Gnuman

I would keep looking. There are a lot of good deals out there that do not have these kinds of issues right off the bat. What is meant by "long distance"? and how will it be towed to you? When you factor in the towing, it drives the cost of the car up considerably. . . Better to buy one that can be driven now. . .

When I got my Legacy wagon, the key I got was so worn that it only worked with "a lot of wiggling" and only if you put it in the right way up (the sides of the key were worn diferently), so I took the key to a locksmith and had him "read" the key for the code that it should have had. The guy working with me at first made several tries, and some were close, but still took a lot of wiggling. . . Finally the owner of the shop took it as a personal chalange to get a key that works. . . Charged me $25, and yes I'll do all my business with them in the future. . . Essentially, the key I had had worn down almost to the next size down on all of the positions. . . I had been effectively "picking the lock every time I unlocked the door or started the car. . .

It would happen fast if the crankshaft pulley was not touqued to spec. In that condition, every accel and decel of the engine puts torque on the pulley and shaft in different ammounts, which can shear the key. you got luckey that it broke down before that happened, or it could have been a lot worse. . . I would talk to the people at the dealership first, and see if they still have the old parts. if so, ask for them. then take the parts to your regular mechanic and have him look at them to see if he can diagnose what happened. . .

Often it is dificult to reasearch parts because different places /manufacturers/manuals have different names for the same part. A "Woodruff" or "Woodruff key" is the small bit of metal that lines up a sprocket (which may have been your crankshaft pulley, as it is toothed) with the correct position on the shaft it goes on. there will be a Journal on the shaft where this bit of metal slides in, and one on the sprocket/pulley. As the water pump is behind the timing belt, see if the dealership replaced this part as a matter of course. If they were being straight with you (you did get teh old parts back, right?), the slippage of the crankshaft pulley on the shaft may have damadged the timing belt (stretched it, or worn the teeth), and it should have been replaced. this should also have been reflected on the invoice, and makes the cost more reasonable. . .

Ron, I will add my vote that you get thee to a good mechanic now. A wheel berring effects steering, a sticking caliper effects steering and braking. If you cannot steer or brake properly there is no sense in going at all. Steering and brakes are always first priority with me for just that reason.

If it is in the condition that you describe, I would find a "Pull A Part" wrecker that has a similar car to yours (same year, and body type) and simply replace the rear hatch. The line that makes this the best route is "The whole panel on my rear hatch is rusted and in bad shape." This indicates that there may not be enough metal left on the rear hatch to make repairs to. . .

You know, you only live about 50 or 60 miles from me. . . PM me if you would like to meet. . .

Why do I not trust that mechanic?. . . .

Actually, I don't have any problems with the mechanic I use. . .I have known him all my life, and he is as careful with my car as I would be. Oh, wait, he IS me. . . .

Machine shop to get the hub pressed out of the berrings, and then the berrings out of the knuckle? When I had that work done here it only cost on the order of $35 a side all told. Sounds like you have had much more than $35 worth of frustration already. . . . Call around and see what prices are like in your neck of the woods. . .

Never use your thumb as a rule. . .

Well, my Subie was given to me as a derilict (cost too much for my stepdaughter to repair, so she gave it to me), and what I fell in love with first was the engineering of the car (one look under the hood and I was hooked, then I looked under the car and fell in love with it all over again). This car came to me with bad balljoints, and a half dead clutch as well as nearly bald tyres, so I have not really pushed it much as far as "the virtues of the handling" are concerned, but I do love the way it drives when I get into tight spots and need to get out of them. . .

I change the oil every 3,000 to 5,000 miles and it comes out still pretty clean. I don't worry about the quart that may be in the nooks and crannies, as it is still fairly good oil. I also change the oil "warm" (at operating temp) so it flows better. One thing I love about my Subie is that I don't even have to jack the car up to change the oil. Park on level ground, and I can crawl under far enough to reach everything just fine, and the catch pan fits great too. THis means that there is less distance for the oil to travel making it less messy from missing the catch pan. Also with the oil filter on the bottom, away from other components, there is little of ro chnace of the oil from the filter area "splashing" on things on the way to the catch pan. This is just one more thing I love about my Subie.

You are not wrong. This example probably came out in late 89, making it a '90 MY car.

If it were me, I'd go back to manchester and tell the Sales Manager about the salesperson that is misinforming customers. That kind of thing gives a black eye to the whole dealership, if not the marque itself. I have been hearing from several people that stealerships are giving out a lot of bad info. Something must be done to put an end to this. Subaru is such a great car that it would be a shame to drive people away with bad salespeople/service. . .

Last entry in the tire sizes/wheel sizes saga: I swapped the wheels back so I have my original wheels/tires back. I had driven around for about a week on the vans tires/wheels (about an inch on either side difference in offset) and those tires handled like crap, so I have decided to save up and get the better tires when I can. Bald tires that handle well are far better for me than tires that handle like crud with lots of tread on them. I'll keep the tires rotated, and stretch the tread life as far as I can to make it until I can get the good tires. I've been told that I have about 5,000 or 10,000 miles left in these, so I do have some tread on them. . . I just can't go rockclimbing for a while is all. . . Richierich, I'm still interested in those alloy rims if you still have them and they are 14". . .

removing the tie rod makes the alignment neccessary. the wheel should be off so you have room to work. you can DIY both jobs if you are failrly good with a wrench, and have a place to work on the car. The CV joints are rebuildable, meaning that they can be removed in order to use an OEM (solid) boot. It would also be a good time to inspect the other boots for cracks indicating that they may be getting ready to go as well.

That really sucks! Please keep us up to date on this issue. Sounds like you got a bum engine. I suspect that there is no way that your stealership will cover an engine swap under waranty to preserve thier (Subarus) reputation?

you can start here: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/performance/index.php?brand=exedy&brand_part=clutch_kit&brand_make=su&brand_model=legacy&brand_year=1994 or you can do a Google search for Excedy Clutches (that is how I got that link, and those are about the average prices I have found). Excedy is the brand of clutch that Subaru uses as OEM, so they should work very well for you. As for an adjustment, If you have a cable type clutch (this means you only have one master cylendar looking thing under your hood, on the left. If you have two of them, with ine in the middle of the rear of the engine compartment then you have a hydraulic type clutch), there are two nuts that you can loosten from each other (look near the center of the rear of the engine compartment, it will be there, on top of the transmission)and you can loosten the cable after the locknut is backed off. I can find no information on adjusting the hydraulic type, and I suspect there is no adjustment to be done as it is all done for you by the unit. Hope this helps (and is clear enough). On a 94 I don't know which system you use. Mine is a 92 AWD and I use the cable. . .

Oh, it gets cold here too (cold enough to put a sheet of frost on the windscreen), just not the COLD that you get up there. . .

In every car I have ever worked on, there has been one wiper motor (usually attached to the left wiper) with a linkage to the other blade. Often these linkages consist of several rods, with articulate as needed. My guess is that one of these joints is loostening up, and what you hear is a momentart catch of the rod on something, and the clunk is when it releases. . .

Do a search on this site for Leaking Sunroof. IIRC there was an issue of a hose that channeled the water away from the seals that had a tendancy to come loose. Perhaps one on each side? Others here will be able to give you better info on this though. . .

If that was the case, wouldn't the battery take up the slack when the alt dropped the ball? My suspicion is a failing ignition switch (when you manually turn off the key and turn it back on, the duration would be longer, or perhaps only one of several contacts is bad) This is just a swag, however, nad should be taken with a grain of salt (swag == Scientific wild arsed guess)

Emily, can you tell me more about the EJ27 XT6 OHC 6 cylinder engine, and how well it would fit in a 92 Legacy that came with an EJ22 (n/a)? Are there any weaknesses in that engine that would make it a bad choice for an upgrade? I'm looking at years down the line when my EJ22 crosses the half mil mark, but I will be wanting something solid at that time as well. . .

As the Caravan is deadlined for the time being, there is no problem there. Yeah, I get a bet more sidewall flex on the taller tires, but I don't drive it that hard. . .mostly. . . the offset is pretty significant, with the Caravan wheels sitting further away from the brake components (so the car has an inch or two wider stance than before), and I drove it today and clearance is just fine, even stop to stop. . . The tires were all but new on the Caravan when that car got deadlined (registration problems, and it took too much gas for what we got out of it), so circunfrence wouldn't be a problem, as they were rotated regularly, and did not have many miles to begin with. . .