Gnuman

Are those Subaru Symbols in the hubcaps on your wheels? Do you (or anyone) have a part number for those? All I can find is the plain ones thatt say Subaru in text. I want the symbols, if I cn get them

Take the caliper off and clean it up yourself. It is not all that hard, and you seem to be quite capable of the job. On the other hand, if you want to use this as an excuse to upgrade. . . .

Julez, Please be at ease. Nipper was teasing. It is his way of saying that he could find no information at all. Someone had mentioned earlier that the Safari edition was only produced for a few months. That would both make the car a rarity, and dificult to get information about. Are there any other features other than the wood trim and badging that you can tell us about in the car? Well, the wheels would be one, as they do not look like the usual Outback wheels from 97 (they do look good, though). It seems to me that you will likely be providing us with more infornation that we can to you, though.

If the ticking sounds like metal hitting metal (valve train) then take the valve covers off and clean/bleed the lash adjusters. If it is more like the sound a relay makes, it may be the injectors. I have been told that Subarus use a fairly loud injector. the ticking that goes away with the clutch being pressed in is the pilot berring. I have the same problem until I get my new clutch in.

OK, when a call was made for pictures of wagons, the thread grew (quickly) to be several pages. Of pictures of wagons. Now, when a call for pictures of the blemishes that cars tend to get is made, a massive outcry of bandwidth abuse is heard. What is the factor that changed? Is it that we are afraid to show anyone that our cars are not immune to the effectst of rust and corrosion? Have we so little faith in the inherant beauty of our cars that we fear to show a few zits? Emily has a few of these zits. That does not make her less beautiful to me. Granted, I want to correct the blemishes she has, and make her as beautiful to others as she is to me. That is not out of being ashamed, though. It is more a small repayment to her for the years of faithful service she has given to her three respective owners (ending with me). Yes it will be nice when she is back in full bloom, and it really will not take that long. For pretty's sake, I need three doors, a rear bumper, driving lights, the sunroof installed, and cleaner wheels. That is all I'm going to do to her as far as looks are concerned (meaning that you can see). Beyond looks? Maintainance at 200k miles, arear swaybar, a better clutch, and AGX struts. All that will take time, but it is worth it. I hear comercials on the radio: Is your dream car a. . .(it lists a few). I'll admit it, I talk to my radio. I always say (and mean it) "my dream car is under my butt" Emily is the best damn car I have ever owned. Bar none. If she has a few zits, well then, I guess they are damned good zits too. Sorry, I had to vent on that one.

By bikes do you mean bicycles, or motorcycles? the tools you need are a pair of ramps or jackstands, and a 12mm box wrench. The parts can be gotten online (allsubaruparts.com) or from the local dealer (that will cost more, but the difference may be less than the cost of shipping). Elevate the car and crawl under (be sure it is on jackstands, or ramps. Do not get under the car with just a jack!!) to see exactly what the problem is. Replace the broken/missing part(s) so they look like the pictures above. It is that simple. 15mins max. That is if you fumble with the wrench.

That last line should read "Done right, this [car] should get you another 100,000 miles'

Element, Element. . . Isn't that the one that looks like it was modeled with Leggos? "Out of the box"? that thing is a box. . . As for seeing someone else driving one, I still have to fight the urge to vomit. . .

If you are minimaly handy with tools, you can do it yourself, for the cost of parts (and the parts themselves should be cheap). As for how critical it is. . . how much does it annoy you? That is really the deciding factor in this. The centering spring makes the shifting a little bit easier, and the shift lever goes to the same spot each time it is released in neutral. Nothing more than that really. The way it makes shifting easier is that we get used to the action of the return spring when we drive. When the return spring is not there, we have to pay more attention to the location of the shift lever to get the car into the gear we want. No more and no less than that.

when the weather turns nasty around here, I tend to say "It is a wonderful day to be driving a Subaru" (My teenaged daughter is sick of it ). A Subaru will handle most bad weather like average cars handle dry roads. On dry roads, they handle like they are bolted to the pavement. As for the "ugly factor", Beauty to me is in the engineering. In that light, Subarus are stunning!

This is the best one of the lot. the three parts are that you may need are that outside plate, the nut that holds it on, and the spring. One of three things likely happened: 1) the nut came loose (fell off) and the spring, nut and outer plate are all gone. 2) The hole on the outer plate got damaged and the spring no longer holds to it (likely, the spring is gone too) 3) The spring itself broke, leaving the other two bits intact.

Two emergency procedures, depending on the tools you have: If you have a tie rod end puller, try reversing it to press the tie rod into the knuckle. This will bind the threaded part enough to be able to tighten the castle nut. If you do not have a puller, or if the puller will not fit in a reverse fashion, tap the back end (oposite the threaded part) to press the threaded part into the knuckle enough to tighten the castle nut. I call these emergency procedures as neither one is a good thing to do to your tie rod end. If neither of these work, then you have to cut the tie rod end off (cut between the castle nut and the knuckle) with an angle grinder, or use a nut-breaker to remove the castle nut, then replace the tie rod end. How did this happen? Was the castle nut cross threaded? Are the threads of the tie rod end damaged? If it is either of these, then you should replace the tie rod end. Also if your tie rod end boot (the rubber part under the steering arm) is damaged.

the shifter return spring on the tranny side of your shift linkage is broken or missing. Look under the car, on the tranny side of the shift linkage (rear part of the tranny). there is supposed to be a spring there. I would bet that there isn't.

Part of the boot is gone? that is sounding stranger and stranger. It is starting to sound like you are at the limit of travel on the slave, which means there is a problem with the clutch fork (bent of out of place), which means that you will need to seperate the engine and tranny to inspect/repair it. you should have an inch or so of travel on the slave, after contact.

Just a note on this: 1stsubaruparts.com is still online, but they are charging list prices there. Call Jason instead, he is still using the original discount prices he has always used.

that is starting to sound like a bent fork. Just to be sure, thoiugh, you installed the slave as close to the fork as you could? is it still not staying in contact with the fork when you let off of the pedal?

OK, everyone here is talking about later model cars and hitches, but I wanted to share that I put a drawtight class II hitch on my 92 Legacy wagon that I got from etrailer.com. So far this hitch has pulled 4 cars (on dollys) one of which was an identical Legacy wagon to her. Now that is what I call carrying a spare. . . Thed hitch stick down a bit and is fairly visable, but it is a really strong one, and Emily can pull loads with it that verge on unbelievable

both http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8772&cat=500&ppuser=7470 This is the cleanest of my wheels. On most of them the clearcoating is yellowed, and coming off in places. Oh, and the bondo in the back is from the Original Owner (OO) getting hit in a parking lot. He never had a lot of use for bodywork. . . http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=8770&cat=500&ppuser=7470 Mismatched doors because the original ones had been sideswiped and the OO never got them fixed. More bondo and a bit of bumper rash. OK, now a question. If I take the metal trim off and paint it, will it stay painted? Or will it peel off like the original paint did?

And you will soon learn exactly why we all love our Subarus so much.

It is on the underside of the intake manifold, on the right side of the car. You should have a small vaccume hose going to the throttle body. Follow that away from the TB, and you will find the Purge valve.

I can probably get it done in aboput that price range. Since I don't have a shop (I come to you), my overhead is lower so I only charge $40/hr. Let me look around for a good used VC in the PicknPulls around here. I replied to your PM (I just got it BTW). Give me a call.

Small correction: 90-96 EJ22 (2.2L) hyd lifters. 97+ manual adjusters. Subaru went to manual valve adjustment in 97MY. One would assume that it had something to do with Hyd lash adjusters being more expensive to manufacture, less reliable (hypothosis only!), or heavier. They did a few stupid things in the late 90-s that they later corrected (plastic oil seporator comes to mind). My guess is that the bean counters bullied the engineers into a few bad choices. . .

A: Ummm, it is RTV. Permatex makes a very good anerobic sealant called "The Right Stuff". It is. I trust this stuff to seal just about anything, with just a very small ammount, which makes for less likelyhood of small bits of it getting dislodged and clogging up oil passages (a very very bad thing). It is not cheap, but it is well worth the cost. It should be available at your local Auto Parts Store (try Kragen/Checker). B: I had never heard of that issue before, even in the Subaru Field Service Manual. I'll bet you can guess my vote is for you to reuse them, just do not overtorque them 7ft-lbs on the ones that carry the seals, 14ft-lbs on the ones that just hold the cam. C: Yes, it is normal to have them numbered like this. it is to help you identify which ones go where. I always use a "Sharpie" and number them again myself, just to be sure I know where they go.

A: the solid appearance of the lifter is confirmation that you have Hydraulic Lash Adjusters, and do not need shims. The lifter itself is what is being called a bucket, as it is in the shapr of an inverted. . .bucket. On later models than yours, there is an indentation in the top (the part you can see) that holds a metal disk. That metal disk is the shim itself. YOur engine is much easier to work on (and should need less of it) than the later models of DOHC engines, as the valve clearances are adjusted automaticly. B: The Subaru Field Service Manual does not call for replacing the headbolts. For a lot of people that is good enough right there. Others are in the habit of replacing them as a matter of course, as many engine manufacturers do call for them to be replaced. There has been quite a lot of discussion on this particular topic (the term ad naseum comes to mind) and you will likely not get a consensus on that issue. My recomendation is do not bother, unless you really feel the need to (or if the bolt shows signs of fatigue). The bolts are not cheap, as they are not a commonly replaced item. C: that triangle is the "arrow" that you have likely heard referenced. On the back of this sprocket are 4 or so tabs or arms, that trigger the cam angle sensor. One of these (directly opposite the keyway) has a line on it that lines up with a notch in the front of where the cam angle sensor is mounted. That is what you line up. If the rest of the marks line up, then it is likely already lined up correctly.

The VC is the last item in the chain that involves Torque Bind. Replace it and the TB will be gone. Welcome to the fold! Also to the board. What happens (and what torque bind actually is, is that the center diff (VC) locks up binding the front wheels to the back. This is the same effect that 4WD trucks have, if they drive on pavement with the center diff locked. On a 4WD truck (or car), the center diff can be engaged or disengaged as needed. on an AWD car (or truck) this is accomplished using a limited slip type center diff. The VC is that center diff, and it's failure results in the symptom called torque bind. Sounds like you got a really great deal. Enjoy this car with confidence now that you have the one major problem corrected.