Ravenwoods

Do you have to pull the engine to get to the parking pawl?

I just had a look at this wagon with some sort of problem. The seller is asking $600. 243,000 miles, but they say the engine was rebuilt or replaced about 100,000 miles ago. The engine looks pretty clean so could be. A bit of rust on left rear fender, very little body damage. Struts need replacing. Tires low on tread. The car starts fine but Park doesn’t work. The car will roll forward in park. The car drives but there are some alarming clanks and noises, not typical of bad cv joints. None of the boots are torn. I only drove the car at 5 mph or slower. I only used Drive and reverse. The steering felt normal at five mph. The seller was hesitant to let me go faster but she can’t explain why. i couldn’t see anything in the car obviously wrong. It seems very odd that the transmission appears to work normally but park doesn’t. Anyway I told her if she didn’t get any higher offers I would give her $300. Maybe there is an easy fix? We already have Three Legacies in the family: two 95s and a 96. So it could serve as a parts car at a minimum. Any ideas or suggestions on what to look for as the cause of the problem?

Two days ago I swapped out the MAF sensor and put in the sensor from my currently idle 95 Legacy. My daughter reports the car behaved much better but was not symptom free. Maybe there are two issues: 1. Failing MAF Sensor; 2. And something else. We got a used MAF sensor from the junkyard about five months ago for $50 and seems like it has already started to fail. Maybe it’s time to get a brand new one.

We haven't tried anything in Reverse but we can give it a try. Where is the Crank Position sensor?

It doesn’t usually die. You take your foot off the accelerator and put the clutch in and it is idling. No detectable pattern What is CTS?

I’m going to the junkyard to see if there are any struts and mounts still in decent shape for a very reasonable cost. Little bit short on money the moment and it’s not a big job changing them out in a year if necessary. Does the Forester use the same struts as the Legacy?

It goes from perfect to cutting out on all four cylinders instantly. So none of your ABC options.

I put in the MAF sensor last night from my new 95 Legacy and she said there were no issues on her trip home. But that was the initial result for the first trip when I borrowed the MAF from the 99 Outback. The second trip is when it started acting up again. Then I tested that sensor in our Forester for a short trip and it was fine. But I did not leave it in for additional trips. So I didn’t do a thorough job eliminating the MAF as the culprit.This time I’ll leave the MAF from the 95 Legacy in for as long as needed as I’m doing some work on it for the next few weeks.

The left strut mount has a broken bearing and the rollers are falling out. I imagine that could cause the slight pull to the right. One can get replacement bearings to tap in I suspect?

That would be great.

I weakened and bought the car for $800 as she did not want to budge and I was worried someone else would buy it. I think her high asking price scared everyone away so it worked to my advantage as it seems nobody else showed any interest as far as I know. I was wide awake before 4 this morning so I flushed the brake lines with new fluid and it seems I got air out of the system. One of the banjo bolts may be leaking but I will investigate that when I put on new struts. I’m not planning on driving it for about four weeks so I’m not in any hurry. The climate control is last on the schedule of repairs as I have about five months until colder weather arrives.

We replaced the Idle Air Control Valve (with a used one) last November as we had been getting that Code from time to time and the engine would frequently stall when coming to a stop. Now it cuts out under power and when you take your foot off the accelerator the engine is normally still running. It really reminds me of when another of our cars had a bad MAF. But I did some swapping and testing of the MAF on another vehicle and that car ran fine. But this 96 can go on a short trip and be symptom free. So I’m guessing we can’t rule out the MAF. I just got a 95 Legacy yesterday that I won’t be using and I could put that MAF in for a day or two.

NGK plug, the recommended ones. We did get a misfire code on the previous plugs so we changed them. No more misfire codes.

Plugs were replaced last September. Seems like plugs would cause a misfire code.

I just looked at a 1995 Legacy L, AT, 187,000 miles. She was asking $2500, but I offered $500 and she has come down to $800. Problems: 1. Struts need immediate replacement. 2. Timing belt history unknown. She’s had it four years and an estimated 30,000 miles. We can assume it needs replacement with a full timing belt kit. 4. Tires in need of immediate replacement. 5. CV axles, one inner boot torn and one outer boot torn. So both should be replaced, but they aren’t clicking yet. 6. Brakes mushy and need pumping. Might just need bleeding. 7. Climate control switches non-functional. 8. Steering pulls slightly to the right. Might be the tires. 9. Steering shakes at 55. Maybe just an unbalanced tire? The body looks pretty good with only a bit of rust. In contrast we bought a 95 Legacy last month with 175,000 miles for $900 and a two sets of great tires on rims for summer and winter. We put about $500 worth of parts into it so far and is running great. Maybe it was a very good deal at $900? Maybe $800 is an ok price for this Legacy? What do you think?

Interesting. So can the 15” wheels fit on a 95 Legacy that has 14” rims? Someone is selling a 95 Legacy that I’m looking at. All the tires are bad and in need of immediate replacement. The guy with the 99 Outback is asking $400 for the car. The rims and tires alone are worth that.

It always starts well. The MAF Sensor from the parts car could be bad. I just test drove it again and compared to my daughter’s description of the symptoms she experiences I believe it is worse. I’ll try the MAF off our 98 Forester when it gets home.

2.2 liter, MT, 119,000 miles. No codes. It will run great for a day and now and then cut out intermittently. I borrowed a MAF sensor from a parts car and it did not solve the problem. I remember hearing that a Legacy fuel pump is prone to failure. Feels like sudden lack of fuel or suddenly no spark in all four cylinders. It’s my daughter’s car. It seems like it never or seldom happens at highway speeds.

I don’t think I’ll pull our Forester engine to put in this car. Our Forester is an S model with 16” rims and the Outback has 15” rims. So I don’t think we can use our Forester rims and tires on the Outback. We have two sets of tires and rims for the Forester (summer and winter tires) so it makes more economical sense to just keep using the Forester. We just got a new set of studless tires last autumn. They are asking $400 for the Outback and it has a decent set of rims and tires. It would be nice to get an engine into this Outback since the rest of the car looks nice.

Another option has just developed. Someone is selling an EJ22 out of a 94 Legacy wagon missing MAF sensor, crank and cam angle sensors. Also missing the intake manifold plenum. Will this go into the 99 Outback? He is asking $450.

It is 98 with DOHC. The Forester has 288,000 on the body. We have had it since 103,000 miles. A previous owner had it setup for towing behind an RV and it was reported to us that about 50,000 miles of 103,000 were towing miles. If that is true the engine only has about 235,000 miles. A year ago the radiator got a big hole in it and the engine overheated. But 10,000 miles later the engine is still going strong. So the 98 Forester is a manual transmission. And it will still work in the 99 outback with the automatic transmission?

We also have an old 98 Forester MT with lots of cosmetic challenges. Would it be possible to put this engine into the 99 Outback with its automatic transmission?

I’ve decided not to get it. I’ll leave it for some one who already has a Loyale and needs parts.

It needs a clutch apparently. It comes with a full set of winter and summer tires all on rims. That is what the higher price is for. The seller says he only drove it a few hundred miles before the clutch went out.

Ok, the seller was confused and it is an EJ25DAXEYL. Does that make a transfer impossible? The body looks great.