Fairtax4me

This is interesting. Has me wondering if there really is any performance gain from this.

The stock rear sway bar links are kinda wimpy. Most people have to upgrade because the links break. Then the brackets that hold the bars to the frame get bent (they're kinda wimpy too). There are upgrades available, both are $$$$. Rallitek offers kits for the Impreza that include the bar, end links, and heavy duty brackets. They SHOULD fit, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.

An exploded view of the door glass. This may help, or it may make things worse.

Yes the wheel need to be straight, mostly so the guts in the clock spring don't get all twisted up and break the first tie you turn. I'm surprised there isn't a locater flat or knock in the steering shaft to prevent the wheel from going on any other way?

You didn't look hard enough. http://www.rallitek.com/RalliTEK-Front-Anti-Sway-Bar-Kit-LegacyOutback-Non-Turbo-1990-2004/p-4378 Whiteline sells . 20mm, and 22mm adjustable and non adjustable. Whiteline bars generally cost more though. Unless you get lucky enough to find one on ebay. NVM about Perrin.

I wouldn't think they would go that far for a Legacy. Maybe on something more performance oriented like the Impreza WRX/STi. But what do I know? As long as both wheels are off the ground there should be no load on the sway bar. If there is... something is wrong. Honestly, I wouldn't bet too much on bushings. Both of the trailing arm bushings on my car are about shot and I have no abnormal wear that I can tell on the rear wheels. Of course this is also an entirely different suspension... but rubber bushings don't tend to fail one at a time.

Don't listen to them. As long as you're careful you can remove and replace any part of the system with no ill effects. You just need to disconnect the battery about 15 minutes prior to doing any work on the airbag system. We need to figure out what is causing the light to come on before going in and digging around replacing parts. There is a thread on the site here somewhere that tells you the procedure for putting the airbag system in self diagnostic mode, and it will flash out any fault codes through the light on the dash. Try searching Airbag light and see what you can come up with. Some cars flash the code when the ignition is turned on, and it's just a matter of counting the flashes.

I wouldn't think that little difference would cause an issue, but... new sway bar link? Could the sway bar be bent? That might place more "weight" on the tire. I would imagine it would have to be a significant bend to cause that, but it might be worth a shot to disconnect both ends and see if either side wants to hang down away from the end links.

Alright! Good to hear you found the cause, or at least part of it.

No other codes? You probably have a vacuum leak somewhere. Double double check all hoses and connections. Did you remove the intake manifold for any reason? What about the throttle body or IAC valve? It's possible the IAC needs to be cleaned, or it could be faulty.

Wouldn't the intake and exhaust port sealing surfaces be 90° to the block surface?

Is this with the car on the ground or off? Outback struts are approximately 1 inch longer (taller) than regular Legacy struts. Maybe a P/O had to replace that strut and got one from an outback without knowing there was a difference. Or they grabbed an Impreza or Forester strut, either of which would be shorter than a legacy strut, to replace a worn strut on the passenger side. I have a set of outback struts in the shed I can measure the overall length sometime tomorrow.

The light just means there's something wrong, usually an open circuit in the system, not necessarily that the bags have deployed or that the vehicle was wrecked. Does your horn work? How about the cruise control? (if equipped)

No coolant in the valve covers. At least not normally. But you want a drain pan ready to catch any oil that drains out. Shouldn't be much, but it is enough to make a mess of your driveway or garage floor.

Superglue might work for a while but it's brittle. If it breaks off again, glue it on with some Shoe Goo.

Vote? Who the hell does that anymore? Jk Glad you found someone worth voting for (or against). I could really care less about who wins my district this round, they're both slimeballs who won't get a damn thing done. (Is that really anything new? ) Here's whats fun about alignments. Changing any one parameter affects all of the others as well. If toe is out of spec, the caster and camber angles will be off as well. If Caster is incorrect, the toe will change, if camber is wrong, toe angle will be wrong as well. Same with thrust angle. At this point, doesn't matter what is out of spec, your tires are hosed. The drivers side mimics the look of severely under-inflated, though it could just be the combination of camber and toe being out of whack. An easy way to set toe without an alignment is with a ruler. You can google self alignments and find some tricks for doing it. Matter of fact... I knew I remembered seeing it somewhere. The FSM has all the specs and measurements, as well as the procedure for doing an alignment.

You have wear on the outside edges as well? Excessive speed in corners wears BOTH edges of the tires. Inside on one, outside on the other. Most common reason for improper camber is a change in vehicle height. If new springs are installed and an alignment done, when the springs "settle" in a month or so, the camber spec will be out because the car will sit lower. Alignment should be checked periodically during settling, and adjusted accordingly to avoid tire wear. Did you get an alignment done afterwards?

The first way is to listen. Vacuum leaks make a hissing noise, and a major leak (which is what you have if that's the cause) will be prominent. Use the diagram on the bottom of the hood to see where the hoses on the engine are, and where they are supposed to go. Check all the hoses for loose fit, cracks, splits, dry rot, and obviously that they are connected where they're supposed to be. Don't forget to check the brake booster hose. Before you installed the intake manifold, did you make sure every last bit of the old gaskets was removed from the sealing surfaces of the manifold and heads? Did you remove the throttle body from the manifold? What about the idle air control valve?

Keep the relay under the hood (on the strut tower or somewhere easy to get to) and keep your high amp wires as short as possible. Also use a fusible link on the high amp circuit rather than plain wire (in case it shorts, the link will burn out rather than the wire catching fire and burning the car to the ground). Run only one wire through the firewall, the one from the switch to the pull side of the relay.

It's a baffle chamber. BRILLIANT! The end result of getting a rag sucked into the intake manifold is much worse than having it wrapped around the cam shaft.

Excessive toe-in/toe-out, or incorrect camber/caster. Or you just need to slow down in corners. Assuming you mean the tread on the inside edge of the tire is worn, not the tread in the middle of the tire. Stock rear strut to knuckle bolts are straight.

Head bolts are 12 point 14mm IIRC. edit: thought I read DOHC somewhere... SOHC I don't think you need to remove the cam, but if you need to have it machined it's a good idea.

Assuming all 4 tires are of the same brand and style, did you check the treadwear speed and weight ratings on each tire to make sure they are all the same?

You got a vacuum leak. There are only a handful of vacuum hoses on these engines and they are easy to check. Be sure to also check all of the hoses for the crankcase breather system, and the Idle control valve hose, as they attach to the intake tube behind the MAF sensor (in relation to airflow). Any loose or missing hoses would create an opening for unmetered air to enter the intake tube and throw off readings from the MAF. Poor gasket sealing can also create major vacuum leaks. There are several on the intake. Exactly how long has the car been misfiring? Chances are you will need a new catalytic converter to get the car 100% right after this. Misfires indicate unburned fuel is entering the exhaust system, which can overheat and damage the cat(s). This is negligible. If the coil were at fault it would either be open circuit or shorted, and the resistance value would likely be vastly out of range.

Exactly why the 5 year replacement interval is recommended, even if the battery appears to be in good working order. On the flip side, just because a battery is new doesn't mean it can't have a bad cell. It's just not likely to be for the same reason as an old battery.