98ImprezaWA

YES! I'll have to double check on the wheels, but the hatch is red, I think, and the rest of the car is white? i think... its definitely a different color from the rest of the car. (some stalker I am, I can't even remember the wheels or the color... ) the BRAT is red though! i know that much! haha thanks Fairtax4me... glad I'm an exception to the creepiness of the general stalker population

Anyone know who has the BRAT and the lifted GL wagon by North Seattle Community College in Seattle? We're practically neighbors, and I've been stalking your cars for about a year now. Figured I'd show my face! Anyone know?!

Welcome! And like Olnick said, Thanks for your service Lots of good stuff on here, and real good people.

Isn't this kind of the jist of the entire thread at this point?!?! ...that is an eloquent way of putting it though, sugar :-p

Not gonna lie, I always kinda wished I was a waitress at some smokey bar/diner with giant permed hair who called all the motorcycle guys and despondent drunks "darling" or "hun." I guess I'm still young. I have time to fulfill my dream

hahaha yes I am talking about a car BRAT, thankfully! Whew! wish your sister good luck! I don't want to even imagine what a mess I'm gonna be when I'm just a few weeks away from the end... scary thought! And Twitch, my darling, I definitely speak sarcasm. No translation needed.

You survived! good to know it can be done! i'm getting to the point where i'm better at procrastinating than I am at getting work done. (hence the forum posting...)

ooooh geez... haha Well, I will for sure keep everyone updated on the car. However I'm pretty sure until I can get my thesis out of the way and finish grad school there won't be much money or time for many updates! And... there is a BRAT in the works. And Rollerball, you got yourself an awesome deal!!! I love the GL hatchbacks. There are a few around my neighborhood, and I'm always tempted to leave a note on the windshield telling the owner how much I love their car! They're probably here on usmb...

Thanks. It's been pretty easy on my wallet, aside from the basic 100,000 mile maintenance (60,000 miles ago). Although I recently had to replace the clock spring and that was way more expensive than it should have been. But still, I can't complain too much! I don't have the ac to worry about in mine any more. A bunch of years ago some douche in a huge truck smashed the front of my car and then took off before I could get his plate number, so my insurance had to cover everything. (And of course raise my premium even though all of the witness reports said he hit and he ran...) I wanted to keep costs as low as possible so I said forget the ac, I hardly ever used it anyway. And then switched insurance companies.

Wow, you brought it back from the dead! SO much fun to read through again! I had forgotten how silly this thread was! I hate to disappoint, but I never followed through with the sway bar. I still have every intention to, but money and time got really scarce (started grad school last fall), and it still hasn't happened. I'm still totally in love with the wheels though! In fact, the other night I actually had a dream that someone had broken into my car and managed to take everything out of the engine bay (which somehow looked like the bed of a BRAT...??) but they didn't steal my wheels!!! And I'm still waiting for the ring, the struts, and the keys to a BRAT to show up at my doorstep! Roses... meh. Not important!

One more!

Then its something other than the clock spring. Do you have a copy of the service manual? I'm not sure if the codes would be the same for the OBW and the L wagon (which mine is... same year) but it looks like it may be the passenger airbag module if they are...

I'm in! Glad you bumped it back up to the top here or I'd never have known there was a group!

Thanks!

SUCCESS!!! All back together and working! And I still have all of my teeth. Starting it back up after reconnecting the battery was one of the scariest moments ever. It was more work than I thought it would be. Had to take out more parts to get to it than I had anticipated. Now I know! And wtdash, you were SO right about that clip on the airbag connector! The worst part of the whole damn thing! Yay its finally done!

hahaha sorry to keep you waiting! i haven't gotten a chance to do it yet. i was planning on doing it that day but ended up having one of those days where everything goes wrong and i didn't want to even touch my car for fear of what might happen! and now i'm back in school. but i'm hoping this weekend i'll be able to get it done. i still have all of my teeth. i promise i'll update when its done!

Thankfully I have a steering wheel puller. I don't think I really have very much brute strength to be forcing anything around! I'm a little too girly for that... I didn't find one for a good price. I ended up spending way too much for a piece of plastic, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and I got tired of waiting and calling around. There were none to be found that would fit my car. Oh well. Tomorrow's the day. I'll keep you all posted, if the airbag doesn't blow my face off. I'm sure it'll be fine. I brought it to have the airbag code read for me juuuuust in case it turned out to be something else (didn't want to spend a billion dollars on a clock spring and find out I got the wrong part) and the guy at the shop tried his best to scare me into letting them do it by telling me airbag horror stories. He failed. Thanks for the advice!

About to replace the clock spring/steering roll connector in my 98 Imp. Any words of wisdom? I'm going to be following the service manual word for word! Looks fairly simple... but I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous about that airbag!

hmm, that I don't know. GD was under my car, and came out with it in his hand. I didn't see how he got it!

I had a similar issue with the steering feeling "loose" at higher speeds, and the steering wheel turning about 1" before any actual turning. It was the steering u-joint. I brought it to GD thinking it was the steering rack, and he tightened up the u-joint and all was well. Might be another place to look.

Thanks for the part number and that link! I had only been able to find the part number for the whole combo switch, which i don't need. I was starting to think I might have to buy the whole thing and just use the steering roll connector from it. You saved me $$!!! I hope I can find one at a pull-a-part. they sure are pricey... even for just the steering roll connector. :-\

So is the clock spring the same for legacys, and imprezas from this generation? or do i need to look for an imp. specific one to replace it with? i see a trip to the pull-a-part in my future also, is the airbag something i need to be careful of when i replace the clock spring? i'd rather not have that go off on me if i can avoid it!

Forgot to mention also, i've had the car for 6 years, and the cruise control has never worked in the time I've owned it. Don't know if that will make a difference or not... it looks like clock spring is the general agreement regardless!

I have a '98 EJ22 Imp. The airbag light has been on in the dash for a while, and I discovered today that my horn doesn't work when I tried pulling into my street only to find a large truck hanging out in the middle of it leaving me hanging half way out into traffic. (Thankfully the guy in the car behind me wasn't tailgating and was paying attention!) Over the last few days I've noticed a clicking sound when I turn the steering wheel. Researched a bit on here, and it looks like the clock spring is a possibility? Does that sound right? Would that make a clicking sound when I turn it? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Patience, determination, and a good parking lot to practice in. Thats all you need and you'll get it! It really just comes down to understanding the feel of your car. I had my clutch replaced a few years ago and it was VERY strange for a while afterwards! I totally understand where you're coming from!