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Hey guys, I am currently a student at a tech school known as WyoTech, or Wyoming Technical Institute, and you would not believe some of the tall tales people tell about their cars around here. I personally drive a 94 Legacy 4AT which I love (except I wish it were a stick!), so I have no issues being honest about my ride...heck, when it snows I can finally run circles around the Camaros, lol. Here is my conundrum. I was talking with a guy last night at class who tells me about his car, a 99 Forester. I say, "Hey, is that the green one?" "Yeah," he says. So I know it is a Forester L because I have seen it and I am kinda a badge junky (sorry, lol). He then says "...turbo." I immediately blurt, "No, it's not." which then degraded into a silly sounding argument. He asked some other guys around about it, and one says "Yeah, you can get Subarus with a factory turbo" but I corrected him, saying "No, unless he got a transplant [which he denied] he is not driving a turbo; the only turbo'd Forester is the XT which wasn't around till '03, and no Subarus came with a factory turbo between '94 and '02 (late) with the WRX." So, I still want to be humble and open to being wrong, but if you could dispell this myth for me that would be awesome. thanks in advance! -Roy

Thanks for the input guys. I just got a Chiltons for this car, which I think is the second gen, or the facelifted first gen; not sure. Was 95 on third gen? Anyway, I will take a look at the knock sensor, which seems actually to be doing a crappy job; I think I can hear audible ping on 85 octane and warm weather. It could be slap, but I think not. Nevertheless, if it recurs I will go to Autozone if it happens off the job. Thanks, Roy

Oh, and 128k miles on the odo, new oil just put in, and the coolant is new.

I have been getting an intermittent check engine light lately with my EJ22 NA, auto box (ugh). Last night it came on and I emmediately pulled of into a Wendy's lot and checked all the fluids. The oil is at proper level, exactly at the divet for "hot" full, the coolant is fine, and the engine was not making any sounds like a knock or anything. The light stayed on while idling, but after I turned it off and restarted the light did not come back. The idle has been varying slightly lately, like +/- around 100rpm, but not too much. It is smooth as ever. Could this be due to a dirty O2 sensor, or MAF? Thanks in advance, I really don't want to pay a shop to do a OBDII scan.

Wow, thanks for all the good advice guys. I will probably do it this summer, around July since that will be the first time that I get a chance to do this sort of work without interruptions. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks! Roy

Thanks, I saw those pics, but I guess I missed where he listed the tools he used.

Hey guys, Ya'll are generally a good place to go for advice concerning Subarus. I own a 94 Legacy, EJ22 Phase I, I think; at least, I am pretty sure it is non-interference, so I figured I could do this myself without too much risk of grenading the engine. That said, I have a Chilton's manual, but I don't think they specify the right tools for the job. Would I be alright with your typical wrench set, or do I need some more specific tools for the job? Any other advice on the matter would be appreciated as well. Regards,

lmao! funny stuff.

She (my friend) got the car, and traded here Blazer with 200k miles on it for the Subie. She also had to put $ 700 into the deal, but still, what a deal! Thanks again!

Thanks!

My friend is looking at a 92 Legacy Sedan, 5MT, with 101k miles on it. Just from the test drive the CVs seem to work correctly, the tranny shifts smoothly into every gear, and the engine pulls strong. I will get a chance to take a better look at the heads and CVs on Friday, just to check for oil leakage from the heads and cracks in the CV boots. Another friend who thinks he's all up on Subaru just because he had to replace the CV joints once thinks that a little dried oil on the undercarriage is indicative of a problem, but I think not. Are there any glaring issues with this MY that need to be checked? Otherwise the car seems perfectly sorted and in better condition than my 94 Subie 4AT, and a lot more vigorous.

So piston slap is essentially knock, or is it just a thrashiness inherent in 2.5 motors? My 2.2 never sounds like that.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but what exactly is piston slap? I've always wondered what people were talking about when the mentioned this.

I will have the front end inspected soon anyway. Thanks!

Ok, I'll check that tomorrow.

The CVs are old anyway. Perhaps I will keep my ears open as suggested and wait until I really need to make the repair. It could wait till this summer. Thanks guys, and take care. Regards,

Ok, thanks for the advice. Is it expensive to replace wheel bearings, and is it necessary? I mean, if I neglect it for a while is there a danger of failure?

I use my car for work, and do a lot of U turns, out of culdesacs and whatnot. The car has begun to shuddle pretty badly when powering through a Uturn, or any other sharp turn under power, and when I let off I hear this aweful grinding of metal on metal. Is this my CV joints going bad, or is something else screwed up like my tierods or something? Thanks in advance.

DOHC and SOHC respectively, I think. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can help you out. I did do some research on it for a friend at one point, and the origional (Phase 1) engine I think required premium fuel and only made 155 hp.

Thanks for the feedback!

A friend of mine owns a car almost identical to mine except for the paint and roof rack. She owns a 94 legacy automatic, and recently had a blowout. She took the tire to Discount Tire where is was origionally purchased, and in the course of their conversation the guy pointed out how having differing tire diameters can screw the viscous AWD system, and mentioned the FWD fuse. Now, Subie specialists have always told me not to use it for prolonged periods of time. I don't fully understand it personally, but I am sure that's the case. Now, this dude at Discount told her to put the spare on the back and use the FWD fuse to drive around on it till she gets a new set of four tires, but knowing my friend, she will likely drive a hundred miles before that happens. Any thoughts on potential damage?

Yeah man. Are you enlisted in the Navy, or an Officer? What is your specialty?

Yeah, good call. The hotter cam idea and hew exhaust was just an afterthought, but the stuff you mentioned would keep the character of the car and improve it.

Heh, well I guess that would be good too. Maybe I'll just do that, put a manual trans in it, and if I want more power, turbo it.

Here's an interesting idea I thought up while showering this morning. I would take a 97 SVX LSi (AWD i think?). Then I would transplant the driveline of a Manual transmission Subie, preferable an STi. Then I would take the engine, put a fully custom exhaust on it with dual tips, maybe coming out the same side like the new Pontiac GTO. I would add hotter cams, and a cold-air intake system, reprogram the ECU on a dyno, and do some body mods. Most likely I'd go for just pearlescent black with a tasteful but agressive rear spoiler, and some tasteful ground effects. Maybe a quicker steering rack, and then some nice gold BBS wheels with sticky rubber. Price not an issue, is this even doable, or is it totally unreasonable?