Gnuman

And with that engine in it I'll bet it just screams down the road too! Seriously, that is why I will never own anything in the Impreza line. . . I'd get arrested.

Is there a replacement belt that does not use this stitching, or can the stitching be disabled (removed) without an automatic failure at safety inspection time? Do you have a link to more info on this issue? I have that stitching on my 92, and have never liked it. It puts the buckle right in the door frame when it retracts, so the doors do not close right. If I remove the stitching, it may retract far enough to have the doors close properly, and hold me in place better if the worst happens. . .

Regarding the brakes themselves: how does the pedal feel when you hit the brakes (Hard, soft, normal?) ? I had a power booster go out on a Dodge caravan and it gave symptoms similar to yours (sometimes when hitting the brakes, the pedal would be very hard, and little or no reaction from the brakes themselves would be evident) This was intermitant, and therefore hard to diagnose. I put in a new booster (the large drum looking thing behind the master cylinder, on the firewall) and all was well again. Before you replace it, however, be sure it has good vaccume going to it. Besides that, check brake fluid level, condition of the pads, and condition of the rotors.

OK, I have the tools for this, if you want me to help. Give me a PM, or an email, and I'll give you a phone number to call to set up a time. Oh, and some things you should only use Genuine Subaru parts for. The Thermostat is one of them. While you are in there, a front crank seal and the O-ring ro the oil pump would be a good idea (this will keep you from having to go in there again). I'm pretty sure I have those parts as spares, though. (to send a private message or email, click on my name, and a page will come up with my info on it)

It is a Subaru. You got a good deal.

Do not go to that extreme. Not worth it. Heck, if you were not 3000 miles away, I would offer to come and help you with it. But the gas would kill me. . .

The '96 should. Not sure about the '95. Get the ECU as well, just to be sure about it.

Actually, only the rear door is changed in that pic. It is actually a "the metal is straight" door modification. There are a few other patches as well, where he got tagged. Got the car in his late 70's and gave up his license (and sold the car to my stepdaughter) in his early 80's. He passed away about a year and a half ago, sadly. Just before I aquired the car. My one regret is that he never got to see what I did to improve the car. He was very into functionality, and most of the improvements added to that. He could give a whit about bodywork however, and did not have any of the dings fixed. That is really the one thing that is wrong with Emily. Everything else is way better than any rational expectation. . . Here is a pic of the "Entertainment Center": Note that the CD player is out of an SVX, and the foot stays pinned to the firewall. . .

Looking at tirerack, I find the following: Bridgestone Turanza LS-T at $65 ea or Goodyear Regatta2 at $60 ea. There were actually 6 tires listed, but I eliminated all but these two. What are yor recomendations? Any experiences with either of these? My conditions are "spirited" driving (heh, I like the way they say that), mostly on road with some off road, all weather. I need a tire that can hit all 4 positions (both of these fit that), gives good traction under varied and sometimes severe weather, and lasts a long time. What I need most of all is reliability. I cannot afford to have to replace these tires because one of them failed. . . so the companies are Bridgestone and Goodyear. what is known about the rubber these folks put out?

It sounds to me that your choice of gear oil was not the cause of the problem, and may have helped a bit, but was too late. This sounds to me like your 2nd gear syncro ring is biting the big one, and needs to be replaced. How comfortable are you with taking a manual transmission apart and putting it back together? I'd give a look at 1stsubaruparts and see what new syncros cost. then we go from there. . .

I recomended the T-belt and pump because he has a bolt broken off inside the old one, and it is a lot easier to replace it than it is to extract the bolt. the pump is cheap enough that replacing it is a reasonable thing to do in this case.

You took the bolt all the way out right? soaked the area with penetrating oil. . . (BTW, PB Blaster works loads better than Liquid Wrench). . Hmmm, this is about the time I get pissed off and wail on the lower control arm (downward force just inside of the balljoint) and the thing pops out like nothing was holding it. . . Not that anything like that ever happened to me. . . No way, not a chance. Why are you asking that?

Those are not hot flashes, they are POWER SURGES. . .

Subie Gal, I think you just got the complete attention of every guy on this board. That is a sweet wagon you got there. I'm interested, though. Is there a reason to rally wagons instead of sedans? Stiffer body perhaps? You are the second person I've heard of rallying wagons. I would think the rear end would tend to wash out, or the weight to be too high for the size of the engine. . . Where am I wrong?

Both do, and they stay on. Also the fans are working correctly, as I verified later. This may have been an isolated glitch.

It is internal to the unit in the dash. The unit mentioned replaces the unit you have, and the storage pocket underneath.

There is a driving game linked to in the first post of this thread. Play the game, post your best time here. It is called having a bit of fun to blow off steam. . Oh, and no, I will not be playing that game. Might give me ideas and my passengers already tell me I drive like that.

from the link above: "On the outside, the Assurance TripleTred radials have a directional tread design with. . ." Oh well. I can't use them. I'll keep looking.

OK, I'm bumping this with a recap and as clear a description as I can give: I get ticking (sounds liek one tick per rev) when the clutch is not engaged (meaning that I have my foot pressing the clutch pedal). when I allow the clutch to engage, the ticking all but goes away, to be replaced by the squealing of the release berring. This is starting to piss me off, as I have put two clutches in this car (granted, they were both DuraLast because I did not have large wads of cash laying about when I needed them), and this one seems to have failed in the first 12K miles. well, I guess I'll have to live with it until I do the engine teardown at 200K (23K from now) and check everything out. When I put this clutch in, I found out that the flywheel had been cracked (small cracking radialy in the mating surface) for an unknown time. I replaced the flywheel with one that I had had resurfaced for the occasion and was known good. If I find that this fluwheel is likewise cracked, I will have to strangle someone. . . Probably an engineer at femco. . Oh, and an update on the A/C as well: the compressor siezed up on a road trip this weekend as I was defrosting the windshield. . . DOes anyone know if these can be rebuilt? Where? or how do I get parts/documantation? TIA

Update: the overheat was totally isolated, and I have not been able to reproduce it. I've also had the headers off recently and there is no problem with any of the studs, so that is all good. I'll be taking the engine down to bolts when she reaches 200K, just to check things out inside and be sure there is no untoward wear. I'll probably post a new thread at that time (likely to crow about how nice the engine is on the inside ).

If the bolt broke as you were taking it out then there is probably a problem right there. Personally, I would find it easier to just replace the water pump at this juncture, thereby eliminating two possable problems at once. What part of CA are you in again? Send me a PM if you are within 100Mi of SF or Sac, and want me to do the work. Unless the timing belt is fairly new, I would replace it at the same time so you know it has been done. I can do both parts at the same time, or you can.

The Outback is a great car, and I'm sure that you will enjoy it a lot when you find one. 100K miles, if really low miles for a Subaru, however, as these cars tend to go upwards of 200K miles. . . 140K is just about broke in. . .

Ok, Emily is a work in progress. I'm repairing the bodywork that the original owner let go (he was hit a few times in parking lots and such, so the original doors were pretty banged up). She is not the prettiest on the outside, but she runs like a top, and quick as all get-out. . . Look in my gallery for more. . .

the 96 EJ22 is not interference. That happened in 97.

A decent clutch kit by itself will run you about $300. Add to that getting the flywheel turned so you have a good surface for the new clutch to grip, and you are close to $400 all told. Still a great price. These prices reflect the costs here in California, so YMMV. . . That engine is all but indestructable, so you sould have quite a few good miles left in it. Yes, buy that car at that price (or less if you can get them to go any lower )