Gnuman

92 Legacy sedan AWD 4EAT 160K miles EJ22. Recently replaced engine as camshafts in the old one siezed after the heads were surfaced. Flashing Power light, so I did the TCU dance to get the codes. Got only one for existing as well as previous: 12 Duty Solenoid B. Did a search in this forum for Duty Solenoid B and got a lot of description on how to get the codes (thanks) and what they mean, but nothing on what Duty B does, or how to replace it if needed. More info below: Transmission seems to shift fine. Torque Bind is NOT evident. No noticable problems with transmission operation Speedo acts strangely (intermitantly): displays 2x speed. (this only happens when just starting. Goes away after a few moments) Nothing done to transmission during engine swap. Connectors not touched at that time at all. Did check that they were tight when the speedo problem was noticed. OK, Transmission Gurus, What'cha got for me?

at least then the air intake was way up high. . . *sigh*

OK, took a look at both of them yesterday. the DOHC had jumped time on the crank sprocket and I had not noticed it when putting the belt on. three teeth, IIRC. that one is fixed. the SOHC had the passenger side cam sprocket break where it seats on the camshaft. the pin that holds the sprocket in place came out and ate the keyway. It'll be needing a new sprocket and camshaft. The engine came with a warranty, and we will be trying to get them to pay for the repairs. The 99 Forester did come with one metal and one plastic cam sprocket. This still feels to me to be an engineering decision based more on sake than science. . .

I put an Outbqack clutch in mine, and get a real good hold from it. feelsw a bit heavy, but it does not break loose when I take off hard. . . the Outback is a 2.5l engine (160hp) while the Legacy is a 2.2l engine (130hp). that difference means that the clamping pressure for the Outback clutch is higher, and it holds better under acceleration. I also put in a lighter flywheel and that makes the pickup very impressive. Be warned, however, as this setup seems to incoporate a footmagnet (your right foot will be drawn to the floor when it is over the accelerator). . .

Yeah, I have seen all plastic (DOHC engines) and all metal (SOHC engines) before, but not one of each. that is what is bothering me about that engine. i'll be taking a look at the front end of at least one of them today or tomorrow.

That is interesting, but the engine ran well before the work, and I did not replace any of the sprockets. I did replace the seals and timing belt, but not any of the sprockets. That bad part replacement may have been an issue with the 99 unit though, as I have never seen cam sprockets that are of differing materials.

OK, I have been fixing on a lot of Subies but this week I saw two things I have never seen before: 1st is a 99 Forester, 2.5l SOHC. I got the call to repair this after the owner discovered the hard way that "it runs better with oil in it". I was called in to check out the replacement engine and make it the best it could be, before I swapped it in. OK, done. two days later I get a call that a loud clattering had been heard and could I check it out? I go to the car and there is a hole in the side of the timing belt cover, and a couple of bits of broken plastic laying on the top of the rock guard that covers the bottom of the engine. Inspection shows that one of them is a part of the t-belt cover, and the other looks to be part of a cam sprocket. When going over the engine, I had noticed that one cam sprocket was plastic, and the other one metal. I found this strange, but I had seen other things on Subarus that made me suspect that large amounts of sake were used during the design process. I thought nothing of it. I also had remarked that the P/S pump had a bent pulley. Now I suspect that the plastic cam sprocket was either a replacement for a broken metal one, or had tiny stress fractures that were invisable to my eye. I will be taking the front of the original engine apart for comparison. Have any of you seen this one metal and one plastic arangement on any SOHC 2.5? the other is a 98 with the DOHC 2.5. Now, I have done dozens of these with never a problem. This one is running real rough, and even trying to run backwards (it will backfire through the throttle body first, then start running backwards) The only thing I can think of is that I read the cam sprockets wrong, setting the timing a tooth off, or it jumped somehow. Anyone have any other ideas on what it might be?

It is the power cord to your installed block heater. I have one too. If you are in a particularly cold climate, plugging that into 120VAC at night will keep teh coolant from freezing, which would damage your engine. That block heater is also part of the "cold weather package".

It means that the car is certified to be pre-owned. . . Also it means that the car has had an inspection on a number of standard items which can have an effect on reliability. The value of this inspection (and whatever corrective action) is dependant entirely on the quality of the dealership doing them. In some cases they are very good. In other cases, they have no value at all. IMO, getting a certified car does little more than give you leverage to complain loudly about anything on the checklist until they make it right. This leverage lasts perhaps a month after buying the car.

True, Emily does not have much if any rust (I have not found any), while I recently did a repair of another 92 Legacy wagon from upstate NY. Identical car except that there was almost nothing left of the body on that one. . . I had just bought a tire from a dealer (emergency repair, and my center diff was already toast) that he could not keep air in for love or money. I got pissed off and went to my usual tire dealer and saw the deal on a set of 4 tires and wheels. I had been wanting spoked wheels for a while (I like the look), so I jumped on a set of 5. The tires are a maint item, and the wheels are an upgrade. The front end parts are because the front end was rattling badly (turns out to be mostly the old wheels kept throwing weights), and a check found all those parts worn. This is also something I was expecting, so I had been stockpiling the parts. When the exaust went and I found everything worn, I decided to finish the job so I can get an alignment. It will be a while before I get the AGX struts I want, so it will be worthwhile to do so. As for someone taking off with them, I need a key to get into the lugnuts as they are a special tight clearance type. This reduces the likelyhood of someone randomly taking off with my wheels. Also, I live in a bit safer neighborhood than that anyway. . .

Well you know what they say about the shoemakers kids and all, right? With nearly 230,000 miles on her, I have done next to nothing to Emily other than oil changes (OK, two clutches, timing belt, reseal, and HG's so I could have a peek at the cyl walls). Other than that, everything I did was an upgrade. I went from steel to alloy wheels, upgraded the seats, upgraded the radio (by getting an older one), added a hitch, roof rack, and spoiler, as well as putting in a sunroof. After all that, what could possably be needed? I just replaced the exaust header and O2 sensor, because the old header broke. As I was putting that on, I checked out the front end. . . and had to order both ball-joints, both outer tie-rod ends, both inner tie-rod ends, and a wheel berring. Well, the 100,000 miles that I put on it were not exactly easy miles. . . Carying engines, towing cars, filling the car up with tools so I can tear down someone elses engine to fix it. . . Well, even after I spent all that money on repair parts that were worn (the inner tie rods were worn enough to move the wheel, but the outer ones were OK. I just wanted to be sure there were no problems down the line) I still felt that Emily deserved a reward for how well she had served me all those miles. so I got her these. $600 for a set of 5 with new tires. I'll probably get a new center diff as well, when I get more cash. After that, all I need is driving lights and maybe paint and body work.

Say, could you email me the "better resolution" version that you have? Might come in handy for the work I'm doing. It would be of interest in any case. My email is available through my profile (click on my name).

In my opinion, puttng stop leak in a steering rack is like a suicide attempt. There are just too many places it could clog up a needed passageway, impeding your ability to steer the car. You would, of course, find this out at high speeds. . . Well, I have all my spare parts (at least for the work I'm going to be doing) and will be replacing the parts that are worn on my rack (boots, inner and outer tie rods, I'm also putting new rack bushings in as the old ones are torn). I'll report what I find when I get in there. The total job also includes both ball joints and one wheel berring. C'mon! it has 230,000 miles on it fer goshsakes! Oh, and I almost forgot, the ECU temp sender. Not all of the parts are for certain gone, but I'm taking no chances.

You say that the boot/bellows on the pasenger side is leaking Power Steering Fluid (which should be Dextron II ATF, by the way)? If this is the case, and you are not actually leaking grease from this area, then you need to completely rebuild or replace the steering rack. ATF/PS Fluid should never reach this area. You have blown O-rings at the very least. Yes, the driver's side looks perfect, but it hurts a lot less to be sure than it can if you take chances. Two things that you do not gamble with: steering and brakes.

I hear a lot of people complaining about the items I mentioned above as reasons not to get a Subaru. Yes, the Suby Outback is a favorite in the Lesbian market. Probably because they are built so well, and they do not have to deal with "shady" mechanics that often. "Sexy" styling being less important than "until the end of time" reliability. . . As for the tranny, it belongs in a truck! Yes, it is very reliable, but the early 4EAT models were prone to problems. And as for milage, there are people that think that 22-27MPG is pooe milage for a small wagon. What they are missing is that this is actually a very capable 4-wheel-drive vehicle that also has quite a bit of performance. Not a lot of cars out there can match the Subaru, at any fuel milage. I happen to love my Subaru quite a bit. I will of course freely admit that I am indeed a Lesbian.

Well, I can see you are infected by Subaru Fever. It is usually caused by driving one. There are very few cures for this, and even they only work sometimes. I will now try and save you from this "illness": * Subarus are the #1 Lesbian car of choice. * The dreaded headgasket problem. * Subarus eat transmissions. * You have to buy your tires in sets of 4 or you will kill the transmission. * Subarus get sucky gas milage. Anything? No? Oh well, I guess you are "incurable" then. Welcome to the family. . . is your 95 a sedan or a wagon? Manual or automatic? can't wait for pics!!

Emily, my 92 legacy wagon (5MT) has 223,000+ miles on the clock. Just got a new exaust header from 1stsubaruparts.com for under $400. While it was up on jackstands, I investigated the knocking I had been hearing in the front end whenever I went over bumps. . . and ordered just under $300 more in parts to rebuild the front end (some of this was mainly to make the whole front end like new). The front end is all my fault, as the last 100K miles have been mine, and let's just say. . . I'm not gentle with her. Pegasus, the 90 Legacy wagon (4EAT) I got for the ex-wife is also sitting just under 220,000 miles. Has a stalling problem at idle with no codes. I shot some carb cleaner at the IAC to see if that helps. Some of the front end parts I bought for Emily, are actually for Pegasus. I do a lot of repair on Subarus, and I see a lot of them that are well over 200K miles, and still going strong. So in answer to your question about the average life span of a Subaru, I can only say "long". Oh, and as for "the many lemon years", in the mid 90's most, if not all, the Asian auto manufacturers went to an open deck design on thier engines. This has resulted in a lot of trouble with headgaskets across the board. The problem is corrected in the early models with a redesigned headgasket. Not sure of what the final solution for the later models is, but the new ones have apearantly corrected the problem entirely.

Wrong. Torque Bind is AWD only, but it happens in both manual AND automatic transmissions. The manual is more robust, but if you abuse it enough, it will develop the bind. It is just more common in automatics, as there are more components to fail that will cause this symptom.

OK, why is it that every time Subaru comes up with a new design for any of thier cars, everyone screams bloddy murder? This car is ugly as sin, that car is so ugly that it spells impending doom for the entire company, yada yada yada. . . If this styling is so ugly, why are so many companies using similar stuff? That hatchback looks to be a great car, particularly for younger drivers or folks that need interior room but do not want a wagons size. It seems that this is a great urban car. If by "old fart car" you mean sophisticated, yeah some of the new designs do have that look. Personally, I do not have anything against the styling of the new Subarus that I have seen. I don't look on the outside anyway. It is what is under the hood that counts. I'll have to wait and see what that turns out to look like.

Well, I went and cut the tape. No codes stored. Bah. Fast forward to the next day: On the way to a customer, I got the CEL again, pulled over and pulled the code: 21 - Coolant Temprature Sensor Part is on order, should arrive by Tuesday. After 223,000 miles without problems, I guess she is due a temp sender. . .

Or you can call me (925)354-7718 (Sanjay). I'm mobile, so I come to you to do any work. Give me a call and we'll talk.

OK, I've come to a decision. I'm gonna cut the tape and read whatever codes are stored in there. Thinking about it honestly, I'm never gonna let this car go until it is completely gone (way, WAY in the future) and no one will know or car it the diagnostic connectors are still taped up from the factory. On the other hand I know that they were in that condition for over 200,000 miles, and that is what really counts. If I get teh coded, I will know what the ECU is complaining about, and can fix it. If it is just the O2 sensor, I will have the benifit that I have nothing else to worry about on teh car. The new Y-pipe and O2 are on thier way even now, so that particular problem will be fixed soon. What is more worrisome to me is that the front end has a ratle when going over rough roads or bumps. I need to have a look at that, but I have other peoples cars to fix in the meantime.

Nah, we drive Subarus. the pre DBW models will be on the road for a looooong time yet. . .

Now that was the info I was looking for! Thanks rottenhead! Nipper, I already have that article. Now that I have the procedure for pulling the codes from the TCU, I can start to narrow down the problem. Thanks all for the help!

OK, what we are getting is not shuddering, but binding on sharp turns. He had tried the fuse on the old solenoid, but not the new one yet. He will be trying that today to see if it fixes the problem. Still it is not a long term solution, and we have the 16 flashing lights telling us that the TCU is finding a problem somewhere. I need to know how to get the TCU to tell us where. I have had the tailhousing off, and everything in there was fine. There was no play in the clutchpack when installed. I installed the new Duty C, and that seems to have made things better. Not all the way better though. I am at this point suspecting the wiring harness to the transmission, or the TCU. Both of these are expensive options, and we need to get this in one shot. this is why I need to get those codes. I need to be able to support my decision on what to change out.