Fairtax4me

Check closely around all the hoses and around the thermostat housing. It could be a leak that only happens when the system is cool, and it stops when the system gets hot and pressurized. Make sure the radiator is full and has no air in the top. Open the bleeder screw in the top corner to make sure all the air can get out while filing. Cap it off and fill the reservoir. Then run it to operating temperature and let it cool overnight. Check the coolant level in the morning before starting the engine, and be sure to check the level in both the radiator and the bottle. Top off the radiator if necessary and make a note of the level in the bottle. Drive it for a day or two, then recheck the coolant levels again the next morning before starting. Entirely possible that its a head gasket, and these can burn a fair amount of coolant with no other signs and no smoke or steam from the tail pipe. And they'll pass those fluid hydrocarbon tests that you find at the parts stores. If you have shop air, the best way to check for a bad head gasket is to put each cylinder at TDC and fill it with air up to about 100 psi. Make sure the radiator cap is off before you do it, because any cylinder with a leak will start pushing coolant and bubbles out of the radiator.

Same trans as far as I know. Should work fine.

90-98 2.2 and 1.8 used the same belt with 211 teeth. 99-up SOHC 2.5 used a longer belt IIRC. Wanna say 223 teeth.

Sway bars are different, but the difference is because of the floor under the trunk where the spare goes. On the legacy there's a hump (that sticks down) under the spare tire that isn't there on the Impreza. You can run either sway bar on the Impreza with no problems. If the legacy rear bar is larger diameter it will decrease body roll in the back of that wagon and help improve handling.

Yep, you basically have to pull the rear seats out so you can get to the guide clips on the floor that hold the cable in place. You can probably pop the front and rear sill plates off and get to the cable where it runs along the left side by the drivers seat. From there it should run across the car under the rear seat, then turn and to back into the cargo area. Pull the plastic panels off on the right side and you'll see where it comes up from the floor and goes to the latch mechanism. You'll want a trim clip tool and some screw drivers. A 12mm socket and ratchet for the bolts that hold the seat on in case you need to remove the seat back to get the plastic panel out.

New KYBs are always a good thing, but I don't think they'll help much in this case. Springs have a larger effect on ride harshness than the struts will. Lowering springs are often substantially stiffer than stock springs because they need a higher spring rate (stiffer) in order to maintain the lower ride height without the car hitting the ground every time you sit down in it. Lowering springs also tend to be shorter, which decreases the preload on the springs at ride height. This allows the weight of the vehicle to bounce up completely off of the springs over larger bumps. This is what causes that bunny hop (where the whole car bounces about 6 times on every bump) that you see the Hondas do all the time, that looks just plain ridiculous. Your car is doing that now. There are springs out there that ride better. Do some searching on the various Impreza forums for opinions on better spring options.

Find a junkyard nearby that let's you pull your own parts and to cut one off. Or post in the classifieds here. Somebody may have one. I did at one point but I don't know if I still do. How old is your battery? If it's more than 3-4 years old you could just be dealing with normal battery discharge due to its age. If the battery has service caps pop them off and check the electrolyte level in the cells.

There should be a FWD fuse, but after 99 or 2000 they moved it into the main fuse panel under the hood. Check there. The rubber center supports are very soft, even brand new ones tend to hang down a bit. I would suspect a bad u-joint. One of them may have seized or the grease has dried and its binding when its put under load.

Picture below of the label on the bottle I use at work almost every day. I think I slapped some pads in my 96 about a year ago and I don't remember if it had the rubber bushings or not. But I've done tons of other cars that do have them and really haven't noticed any issues.

Probably gonna be a u-joint. They're fairly easy to check and if one is bad enough to make a clank/clunk sound it will be pretty obvious. The exhaust isn't in the way too much but the front half is above the large heat sheild bolted under the center of the car. Its tricky to remove with the exhaust still on, but doable. Slide the heat sheild out of the way so you can inspect all 3 u-joints and the carrier bearing and mount.

There are some minor differences but the major parts all attach in the same places. The only real difference between impreza and legacy is the length. Other than that, pretty much all of the mechanical and suspension parts can be swapped between the two.

Something like 65 lbs IIRC. Its best to replace it if you're unsure. People get impatient and try to compress them too quickly and damage the valve mechanism inside.

Source voltage is the supply voltage to the control unit. A poor ground for the unit could set both of those codes. The unit is mounted in the center of the floor pan under the dash. There are ground points on both sides of the center console at the base of the dash. Make sure those are clean and tight. The G sensor is mounted under the center console and can be damaged if anyone has ever spilled a soda or coffee on the console. The unit is sealed, but liquid can still get in the wire connector and cause a poor connection.

It doesn't engage the brake. Its a check valve type deal that only holds pressure on the brake line if you apply the brake and the clutch at the same time. The holder maintains pressure after the brake is released, until you release the clutch pedal. Then the pressure is released. Properly adjusted, you won't even notice it's there until you need to start going up a hill. It only keeps the car from rolling backwards down a hill. It should not keep the car from rolling forward.

That ain't what it says on the bottle!! Lyin basterds. I guess if the slide pins on my car lock up I'll know why! I did see syl-glide on the shelf at the local AA the other day for $11 and change. Think I'll try to get a tube on amazon just to have around.

Pump is driven by the crankshaft and can't be spun with a drill. Otherwise, that would be my preferred method. I do some toyotas with a drill. I just unplug the injectors themselves because the connectors are easy to get to. Little trick, push down on the connector then squeeze the lock tab and pull up.

Runs under the manifold over to the main engine connectors on top right corner of the bellhousing. I don't remember exactly which connector it is. Check voltage reaching the sensor by back-probing the connector. Should read something like 2.5V at the sensor plug with engine running.

Bearing material tends to be copper and lead. Aluminum can be material from the block where the rod cap is making contact with the block. Very tight tolerances in there and the rods can hit the side of the block if the bearing totally fails.

Is the pad on the block for the sensor clean? Any corrosion there will prevent the sensor from grounding properly. Make sure the wire terminal didn't back out of the connector. The wiring for the knock sensor runs through the same connectors on the bellhousing as everything else. Unplug those and make sure none of the pins are corroded or dirty.

Well, If it wasn't bad before... Is it now! Yeah I've had some hub assemblies just major stuck in the knuckle and the solution is almost always bigger hammer. I had a Honda hub stuck so bad I had to remove the knuckle from the car, prop it up on wood blocks and wail on it with a 5lb sledge hammer. Still took a dozen solid hits to get it to start moving.

You need to let all the modules in the car go to sleep before connecting your meter. Remove the negative battery terminal for about 5 minutes. Wrap a large guage wire such as 10 or 12awg around the battery post a few times and twist it so it will stay tight. Wrap the other end of the wire around the cable clamp. Stick the clamp over the terminal with wire still attached, turn the key On for a few seconds then turn it back off and remove the key. Wait about an hour. Now carefully remove the terminal making sure the wire stays firmly connected. If the wire becomes disconnected you'll have to repeat the process up to this point. Once the terminal is removed, use aligator clips or clip meter leads to connect your meter in series. Once the meter is connected, now you can remove the wire so the current only flows through the meter. This prevents the control modules in the car from spiking your meter as you make the battery connection and cause them to go into wake up. Instead the modules remain in sleep mode because you haven't really disconnected the battery. Do not try to open any doors, or turn the key on, or the meter will spike and blow your fuse or cook your meter.

Finally!! At some point, everyone who's ever worked on a car has far overthought some simple problem, and took the long way around the block to get it fixed. Like you just drove ten miles to figure out, yeah I should have taken that left way back there. Hopefully you got learned something besides frustration out of that little detour!

Just marks from the casting process. They're everywhere. Just harder to see on the outside because they're covered in dirt. Ignore them.

Uh huh. Soak it with penetrating oil, and get a bigger hammer. Does it have screws that thread in from the back side of the knuckle? Take one to the hardware store and match up the threads, buy two hex head bolts that are about an inch longer. Thread one in the top corner, one in the opposite bottom corner. Hit the heads of the new bolts with the hammer to help push the housing outward.

Those are bearing shavings. Time for a new engine. 2-1/2 quarts low is a death sentence when the pan only holds 4-1/2. It was holding less than half of its capacity, and at least a quart of that was in circulation somewhere in the oil feed passages or on its way draining back to the pan.