Gnuman

A manual with Torque Bind is really rare, which is why the mechanics have so much less experience with it. really only one component that fails to produce the torqu bind in a manual: the center diff (viscous coupling). In an Automatic there are several reasons that "torque bind" can occur. Because there are more points of failure, failure is much more frequent.

Turn it until the double marks on the top and bottom cam sprocket line up. There is a single mark (180* offset on the top, and 90* offset on the bottom) that lines up with a notch in the rear timing belt cover. I recomend a small (perhaps dental type?) mirror to see the marks and notch for the bottom cam sprocket. You can turn the cam sprocket in either direction by hand using a 17mm box wrench if you are careful. I'm pretty sure the bottom left exaust valves do not hit anything with the engine in this position, so you should be OK. The left side cam sprockets are the bigest PITA on this engine. After these, everything else is easy. Hmm, you talk about the "right" side, but those are not under tension when lined up for a timing belt. The left side isw the only one that may "jump out of your hand" as it is under tension. All side definitions given by Subaru, and thusly by me are when viewed from the driver's seat.

And the reason is simple: lower ride height. The higher you are above the ground, the worse the cornering will be, and the more unstable the car will be at speed. You want the car to go faster, lower it 3" and call it a Legacy. Oh, and I'd bet that the ECU has a lower fuel cut off due to the handling limitations. Then again, from what I saw in the top speed thread, perhaps everything is set to cut off at 120MPH? That would just be sad. . .

Nah, it just takes a lot less brains. . . At 140, I would be doing nothing but driving. Perhaps someone else could take the pic over my shoulder?

You have to get the engine first (be sure to also get the matching ECU), pull out the old engine and drop in the new one. is yoru Outback a 2.2, or a 2.5L? I'm working on a 96 Outback with a 2.5L engine right now, and thought that most/all of the Outbacks were 2.5L's No, the FSM has procedures for both engines. Hmmm. . . OK, if you have a manual tranny, then it is a bit easier than if you have an auto. The transmission are right in the way of the left side bell housing bolts, making getting at (at least the lower one) dificult at best. In either case, pull the fans and radiator to give yourself room to pull the engine off the tranny and get it out of the car. Pulling either engine is 5-6 Hrs for one person and a hoist. This makes the swap a weekend job at least. Do you have a second car to drive while the work is being done?

The "rear end sag" is because the 92-94 rear springs are shorter than the 90-91 version. Your car is a 93, so the 92-94 rear springs should be fine. If you want the rear end to sit up a bit (I tow with my car and the hitch often hits the ground, even when unloaded, due to the steep driveway ramps and gutters around here. Because of this I would want the back end to sit up a bit) then get a set of '90-91 rear springs as well. You can go low cost now, and maybe have to replace them in a few years, or you can spend a bit more now and not have to replace them again within the expected lifetime of the car. If you do a search on struts for a 90-94 Legacy you will find that most of the links point you to people that sell KYB. There is a reason. I'm also saving up to repalce my struts, as they are worn out. I plan on getting a full set of AGX (from KYP. Enough letters for you? ) because my expected use makes them very desireable. When towing I like to be able to have stiffer struts than I normally would. This is a $500 proposition, and not what I would recomend fo you. GR-2's would be the direction I would point you in. Look for a set. They are cheaper that way (but you may have to save up for them). The very cheapest method is to simply grab the JY struts and use them, despite the fact that they are likely worn. That way, you can have the time to save up for the good stuff. . .

Damn that's purdy!

What the FSCK?!?!?! If the engine is sludging up at 2K (or even 3K) then there is a major problem with the design of that engine. This indicates that the engine is getting hot enough to boil the oil to sludge, or the filter is not holding the sediment from the engine (because it is producing too much?) then the root problem needs to be corrected. Telling the customer that he needs to change the oil more often is not a solution.

Please do not act on those thoughts. . . There are three problems with that plan: 1) with the airbox disconnected, the car will not run, or will run very poorly, as you are effectively disconnecting the MAP/MAF by doing so, and the ECU looses a lot of it's real-time data (used to adjust mixture) 2) There is a danger of fire due to spillage. 3) I stand with Josh (Legacy777) on this one. Do not use solvents in the venturi area (that is what the airbox feeds into) of the Throttle Body. there are long wearing sealants in there, that may be washed away, causing more problems down the road. there was also a comment about using a full can of Seafoam and a possability of it causing the O2 sensor to go out. I do not see this happening, unless the O2 was already on the way out from age and the crap thrown at it before the Seafoam was used. In my '92 I used a full can through the small vac hoses on the TB. No problems with the O2, Milage went up, and the car was (and continues to be) a lot "peppier". This was a second application, as the first was half a can, and I was not sure how long the application lasted. The car choked out at the halfway mark and I threw the rest in the fuel. A few months later, I tried again to be sure I kept the good running that I had gained. Since the car did not choke out at all, I have to assume that the first application worked very well.

Good choice from everything I've heard and seen. Exedy makes the OEM clutches for Subaru, and their product surpases everything else I've seen made for street use.

Thanks, Hondasucks. I'm bumping this so more of the 4EAT Gurus can see it. Update: the "clutchpack" is not binding at all, so we are on to the elsctronics and function of the Duty C.

Not a wiseguy at all. What you would be buying is just this: The wrong part. I also ordered plug wires for a 98 Outback 2.5 DOHC. they sent me plug wires for an imprezza (2.2L). The wires were about 2" too short to fit at all. There are two places that a tranny filter could be on a 96. One is on the left frame rail just behind the radiator, and the other one is on the side of the tranny behind the left halfshaft. If ou do not see a filter in either of thise places, there is not one. in 96 they just used a magnetic drain plug to catch metal particles so they did not tear up the insides of the tranny (or get caught and clog up some passage). In later models, they added a cartridge filter (like the engine oil filter) to catch non-metalic particles as well, in order to extend transmission life. If you do have a filter cartridge, I would replace it with a fluid flush, but the interval for that is still a lot of miles. . .(put the new filter on after the flush, BTW)

eseiler, I'll make it easy for you. The '96 4EAT does not have a filter. Nope, not anywhere. Only a magnetic drain plug. This changed on later models, which used the spin on filter behind the left halfshaft. Earlier models had a filter inline to the ATF cooler in the radiator, but the '96 is sadly without one. I'm working on a '96 Outback transmission now, and I looked all over that thing for a tranny filter, and did not find one anywhere. . .

I also find myself in the CCR camp. there are too many problems with this engine, all stacked on top of each other. The other option is to get an engine from a junk yard, but the CCR engine would have a warranty that the JY engine would not. This makes CCR a much safer bet. . . With the lifters not holding pressure, and the rod knock I'm betting you are not getting oil pressure, which means that you will likely find that other parts have been eaten as well. The biggest mistake you can make here is opting to rebuild this engine instead of getting a rebuilt one from CCR or someplace similar.

Tthe oil pump should last the life of the engine, but you should service it when you change the timing belt. That means new front crank seal, O-ring, tighten the five screws that hold the backing plat onto the pump, and reseal it when you put it back on. You can do this every time you change the TB, or every other time. Your choice. The oil pump lasts so much longer than the water pump because there is no torsion on the drive for the unit. With the WP, the drive is a shaft that is pressing sideways against the back of the TB. with the oil pump, there is no sideways pressure. It is driven by the flat spots on the crankshaft, against matching flat spots on the drive gear in the pump itself.

OK, I need help, seriously. I have the FSM for '96-'04 Outbacks, and I was reading it when I realised that I was finding it recreational. . . I'm sick, I tells ya!! OK, the hole in the rear drive shaft shoots tranny fluid into the piston, compressing the driven plates into the drive plates, causing power to be transfered to the propeller shaft, and then to the rear diff, and the rear wheels. OK, now that I know that, I can go on with the diagnosis. Looks like the pressure is always there, but the Duty C solenoid bleeds it off, releasing the rear wheels as needed. This does not explain how a failing Duty C can be fixed by placing the fuse in the FWD fuse holder. . . Still working on that one. OK, new info: the previous owner knew about the torque bind, situation, and the car was bought from him, not the dealer that serviced it. I also learned that the car had been stolen from him a while back. No mention of it being towed, but I suspect that now. There is no record of the tranny ever having been replaced. Parts to replace the clutchpack are on the order of $800, so refurbishing it is the order of the day. Ollks straightforward enough. I printed the salient parts of the manual out for reference. Should be good to go. Will post updates. . .

That seriously sounds like the clutch cable broke. To double check, look on top of the transmission, just to the left (driver's side) of center. You will find an arm with two cables attached to it. The top one is the clutch acuating cable (the one you suspect is broken), and the bottom is the hillholder cable. If the top cable is loose enough to pull more than a quarter inch out, then you have the problem in your hands. . .

OK, I'm comfortable with just about any other part of a Subaru, but I'm lagging a bit on the 4EAT, particularly in the area of the extension housing and how exactly the clutchpack works as well as how to correct torque bind. As I understand it, the clutchpack is just like a motorcycle clutch, except that it is normally free moving, instead of bound. On a motorcycle you have a lever (either cable actuated, or hydaulicly activated) that releases the pressure on the clutch plates, disengaging it. If I understand correctly, the clutchpackis normally loose, but when the tranny is driving the car, the clutchpack engages the rear wheels, unless there is a voltage supplied to the Duty C solenoid to release the trans fluid pressure, and disengage the clutchpack. This is what the FWD fuse does, forces full voltage to the Duty C solenoid to lock out the rear diff. Without the fuse, the TCU engages oe disengages the clutchpack (by use of the DutyC solenoid) based on the readings of various sensors. One problem I'm also having is where, exactly, does the tranny fluid push on the clutchpack rings to press them together? I took the extension housing off of a 90 4EAT and traced the workings of the Duty C solenoid and the clutchpack, but copuld not see where the rings were getting pressed together from. If someone could point this out it would greatly improve my understanding of this whole problem. Am I correct so far? As I further understand it there are two basic types of torque bind that happens to these trannies: what we will call type 1 is where the Duty C solenoid fails, and putting the FWD fuse it causes the torque bind to go away (I have problems with this as we will diiscuss later) What we will call type 2 is where the clutchpack has gotten all gummed up with burnt tranny fluid and has siezed together. Putting the FWD fuse in does not cure this and you need to replace the clutchpack(?) to cure this type. Now I have a few problems with this. With Type1, if it is the Duty C solenoid, how does the FWD fuse engage it? Would it not be more likely that it is one of the sensors or the TCU that has failed, and the Duty C is in fact still good? If not, why does the FWD fuse (that engages the Duty C to full lockout) fix this, when the Duty C has failed? With type 2, what part do you actually replace ( a friend went to a dealer and asked for a clutchpack and they did not know what he was talking about)? are you still with me? I have a problem with a 96 4EAT that gives the following problems: 1) there is constant drag in the system that is causing the milage to drop horribly. (feels like a constant brake drag, that gets worse when you try to turn at all. . .) 2) Torque bind of Type 2 (FWD fuse does not help). My suspicions (not fully checked out): The torque bind is obvious, but the cause of it is not. the tyres are all of the same type, and all seem to be new. Perhaps this was not always the case (the car was bought at a dealer, that did not want to deal with the torque bind problem), but it is now. Is it possable that the tranny was replaced in the past and the rear diff does not match it? wiould this cause the problems I'm experiencing? I'm sure that it is too late to save this clutchpack, unless I recondition it myself (which is possable). There is also the possability of swapping in a 4EAT from a 2001 into this car with the matching diff, or is this asking for trouble? is there a large difference between the '96 and the '01 4EAT? If I grab the trannym diff and TCU, would it plug and play, or are there major wiring problems that would need to be dealt with? Those are the two solutions that I can see at the moment: recondition the cluthpack, or swap the tranny + diff + TCU. I will be checkign out the gear ratios on Monday, as well as checking out any other options that you bring to the table.

Sounds like the compressor died. Old age and whatnot? the 92-24 struts will work. I recomend KYB as they are the best. GR-2's will give you about 15% stiffer ride than factory standard. They can be found online for as little as $65 a pop. To be completely certain that the car remains level, you may want to get new topmounts and springs. This may turn out to be an unnecessary expense however. there may be cheaper struts out there, but the KYB's are what Subaru uses for good reason.

If you put thwe tranny from the GT into your L, get the rear differential as well to be sure that the final gear ratios match. The 2.2 (L) engine will fit fine in the 2.5 GT chasis, but you may have to swap the ECU as well, to prevent throwing a code for no good reason. . .

P185 70r14

Actually, teh alt tester at autozone is all but worthless. It does not show what is happening under load. I just replaced an alt for a friend that the tester passed, but the alt was in fact bad (not putting out juice).

While you are giving out recomendations. . . I'm looking for a good all season tire that is inexpensive, wears well (long tread life) and can be used with a 5 wheel rotation schedule (meaning it will see all positions on the car, so it has to roll well both ways). I'm using a full sized spare, so that has to be factored into the rotations, in order to protect my tranny. . .

I cannot think of any reason you couldn't. IIRC, the lower end of the EJ25 stayed the same during those years. The top end and intake changed a bit, but the lower end was (I'm pretty sure) the same.

28psi is way too low for todays tires. the pressure that Subaru recomends is for 20 year old tires that are no longer sold. Your pressure of 35-38psi is about right.