive heat/vibration None of these things are specific to Subarus.

There are a lot of things that can cause loose lug nuts. There isn't NEARLY enough information here to make an accurate diagnosis. A few ideas have been posted here, but there are probably a thousand other possibilities. What's the maintenance history? Have the wheels been off the car recently for any maintenance? Are they original brakes? lug nuts? studs? wheels? How are the tires? Yes, wheels can be on the ground when tightening lug nuts. She may want to get a breaker bar or torque wrench. My wife is not physically able to put adequate torque on the lug nuts (therefore not able to take them off, either) with the included wrench. She is tough and knowledgeable enough that she could replace a flat tire herself, but we had to put a breaker bar and socket in her car to make it possible.

Yep, what those guys said. Adding a HUGE dose of complication and expense....for what? Maybe with the direct injection you could get better mileage, but that would be very dependent on the tune, which would have to be custom. And it's going to take a long time to regain the several thousand dollar cost of good management. Oh yea, it'll burn twice as much oil. Yea, you wouldn't have to replace a timing belt. Whew, saved a couple hundred bucks there! Maybe a bit more power, but there are cheaper ways to get that (EZ30 comes to mind).

According to the picture, both of those Contitech kits are for the old style tensioner. Here's the last few lines of the application list for the old style tensioner. They were seen until mid-1999 on the 2.5.

If you're lowing the crossmember and rack, you need a longer steering shaft. Period. Frequently, with a 2" overall lift, the crossmember isn't dropped...so that's probably where the misinformation comes from.

I've never heard it referred to as steel or aluminum... But '99 is a split year for which tensioner style it might have. And even looking it up by VIN isn't completely reliable, as it's relatively easy to convert from one style to the other. I think if you take the LH end timing cover off (which you should be able to do without taking anything else apart) you might be able to see the tensioner....

That's why the dealer just replaces the harness. If one wire is broken, the others usually aren't far behind. And the repair joints have to be far from the part that flexes otherwise it will fail. The dealer I work at has all 3 part numbers for '05-'09 OBKs in stock, one is about $250, the other 2 are about $90. IMO, $90 is worth it to be done with it for another 10-15 years (probably the rest of the life of the car). But for $250, I'd probably keep replacing it. So call up your local dealer with your VIN and see.

Seconded on a 205/55r16

Other than step 1, I do none of this. Never had a crack, never had a leak. New steel, old metric steel, new NiCo....The only flares I've had to re-do were because I forgot the flare nut. The inline flaring tool is a huge help. Flaring tube was one of the earliest automotive projects I did, granted the first time was making an oil feed line for a turbo, so had to hold up to much lower pressures than the brake system, but it wasn't long before I was making brake lines too. I don't understand why people are afraid of it. Yes, if there is a leak in the steel line somewhere, all the exposed line should be replaced. Flare new fittings in the lines under the back seat, and then use unions to attach the new line. That's pretty easy on a 4-door EJ car, as they're both on one side by the door. The EA82s have each line go through the floor on each side (even though they come together at the proportioning valve under the car), and doing it in my XT6 with aftermarket sport seats sucked more than a little, but totally doable. I took a picture of the last one I did, this is on a '97 Legacy Wagon. There's a junction block under the car that was a solid block of rust. I bypassed that entirely, and ran new line up under the back seat. New M10x1.0 Inverted flare nuts, a pair of matching unions, and about 10 feet of NiCo 3/16"s line (I do it often enough that I buy it by the 25' roll). 2017-08-09_08-16-18 by Numbchux, on Flickr

For rear disc brakes, anyway, yea. They definitely wouldn't thread right into a wheel cylinder, although maybe an adapter of some sort exists. These are Centric/StopTech 95047501 rear lines (looked up for a 2002 Impreza) on my XT6. The included banjo bolt threads right in where the hose was, and seals on the face of the housing just like the hose did. I opted to route it behind the shock, and clip it into the bracket on the trailing arm. 2017-07-25_02-22-30 by Numbchux, on Flickr

Wha? Flares are easy with a half decent tool. Get the cut straight a deburred, and you almost can't screw it up. I have one of these that I bought for about $20 at Autozone. I highly recommend it, I've never screwed up a flare with it: Most bulk steel line that you would buy from the parts store is very mild steel. I would recommend the Nickel-Copper stuff, it's easier to work with, and will resist rust for much longer. I've done it on several Subarus, including my XT6 last fall.

That block-off in the rear bumper is for the rear fog light in other markets. I have seen write-ups where people have gotten the part from japan or the UK, and retrofitted them, but it's not as simple as one might think (to be wired correctly, they should be wired to a separate switch, which is not present). I've also seen a company that makes hidden hitches that utilize that same opening. That's pretty cool!

Here's some dimensions of the bed that would help a person fabricate a roll bar: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/131700-how-wide-is-a-gen2-brat-bed/?p=1121895

Even with the starter, there's a pretty good chance the valves were closed. It sounds like in it's current state of disassembly, it's not much extra work to pull the heads and check for damage. And a very good chance it survived.

Agreed, if it was turned over by hand, it's fine.

I'll admit, I've never tried it. But I know 100% that Subaru built a captive nut into the rear cargo floor of EA82 wagons, and included a hardware kit with the tool kit to bolt the full size tire down after you install the compact. I can't imagine anything oversized would really fit..... But, I'm ASSuming that we're talking about an oversized tire. I admit I clicked reply before I realized that it might be fairly close to stock sized. It also occurred to me that we don't know what vehicle he's talking about. He's listed a Brat in the signature. This is why I don't usually reply if I have to make ASSumptions.

Presumeably your current tires are bigger than stock. IMO, a suitably-sized spare (compared to the 4 tires on it), is probably too big to fit under the hood. There isn't even room for a full size stock tire under the hood, so they included a stud to bolt it down in the cargo area.

CV axles are definitely the same. Only '93-94 FWD MT Imprezas got the 23-spline axles I know there were several gear ratio changes, (not just axle ratio, but 1-4 as well) in those years. And that's all it takes to kick something out of a parts interchange (car-part, etc.) search. I see they list '90-'91 Legacy, '92 Legacy, '93-'94 Legacy, and '93-'95 Impreza as all being different for FWD, non-turbo ATs. So I'm not sure exactly, but I bet they'd still work just fine.

Parts add up fairly quick, and there are specialty tools required. Used transmissions are generally fairly easy to come by. As mentioned, Car-part.com is a fantastic tool. Or, keep your eye out for a rusted out and/or blown up manual transmission legacy/outback, and you'd have everything you need for a manual swap (and maybe some parts with value to sell off). It's not uncommon to see those for $3-500 up here...plus a clutch kit and maybe a few other little things.

100% (for '00-'04, anyway), from several sources. Subaru OEM parts catalogs (I use them for a living) being one of them. 2003 added the cold weather package as standard, so the only non-LSD '03-'04 Outbacks are VDC cars.

VDC cars do not have a rear LSD, either. As mentioned, it's designed to allow the VDC system to work effectively. FYI, H6 oil pressure switch is above the oil filter on the side of the upper oil pan.

I have seen it. '00 Impreza 2.5RS, 5MT. Components looked all in good shape (installed by PO, so unknown brand), belt guide present, and adjusted correctly. One cam (LH, IIRC, it's been awhile) off by 2 teeth. It sort of tried to run, but not really. New timing belt kit installed, timing reset, and that car ran great for several years.

Came here to replace the photobucket links, so I thought I'd give a small update. We're mostly just putting miles on it. Something about having a 50 year old house and 5 month old daughter slows down the exciting car projects. A couple weeks ago we took my ATV up to a buddy's family farm to do irresponsible things which will not be pictured on the internet. It was a hot day, and we loaded up the family, and the gear, set the climate control and the cruise control. I kept having to check the rear view mirror to see if the ATV was still there, couldn't feel it at all. 2017-07-21_04-11-32 by Numbchux, on Flickr

ASSuming "early '90s" is 1990-1994 and ASSuming you are planning to use the stock ECU and ASSuming you have all the connectors GD is pretty much right, those engines don't have much that they don't use. There's a couple emissions solenoids that wouldn't effect the way it runs, but would throw a check engine light. But it's so easy to just hook them up, just do it right. Everything is mounted to the engine except the MAF and ignitor.

Yes, the VDC cars have an actual differential in the center, and they also have clutch plates to actively limit any slippage. Interestingly, the owner's manual specifically says that if using the temporary spare, put the FWD fuse in for non-VDC cars, but no mention about what to do with a VDC car, so maybe it's fine.... Long story short, it might be just fine, but the cost of a tow vs the cost of a transmission (or even just clutch pack)....I'd have it towed in... FYI, "VDC" stands for Vehicle Dynamic Control, which is stability control. But the VDC cars come with VTD, which is Variable Torque Distribution, which refers to the different AWD.