avk

The attached files are from the diagnostics Section of '95 FSM for AT w. 2.2l (OBDII), I hope they would help. readcodes.pdf locations.pdf diagmanual.pdf

I'm afraid the bolt in question is one of the two holding the airbag. It's not an Allen but Torx T30. Try to avoid drilling, or use a drill stop if you do. Maybe one of those tapered left-threaded extractors can help. That bolt shouldn't be very tight.

The back-up is in the control module. Can't argue against waiting, but all one needs to do is to unplug the airbag and put away.

On a '00, the coil assembly also includes the ignitor. If you are certain the coil is bad and set on replacing it, you'll have both new windings and a new ignitor. Hopefully that will fix the problem. But are you out of the powertrain warranty? Funny, those dealers. FSM has a lenghty description of misfire diagnosis, flowcharts and all. They don't think it was written for them.

OnStar was offered with H6 since '03. Did they drop it now? If it's available, H6 with OnStar would probably cost less than $3000 over XT.

The circuit, although not inside the stalk, is a part of the switch body. I am 100% sure of that. The fixed-interval switch is almost the same, the only difference is that a variable resistor in the stalk is replaced with a constant one on the PCB. You can partially see the board if you shine light into the opening where the stalk comes out. All switches, adjustable or non-adjustable, sedan or wagon, use the same 9-pin connector, with the same pin-out (obviously with rear washer-wiper pins absent on a sedan). Why no one tried? Probably because the dealers were always telling the same story to everyone.

The dealer's response was likely based on what they saw in the parts catalog. For Impreza and gen. 2 Legacy, there are no separate part numbers for wiper and light switches. However, the FSM shows the switches are removable, and the wiper switch is only held by two screws that are easy to access. Haynes has the photos. It may even be possible to remove the wiper switch w/o taking out the the steering wheel and the combo switch assembly, if one could maneuver the circuit board past the combo switch housing (FSM says to remove the steering wheel and the combo switch). The real question is the part number for the wiper switch. For older Legacy models w/o airbags, those switches do have separate part numbers, and I believe same switches are used on cars with and w/o airbags. I know for sure the electrical connectors are the same and the delay circuit is inside the switch. The correct no. for the wagon most likely is 83113AA520, I'll probably use a Subarubucks coupon to try it on the Impreza.

I imagine a pass-through socket/ratchet combination would work, such as the one from GearWrench. At Lowe's US stores, a set is $30.

Yes, flip the pick-up coil.

It might have to do with the timing light. Does it depend on a specific polarity of the current in the secondary circuit? On one side, the direction is from the ground and into the coil.

The blower unit has a motor attached on the bottom side. The box next to it, made of two halves joining horizontally, is the evaporator case. The heater core is hidden under the instrument panel but you can know where it is by looking at the heater hoses on the other side of the bulkhead.

In this case, the procedure given in FSM (releasing control arm forward pivot, 17mm nut) is the easiest one.

Does your manual say to weigh the can? Mine only says to use the scale when charging from a 30-lb cylinder. And then I thought, look, you can weigh the can too!

That's right, the refrigerant stops flowing out of the can once the pressure inside equals the system pressure. I just thought a way to go about that might be to use a scale and weigh the can before and after charging. Then you'd know how much went in. A cheap kitchen scale would do.

On gen. 1 and 2 Legacy, it looks like the switch slides out in the direction parallel to the steering column, towards the front of the car. The screws are accessible, but doesn't the mounting bracket for the switch housing get in the way?

It didn't look to me like a molded hose when I changed the filter. Just use a long enough piece so there's enough room to put your hands where you need. The only serious "tip" is to let the exhaust cool down enough, but you have gas dripping all the time anyway. Lay a big rag, like an old shirt or someting all around the filter. Use a dab of grease to help the new hose on.

Shouldn't it be called a syphon hose? Seriously, it's the inlet hose for the filter. The other end connects to the metal line from the tank. You can buy a length of fuel hose at a parts store. The inner diameter is probably 8 mm or 5/16" (a set of open-end wrenches can be used to gauge the diameter of the fittings on the filter). The filter seems to be missing a rubber collar underneath the bracket.

Could there be a "valet parking" knob or a lever on the trunk lock which disables the cable so the trunk can only be opened with a key?

Does anyone have an idea whether or not 1996 2.5l engines are as likely to have a headgasket failure as later years? '96 engines had hydraulic valve lifters which probably means the head configuration was different and there was more oil flowing through the head. I know there isn't much information to go by, the problem was never officially acknowledged after all.

On the Legacy, is there a spherical metal socket on one end of the strut and if so, how do you pry it off from the ball end? That's the arrangement used on Impreza and I just want to know how it comes apart. Interestingly, on Impreza the struts are not exposed to the weather.

You already bought it, with the car! "Reverse" and "direct" are relative terms, anyway.

The best thing about disposable gloves is that you can take them off when you need to run into the house, reach into the car, answer the phone etc, and then put on another pair. Also, w/o gloves, you may need to wash not only your hands but also your sink.

The first check to do on the diff. would be to drain it and check the condition of the oil, and also if any metal is stuck to the plug. If it's an AT car, you can put it in FWD and see if anything changes. As for the oil leak, there's an opening on the bottom of the bellhousing where you can see the flywheel (or flexplate if AT) from the front. If you see any oil there, it likely does come from the separator cover, but you have to be sure. If the shop didn't start with any of these checks, you might want to go elswehere.

On the picture in the service manual, it looks like the solenoid assembly has a sizable metal housing cooled by the fluid. But again, there's no detailed description of operation, such as the pulse frequency, coil resistance etc.

THAWA: We know the owner's manual says not to have the AWD off for prolonged periods of time, so the benefit of doubt would go in favor of your point of view, and admittedly I have more questions than answers. I just thought that would help to get to the bottom of this.