jboymechanic

Did the Legacy wagons have a trailer wiring harness plug-in from the factory? I can find the "no slice" direct plug in kits that "fit" 1996 Legacy Brightons, but I definitely cannot find the plug-in in the car. I'm assuming the manufacturers are incorrect or the factory wiring is only present on Outbacks?

Your insurance is high because you're only 20 and not married. Get hitched and turn 25, you'll hardly have to pay anything.

Honeymoon period is already over?

That baby is looking mighty clean. Can't wait to see it in person.

4.5 liters is big regardless of engine configuration, it's gonna suck filling it up. I get about 12 to 14 with my 1998 Dodge Ram 4x4 and I HATE filling that thing up, takes close to $100. That's 1/15 of what I paid for my Brighton each time I fill up!

Not sure, your timing may have been off, but I didn't ride in the car after we did the job. Maybe removing the timing cover had something to do with it, it did have wear marks in it from the pulleys and belt, maybe the belt jumped a tooth at one point?

I just sold "old greenie" tonight, wonder what I'll have next. Hoping to look at that 2000 up in Brookfield with the blown head gasket, might have to revive another.

What is going on in this forum? It's spinning out of control and getting kind of pissy.

Both of my cars are WI cars and they haven't rotten that badly. That is the result of poor manufacturing and/or material quality.

When it's idling (if you can get it to) tap on the MAF and see if the engine runs worse or stalls. Tom (TheLoyale) just had a similar problem on his '95 Legacy and that's how he found it was the MAF. Some times the car ran fine, other times it was getting too much fuel and choking itself out. Can you smell excessive fuel or notice a significant drop in fuel economy?

That is one impressively rotten fuel pipe!

Changed the front diff/manual trans oil in my Brighton, it was low and REALLY dirty. Shifts much smoother now and seems to really like to coast.

Sounds like piston slap to me.

New Volvos aren't what they used to be, not nearly as reliable. My wife and I looked into buying a very clean used, but newer, XC70 wagon (2.5 liter 5 cylinder turbo with all wheel drive) and it was a great car to drive and ride in, but the mileage was pretty poor. Took the car over to my dad's house as he has a steep hill for a drive way and there was 1" of snow on the ground at the time and we wanted to test out the AWD. When the AWD engaged all we heard was a horrible grinding noise and the car got stuck in the middle of the hill. We took the car back to the dealer and said no thanks. I later did a ton of research to find that the AWD going out in the Volvos is very common due to poor design, and very costly to fix ($2500 just for dealer only parts from Volvo). Subarus, at least today, have superior fuel economy, reliability, and the best AWD system for any car on the road today and I say that as an informed consumer and mechanical engineer.

The "Trans Oil Temp" light flashes 16 times at start up to indicate a trouble code with the transmission, but does not remain on like an "ABS" or "Check Engine" lights. I have a 1995 Legacy and recently had personal experience with this situation. I, however, never ran the diagnostic test for the trans code as I knew my problem was with the transfer clutch as my AWD didn't work at all. I ended up having to replace the transfer clutch solenoid, clutch pack, and hub & shaft assembly as the hub had sheared off the shaft.

Finally had the exhaust break repaired on my '95 Legacy wagon, and then removed the rattling heat shields on my headers. The car is so quiet now and actually has low end torque. Also cleaned my ABS sensor so the ABS actually works and the damn ABS light went away on the dash.

Tommy came over and helped me change a strut in my Brighton. Funny story on two levels. One, the front driver coil spring broke when my big rump roast sat down in the car. I sat down, heard the bang and saw the dust floating out of the wheel well. Two, when I removed the strut and compaired it to the spare I happened to have I realized the one in the car was an Outback strut! So the car had one Outback strut and three stock Legacy struts, people aren't so bright some times! Any way, all better now.

I don't know, but 87022AC050 or 87022AC010 would work and probably many others as long as it will plug in. Check that the little white plugs/caps are in place on your pedal levers otherwise your pedal switches won't register (common problem).

Just completed the install of cruise into my Brighton and it works great. Despite what every one believes, cruise control modules ARE NOT specific to auto or manual transmissions. My module came out of a 1997 Outback with automatic and it is working great. I got everything I could off the same Outback, other than the brake and clutch pedal switches which I ordered from RockAuto. The only reason many cruise modules have different part numbers is how they mount/configuration of the mounting bracket. Mine from the Outback came from under the steering column but my Brighton's plug was over by the passenger kick panel and I had to get creative with the mounting.

Got my clutch switch in the mail from RockAuto.com and installed it. Cruise control now works great!

Sat out in this rediculous heat wave working on the '96 Brighton. Pulled out the interior panel on the rear passenger quarter panel and popped the dent out, looks so much better. Then installed my cargo net and the needed brake pedal switch for the cruise control. Just need to track down the clutch pedal switch now.

It's really not a hard job. My car has been in WI for its whole life and has 230,000 on it and everything came apart without breaking or having any issues. I had access to air tools and a lift, so that made the job easy.

There are also a lot of hoses connected to the PCV valve and intake, check those for tar-like old oil build up as well.

I average 27 or 28 with my '96 Brighton (stick) but only 23 or 24 with my '95 Legacy L with auto. Same routes, same driver, same everything. Close mileage on the cars too, both just had head gaskets and all the same work done. My '95 does need exhaust work though, could be hurting me.

I think I may keep my eyes open for a wagon with a blown motor or something of that sort and swap the motor out of my automatic legacy and then strip it down for parts. Then I could reseal the oil separator plate or whatever it's called that leaks oil all over the place.