idosubaru

fewer ujoints, less weight, no carrier bearing = more hp to the wheels! (how much would you guess dave - about 0.04 hp?) i kind of like the idea of fewer ujoints and no carrier bearing but yeah probably pointless functionally speaking.

In 1998 the transmissions had a slight change in design - they incorporated a screw on external filter and the bellhousing changed. But - otherwise the earlier transmissions will swap just fine, the bellhousing change still lines up the necessary bolt holes, makes sense once you see it. Nothing special to it. And the 98 (with external filters) are no more reliable than earlier models which are very robust in design so I wouldnt' worry about it having a filter or not. Frankly the additional risk of a punctured filter is probably less then the risk of having a transmission without one. Torque bind is when the 4WD mechanisms fail and cause the transmission to be in "locked" 4WD. notable "binding" around sharp turns, vibrations, jumping, hopping - all things associated with a 4WD vehicle on pavement if you've ever experienced that. It's caused by poor tire rotation, mismatched tires, not changing the transmission fluid, or improperly towing the vehicle. Since these vehicles are 10+ years old and there's no way to verify previous maintenance (unless it's a one owner of course), a spare rear transfer housing is nice to have - it includes the Duty C Solenoid and rear transfer clutches, both of which cause the torque bind issue. And it's an easy enough repair, transmission doesn't even have to come out.

Odd indeed. Sounds like your front differential is having issues, I have seen that happen before. If that's the case the easiest and cheapest solution is to just find a used transmission. They're reliable enough that the cost of rebuilding is sort of pointless considering how many inexpensive used transmissions there are. $200-$500 probably for a used one. Replacing the front diff is tricky and I've seen new front diffs fail, probably because other stuff was damaged during the first failure? Keep your old transmission or at least the rear extension housing in case you ever have torque bind.

put a jack underneath the tie rod and press up on the tie rod, forcing it into the hub, that's the simplest way. or hit it with an impact wrench. or try and clean the threads with a tap and die set so it can thread on easier.

Starting to pile up a few negatively opinionated and condescending posts? Liberty Subaru might be a better fit for you. Mike Scarf Subaru (sp?) - one or both of those is on this side of the dirt. Asking for an approx. delivery time is smart even if you order from your local Subaru dealer. I ordered 4 parts last week and asked when they'd be in. 2 on Tuesday, the others on Thursday or Friday. If a few days are important or get you worked up then searching the cheapest internet option on the other side of the country hardly seems like the best way to go. Phone calls are nice but aren't a Eutopia. It's easy to make a mistake - wrong part number, misinformation, he-said, she-said, etc and then you're left without a "paper trail", dangerous for both parties. That's why some places require you to fax an order in and may be part of the reason subarugenuine chooses to work that way. I've had it happen. Like when I ordered a $7 filter and got a few hundred dollar SVX MAF sensor in the mail and charged to my card - or the time they just sent the wrong parts (both were other Subaru vendors, not Jamie, and involved phone calls from the Garden of Eden! They refunded it and worked it out just fine both times, no big deal. Would you have started a thread about phone calls if that happened?

get a FWD manual trans XT - they're good for 40mpg.

thanks guys, i'll check all that stuff. i think i'm just going to swap in another hub assembly rather than deal with that nasty bearing job.

i think disc and drum rear assemblies are all the same and can be interchanged if you strip them down, without taking apart the hubs/bearings.

yes on all counts, except no need to remove the hood. i've done it multiple times on the worst (largest) possible set ups - EJ25 with AWD Automatic and ER27 (6 cylinder) with AWD Automatic. it is tricky to get it just right and it's a tough squeeze. you'll be adjusting, letting the whole deal down to readjust the angle and all as it's VERY vertical once it comes out all the way. a load-leveler of some sort would help greatly, but i've done it without one every time and am just using some Advanced Auto Parts cheapest engine lift thing I bought years ago.

Got a noisy rear 1996 Legacy Lsi wheel bearing. I also have a set of rear hub assemblies (drum brakes) from an Impreza in great shape. How much time are we talking to "convert" the drum brake rear hubs to disc brake and use in the Legacy? If it's an in depth process I'll just buy the right hubs.

1996 Legacy LSi FWD. I pulled the hub assembly and had a shop press in new bearings. Those lasted about 20,000 miles and failed. I bought a used hub and installed it, hub seemed fine of course, no play. Now that same bearing is failing again after only 10,000 miles. I've had an alignment done and the tires wear evenly. Is that just bad luck or can something else cause bearings to fail? Just want to make sure I'm not missing something here. The original rotor is still there, can a rotor warp so bad that it's making noise "wub, wub, wub, wub" and overheating the hub? Temp gun showed something like a 30 degree difference from one side to the other.

I can't tell if this is an EA82 or EA81, but if it's an EA82 then be sure to use Fel-Pro permatorque gaskets. Not sure if they make them for EA81 but I woudl assume they do. Saves you the hassle of retorque and just about everyone on here uses those exclusively with excellent results. It'll stink doing it but with all new timing belt stuff and what you're talking about you could easily get a lot more miles out of it with only minor repairs from here on out. If oil/water did mix I'd be sure to flush the coolant system (radiator) and change the oil as soon as possible.

If the car is in good shape yes it's definitely worth it. Very strange that you lost a headgasket though, it had to have been overheated or lacking in maintenance at some point in the past 13 years for that to happen to this engine. Do you recall if these are solid lifters or HLA's (Hydraulic Valve Lash Adjusters)? HLA's are typically VERY loud on a fresh start up after having the motor apart. Yes - sewing-machine-i-think-my-car-is-about-to-blow-up-loud. Reduces drastically after 10 miles and completely after not much more. But if you had a previous problem then surely check as the valve covers are easy to remove. I'm not even sure what rocker arm spacer you're talking about but these motors have so few issues (this is extremely rare - like unicorn stuff here), that i would think something is wrong with the used head or something. If it's repaired right and maintained these motors will outlast other components of the car.

i don't know your area but it's not hard to find a wrecked (or rusted) car for cheap around here. could keep your eyes out for a complete car and swap the entire lump into yours without ever disassembling the trans/engine. also keep your eyes out here for transmissions, sometimes folks are parting out something. might want to throw up a thread in the parts wanted forum. good luck.

Yeah there are some other threads where folks have done this.

16 - he's going to trash the car anyway, why put any work into it!?? Seriously, snow traction is heavily dictated by tire quality. If it's got poor tread, cheap tires, or even old tires I'd leave it without ABS. If it has new tires and is in overall good shape then the ABS will perform much better and would be worth fixing. I don't think it'd be that hard to replace either, but I haven't done it. I have a 1996 Legacy parts car with ABS if you need it.

I wouldn't personally go to that place, I've been there before (once). I'm from Westminster, MD, went to Westminster elementary and highschool. I will tell you who to go with....but I can't recall their name...GAHHH!! It's been 3 years since I've lived there and the name is just slipping my mind. But there's a much better place in Eldersburg (be closer to you as well) and I can't recall the guys names. They are right off of rte 32 (north side in a business complex) and are an aluminum head specialist - heck i think that used to be their name. Thing is they do all large contract work now for like NAPA and such. Since I worked with them for years they always did my Subaru heads back when they were a regular shop. They always did my heads eventhough they weren't nearly as much "public" any more. I would think they would still do it if you walked in or called. Very nice guys, very good work and of course they know Subarus very well, they're even familiar with the old 80's stuff and know how to do this stuff right. That being said, you can also ask Subaru dealers who they use to do their machine shop work, that's what i've done outside of MD. *** edit - i can't find them in Eldersburg. But if Westminster is even an option I'd much prefer this guy, he's been around forever: # (410) 857-3340 Does great work, i've wheeled Subaru motors to him before and he's made custom inserts and done all sorts of oddball stuff for me, really nice down to earth guy as well. i think you'll be much better off with one of those two options than IAG.

I just cut a piece of metal and drilled holes in it to bolt it in place. I've seen auto trans that won't shift properly when the EGR system is not functioning right. The benefits are probably better than the rare issues but I like my non-EGR engine with less junk on it.

what he said - you have to swap the cam sprockets typically and keep your intake manifold. so it's doable but different than the old swaps.

try PMing or emailing the person with a link to this thread and ask them to clarify. or search the internet, looks like this has probably been addressed on other sites. subaruoutback or legacy forums i bet has some info. let us know if you find anything.

Buy one. No point in them supplying something so widely available. 1-412-782-5580 $75 for a 4.11 rear diff

The Advanced Auto Parts around me all have Synthetic Valvoline gear oil, i've seen the Coastal stuff too that you're talking about.

it's like anything else there are off-brands, name brands, dino oil, synthetic, etc.

Need to read the code. Not sure about memory mode, but I would assume the computer has a read memory mode like other systems (ECU for instance). I'm doubtful the brakes/SRS systems are related on this vehicle so I think it's coincidence. Being that it was sporadic to begin with it leaves things pretty wide open. I'm doubtful on the loose connection. SRS connectors are amazingly complicated!! Subaru left no stone unturned for making these things extraordinarily convoluted and difficult to disconnect. Without the codes I would think it's a shot in the dark unless there's some recall or TSB i don't know about.

Just about anything is repairable, depends on $ and skills. If your dad is doing the work then he needs to look and decide. Your goal should be to price the parts needed to help decide if it's worth it. This being the newer body style means parts are more expensive. I just got done rebuilding our 02 OBW earlier this year.