brycarp

Sorry I'm not helping any with your problem, other than to "chime in" and say that I have concluded on my 1995 EJ18 Impreza that I have a resonance/buzz in my catalytic converter. In my case, it is most noticeable at about 2000 RPM, and fades above about 2200 RPM. I have a connection to a good muffler shop in my area, and I'm thinking at some point I'll check with them to see whether they can quickly fab a bypass pipe that would bolt in in place of the cat so I can confirm that that's where the noise is generated. I also at first thought "heat shields" and actually fastened them tighter a couple of places, but this sound wasn't affected. I also rigged a wire that hooked to the throttle and wrapped down around the front of the car so i could pull it to get the engine speed to the right spot to make the noise happen while I was under the car. That's when I determined that it seemed to be coming from the cat. I too have for the time being decided to just ignore it. It's not that bothersome, and while I'd like to get rid of the noise, I'm not finding myself highly motivated to spend the time/money right now to deal with it.

I have decided that at worst, I'll just use a pair of these: http://www.amazon.com/IMPERIAL-76532-WEDGE-SHAPED-WASHER/dp/B001F67LXW with each seatbelt receiver/latch from the 95. That will angle it outward some, and I expect get the extra space I want. I still should be able to tighten the bolt down nice and tight.

My recently-acquired 95 Impreza L Wagon had some serious seat issues, and I got ahold of a nice snazzy looking pair of seats from a 2000 Impreza wagon. They bolt in OK (95 has two bolts at rear into driveshaft tunnel, 2000 seat only has one, but works OK) But the seatbelt setup changed quite a bit between 95 and 2K. I wish my seatbelt buckle tab would just latch into the receiver that came with the 2K seat, (simplest overall solution) but it doesn't. Even though the outer shape of the tab seems compatible, the 95 seatbelt has a "D" shaped hole in the tab, and I think the later ones have a squarish hole. When I just bolt the 95 receiver on to the 2K seat, (which is how I have it now) it doesn't have the "jog" outward that the one designed for the 2K seat has, so it kinda pokes me in the rear. I could live with it, but I'm wondering whether anyone has modified the tab on their existing seatbelt to engage with a later receiver. I'd have to be pretty sure what the tab should be like if I did that - don't want to take a chance on having the latch let go in an accident. I could get some appropriate belt sliders with the correct tab from a junkyard or part-out, and pick a point to unsew the belt and swap it on (probably at the inner point of the winder reel - the re-sew is less likely to be overstressed there.) Anyone have any ideas or experience to share? Thanks! Bryan

You said you wanted to get back into a Legacy SS, so I thought I'd point out this on our local Colorado Subaru enthusiasts group. Let me know if you want help establishing contact.

Geez - too bad you had to suffer at the hands of an obliviot drone. I swear some people have no concept of the importance they need to place on making SURE not to cause a "kinetic energy demonstration." As the others have said - I hope your health issues resolve pretty soon. Very sweet car. I wish you well on getting back into one.

Here's a chart I have access to for a '96 Impreza - so can't guarantee it's the same for your car. The thing to pay attention to is the "NO" for normally open and "NC" for normally closed designations. And the fact that it appears that for the brake pedal, there are two switch contacts, a NO one it calls "Stop light switch" and a NC one it calls "Brake switch". It looks like either one is able to disengage active CC operation. http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae13/brycarp/Car%20Stuff/SubCCSwitches.jpg

I recently fixed my inoperative cruise control on a recently acquired '95 Impreza by connecting the vacuum hose (that was disconnected when I bought the car) to the actuator unit (the thing that pulls the second throttle cable.) I think if I checked and the hose was connected at the actuator, I'd probably pull it off temporarily with the engine idling and make sure I could feel some vacuum there. At least on my engine there's a "doohickey" in the hose from the intake manifold, so in my mind that would be an opportunity for something to be clogged and impair the amount of vacuum available for the actuator to use.

It's kinda too late, since I already own one, and of course I realize that there's less power with only roughly 80% of the displacement, but with all of the high regard that EJ22s are held in around here, I'm curious whether the 18 is pretty similar, reliability-wise. It certainly doesn't look much different from the outside - is it pretty much the same engine with different bore/stroke specs?

The way I'd describe the correct way to launch with a manual transmission/clutch is to give it some gas (it's too easy to just kill the engine otherwise) and let the clutch out until you feel it start to pull the car. Then the learned skill comes in, which is to let the clutch pedal up pretty quickly to full engagement AT THE SAME TIME you're giving it even more gas. The point is that you can't really give it enough gas for a good launch before the clutch is grabbing at all, because you'll rev too high and draw ridicule from bystanders. Once the clutch starts to grab, then it's time to get through the launch quickly (for minimizing clutch wear) and you have to develop the skill of what to do with the throttle to make it all happen well. I taught my three offspring (a son and two daughters) to drive in a manual tranny car, because I wanted them to have that skill. Now, they all much prefer to drive a manual. And my daughters have had the opportunity to derive special relish from teaching a BOY how to drive a stick shift at times. The two cardinal rules I emphasize for being kind to your manual transmission car are "Don't give it a LOT of gas until your foot is completely off of the clutch pedal." Enough gas to launch reasonably, yes, but don't sacrifice your clutch by extending the engagement period so you can have your engine revving all the way up in its power band. That's for drag racers, not a person who wants clutch longevity. The second, lesser rule is "Treat pressing the clutch pedal as a temporary thing, as a general rule." This means to not sit at a red light with your transmission in gear and the clutch pedal held down until it's time to go. Yes, there are certain traffic situations where you need to be in gear and ready to respond quickly when your chance comes, and that's fine, but don't just have a habit of sitting with your foot on the clutch when there's nothing really going on. There is a bearing that has to work only when the clutch pedal is pressed, and there's no point in making that bearing work a lot of extra time. A fully-engaged clutch is a HAPPY clutch!

This one is puzzling me. I much prefer an inside-the-car fuel door release lever, and my 1995 Impreza L has one. But my 1996 Impreza Outback has a pull-open fuel door. Whaaaa? I can't figure out why a more up-line model would have the inferior setup. Maybe I'll look to retrofit a lever setup sometime in the future when I have lots of spare time. Hah! Bryan

It would be awesome if there was a pictorial how-to for a job like this, including matching the cuts on the donor piece and the target car, welding in place and then grinding smooth and surface prep/painting. Does anyone know whether such a howto exists online?

Well, the good thing about it is... The interval doesn't matter so much because doing a timing belt/water pump on a SOHC Subaru boxer (at least that era) is SIGNIFICANTLY less brain damage than doing one on my "Brand H" Accords from the same era. Probably about 1/3 or 2/5 as much work. The one thing that does peeve me about getting into the T.B. chamber on a Subaru boxer is the stupid "cast into the plastic" captive nuts in the passenger-side plastic back cover that always seem to be seized up so they rotate and shatter the plastic when I try to loosen the bolts. (Yes, I tried penetrating oil.) Fortunately that should be a one-time problem per car, since I use anti-seize on the bolts when I tighten them into the new captive nuts on the new back cover I install.

Really 60K timing belt interval on a 95 EJ18? No problem on mine at this point even if 60K is right, cuz mine has 23k on its T.B., but I thought that era EJ's were 100k T.B. interval.

OK, I suppose I'm a pretty knowledgeable do-it-yourselfer in some ways and not in others. I have a cooling system pressure tester, and know how to use it, but I have no idea what it takes to do a steering pressure test. Could someone "steer" me to any howto info on that? Thanks!

I know - cruise control is for wimps. But unfortunately I have severely sprained my right ankle several times over the years and now sometimes I need to give my throttle foot a rest on longer trips. Anyway, on my recently acquired 95 Impreza EJ18 with 5-speed, the CC was inoperative. I knew the ECM was somewhat "alive" because the indicator light in the CC enable switch on the dash would go on and off when the button was pressed. I was thinking I probably needed to try to get another ECM to swap in and see whether that changed anything though. Several times along the way, I had the thought: "You know, before you do any of that stuff, you need to check the vacuum hose to the actuator." but would then kinda think "Oh, that's too easy - surely someone would have checked that already to try to fix the CC." Guess what? The vacuum hose was just laying there in the vicinity of the CC actuator, but not connected. When I went to press it on, it was difficult to get it started, so I think it's been disconnected (and causing a vacuum leak, by the way) for years and years, and the rubber had hardened up some in its "relaxed" state. So I just wanted to tell my little tale in case it is helpful.

I recently acquired a 95 Impreza L with EJ18 and 5-speed. It has about 170K miles and the steering rack was replaced 22K miles (2 1/2 years) ago. Most of the time, there's not a noticeable problem with the amount of steering assist. But now and then it comes up significantly short. It's not even that bad to just muscle it when that happens, but I'd like to have the car be "nice to drive" for other family members. I don't mind springing for a reman PS pump and putting it in if that's likely to be the issue. Is it plausible that an original PS pump might be getting weak at 170K miles and that it's at least likely to solve the problem if I replace the pump? Are there any applicable troubleshooting techniques that might help me make a more accurate diagnosis? Thanks!

Hi all, I'm helping a friend find and purchase a used AWD Legacy wagon to replace her Chevy Blazer V6 that drinks too much gas. We've already committed to buy this '96 Legacy 2.2 with a manual transmission. But since my Impreza is an auto, this is my first experience with a manual trans in a Subaru. The feel of the shifter is noticeably different from what I've felt in manual trans "Brand H" and "Brand T" cars I've owned, in that on those cars, once you've shifted into a gear, the shift lever feels like it's restrained from sideways movement by being in that gear position. Another way to say it is that the shift knob pretty much always stays in the "H pattern". I'm a little concerned about the way the shifter on this Legacy feels, but maybe it's just "a Subaru thing." I took the car out for a significant drive and had no problem actually shifting into all of the 5 forward and 1 reverse gears multiple times, but once in gear, the shift lever felt like it remained very free to move sideways. Obviously, once you're in second gear, to pick an example, if you were to move the lever forward it would take you out of gear, so I'm not talking about that. I just thought I'd ask here in case the behavior I describe is a sign of something wrong or of oncoming trouble, because the car is quite drivable the way it currently is. Thanks! Bry

Hi All, I'm going to see whether I can get a decent enough wiring diagram out of my AllDataDiy.com sub for this 96 Impreza Outback so I can figure out where the point of failure might be that would make the emergency flasher flash only the right side. There is another potential cause, in that I just had the dash switch out and opened it up to replace the burned-out bulb, but I don't think I compromised the switch when I did that. Inside the switch there is a multi-finger springy contact that "hooks several things together" when the switch is in the depressed position, and another spring-loaded wiper that looks like it probably forms an SPDT ("single pole dual throw") switch, but those parts are still there. (Took it apart again to check.) So I just thought I'd ask here to see whether anyone's had this symptom and might have a suggestion about what to check. By the way, the normal turn signals work fine (front, side and back bulbs) on each side. Thanks! Bry

After doing some more cleaning on the sealing surface of the pan, I discovered that there was a rubber seal on it. It was so hard that I'd just thought it was part of the metal before.

I pulled the oil pan on my EJ22 '96 Impreza Outback to re-seal it, and I'm wondering about the tube at the back (passenger side) corner of the pan that has a matching hole in the block. This isn't the main oil pickup, which connects to the oil pump at the front of the engine and reaches down to the strainer in the deepest part of the pan. It just seems to me that if that "back corner" pipe is important enough to design in and manufacture, it would seem that it should be relatively sealed. Any more knowledgeable folks want to inform me? Thanks! Bry

I'm 98% sure this is the stuff I used: http://www.hobbyland.com/shop/catalogdetail.cfm?prid=14042 In case the above link ever doesn't work, you're looking for "Plastruct Plastic Weld". And regarding your question, I think conceptually it should be stronger because it doesn't depend on adhesion of dissimilar materials like epoxy holding to plastic. I've had some really disappointing results trying to make epoxy (even the kind that's supposedly "for plastic") stick strongly. So if this stuff really partially melts the plastic so it joins "self to self" and then evaporates, theoretically it should be stronger. However that's just my hypothesis. I can't prove anything beyond "worked for me!" As I recall, I got a piece of hobby plastic when I bought the "plastic weld" stuff, and did a test bond between it and some out-of-the-way part of the internal surface of the dashboard plastic using the plastic weld to make sure it would make a strong bond and also not attack the dash plastic too aggressively. Then when that proved out, I went ahead and did the target fix. Have fun! Bry

Yup - already got the new parts and the anaerobic sealant. But I'm gonna do the cleanup before I pull the old plate.

Really, since the screws that hold on the climate control panel are right there and easy to get to, yeah, it's not bad to replace those bulbs. (Waaaay harder to replace the bulb in the auto tranny shifter, which I also had to do.) I had to replace all 3 climate control bulbs on my 96 Impreza I bought used. The other thing I did was that someone had used a wrong sized screw in assembling the climate stuff in the dash and had busted one of the important plastic mounting tabs. So I went to the local mondo-hobby-supply store and got the kind of plastic cement that partially dissolves the plastic that's being fused. Used that to cement the tab back together, then re-drilled the hole to be a suitable size for the factory screw. (Got one of those too.) So now everything's pretty much back to good there. Bry

Time for "show and tell" now that my engine is pulled and the torque plate removed. (Car has about 155k miles, EJ22 engine.) Prime suspect: Plastic Oil Separator Plate - Guilty! (Notice that the rear main seal itself is dry as a bone. The tiny bit of seepage is from the crankcase join seam. The collective wisdom I received here was right on! Supporting role: Passenger Side Rear Cam Cap: I REALLY appreciate the great advice I got here. Now to do a bunch of cleaning and sealing. Fortunately I don't need this car for daily use right now, so I can take the time to do it carefully. Bry

It would be great if someone had a link to the service bulletin if there is one for retrofitting the steel oil sep. plate. As I said in the title this particlar engine is a '96 EJ22 in an Impreza Outback. I went ahead and invested in a Craftsman "micro-torque" torque wrench that goes down to 25 inch-pounds, so I'm ready to go, but I need to know what's the right number. Thanks! Bry