allwheeldad

Some wreckers will just snip the wheel speed sensor wire for the abs to make the removal faster. If you have abs just ask them to unplug it from inside the inner fender and pull it out. It may also save you some time and swearing if the donor ball joint is in good shape to just leave it in the knuckle and use it. When I did this on my wife's 00 Legacy the wheel speed sensor clip was different, so I had to solder the old connector onto the new wire. Not a scary thing to do, just a little heads up that you might need to do some wiring while you're at it.

depends on what you want the car to do for you. I have a 99 GT and like the stiffer suspension in corners. We just sold our 2000 Legacy and it was a good car too. It was roomier (although not hugely), had a more compliant suspension setup, and was a quieter ride. I never really liked clunk from the rear diff when I broke the rear end loose in snow. It was an L model and I don't know if that would be the same story in the GT. My 99 is a tighter ride and changes direction with more immediacy. Either way you are looking at the EJ25 which is famous for blowing the original head gaskets. Any time I look at these cars the first question I ask is whether they have been replaced. As far as maintainence is concerned, they are pretty much even in terms of parts prices and level of competency for self repair projects. I am biased towards the 99 because I like to throw my car around alot and like its' behaviour as I increase my drift angle. For long distance driving we always took the 2000 for its comfort and civility. Boils down to driving style in my opinion.

Thanks for posting this. My brother has a set of Tein coilovers with EDFC that he took off his 02 WRX for a more aggressive setup and I have often wondered if they would fit on my 99 LGT. Right now I am sporting his stock rims, brakes, and seats, so it figures that the suspension would fit too. Now if only I could do something with the stock turbo and intercooler he replaced........

The only other filter I use on my subies besides the OEM are Denso filters. And the only time I use them is if I need to increase my order when shopping on autopartsway.ca. Spend over $75.00 and get free shipping. I have used Denso products on other vehicles I have owned and am satisfied with their quality. If it weren't for being a miserly penny-pincher I wouldn't use them at all:lol:. I agree with the rest of the responses here. OEM filters are cost-effective, reliable, and, just like the rest of the car, are engineered better than the demands any North American driver places on them.

Sounds like the same symptoms I had on my legacy. located the steering u-joint and hose it down with a penetrating fluid like wd40. After mine was nicely loosened up I hit it with Fluid Film to give it a longer lasting greasing. I did that over a year (and 30,000 kms) ago and haven't had any problems since. Do this sooner rather than later, you don't want the u-joint to eat away at itself.

I had been plagued by this code for a year. When the fuel filler neck dumped gas on the ground while refuelling, the cause became aparent. Take the salt trap, I mean plastic shroud, off of the fuel neck and have a look. The valve at the top of the neck rotted right out on my LGT. You might also try looking at the sensor coming into what I believe is the charcoal filter box (if Imprezas are anything like Legacys) that is behind the passenger side rear wheel. I had to solder on some new wires because mine had corroded and threw the same code.

Soooo....as I posted earlier in this thread, I just replaced the fuel neck in my 99 Legacy GT. I reattached all the hoses to their corresponding ports (at least I thought) on the top of the neck, but once I needed to add fuel I ran into a problem. The gas nozzle shuts off immediately once I begin fueling. Gas was pooled inside the reciever and bubbles were coming up out of the return hole. Once I pushed on the flapper valve the gas ran down the neck but came back up through the return. What did I screw up?

Just replaced the filler neck on my 99 Legacy GT this weekend for the exact same reason. Even my parts guy at the dealership told me to take that plastic cover right off.

I know it's been a while, but here are some shots of the car. It still amazes me that I scored this thing for $900. The motor work is done and back in the car. I am going to finish installing the accessories today and hopefully road test it.

I have found some better prices from autopartsway.ca that I think I will be going for. My local dealership gave me a shopping list of everything they would replace if they were to do the job, but they want over $700 CDN. I haven't pulled the motor yet, but I know it needs a rear separator plate and there is evidence of oil seepage at the bottom of the timing belt cover. Once I get it out and apart I will be able to narrow down what all I need. Subaru wants $190 for the belt tensioner assembly and $150 for the belt. I know I can do better than that elsewhere. I was hoping to cover everything for around $500. Thanks for the feedback, I was leary about anything from Ebay.

I'm replacing the head gaskets on my 99 Forester and need some feedback on aftermarket gaskets. Before you all roast me, I am using Subaru head gaskets. But the price list I have from the dealership for the rest of the gaskets needed is higher than what I have found online. How do the aftermarket kits stack up in regards to the exhaust, intake, rocker cover, and spark plug gaskets? And as far as the timing belt and tensioner, is there any particular supplier on Ebay that any of you would recommend? They all vary in price and come from different manufacturers, so I'm not sure what's best. On my other vehicles I always used subaru parts, but cash is tight and I need to cut some corners. Thanks in advance.

Went to Ottawa yesterday and picked up a cherry 99 Forester S. It only has 200,000 km (120,000 miles) and the interior is spotless. A couple minor rust spots on the left quarter panel, but I'm just going to cut them out and weld in new steel. It's black, so color matching won't be any issue. The owner gave me every piece of service history on the car dating back to 2004, ALL of it from a Subaru dealership! Not bad for $900.00. It's pouring rain, I'll post pictures later. The problems:headgaskets, piston slap, oil leak around timing belt cover, and leaking trans cooler line. I have dealt with two other ej25 headgaskets myself, so I know what I'm getting into there. I have had piston slap in my 99 Legacy GT for about 200,000 km now and it is still running ok. It is due for a timing service so I will take care of that while the engine is out and eliminate the leak. The trans line I'm not sure of, it's just quoted on the Subaru work order that led to the owner selling the car. What kind of confuses me is that on the work order they are calling for the thermostat and rear separator plate at the same time. I did not replace these when I did the other two headgasket jobs and am wondering if they are just in there as a "while we are in there we should replace these things, just in case" kind of situation. Also, when I had the motor running today it quited down on the piston slap after a minute, but when I revved it a little there was this sound of gushing water running through the pipes. I have two options here. I have a prefectly working phase II in a 2000 legacy with the gaskets done 30,000 km ago with no piston slap. The rest of the car is falling to pieces, hence the forester. Do I through new parts at the motor in the forester and drop it back in, or do I go to all the effort to pull the motor out of the Legacy and use it instead. I could then take the forester motor, with all the new parts, and toss it back into the legacy and sell it. My wife and I are both students, so money is definitely a factor. Ultimately, I would like to sell the legacy for the cost of the forester and parts, but realistically I doubt that will happen. So I put it out to you fellows. What would you do?

Just in case this one falls through my fingers, how involved is the phase I / II swap? I cannot afford anything newer than 99 right now, so if the right 98 does come down the pipe, I'd like to know if I can jump on it.

I was unaware of this. I only started to pay attention to foresters once my kids began to need more stuff carted around with them. When researching the engine specs at Edmunds they listed it as a DOHC. Thanks, that makes life easier.

I am looking at a 1999 forester with 200,000 km that needs a headgasket. The owner wants 1500.00 for it, which if the rest of the car is in good shape is reasonable for my area. I don't know what kind of gasket problem this car has, but chances are good that it is not leaking coolant into the oil. Just in case I buy this thing and the motor turns out to be crapped, what further work would have to be done to transplant the 2.5 SOHC out of my wife's 2000 legacy? The engine in her car is strong, i've done the headgaskets, but the rest of the car is going to crap. The forester is going to replace her car, so I'm not concerned about ripping the motor and whatever else I need out of it. From what I've read the DOHC computer and SOHC motors don't really get along and I need help to set the record straight on this one. Thanks.

[quote So I can remove the starter from the top without much difficulty? /QUOTE] It's a Subaru........"difficulty" is a relative term according to how much skin you have on your knuckles!

As if the fear of having to slalom around a couple moose or bear wasn't enough, some of the places I had to work in had no post office to even have parts mailed to. I was working for CN Rail and went to some very obscure areas. I only had six days a month at home with my family and if the car needed anything I just fired it off to the dealership because I didn't have the time to do it and needed to know that it was going to start and stop when I needed it to. Since leaving the railroad I have done all my own repairs, including swapping a blown motor out of my wife's 2000 Legacy. I am no stranger to tools, I just lack experience with some of the finer points of preventative maintainence. This was one time I definitely needed a second opinion.

Thanks for the fast responses. I had the tensioner bearing sieze on this car about 75,000 miles ago. As mine is the DOHC when the belt jumped it did all kinds of strange things to all four cams. After a huge tow bill (was in remote northern ontario when this happened) the shop here replaced the tensioner and belt, dialed it in, and the heavens openned to reveal no bent valves. I dodged a huge bullet that time. I no longer work up north, but I still don't want to get stranded because I was too cheap to pony up for the accessories. If the Ebay kits are good enough to pass through GG's shop, I will trust that one will be good enough for me.

I dropped into my local Subaru dealership to get some prices on parts for my upcoming timing belt replacement. The car is a 99 Legacy GT Limited with 400,000 kms. The service manager, who is a good man and hasn't done wrong by me yet, told me that they only hang new belts on the motors and never get into any of the pulleys or water pumps unless there is an obvious problem. I have read many threads here about t-belts replacement and nearly everybody replaces many things at the same time. Is this just a precautionary measure or are most people here dealing with older cars with higher mileage that need these parts?

Love the car, really like the gold rims on it. When I bought my 99 Legacy gt I was really shopping for a 2.5 RS, just couldn't find one in my price range (or at all, really. Seems you guys don't want to part with you cars....don't blame you). My car is the limited edition with the two-tone silver and gold rims. I must've come into contact with something while experiencing some lateral g's and bent one of the rims, so I've been riding on the same silver WRX rims you painted. I really miss the gold rims, so now you've got me thinking......

I don't think head gaskets should disqualify a car, not when it's such a commom problem. My 99 Legacy GT is an oil change away from 400,000KM (250000 miles, I think) It still has the original motor (new gaskets) and transmission, glass, lights, paint.... added wrx brakes and rebuilt the suspension. I worked for the railroad in Northern Ontario and used to get my WRC on with so many awesome, well groomed logging roads. At 340,000 kms the suspension didn't owe me anything. Car still looks great and runs like a clock. Maybe not a Swiss timepiece, but a reliable Casio anyhow.

I second this. I can't remember how much Subaru charges for the bullring gasket, but between the loss of money, time, and skin, you are further ahead to take it to an exhaust shop and have the flange deleted. I hate exhaust work, and I'm a welder. Take it to the pros and have a coffee while you wait.

Could also be your steering column u-joint. Pop the hood and look to see where the column comes through the firewall ( underneath a mess of hoses). You will see a double u-joint section. Get a can of penetration fluid like wd40 or something and hose down both joints. Really hose them down well to make sure that you get a good coating. This may help. I had the same problem on my 99 GT and a local subaru tech turned me on to this one. If it doesn't help, one of two things; it wasn't the problem to start with, or you have bigger problems. Enjoy!

Are you taking your car to a Subaru mechanic? My brother is stationed in Geilenkirchen and has had his 02 WRX serviced there for the past two years without any problems. As to whether the euro-spec and USDM bearings are the same, I'm not sure, but it stands to reason that they would be. It would be strange for an item such as that to have different specs (glass, impact protection, and emissions are usually the main sticking points between various countries' regulations). There is almost no aftermarket support for Subie's in Germany, but the UK is a rabid breeding ground of subaru fans. You may have to pay VAT coming from the UK, but it may easier to source. Good luck.

Those look like the 02 wrx calipers I have in my garage. The are the same as the calipers on my 99 Legacy GT. I just swapped the rotors, pads, and mounting brackets and left the calipers alone until I need to replace one.