idosubaru

This post is all wrong in a lot of ways, rather than mention all the various ways that's incorrect I'd ignore that entire post for making this decision. None of it is relevant, true or helpful anyway for the vehicle you're looking at. (not trying to be mean, this guys just looking to make a purchase decision).

definitely have the timing belt replaced, it's due in 8,000 miles and runs $700 at the dealer. $10,000 for a 100,000 mile 04? that sounds high but i haven't looked either. that dealer is making a killing on the car at that price. having them do the timing belt as part of the "deal" likely means you're going to get the cheapest and worst possible timing belt job you can get, basically just the belt and that's it. . you can guess with 99% certainty he's not going to check or look at any of the timing pulleys or tensioner. it is very rare to open one up and not need any pulleys replaced - the toothed idler pulley is the most common to need replaced. you want this thing to go another 100,000 if you're buying it now - make sure the job is done right.

we only know what you tell us, not seeing, hearing, or smelling the car makes it hard. but we're pretty darn good so more good information would be: has it always been like this? did it run perfectly %100 and then do this one day? your timing belts could be off. i've never done a compression test on an engine with the timing belts not lined up properly so i'm not sure what the readings would be, but it would be something like what you're getting. either the belt was installed wrong or it could have skipped some teeth. the other likely explanation is bad head gasket. any coolant loss, bubbling in the coolant, overflow, overheating, oil/coolant mixing...etc? good luck!

HG - they can be very hard to track down when they first start to go which is why they're easy to sell (and buy) with issues. they might not show it for a week when they first start. constant stream of people on here that buy one only to find HG issues not long afterwards - my guess is that most of the time it was an issue when they bought it. dirty overflow tank and any recent coolant work (since folks often misdiagnose or hope to get lucky with an inexpensive repair) raises eyebrows - thermostat, radiator, water pump, hoses. Also check for torque bind. I've never heard or seen of a 90's Legacy GT in the US with a turbo, I don't think any of them will have that.

are you talking about spark? what do you mean and how do you know? how intermittent and any correlation - temperature, humidity, first start or after it's warm? and what engine - is this carb or FI?

no they are not but it still might be doable. the 02 hub does not have a tone ring in it but the 96 does, but you can work around that. the 96 will have the tone ring as part of the hub. the 02 has the tone ring on the axle. so to get it to work you'd have to install the 02 hub and axle on the 96. that will install just fine. as far as working - you'll want to make sure the teeth count on the tone ring is the same, i've never checked. if the ABS connectors are different you'd have to install the 96 sensor into the 02 hub (my personal choice if it's possible) or splice the 96 connector onto the 02.

nice info and good job!

Also - old rubber brake lines can be weak and need replaced. If the rubber "expands" when you press on the brakes then that leads to a soft feel as well. The rubber is expanding and squishy and reduces the hydraulic pressure available to the caliper. I think the ones most susceptible to this are the ones attached to the front calipers. Steel lines are a good upgrade and prevent this from happening. I have two sets i need to install some day!

you don't need anything but a brain and usmb. all the info to get the codes to flash on your dashboard is on this forum. spend some time searching and you'll get it. first time i needed to i got all i needed from here and it was easy. bad sensor code, replaced, cleared code, done.

Your soft pedal is likely the fluid. Either it's old or just needs bled some more. The one man bleeder set ups are really nice for this. If you compressed pistons without opening up the top of the master cylinder you might have compromised the master cylinder, meaning it might need replaced. You are absolutely fine to leave the old rotors and shims. If they aren't vibrating and you properly lube the caliper slide pins (the boots and pins that slide in them), the rotors often never need changed. I've never had noisey brakes in the 30 or 40 Subaru's that have come through my ownership and in all the friends/relatives Subaru's i've worked on. And I've seen all sorts of levels of brakes, pads, rotors, rust, etc.

the places you buy remotes from often have the programming instructions, did you check with them?

That might be it. You can update your location to avoid similar confusion in the future. At least put Canada or something so folks know. Are you sure it's a Subaru remote then? Maybe it's not even a Subaru remote, i've never seen a woodgrain subaru remote.

More important than belts at this age/mileage is the timing pulleys. I use the ebay kits - all new pulleys for $80 can't be beat. Easy to replace too. Spark plugs, cap, and rotor?

yep, not good to mess with those unless you have to and know what you're doing.

i agree 105k is quite long. does that mean you don't agree with the 105k interval for EJ25's since they use the same pulleys and water pump?

his won't like your 98 OBW. go through and follow the procedures on cars101.com again. took me like 5 times...or more to get it right on my OBW. really annoying but finally it worked. they're kind of quirky like that.

Miles and how long has it been doing this, how quickly loosing fluid? I would assume significant fluid loss and steering issues could be related. check below the power steering pump. there's an oring at the base of the reservoir that is very typical to leak but it shows up as fluid dripping down on top of the engine from the pump. very easy to replace. other than that if you're loosing fluid just need to look and see where. If you end up needing a steering rack, just get a used one. They are very easy to install and almost never fail. They're a dime a dozen because there's no demand for them. I don't even bother removing them from parts cars.

i don't know of any easy ways. install a lift kit. install 5 lug XT6 parts with 16" wheels and tires. install air suspension from an EA82T or XT6

this thread was about EA82's, there's other motors that comments in this thread don't apply too, they weren't intended to.

go to cars101.com for all your subaru remote entry needs!

i doubt there's a difference between ECU's that would hinder your goals - but if there is it shouldn't be hard to get a different one. it's definitely going to run and drive just fine so it's not going to hold that up, then you can tweak with it later.

Gloyale - you're positive it's from the front diff area? H6's are known for having timing guide noises which is a high pitched whining noise as well. Requires replacing the damaged guides. Otherwise I'd suspect the H6 set up to be nearly identical to the H4 in terms of transmission layout and operation. Probably the same base 4EAT trans with slightly different set up if any difference at all. But you know more about that than i do so I'm not telling you much.

yeah i bought the single piston kits this summer - $3 a side i think!

passengers side carpet under the feet.

stock 205 55 16 is listed as the stock GT size? which is a huge 2.8% difference man, it's amazing how much smaller those 14" tires look verses the 16". they look much smaller than they are.