Setright

Could be air in the system, or -perish the thought - a leaking head gasket. Do a site search for "coolant replacement" to see my advice on filling the cooling system without getting air in it.

Okay, time for me to join in the flaming: Maybe, just maybe, the testers quoting ten seconds don't know how to get an AWD car of the line fast. Maybe they can't even drive a manual tranny properly. Simple instructions: Lots of revs, clutch engage quickly but not suddenly and mash the throttle into the carpet at the same time. You know you get it right when the revs fall back and stick at ca. 3500rpm and the car jolts forward. In a second or two the car "catches up" to the engine and the revs fly toward the redline. Shift JUST before the limiter kicks in. The shift from second to third should be done ca. 500rpm before the limiter.

If the crank sensor is faulty, the "Check Engine" light should be on. If that's not the case, then the seller is hiding something - or doesn't know enough about the car.

Adjust the freeplay in the clutch cable. The mechanism is on top of the gearbox, middle rear of engine bay. Under the intake piping.

danz75: I suggest that you change oil and filter. After about a 1000 miles, replace the filter alone. If you fill the new filter with fresh oil then you shouldn't need to top off after the swap. The filter will catch most of the crud - if any at your mileage - and changing it will be plenty. No need to drain all that good expensive oil out so soon! 5W-40 Mobil 1 would be my recommendation. If you expect serious cold, you can go for 0W-40.

I am still amazed that only half a degree can make such a big difference. Josh, did your extra camber come from lowering or have you installed after-market camber bolts?

Just had my wheels aligned and decided to stray from the play-it-safe factory settings by running some negative camber in front. Stock is 0 front, -1.0 rear. I have changed the front to -0.40", which is as far as it will go with standard components. This is just past the -0.30" tolerance. Toe is 0,0 all round. Holy smokes! This has made such a big difference to the handling. The car scoots around corners without any understeer. Even full throttle acceleration will not get it to push the nose wide. Fantastic! I would strongly recommend this simple, cheap mod to anyone looking for a little more excitement from their Subaru. Keep the tyre pressures even, front to rear. Running low rear pressure, as I have done to compensate for understeer in the past, can make the rear feel a little loose when combined with the negative camber. Suspension and tyre size are all stock.

Chip, the 1960's muscle cars are still talked about because they were so much faster than other normal cars. Especially here in Europe, where many family saloons made do with 50-70 horsepower.

Well, nearing 250k miles, I would suggest the old adage: If it ain't broken, don't fix it! Opening an engine/gearbox, especially one that has racked up the miles, always involves a little risk. What might break during disassembly? What other things will you find wrong with it?

NGK V-Groove. Tried everything else. Almost. (My EJ22 didn't mind single ground Bosch Ytrium.)

The release fork pushes on one side, the clutch pressure fingers on the other. The bearing slides free on the shaft. So, the bearing face that contacts the fork does not rotate. The other face will often rotate even with the clutch pedal up, because the fingers are still in slight contact with it. If the noise goes away with only slight pressure on the clutch pedal, then the TO bearing is worn. If you have to press the pedal far enough to actually disengage the clutch before the noise dissappears, then the main bearings in the gearbox are worn. Slight pressure just takes up the slack in the TO bearing and quietens things down. Sometimes, if the clutch linkage has too much freeplay, the bearing face will clear the fingers completly with the pedal up. A worn bearing will then only squeal under slight pressure, because that gets it moving. The noise disappears when you press harder. My girlfriends Ford Fiesta is doing this. Every gear change is accompanied by a short skreak! from the TO bearing.....and Ford has not provided any cable adjustment facility....ARGH!

Well, the Trans ECU does use the ABS wheel speed sensors, so it might be related. Best to clean the sensor well.

Yeah, remove when warm, and apply some copper grease on the threads of the new plugs. And torque them to 15Nm-20Nm. Which is not much, so don't over do it if you don't have a torque wrench. Just tighten until they resist or feel "firm".

Oh, and the Haynes manual is far better than Chiltons. Not sure if there is an Impreza specific Haynes, but the 1990-1998 Legacy manual will do just fine, since its all the same components.

Good to know they last that long, I am just about to hit 62k miles in my 2000 Impreza - also rear drums. I plan on replacing the shoes and drums quite soon. The biggest advantage of replacing both is that you don't have the car sitting around undriveable while you wait for a machinist somewhere to resurface the drums.

Piston slap sounds like a Diesel engine. Clack-clack-clack. I get it every morning....

ECU should store a code if the valve has failed.

Your system as-such might be okay, it could just be the canister purge valve that's gone bad.

Yes, why not DIY?

I am a Mobil 1 fan too. Have been for fifteen years. I would however like to vote AGAINST Redline engine oil. I made the mistake of trying some of their 10W40 and my otherwise quiet engine developed the famous piston slap. Even Mobil 1 5W-50 cant cure it :-(

Yeah, I did a swap on a Legacy I used to own at 120k miles. The car was fine before, no bouncing or floating. But new dampers at all four corners made a BIG difference to the handling.

The most important "secret" to filling coolant into these engines is doing it through the top radiator hose. Disconnect it at the rad, stuff a 10 inch garden hose down though the rad hose, toward the engine. Attach a funnel to the garden hose and fill until coolant comes out of the rad hose. Re-attach, fill radiator to brim. Run the engine for a minute, with the rad cap off. It should burp when you switch off.

First off: I am with Subylvr.* Next: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." Who at Subaru forgot the 1950'ies Ford Edsel??? Subiegal, who bitched about the Legacy? I don't recall any of that. What I do remember is three Legacy Turbo's shattering various speed records on a 100,000km run prior to worldwide launch. Just to ram home the reliability of Subaru's. SVX did draw attention, but it was a niche car. The Tribeca is mainstream. *Here in Denmark the most sold brand of cars is VW, with well over 200,000 on the streets. Next up is Toyota at just over 200,000. Dropping down the list we have Opel, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Mazda, and Fiat which is the first to get under 100,000 cars on the road. Subaru comes in at 1700, on par with Jaguar. Imagine that, as exclusive as Jaguar!

As above, plus the EJ22 is very strong and reliable. Not only does it take a thrashing, but it makes sounds that suggests it likes be thrashed!

The hard parts include: Getting the timing belt cover off, because the screws often fuse together with the nuts and these spin inside the plastic. Removing the crankshaft pulley - you need a tool designed to hold it still while you loosen the nut. The actual seal itself is fairly easy to pull out. Use a spring hook or a thin flatblade screwdriver. Just be careful not to scratch the crankshaft, as that will cause it to wear out the new seal very fast.