idosubaru

picked up this 95 legacy AWD sedan for my grandmother. records from the previous owner say the pads and rotors were replaced at 112,000 and 135,000...and i checked the brakes now at 149,000 (just after getting it) and they are HORRIFIC. there was zero pad left, barely any backing plate left on one set. the caliper slides were completely smooth and felt great. i of course cleaned and greased them, but they were in good condition. fluid was black. but the brakes actually bite and grab excellent, ABS works great (as far as ABS goes you know!?!?). anything else to check? with my grandmother driving like 3,000 miles per year it doesn't really matter all that much but still curious.

yeah i thought that was strange as well that it's rotted. if non-distilled (tap) water is used, lots of deposits coagulate in the radiator, hoses, and pipes. usually doesn't cause rot though. dunno?

welcome aboard. there's no transfer case, so nothing to do there. I assume this is a manual? nothing special to the fluids. standard stuff in the owners manual is fine - the only thing i may do different is go with synthetic gear oil in the trans and diff. change your engine oil OFTEN, that's far more important than what grade or brand you use. these engines have HLA's that don't handle infrequent oil changes very well. drive in a straight line at about 15 miles power while shifting if it seems to "stick". usually you can shift whenever you want...or that's what i've done and never had a problem. just make sure you don't drive in 4WD on pavement or hard surfaces (owners manual should tell you that). if this is FT4WD (which i don't think it is - it's PT4WD right?)...but if it happens to be FT4WD, then make sure your tires match at all times and are rotated properly.

there's too many variables and what's your goal? you're just buying it to fix and drive? i generally agree with the other guy, but i'd go $500 max maybe? personally i'd plan on replacing the engine and transmission and factor that into the price and work backwards from there if i was looking for a daily driver out of it.

john is saying the 85 XT never came with a 4EAT transmission. there's a number of reasons why you might want to consider not doing this swap. the 3AT and 4EAT aren't similar. they are completely different. that's going to require an entire TCU wiring harness as well as probably changes to your engine - i believe the 4EAT is going to need throttle sensor input that your 3AT equipped stock engine may not have. that would be easy probably to figure out, but even still swapping and splicing an entire 4EAT wiring harness sounds horrific. that's a ton of work for a really old 4EAT that's been sitting around and for a car that's not really worth much. it would be far simpler to buy a car with a 4EAT in it (GL-10 wagon, XT,???)...or heck a legacy/impreza and sell yours. if you can do a trans swap like this you can buy a legacy/impreza for chump change that needs work and fix it. but that would be crazy.......nicer car, safer car, more reliable engine...i've been offered legacy's for free before that needed engine/trans replaced, which you can do. tear it up!

buy a used one, there's plenty out there that are still in great shape. i have a 97 impreza, 96 legacy, picked up a 97 and 95 legacy this summer for friend/relative and all had the original pipes in good condition (and this is the rust belt). if you buy one from someone here (like that guy just offered), then you can ask them the condition or check out a photo. any yard you get one from should be able to as well.

i'm 100% with GD on this one (because he's right!). there's a few reasons to pull the engine - if you aren't in good physical shape or don't have a air tools/ratcheting wrench.... if you don't have air tools, it's nicer to pull the engine because with air tools you spend much less time leaning over the fenders. depends on your physical condition if you can handle that or not. the only tricky parts are the valve cover bolts (easily solved with a 10mm ratcheting wrench) and cleaning the block surface (easily remedied with those yellow rubber aluminum cleaners from napa for a drill = awesome). those tasks are both short lived, everything else is smooth sailing and zip-zip with air tools. the quickest way is doing them in the car. there's no reason to pull the engine, everything is easily accessible and the only "harder" parts are easily solved as mentioned above. pulling an engine isn't always straight forward and simple, it's easy to loose time on something simple. the chances of a quick remove/install aren't in your favor. i would ignore the statements of "30 minutes" for removing an engine that i've seen some people post. that's certainly not an average (rarely is that even true) and is only the removal, not the install. EA82 head gaskets are a cake walk to do in the car. i've done a bunch and a ton of Xt6's too, also very easy to do in the car. i've owned a engine lift and stand for years, but have never used it for head gaskets only.

got it, thanks guys! thanks all. i wailed on it from behind with hammer/board and it came off. i was going to do the loosen all lugs then drive method next. that would have been sweet from the start, but i already had it up on jacks/stands and didn't feel like putting it all back together.

any tips on removing a really stuck wheel? 95 Legacy sedan with 14" steel wheels. i've removed rusted wheels before, but this one is worse than all others i've seen. i've hit it with PB blaster, heated the center with a torch, pounded it with hammer, foot, arms.... what's next fellow rust belt people?

has anyone done this on a sedan? a friend needs to replace his struts and would like a bit of lift on his in the process if he can. what would a sedan do with outback wagon struts? they're surely much easier to find then SUS struts. myth - changing tire size will not necessarily make your speedo inaccurate. speedo's can be quite inaccurate to begin with as-is (they usually read low). so increasing the overall tire size can actually make them more accurate more often then making them less accurate. in reality the differences are usually really small so it's not likely to matter anyway - swap away. i've swapped wheels on all sorts of subarus.

yep the injectors/rail and axles interchange just fine. the engines are identical, probably only some vaccum line differences due to auto/manual.

yeah just double check those 2001+ boots and make sure they're the same size as a 1996. yeah WV is different, very mountainous for sure. smaller yes, but still very steep, treacherous roads with switch backs, insanely steep, and unmaintained in the winter = snow covered for 30 days straight if the temps stay low. i like all the animals and space, excited about raising our kids out here if we can find some way to educate them!!!

ironically will, i just happened to across an axle boot receipt today when i was cleaning up at home and thought about you...oh how cute, huh!?!? i bought a 2001 boot for a 1995 legacy axle.....hmmm...what year axle was it though...anyway, it was $7.88 from Advanced auto parts. seemed very nice quality, but it didn't note the manufacturer/brand on the receipt. if the other side is roughly the same price then maybe you're looking at less than $20 a side.

that's a good point, the bottom line is that there is no "one size fits all" approach to this. options are good! nipper didn't mention a 2.2L or a used engine. although that is what i'd do and probably what i recommended. good condition EJ engines are easy to find and cheap (except 2.5's). get one with warranty, from someone that pulled it out of a running vehicle (i have a few in my garage), yards often test them before pulling or can still test if they're in the car. it's far from a crap shoot. EJ25's are a high demand item and easily fetch a couple hundred even with blown head gaskets, money that could be put towards another motor. fixing the EJ25 is going to cost. to be done right the heads should be machined at a minimum and personally i'd have them pressure tested and a valve job done....so you're looking at $200 and that's if you don't touch any seals or timing belt stuff.

wow i will keep that i mind, i've done some SERIOUS pounding to get out northeasternized ball joints from hubs. never thought that could happen. EJ axles are a cinch - i agree with just removing the one top strut bolt. with the wheel off you only need to remove that one bolt to replace an axle (and loosen the lower bolt). of course marking the top bolt head to install in the same position.

check your heat shields too.

it might be 2002, i'm not sure when they changed the boot style. you don't need a press. just patience and a willingness to do a very messy job. that's why i don't do it, too messy. yes they require a boot clamp tool, but since i don't do them myself i can't tell you any more than that. some people just use a regular screw type clamps and even some have used zip ties! if i were doing it myself i'd probably go with regular screw style clamps. particularly if you don't do many of them, those tools are annoying, get greasy and are hard to get just right. my buddy messed with one multiple times for a year, had the special tool, tore his boot in the process, called me a few times, and ended up just using a regular hose clamp. lasted until he got rid of the car last year (when i got him a subaru!).

welcome to subaru's, XT6's, USMB..and hopefully XT6 site. lancaster, PA? there's a number of members around that general area. i'm from Maryland, just below Gettysburg. hhmm?? ha ha!! that's true of every forum!?!?! "most" posts on this forum are over a year old..and the next forum...and the next.... maybe you just did a search, pulled up old posts and never actually saw the "true" forum? like Rob said, you should check out the XT6 site. there's a thread about how to recondition your air struts and the air suspension in general. but your best bet is really going to be to convert to coil over struts anyway. the air suspension system is very flaky and difficult to work with, and expensive.

will assuming they're the stock axles, i'd keep them. subaru axles are awesome, aftermarket axles are junk. i'm a big MWE fan, but if there's no noise and hasn't been for 68k, i see no reason to replace them. they should last awhile. the boots i've gotten at advanced auto parts seem very decent and are probably a bit cheaper than subaru. i can't recall which brand i've gotten, but so far i will continue to use those. if the newer style (2000-ish) axle boots are the same size (i think they might be), then get those, they are higher quality and have more convolutions.

get a couple friends to "test drive" it and make sure they romp on it good from a start with the steering wheel turned full lock - this strains the axles the most. should show sure signs of front diff or axle problems quickly.

do the thermostat, water pump, radiator, or any hoses look new? there's a good chance it was overheated in the past which would probably lead to a head gasket issue now. good luck with it. EJ engines are very easy to find in some areas of the country, if you're able an engine swap might be the best bet.

nice call mike. speaking on which, i'll add that i've seen 4EAT problems go away with a new set of matching tires. it was shifting erratically, particularly noticeable at slow speeds. new tires solved it.

what's up with the front axles? they shouldn't be affected by the rear diff.

oh yeah, i remember reading about that. since it's carbed wouldn't it be easy to just upgrade to an EA81 then?

you might want to consider getting an engine from CCR? or at least the short block and then doing the rest yourself. EA71 parts are different from EA81 i suppose? ram performance sells rebuild kits for EA81's and that's what they use for air craft applications, so those are probably good quality if EA71's share any EA81 parts?