idosubaru

Sounds like it’s binding. Do all of your tires match in size? Need to determine if it’s binding, does it also feel like it’s slowing down/braking when it’s doing this? Drive in a large paved lot where you and turn the steering wheel all the left or right. Just keep driving in a circle - does the car feel like it’s slowing down and taking more gas rather than coasting through the turn like it should? Is this a manual transmission, then it’s probably binding and you need a new viscous coupler.

Subaru MT and AT radiators are identical in terms of fitment, so buy whichever is cheaper. AT will have ATF cooler and pipes. Sometimes those pipes need cut or bent to fit. As they’re unneeded, this doesn’t matter. Aftermarket radiators will make one radiator for both MT and AT. It makes sense AT are cheaper as volume is much higher.

15volts - that’s too high isn’t it? electrical isn’t my strong point but I’d be asking that first - is that too much or okay? LuckyTexan has a great point - if the light is the only issue then check all the bulbs and socket connections for corossion in the rear. That light can fade in and out based on poor bulb connectivity.

Yes a simple switch is all you need.You can literally cut that wire and just twist it and untwist it together, it’s that simple. The TCU will just flash 16 times the next time you start the car after using the switch, that’s it. It’s not flashing while driving just start up and it never flashes unless you use the switch. It doesn’t otherwise impact the TCU or cause it to drive differently. obviously running wire and a switch is the way to go. I’ve never done the resistor because there’s no need. If someone can’t stand a light for 5 seconds I don’t know how they tolerate all the lights coming on the dash when the key is turned to on....ahahhaa end of the world, I need 13 more resistors! Lol.

*** Are the old and new alternator symptoms identical, different, or don’t know? If identical, then #3 below is more likely. 1. Clean up, tighten, and verify battery terminal connections and wiring. Check voltage at alternator and battery and make sure they’re the same. 2. Aftermarket alternators aren’t high percentage. zero zero zero surprise if the alt is garbage. 3. Check for crank pulley separation. If it’s bad you can see it. Or draw a line across the face of the crank pulley. Run the engine. If the line “breaks” your crank pulley is separated and you need a new one. You can tack weld it or use through bolts to hold it together temporarily or permanently.

The MC fluid level is a good easy check but isn’t always a good indicator of some initial rust leaks. The fluid can leak, not through a hole, but through the meandering layers of rust and isn’t a traditional “leak”. I’ve seen the rusty lines just darken but no actual fluid, no running or dripping, it’s just wetting the rust. It’ll leak “just enough” for the pedal to slowly go down but not enough to notice fluid level at first. This is further complicated if it’s rear lines running above something and not visible. Subaru MC failure is rare, so rare its unlikely. First one was probably fine. Every guessed Subaru MC replacement I’ve ever seen ended up not being the issue (including my own guesses!). I’ve only seen one Subaru failure, it leaked between the MC and firewall but caused no issues except flaming paint because it was like that for like 10,000+ miles.

Pardon the dumb question but since we only have the internet, how much fluid did you use to bleed? They can take a lot of fluid, like 64 ounces, to get all the air out when the system is significantly exposed to air. That still doesn’t explain the original loss of pedal which sounds like rear rust. The rust can be layered and sort of soak and deep rather than spray and drip. And it can be on top of the gas tank, all this can make initial leaks hard to find.

Rusty rear brakes lines seeping. Or bleed them and see if any bubbles come out, but if what you say is true those bubbles didn’t get in there magically. What’s the time line? The car ran fine for the previous 2 years, sat for one day for rotor swap, then lost brake pedal the next day?

Download the FSM free online. Take a photo with your phone and Post a picture of the TCU pinouts or related schematic and we will walk you through it.

Maybe not for anyone currently posting but for new people or readers oil and additives could be confusing here. Oil pump reseal and replacement fixes ticking most of the time. Oil, cleaning, or additives which help the HLAs seems limited in efficacy or causation when pump reseal or replacement is the chief concern. Oils don’t address the pump. There might be room for asking if additives help the known fixes. The way the suction side of the pump gasket sucks in and deforms and seems untouchable by the oil. pump replacement is a little less certain since no one knows precisely what “fails” on them. But additives seems unlikely there as well. Your attention to detail and choices is clearly going to help.

Zombiebump - do you recall what those hybrid axles were made of? I’m having unanswerable EJ axle length issues on a lifted XT6.

That’s good to know if yours are green/OEM. None of the 90s ones in yards I’ve seen so far are. I’ll call a few parts yards with lots of them and see if any of them are bored enough to tolerate my silly question.

You think it’s a 95 original and not a later 2000+ transplant? Are you willing to sell/ship one? All the ones on eBay are too dirty or rusty to tell if they OEM from pics.

Do any of you see OEM 90s axles in the yards or for sale or have some extras? I’m looking for used OEM 90-94 (or maybe 95-98) EJ axles to see if they’re any shorter than later 2000+ with wider track width. Im striking out locally. Rust means few 90s soobs and the couple I bought were aftermarket and long like 00+. So either they’re the same length or aftermarket makes one length for multiple applications.

CEL being on is not “limp home mode”, it’s just telling you there’s a code and not a big deal. People ignore the CEL all the time, or remove the bulb, put a piece of black tape over it. Standard practice. Two of my current vehicles have had it on for almost 100,000 miles for a benign p0420 code. if you’re getting 28mpg and no issues then other than eating O2 sensors you don’t have much to worry about. I’d probably just unplug the rear O2 sensor and resistor and call it a day. Front sensor gives input for fueling, rear does not at all in 2002 vehicles If you want to track the issue down - there’s an oxygen sensor code, known oxygen sensor issues and previously custom wired O2 - I’d definitely be looking there.

1. No. The owners manual of some (or all) EA82s mentions that the oil pressure reading “nearly zero” at idle is not a problem. They’re not super accurate or diagnosis machines. 2. That story may not mean mich regarding additives or HLAs. I’ve seen ticking go away and come back later, happens *all* the time. More than likely the additive had nothing to do with it or was only a minor bandaid and the ticking came back sometime down the road. You didn’t own and drive it for 5 more years to find out. considering that oil pump resealing is usually the long term fix, and most likely would have been in 1996 when the car was young, this is almost certainly the case for that car. sell the car to a mechanic usually means dirt cheap - no mechanic pays top dollar for an average widely available car. they pay pennies to the dollar. they get their pick of cheap cars every week. Just stopped at one and guy got a nice turbo legacy for less than a grand. He’s all smiles and talk.

Hot exhaust, running poorly....I’d want to rule out clogged converter. Doesn’t happen often on Subaru’s but easy check for a hot exhaust.

Check any custom or disturbed wiring. That’s a very common cause of issues. 2002s run perfectly fine with the rear O2 disconnected. In 2002 I don’t think the ECU looks at the rear O2 except as a simple switch to trigger the CEL. disconnect it and see if anything changes. How about a clogged catalytic converter? Disconnect the exhaust somewhere just for 20 seconds to see if it runs better. Check the knock sensor, pull it and look for cracks/rust on the bottom of the base. One bolt, takes like a few minutes. If you think it’s the ECU a used one is plug and play for 2002, remove old, install new, done

What would be nice is to look at a known “ticker” and a known good pump and compare the two and find out what exactly causes it. Then maybe the existing pumps could be remedied rather than trying to replace unavailable parts. Theyre all all rusted away around here so I don’t really see any any more so I haven’t had to repair one in a few years and won’t see enough to worry about it any more. 15 years ago I could have easily done this and had a box full to choose from, but they were available new or I had good used ones so the need wasn’t there.

Yeah it’s easy to do in the car. Pull exhaust, driveshaft and a couple bolts and the rear extension housing comes off. The 4WD works opposite in like 03+. So either you got an earlier version trans or the difference is in the TCU... What happens if you install the FWD fuse?

I have an entire post dedicated to HLA noise. Find it and read it. First change the oil. 1. Reseal the oil pump. Use Subaru seals and clean and inspect all sealing surfaces. 2. Replace the oil pump. They’re not available new so you’ve got to work to find one. Those two steps have fixed every one I’ve seen over the last 20 years. Friend was posting about his years ago. He resealed it twice and still noisy. Everyone was giving advice on cleaning, different oils, additives, and redoing the engine/HLAs. Shipped a pump without telling him and it’s been years with no ticking. It’s real simple if you ignore the typical guessing and conjectures. Reseal. Replace. HLAs. Done. If it’s got 200,000+ miles, poor oil change history, and/or heavy use then HLA or HLA seat wear is more likely. Sometimes different oil helps, or seems to, but it’s probably a band aid for some other issue and it usually doesn’t totally go away or comes back. Ive seen two seized HLAs but those were run with blown headgaskets and multiple times running hot for almost a year. If the engine has seen abuse like that pull the HLAs and see if any won’t compress in a c-clamp or vice. Seized ones will be galled internally and won’t move.

rear driveshaft ujoint or carrier bearing

certainly is a year/gen thing, none of this is true at all for 90-99 Phase I stuff or probably 05+ so you had zero chance of seeing it. I should have said it but I assumed he’d check first before buying. Fewer trigger mark variant: 90-04 More trigger mark variant: 00-14 im pretty sure that there’s simply an overlap around 00-04 where both are used while they transitioned from the old fewer teeth style to the newer more teeth style

Yes there are only 2 types. One has like 10 trigger marks on the back just in a few places, the other style has a continuous run of dozens of teeth over the entire circumference. I think its usually, or always, a manual transmission and automatic difference. You probably have a manual trans and it has auto engine and gears...or the other way around. so get an EJ set from an auto or manual to match your vehicle.

There’s a significant chance only one bearing was bad. shops often quote or replace two bearings for a couple of reasons, when in reality it’s not necessary and only one side is bad. $1,200 is high. $200 parts, they finished in 2 hours. Most excellent independents should come in under $400 per hour.