Gnuman

I have to agree: Get Craftsman. A good metric set will be a great start on the tools you need. Add a 1/2" drive breaker bar if you do not already have it, as well as the universal joint adapters. Most used sockets are 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm and 19mm. get those in several types (regular, deep, 1/2" drive and 3/8"drive as well as combination wrenches) After you get the basic set, add as needed, and always with more Craftsman. THat is the brand that I have never had a problem with. Everything else (other than the ones that drive around in a truck) is junk in comparison. . .

I tow regularly with my 92 Legacy wagon. I think my heaviest load was about 1000# more than the weight of the car. . . The 2.2 handled it just fine. the suspension, however. . Well, it was gone before I startted the tow, s it was not the tow that killed it, but I really felt it trying to jacknife on me when I got to speed on the freeway. It was fine at the rated speed of the dolly, however, which was 45MPH. Anything over that and the back end started to shimmy. the car is rated to pull 1500#, and I was over double that. I would not worry overmuch about carrying a snowmobile from place to place in town.

What part of California are you in? I'm in the Bay Area (SF). Many Auto Prts stores will pull the codes for you (AutoZone comes to mind) to give you an idea what is going on. My 92 wagon gives 250-300 miles to the tank driven "aggresively". . . Things to look for to improve milage: is the air filter in good condition? are the plugs in good shape? what is your driving style like? (this is where I loose milage ) If you are getting a CEL (Check Engine Light) what codes are being stored? how old is your O2 sensor? (they are good for about 100K miles) Are your tires properly inflated? (go by the pressure on the tire, not on the door panel) The list goes on. . .

As a driver rated for vehicles up to and including small Tractor Trailers (12 wheels, but not 18. It is a weight thing.) I feel a need to chime in here with my $.02(US). Truck drivers use a lot of mirrors to minimise blind spots, but they still know that they cannot eliminate them with mirrors. Myself, I would put them on my car, because I'm used to them, but if someone is distracted by them, I would be the first to help them take the suckers off. Mirrors only help when they are in a format that you are comfortable with. Outside of that, they reduce visability. I frequently have a trailer attached to my Legacy, and that is just hard to see around. . . That, by the way, is why truck drivers use all those mirrors: they have no other chioice for a way to see what is on the other side of the truck. Given annother option (like, say, a ground guide) they take it, as a direct visual is far better than even the best of mirrors. As for race drivers? Yes they turn thioer heads a lot, and they have people in the infield to tell them what is going on around them. They still get into accidents. Now, on the point of looking over your shoulder to see if a lane is clear: This is the recomended method, endorsed by every traffic safety officer I have ever heard of. the time it takes to do this is really no more than it takes to scan your mirrors, and your instruments. Most people spend a lot longer than that not looking through the windshield (how long does it take you to tune in a radio station, for example? Or to adjust the climate controls?). The few seconds that it takes to look over your shoulder to be sure the lane is clear could save a life, or at the least a lot of expensive bodywork. . .(on you and the car). One last note: the Legacy Mirrors do not have a large supply of "real estate", and the only spot mirrors that fit without impeding the usefulness of the primary mirror are the ones that are primarily for motorcycles (1", IIRC) and they are useless for lane changes. Good for parking, or backing a trailer, but not much more.

Mainly because our cars have already far outlasted the warranty, while continuing to run great (and regularly spank much younger cars. . .) with 170K miles on the ticker, I have been out of warranty for how long now?

Only missing when it is started? that sounds like a faulty temp sensor (the two wire one that feeds the ECU) giving false readings that say that the engine is already warm, when it is not. Just a wild guess though, without the codes in question.

Yes, the '92 is equipped with a knock sensor, and this is a classic symptom of it going bad. Often they crack and start giving false readings (wich causes the ECU to retard the timing causing the hesitation/missing). They are fairly cheap, and they are really easy to replace. Many auto parts stores will pull the codes for you for free, so you can use that to narrow down what the root of the problem is. I'm adding myself to the camp that is betting that it is the knock sensor.

with the procedure used on the head bolts (torque, release, touque, then tighten a number of degrees in two steps) there is no doubt that they should not be reused. This procedure is called "torque to yield" and deforms the bolt. If the specification was to a particular torque setting, then there may be some degree of question on whether to replace them. That is not the case with these engines. In particular on the EJ25, on which the head gaskets are a weak point, I would replace the head bolts. To do otherwise is just inviting trouble. Trouble has a habit of accepting invitations. . .

Not if it is binding due to corrosion (rust). Frag, I had to do the same thing on my 92 Legacy when I first got it. I came up with the solution after noticing that the handle was not releasing all the way. The car had also been rear-ended, and when I was given the car, it was with a non-functional rear hatch. . . Total repair time was an hour (I also had to pull the latching ring towards the back of the car so the hatch indicator would go out when the door closed. . .) and regular lubrication. Seems this is a fairly common problem.

Actually, I suspect that it is more a matter of road grit hitting the headlights and scratching them over time. . .

A large C clamp works just as well, and is a lot cheaper and easier to carry than a vise. . .

Unless it is simply a bad switch. That should be a failry cheap and easy fix as well. . .

Someone posted in the New Gen forum asking for local shops to identify themselves. I also see a lot of "Old Gen" Subies driving around, and would like to extend an invitation to them as well. I have posted an ad in the Subaru Marketplace for my Mobile Repair Service: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=327168#post327168 Feel free to call the number in the ad, or send me a PM if you have need of my services.

In case anyone is actually interested, I have listed my services in The Subaru Marketplace, where I feel more comfortable advertising my services (it is more on-topic there) http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=327168#post327168 Yes, I'm open for business, feel free to call the number in the ad, or send me a PM under my name on here.

If it is not under warranty, I can put the new clutch in for you. Go online and get the upgraded clutch disc, then give me a PM. The alternative is to wait until the clutch starts slipping (as it will do all too soon, as that chattering is tearing up the clutch lining), and have me replace it then. The advantage to going with me over a shop is that I come to you so you do not have to leave the car for days at a shop. I'm also cheaper than a shop, as I have less overhead. On a clutch replacement, I also send the freewheel out to be surfaced so that the new clutch has a good surface to grab onto. This increases the life of the new clutch dramaticly, not to mention the performance of same. . .

cheapest fix I know of is a small dab of brake fluid to take the heavy stuff off, followed by a wet rag with cheap toothpaste (the paste kind, not gel. Go to a "dollar store" to get it really cheap, or some stores sell sample sizes cheap) to buff out the remaining haziness. Worked great on my '92 Legacy Wagon. Dry rag with the brake fluid (and just a small ammount of brake fluid) wet rag with the toothpaste. The toothpaste works exactly the same as the plastic polish, for the same reason. It is made the same way.

Also check the radiator cap. If it is worn, replace it. That is what it was on my car, and it is a cheap fix. A genuine Subaru one will run you in the range of $15 from the stealership. . .

Rusty, I seem to be the only one that has responded to this thread, either as a shop or as a customer. If you need more work done on your Impreza, give me a PM (look at the top right of the page for a link, or you can click on my name in this thread as well). I will admit that I was a bit wary of responding to this in this forum, as this seems to be the kind of thing you want to post in the Marketplace (look at "Forum Jump", in the lower right)

I say move into a place that has a driveway that is not a deathtrap. . . ANd disable the hillholder until you do.

They tried that with the SVX, and did it poorly. Don't get me wrong, the SVX is a great car, but it was not able to compete in that arena. Something about not offering a manual tranny, I think. . . It would be nice to get an EJ30(?) H6 with a manual. Both the LL Bean Outback and the Tribeca have only autos available. Hasn't Subaru learned yet that only offering an auto tranny on an H6 will kill the trannies, and the platform with them?

Are you OK? what happened? Sorry to hear about the loss of your Forester, good luck on finding a new one!!

I'm putting my responses in red so you can tell who is talking when. My two biggest advantages over a regular shop is that I come to you, so you do not have to bring your car in, and as I have minimal investment, I can charge a lot less than a shop has to. One other advqantage is that I actually like Subarus, and find them to be very well engineered cars. I have been doing shop work for a group that transplants engines out of totaled 1st Gen Legacies into Volkswagon Vanagons. In the service of that shop I performed repairs that It would have taken me years to encounter in a normal environment.

Oh the odo is fine ( I did check it, on the trip). My typing, however. . . 12000 miles for the round trip. 3K just on the return from Boston. . . Talk about versatility! the car handles like a sports car (and has the top end to go with it), and after a days worth of driving, I pull into a rest stop and flip down the seatback pull out my sleeping bag and take a nap in the car. In that it is AWD, I spent some of that time on unpaved roads in the rain. . . Took it to a hand car wash one day and this Land Rover pulled in behind me. . . I'll bet my car had more mud on it than the LR had ever seen in it's life. . . And yes I use it to pull stuck 4X4's out of the muck when it is needed. . .

I think you will find what you want here: http://www.subaru.com/owners/schedules/index.jsp?navid=SCHEDULE_2003 Hope this helps. Oh, and the '03 does not have a Haynes manual out yet. "there are not enough of them on the road to make it worth it yet"

Just because it is "supposed to go off-road from time to time" does not mean that it actually will. Now, my 92 Legacy Wagon has gone off road ( a bit anyway) but that is me, not Barhard. to give an accurate answer to his question, we really need to know exactly what he wants out of his tires. My own needs in tires is good all weather capability, long life, good handling on and off-road, and they have to be usable with a 5 tire rotation pattern, as I use a full sized spare. I wear a P185/70[]14 (put whatever speed rating in there that you want) and need to buy in sets of 5. Oh and price is also important as I need to be able to afford 5 tires at once. . .