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I'm so jealous of you guys who live where snow happens! I recently moved from Seattle to San Diego. Here, winter consists of a couple days of rain. BORING!! It's almost a waste to have AWD here. But I still wouldn't be without my wonderful, reliable Legacy!

So true! My son and I both have a 93 Legacy Sedan with the WRX wheels. They look just like in your pictures. But on a WRX, they are just boring. Go figure! Michael

As I just posted separately, my 93 Legacy just hit 200,000. It's an AWD 5-spd. I'm the second owner. I bought it for $2,500 three years ago with 140,000 on it, so I've gotten a cheap 60,000 miles out of it so far - with many more to go! My son has exactly the same year and model of Legacy as me and his car is now over 210,000 and also running great.

Hi Josh and Michael, It's good to be back. Sorry I don't visit more often, but my life is so busy and I have so many varied interests that I don't get here as often as I'd like. On a personal note, my daughter was married a few months ago and is now pregnant. That means, gasp, that I'm going to be... a grandpa! Sheesh! I sure don't FEEL old enough to be a grandpa. Josh, I'm impressed with the huge project you have decided to do with your car. Although I'm capable of doing a lot of work on a car, I don't think I could do something that complex. And even if I could, I wouldn't. I used to HAVE to work on my own cars when I was young and poor. Now I just don't want to anymore. I'd rather pay someone. The hard part is finding someone I trust. I REALLY miss my Subaru mechanic in Seattle (Mike and his guys at Smart Subaru Service). I work at Northrop Grumman in San Diego now. I miss Seattle. I loved it there. But Boeing just hasn't been very healthy for a few years and employment is way down. However, I hear they are starting to hire again, so that's good for the economy up there. I'm glad for them. It's odd owning an AWD Subaru in Southern CA. There aren't many down here, at least of the older Legacies. I do see a few Outbacks, and several guys around here have figured out that WRX's are a cheap way to blow the doors off some expensive machinery. Cheers to all, Michael

My baby just turned over 200,000. She's a '93 Legacy AWD Sedan, 5-spd. No dents, no rust, excellent interior and runs like a champ. People who see it or ride with me can't believe it has so many miles 'cuz it still runs like new. I just love early 90's Legacies! My son has the same year and model as I do and his is over 200,000 as well. It looks and runs great, too. These are awesome cars! Michael

Geez, now I'm hearing voices. It's scary! Thanks for the replies! Michael

I'm going to replace my radiator (93 Legacy) this weekend and I was curious about the various brands of radiator fluid out there. I see that Prestone, for example, is about twice the price of the generic brands. I have no problem paying more for better quality, but is there really a difference? Thanks! Michael

Thanks to jclay for the advice on adjusting the electromagnet on top of the IAC valve because it caused me to find the REAL problem. It was simply a bad spark plug wire that was arcing to a nearby bolt up on top of the intake. DUH!! I guess that explains why I could not find any ECU trouble code. It sure doesn't pay to over think a problem. A new set of sparks plug wires and the car runs great again. I'm sure glad I didn't already order the new IAC valve. I'm also glad that my cleaning of a perfectly good valve didn't ruin it! I almost didn't post this since it's pretty embarrassing. But if someone else can benefit from my lesson, that's a good thing. Michael

I hadn't thought of adjusting the idle by repositioning the electromagnet on the top. I'll give that a shot! Worst case, I still have to buy a new unit, but I haven't lost anything by trying.

Thanks Frag and Subyluvr for the links to online purchase. I checked with my dealer and they wanted $338. I've already had the old IAC off once to clean it, so replacing it won't be as hard. All the hoses are already broken loose and will come off easier this time. Here's a question: Before I did anything to the car, I hooked up the black connectors under the dash and read the codes. But there weren't any codes to read. I guess the ECU doesn't realize that the IAC is bad. And just to make sure I was doing it right, I read the codes again after disconnecting a couple things to get to the IAC and I got multiple codes. Is it normal for the ECU not to recognize a bad IAC valve? Thanks! Michael

Looks like I need a new IAC valve. What is a good source online to buy one of these cheaper than at the local stealer? And just for the record, here are the symptoms. Tell me what you think (this is on a 1993 Legacy L AWD with Manual Trans): A couple of weeks ago my car started idling funny. Sometimes it would idle way too fast. Other times the idle would fluctuate a lot. From there, it progressed to stalling out at stop lights. Finally, it would even try to stall under mild acceleration. However, it would usually catch again just as it died and I'd hear a terrible amount of CLICKING under the hood. After a search on this board, I carefully removed and cleaned the IAC. It was very sticky and a lot of crap came out of it when I cleaned it with a good quality brake parts cleaner. But, alas, it didn't cure the problem. In fact, when I put it back together I tried to reset the ECU. Unfortunately, the car wouldn't even idle after I reconnected the negative battery cable. It would just click a lot, then die. Thus, I conclude my IAC valve is shot. Sound logical? Michael P.S. - Be sure to let me know a good source to order one of these.

All fuses were OK, so I ran wires directly from the battery to the fan to verify that it is, indeed, kaput. I called the dealer to order a replacement: $235!!! ARGH! That's a lot of money for a 12-volt fan motor! I'll either just live with it, or I'll try to find one at a junk yard. That means I'd probably have to order one from a distant junk yard because there aren't many Subaru's around So-Cal. Michael

Thanks for the replies. I'll check fuses and wires after work today. The A/C compressor was difinitely kicked in, but the fan wasn't working. If I can't find a blown fuse or a loose connection, I'll do as Josh suggested and run a quick test patch to see if the fan motor still works. Michael

Yeah, Josh, you're right. The gas here is lousy and WAY over priced. My fuel milage dropped rather dramatically after I started buying gas in So-Cal. I think a steady diet of 89 octane is on the menu for my car from now on.

Are both of the radiator fans on a '93 Legacy run through the same fuse? My Legacy repair manual is still packed somewhere. If I were smarter, I'd just keep it in the car. The small fan on the passenger side doesn't work any more and I'm hoping it's just a fuse. Luckily, it hasn't caused any overheating. I just happened to notice it the other day when I had the hood open, the A/C was running and it was over 100 degrees outside. I figured both fans should be running under those conditions, but only the large fan on the driver's side was running. Thanks! Michael

Hey there subyluvr2212, thanks for the reply. It's good to be back. The move from Seattle to San Diego was difficult, as most moves are. However, my synchros have been happy with the blend of tranny oils that I finally settled on. As for my plugs, they are pretty new, so I hope it's not carbon build up. To gotsubarus, it's definitely an octane ping. Very slight. I needed gas last night, so I filled up with mid-grade 89 octane. Today is supposed to be hot again, so I'll see how it sounds driving home from work. There are a couple of pretty good grades on the way home that will flush out the ping if it's going to happen. Thanks! Michael

I just moved from Seattle to San Diego. It's been BLOODY hot here the past few days (100 degrees or more - inland). My car is not used to that (neither am I). The car runs well and is not overheating, but I notice that it pings just a tad going up even a gradual incline with the A/C on. I don't like that. I knew how to adjust for that on cars with a distributor that you could turn to advance or decrease the timing. Can the timing be manually adjusted on a '93 Legacy? Thanks! Michael