Fairtax4me

Garage with the door open or closed? The O2 sensors don't do anything until the ECU comes out of open loop. They don't work at all until they reach about 600°F which is pretty hot. Certainly not going to be that hot immediately after starting. My 96 will make you choke on a cold start if you try breathing anywhere near the back of the car or have to back up into the cloud of unburned fuel that pours out of the back of it. But I still get 30+mpg on the highway (got 33 on the last trip) so I'm not too worried about it running a little rich on cold start. My best guess would be a faulty coolant temp sensor if anything. Those can generally be tested with an ohmeter if you have a known good one to compare readings with at the same or similar temperature. A scan tool is ideal for that. "Strong" is kind of a relative term. If you're used to smelling 4 cyl engines at startup, a 6 banger is gonna put out 2 more cylinders worth of exhaust under the same conditions. I like to figure roughly 50% more depending on displacement. So maybe a 6 cyl is just strongER smelling than a 4 cyl...

They are generally only available for popular head units. You can get some that are direct link and some others that use a transmitter similar to the remote for the head unit. The direct link ones are the way to go if the head unit you have is compatible. If you just want steering wheel controls some companies make little remote that fit on the wheel and work fairly well. Similar to this: http://www.rainbowappliance.com/CDSR100.html?utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&cvsfa=673&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=43445352313030 Just find one that will work for the head unit you want to buy. Much cheaper than buying a wheel with controls and an interface to connect it to the head unit. Also a ton easier. The buttons in the wheel probably won't work unless you swap the clock spring with it. Then you have to figure out wiring...

The steering wheel interface adapters are SO worth it! Once you get used to using those buttons on the wheel you just can't go back to reaching for the volume knob on the dash.

Thermostat gasket or water pump. Try the gasket first, it's much easier. The buildup on the drivers side of the engine is oil residue. Hit it with some degreaser (purple power works pretty good) and spray it off with a water hose. I'd bet on the valve cover gasket there, but it's nothing to be too concerned with, it's a Subaru thing.

Without an actual pressure reading it's hard to say, but it sounds like you need an oil pump. You did make sure the oil level is correct? (I know that's too simple but it has happened before) Can you post a video or sound clip of the noise? It might help diagnosis to get an idea of what kind of "rapping" is going on. Worse comes to worse you can drop in a low mileage 2.2 and never have to worry about it again.

As long as you got the sealer on, it should be OK to be missing one bolt. If it were a gasket then you'd have reason to be concerned, but with silicone sealer it's not such a big deal because it will dry to fill the gap.

Break out the purple power. Spray it down, let it soak in, and go to town on it with a water hose and try to blast that greasy stuff away. Helps if you have the car up on ramps or stands so you can get under it. You'll never find the source of any leaks until they bust wide open and start puking all over the place with it looking like that.

No no, further back, where the pipes come together into the Y. That's a leaking rear main crank seal, or input shaft seal on the transmission. That's your "stinky". Looks like you also got an oil pan seal leak, and the valve cover on the passenger side might be leaking too.

That's good news to me. You just saved me about $50. I'll have to call around Monday and get some quotes for getting it machined. I can't imagine anywhere around here would want more than $25 or so. Hell for that matter I should check with our Toyota shop. They have a lathe, but I think it's only for brakes. Gotta order the front seal for the transmission and some other goodies like a release lever (I hear they like to crack) and a new pivot for that just for good measure.

Well my clutch job is getting bumped up. I was hoping it would last me through the winter, but it doesn't look like I'll get that lucky. Maybe it's the leaking input seal on the transmission, or the extra use due to the recent snow, but it started slipping on me last night in 5th gear. :-\ So to save a couple bucks at least I'm going to try getting the flywheel machined if possible. But in the event I have to replace it, does anybody have a recommended brand besides O.E.? ($230 is a bit steep right now )

You can say what you want but for people who don't check their tire pressures often it does help. Pure nitrogen doesn't react to changes in temperature as much as plain compressed air. It stays in the tires longer so they stay at the recommended pressure longer. Properly inflated tires leads to better gas mileage.

The trick only works for the rear O2 sensor. The rear O2 only checks the efficiency of the catalyst, and has no effect on fuel mileage. The ECU compares the readings from the front O2 sensor with the rear and expects to see a certain amount of difference between the two. If that difference is too little it sets a code and illuminates the MIL. If you were to use an anti fouler on the front O2 sensor there is a good change the car would not run correctly. The ECU would get an extremely lean reading from the sensor and try to enrich the A/F ratio until the sensor reads correctly. Which would actually make the mixture extremely rich.

Short it with a couple wires attached to the battery terminals. Use a good size wire like 12-14awg and some spade connectors crimped to the ends.

Try downloading this manual http://cid-4ca3c3459aaa7f7f.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/1992%5E_legacy%5E_full.pdf and see what (if anything) it says about diagnosing a No start condition. The manual for my 96 has a section specifically for that, not sure if the older ones will have it or not but it can't hurt to have some extra info. I can't remember the username of the guy who hosts that. But he's a great for putting the info out there for everyone to see! Maye he'll pitch in and refresh my memory.

Get the alternator and battery tested. Also double double check all of the connections. Power - alternator, starter, battery, and grounds - engine to frame and frame to battery.

The lack of spark could be a hairline crack inside the coil causing high resistance to that plug. Pretty common on old GM coil packs. If you have a known good coil pack swap it in and see if it fixes it. If that fails pull the spark plug out and wait a day or so to let that cylinder air out. Turn the key to the ON position to pressurize the fuel lines then smell/listen around the spark plug hole for gas fumes or a hissing sound from the injector being stuck open. Fuel wash that can chew up the rings, thin out the oil leading to poor lubrication of bearings/other moving parts, burn out the cat. Fun stuff!

I've had this on nearly every car I've ever owned. Never has hurt anything. I just deal with it.

Most of the time those bolts will back out by hand once they're loose. If you need to change the fluid, pull the pan and try to work them out with pliers. I've never understood why people put sealer on rubber gaskets. It's rubber, it seals itself.

If it's steel go right ahead and hammer away. Aluminum is a bit pickier. Get the tire taken off, and inspect the wheel. If you can see any visible cracks then it's probably just going to split trying to hammer it back. I've bent back slight bends in aluminum wheels before, I use a piece of wood between the hammer and wheel to prevent gouging, and it also helps spread out the force across that part of the wheel rather than concentrating it in one spot. Use a regular hammer, not a mallot or mini sledge, the lighter hits put less stress on the aluminum. You may not even need to bend it back. You might be able to just take it up to a tire shop and have them re-seat the bead. But you should get the tire taken off and the wheel checked for cracks before putting it back on the car.

I'd probably offer him 2000 for it assuming the body and undercarriage is in good shape (little to no rust). Dunno where he was finding the blue book to be 3800. Best I could find was 3200 for a Clean car. Very very few privately sold cars fall into the "Clean" category.

Is that the 3 cylinder one? I raced a guy in a 3 cyl Justy in the snow back when I was in high school with my Ford Festiva. Classic kodak moment! We got to about 20 and almost hit each other, then quit because we were both laughing too hard. I think I'd expect at least 40mpg out of a little car like that. Should be a fun learner though. Just don't tear it up too much.

What If I wanted to replace the second gear synchro? How much of a PITA would that be? Or would it even be worth it? I've got a bearing noise in mine in first and a little in second gear, and the input shaft seal is leaking.

What's really unbelievable is that BOTH of the rear rotors were like that on that car. And those were on a Mercedes of all things. I've used a few kinds of vacuum bleeders and they all seem to have a flaw, they let air in around the bleeder screw so you can't tell if the bubbles in the hose are out of the brake line or what. Plus it's hard to see the difference in the color of the fluid unless the old fluid is REALLLY old.

Is the car AWD? Might be one of the rears. Not sure what to tell you beyond that, except check the U joints and carrier bearing/bushing.

Unless this happens... "My car was making this really loud noise for a long time then it stopped. Now it won't stop." I was tempted to keep that one and make a clock out of it.