JT95

I have a non-Cali 99 Impreza. I know the Cali cars had a different spec cat converter. What's the issue with putting Cali spec converters on a non-Cali car?

Lazy man ignore-it fix is to just stick a Wal-Mart GPS on the dash and use it for a speedo for the wife.

I have a 99 OBS. By far, one of the most overall fun cars I have owned in the 20 yrs I have been driving. Needs some more oomph to be at the top of the list, but the AWD makes it a great all around performer. Have both rear wheel bearings checked. Good that the dealership is fixing this, as it is kind of pricey but a complete PITA to do yourself. I will never fool with that job again. The mechanic who pressed in the new bearings in my rear hub said the old one was a replacement. My car has 127k on it...now on its third RR bearing. If you wanna do some modding to it, put a pair of these on your engine: http://www.grimmspeed.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=60_33_35_48&products_id=56 I'd also add a bigger sway bar kit and others really praise the fender braces that are pretty inexpensive. On the inside, my interior is still in very good shape and looks much newer than an 11 yr old car, save a couple things. Impreza carpet was just cheap, in my opinion. I will replace mine when I get bored enough. And, the doors on my car look great except all four of the armrest things are a little wrinkled and get dirty in no time after being cleaned. (And the visors suck, but they did fresh off assembly line.) The 2.2 is not a powerhouse, but a great little engine. My OBS replaced my 95 Legacy that had 230k on its 2.2 when I sold it. It was purring and running smooth when I sold it. I had to replace the cracked timing belt cover on my OBS at 73k, so I replaced the timing belt while I was in there. The car had no record of it being replaced previously, and it looked as fresh as my new OEM one. You should be fine waiting til the 100k mark, which I think is when Subaru says to change it. No hatch light on the car annoyed me, so I custom did some little green ones on the back pillars. They work well enough to help see back there. I'll post pics if you are curious. If you don't already have them, the rear spoilers on the Impreza hatch make a great improvement in looks from certain angles. Pick up a pair if you can find them. Anyway, congrats on the car. You should have a great vehicle with that few miles on it. Post some pics when you can and show it off. Other than horsepower, I envy no other cars on the road. I plan to drive and enjoy mine for another three years, at which point I hand it over to my son and hopefully buy myself a WRX.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried and had luck with this. (With diagram/photos posted as well, of course.) I would be too hesitant to try on my own. My 99 OBS is at the 130k mark soon and I wonder about the trans. Very infrequent, but the past couple years it has experienced upshift that is a hard one. Probably 8 months since the last time it did it. Luckily, I have a spare 00 AT sitting around and waiting. It was working when I pulled it from a wreck, so hopefully it is good to go when the time comes to drop it in.

If you got the cash to spare, I'd say go with the OEM. I didn't and went with the u-wire-it sensor from Advance. Looks to me like the factory sensor in my car was made by Bosch...and looked just like the parts store Bosch no-plug sensor. Course, my car ended up throwing the same headache code a few hundred miles later, but I don't think the O2 sensor needed replaced in the first place. Runs the same as before. MPG is actually 1 better than previously calculated. Glad you got the wires figured out. I was paranoid about that too...lol.

Well let me know what past/current experience you have with specific pads that don't dust like crazy. The past two sets on my OBS have me ready to buy dust shields for my wheels. Edit: Reasonably priced pads.

I would try to get another phase II. The 95 will not be a direct plug-in, and the phase II has a little more pep anyway. You will not be able to put your IM on the 95, nor can you put your IM on a dual cam 2.5's heads. Also, your 95 engine probably has dual port heads, so you would have to swap headers as well onto the 99. The phase II's are single port heads, but they flow better than the older dual ports.

I would try locating a lower miles engine and just swap it in. I think as far as time and headache factor, that would be your best bet, compared to replacing the head gaskets. I'm sure there are some 2.2s that can be had for a decent price. Not a powerhouse, but I love the little 2.2

I replaced my front brake calipers on my 99 OBS 2.2 this summer. When looking for who had them in stock, every one of the chain parts stores had in their system that my OBS was supposed to have factory dual piston calipers. As far as issues with pads fitting, I've never had to modify them to get them to to work, though there have been slight differences in snugness. Multiple pad jobs on couple diff Subes the past 8 yrs. Maybe a dumb question here, but what exactly isn't fitting? I'm not insulting your experience level cause I have no idea what it is, but if you are a noob to brakes, I'm assuming you compressed your piston? Otherwise, that caliper will never fit over top of the new pads.

For my 95 Legacy, I pulled the front hubs and had a local mechanic press in the new hubs. Think I paid $60 for the labor. Wasn't a huge deal, but not a cake walk either, as I was learning as I went. When the rear bearing in my 99 OBS went kaput, I thought I would do the same. I'd sooner french kiss a rabid polar bear that just vomited baby seal bits than to fool with that again. That job is now on my "Better off paying someone else" list, even though I hate to. I think at the dealer that's a $250 job.

Roof damage can be a real booger sometimes. Depending on the damage, the sheetmetal of the roof seems to have a "memory" of a big dent and can cave back into that dent if given a little pressure to do so. I've seen people reaching inside their cars and pushing out reoccurring roof dents. I missed that part the first time. Yeah, CO tends to be a little different market for Subarus. Got any family in the south? lol Subie shopping south of the mason dixon line probably allows for more omg deals than in the snow states.

My mom was hit yesterday morning in her Saturn Vue, which will no doubt be totaled by the insurance company, so I'm trying to steer her to looking for a Forester instead of another Vue. (Not a bad little SUV, but it handled like a three legged moose on acid in the rain.) $8500 for a rebulit 2003 model sounds pretty high to me. I've found some 2006 models with less than 150k for sub $10k that had clean titles and looked nice. I would pass on the rollover. Little things not related to collision damage itself -could- pop up later on. Never pay top market price for a rebuilt, even if the title is clear. My OBS is a rebuilt wreck and I have no problem driving a rebuilt because I have had good luck with them, but I bought it crashed for cheap. A very experienced frame guy pulled it and I did all the other stuff, so more "love" and time were put into the repair than if someone were doing it to turn around and sell. The Outback sounds like a much better option. I'd still look around, though, and keep your options open for a bit.

Cloth seats. Were in good shape from memory. (I think this car sat a couple years before I picked it up two years ago, so it hasn't been driven/used for some time.) If I part it out instead of sell whole, somebody can have the seats for free if picked up. I will get some photos this weekend. I thought I already had some, but can't locate them. The car is at my parents' place, which is near Russell Springs, KY. The body is in good shape for pull parts. No collision damage, so all straight. Here's the stuff that is incomplete about it: -The rear quarter glass on the driver's side is busted out. All other glass is good -The engine and trans in it now will not be sold w/ the car, as they aren't OBW and will serve as spares for my daily driver OBS -the factory alloy wheels were snagged by me to refinish and use as a spare set, but the car has the steel blah wheels on it -the overhead map light/glasses compartment was snagged by me to install on my OBS -the title goes w/ the car, but like I said, it's a floating title My dad needed his garage space back, so the OBW went into the field. Cars sitting in fields deteriorate quickly, so I want to do something with this thing before fall.

Yeah, I don't want this to be a year-long process of taking parts off. I assume the shipping fees would prevent people from buying anything like the hood and hatch, etc. I have nothing but the rear end to sell as far as drivetrain. The 2.5 block was dealership replaced with a new Subaru block (but later issues with a head and crapped trans is what put the car for sale) so I am keeping the block and putting 2.2 heads on it for a torquer engine. I guess I will advertise it for sale on the classifides and if there are no takers, strip some stuff off and have the junk man haul it away. My parents have a farm, so it is stored there, but I need to get rid of it. Obviously stuff like headlights and grille and tail lights are standard stuff to strip and sell. I need to find someone wanting to make their Legacy into an Outback clone for cheap....lol. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

I picked up a 99 Outback wagon a couple years ago that had a crapped out engine and transmission. I got tired of fooling with it and don't really have time to continue the project, so I want to get the car out of the way and hopefully recapture a little of the cash I paid for it. I live in KY and there aren't really a lot of guys who wrench on project Subarus. The car is in the country, so a somewhat local salvage yard might offer me $100 for it. The title is good but is a "floating" title as I could never transfer it in my name because it wouldn't run to pass a state inspection required for title transfer. I'd like to get $300 to 400 back out of the thing. Do you think I would have better luck parting it out or trying to sell it whole as a parts car? Are there enough people looking for used parts off a 99 OBW to make stripping it worth the effort? I've never tried parting a car out before, but in the area this car is parked, I can't see someone hauling it away whole for more than scrap metal price. Just looking for some input for what would be better to do...

From memory of other people's past comments, head gasket issues with the 2.2 are rare. Replace your thermostat. I had a very similar issue with my 95 2.2 Legacy. I replaced the thermostat...twice in the same week, and the issue still was happening. Then someone here suggested I "burp" the radiator, and I drove the car another 4 years without another overheating issue. Apparently, when refilling the radiator in the car, it is possible to get air pockets in the coolant system. I squeezed (like milking it) the radiator hose as i topped off the radiator and "burped" out the air pockets. It doesn't cost anything to try, so why not.

Oh the joys of Subaru wheel bearings. I just had a rear wheel bearing replaced on my 99 Impreza. It started out as a low hum/vibration noise and got louder (but not grindy sounding) until I pulled the hub and had a shop replace it. BTW, I will never fool with pulling a rear hub off that car again...PITA. The mechanic who pressed the new bearing in my hub said the bad one he pressed out was a replacement one. So, with 125k miles, my car has its third bearing in that rear wheel. I owned a 95 Legacy before this and had to replace the bearings on both front wheels, but it had really high mileage.

I had a crapped out MAF on my 99 OBS. (It crapping out was my fault for rigging my own intake system.) Anyway, the car died on me and would not start. Had me stranded on the interstate. I rattled my brain through some random possibilities for why the car wouldn't run and ended up guessing the MAF. I unplugged it and was then able to drive the 2 hrs home. Car idled like crap and would die if you didn't keep the gas pedal pressed down, but it ran. Would not run with the bad MAF plugged in but would run and drive (with issues) with the MAF unplugged. Just curious if you tried yours with it unplugged, as it is possible to get a bad used MAF.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll go ahead and replace the rear O2 sensor, as I don't think they are very expensive. Those are recommended to be replaced at certain tune-up points in the car's life anyway, aren't they? I've hit 125k. If that doesn't do the trick, I will do the anti-fouler trick and look into cat replacement w/ a low mileage used unit down the road. Are the factory replacement O2 sensors made by Bosch? My previous Sube was a 95 Legacy. I put 235,000 on the odometer before selling it. Had one check engine light the whole time I drove it. (Knock sensor.) It had factory O2 and cat still too.

Grab the unit from the salvage yard. Should be under the driver's side of the dash. You already have the plugs in your factory wiring harness for it to plug into. Buy a new fob off eBay and follow the instructions for programing it to work.

Well, I swapped in the Bosch O2 sensor as well as a replacement clockspring. It was very nice to drive my car again with no lights on the instrument cluster. Drove the car all day, and then in the evening, about 250 miles after the swap, the Check Engine light came back on. Grrrrrrrrr. So, apparently, the O2 sensor didn't fix anything. I suppose I will try to make sure there isn't a small exhaust leak anywhere. I hate playing detective work with these codes. No one ever told me--is there a way to replace these front O2 sensors without having to drop the exhaust? I couldn't see any other way to reach it. Has anyone used an offset O2 socket?

Thanks. I just got the Bosch universal kit from Advance for $60. Had I planned ahead a little better, I would have ordered online.

Yes, it threw a code. I don't recall the code offhand (written down at my house) but it was the one commonly thrown for O2. My car has 125,000 miles on it. I cleared the ECU and drove a week before it came back on again. I couldn't see how to get the thing out without dropping the exhaust, so that's what I did. The O2 sensor off my parts '00 OBS is totally different, so that's not an option. My other parts car is in a field and I don't really feel like crawling under it and trying to get the exhaust dropped, and it has over 150,000 so that's a lot of time for one that might go bad itself in the next 10,000. I'm going to try my luck with a universal sensor and splice it. Local dealership can't have one in stock until Monday. The one I pulled out of my car looked a LOT more "fouled" than the one I already had out of the 2000, even though it had more miles than mine. EDIT: I haven't noticed much difference in gas mileage, not that this thing ever did very well anyway. Throttle response seemed somewhat inconsistent though, but not really anything someone other than me would probably notice. I average 23-24 mpg in this car. '99 2.2 AT.

If that is indeed the issue, then snag 'em from a salvage yard. Should be two bolts that hold that joint section in place and I would assume not a big deal to change...though I've only been on the take-off side of it. I would imagine not a common part to fail, so used should be just fine.