Fairtax4me

Hammer down on the control arm. A pickle fork will never get the joint separated from the knuckle because it applies pressure on the ball joint housing. Hit the base of the knuckle around the joint hard with a mini sledge on both sides to help knock the rust loose, then hammer straight down on the control arm. Make sure the castle nut is on the bottom stud because you want the joint housing to come out of the knuckle, not the stud to pop loose from the arm.

Strut bolts are easier. Even if you have to fight with them some they still come out easier than lateral link bolts. The real fight comes in if the axle is seized in the hub, but at that point you may have to replace the whole shebang anyway.

I meant the new evap stuff. Too dark for pics of the setup on my 96. I'll try to get some tomorrow.

What year did you get the new stuff from and what year is the car you're putting it in? Is that tank in the pics the one that's currently in the car?

You may be missing some heat sheilding between the exhaust pipe and the fuel tank. The round canisters are supposed to vent to air via the funny loop hose that sticks into the frame under the canister. The newer ones vent through that giant round filter that mounts above the canister box. You have a purge valve at the front mounted under the manifold. That should be normally closed. Then there is a vent valve at the back which is normally open. That vent valve allows the tank vapors to flow into the canister. When the purge valve opens the vent valve is supposed to close so the vacuum can draw any condenser vapor out of the canister. Then the ECU has some algorithm that closes and opens the valve in a cycle to draw vacuum on the fuel tank. It then checks tank pressure via either a rear mounted dedicated fuel tank pressure sensor, or through the PSSSV and MAP sensor combo on the strut tower (dependent on year and engine type). I can get pics of the rear mount setup later (as well as comparison to front canister type).

This is a big can of worms andnprobably won't work correctly without an ECU swap and changing all of the solenoids that go along with the evap system at the back of the car. Is there a really good reason for wanting to switch?

Two words: Hub Grappler Turns a 5 hour nightmare into a 1 hour swap.

If the system has been empty for a long period of time and you live in the south (very humid) then it's a good idea to replace the drier. The drier collects moisture before the refrigerant goes into the expansion valve. If there is moisture in the charge it can ice the valve and block the flow. I've used the < $20 driers on three of my vehicles and haven't had any issues. Subieboarder, check the lower corners of the condenser for corrosion. This is the most common place I've seen for AC leaks other than the compressor o-rings. As above, if the system was empty for a long period of time its a good idea to replace the drier as well.

Ive always been happy with the quality of napas vacuum hoses. I do know the evap hoses are larger than the ones for the MAP, FPR, EGR etc. Take one of the small hoses and match that up, I wanna say its either 3/32" or 1/8" but I don't remember exactly. (If you take a short enough section sometimes they'll cut you a short piece for free) Then order that size and get the next size up from that for your evap stuff. Probably gonna be 3/16" for that.

There are a few different sizes. Cut the stretched out end off and take the hose to napa and have them match it up.

Well, a year later I finally got these on the car! Put them on at the same time I put the new struts on. Fitment is good. They're about 2" longer than the stock hoses were. I can turn the wheels to full lock in both directions with the struts at full extension and they don't pull tight. The mount clips they supplied didn't fit in the bracket on the rear strut so I just tweaked the original clips a bit and they hold fine. Pedal feel seems better. The pedal feels more solid when the brakes are applied hard (but that could also be partly due to getting the 3 year old nasty brown brake fluid out of the system). Rockauto still has these for about $42 a pair. Pretty good deal if you're looking for an affordable upgrade to the stock rubber hoses.

If somebody wants your LP they're gonna get it. I frequently had to rip plates off of cars at the dealership because the screw heads were stripped or the insert in the trunk lid was rounded and would just spin with the screw. Once you get one corner loose the rest pull through pretty easy.

This is a common issue with the 3 wire temp sensors, especially aftermarket. Make sure the wiring for the sender isn't cut/pinched. If the wiring looks OK try a new OEM Subaru temp sensor.

0w flows better when its cold. That car originally uses 5w-30. Stick with that.

Can you post a picture of it? Some of those have caster/camber adjustment plates on top that are tricky to adjust.

No schrader valve on these. A pressure tester is the best way, but you need to T into the supply line where it comes up to meet the fuel filter on the left strut tower. You can also pop the supply line off and stick it into a plastic bottle and turn the key On. The pump will run for a few seconds to prime the system and it should squirt about 1-1/2 to 2 oz of fuel into the bottle.

Did you pull on them with pliers? Pull harder and see if they just pull out or if they get longer. It could be that the belt has separated and the wire is working its way out a little at a time. Those tires don't look particularly old, but belt failures can be totally random.

No steel in the tread. Unless you can find a big section of rubber that's literally peeling away from the rest of the tire, those bits of wire probably came from something else. Pull on them and see how easily they pull free.

Only thing electric would be if it has a seatbelt pre-tensioner, but those are usually on the seat latch. It's pretty easy to pull the pillar trim off and have a look.

There's a check valve built into the vacuum hose that goes to the booster that fails. Usually it freezes in the winter if moisture gets in the hose. Pull the hose off the booster with the engine running and see if you have vacuum there, if not, check at the port on the manifold. If you have vacuum at the manifold end but not at the booster end replace the hose. Last I checked that was a dealer only part for new. If there's a u-pull junkyard nearby, used is fine.

96 L King springs Outback struts 2" lift blocks 205/70/15 tires

Yeah, I said screw it and put them on anyway. I did find some touch up paint and dabbed on those spots just for some extra protection. Car looks great with those bright yellow coils in the wheel wells!

The latching the seat, or the reel/ retracting mechanism in the B pillar?

Some pics of the tail section and broken drum here: http://mdhmotors.com/subaru-all-wheel-drive-system-failures-repair/

When you spin one rear wheel the other should spin opposite. Spin one rear wheel and make sure the driveshaft turns when you hold the other wheel still. Do the same again but switch wheels ( spin the one you held before). If that checks out the rear diff still has all of its guts and the axles are probably ok. The problem could be either a worn out transfer clutch pack or broken transfer drum in the trans. Easy enough to inspect and/or replace with the trans still in the car. Ju st pull the tail housing off. There is an o-ring seal that fits around the fluid port for the transfer duty C solenoid. Make sure the o-ring is there. If it gone you will have no fluid pressure on the clutch pack. Make sure the drum hasn't sheared off of the input spline and inspect the drum inside for wear and make sure all of the clutch plates are there.