turboguzzi

it was a Sidem brand tie rod. the company is based in belgium but i guess it doesnt mean much these days , read they have factories in lower cost eastern europe. i am based in italy BTW. guy in the shop said this is re-branded moog, but wouldn't bet on the either making a slot with an angle grinder before fitting would have been a 15 seconds job though, pitty i noticed only after everything was in place.

OK, inner joint done, went really quick, 30 minutes in all steering the rack all the way out gave pretty good access to the joint. problem points were that you need a thin spanner to fit over the inner rack flats to hold it against turning, applying the torque to the rack doesnt sound like a good idea as your essentially mashing it against the pinion teeth . had to use a pipe wrench directly on the joint body. I did had a wrench that fitted over the flats (32mm) but there was no room to turn it. reused the locking washer after straightening it, but the join i bought didnt have the recess to bend the washer into, had to bend the washer over the flats and there was next to no overhanging metal to do so. knowing this, would have ground a slot like in the stock joint before fitting. didnt want to release the outer ball joint taper so the trickiest bit was screwing the tie rod back into it at the tight angle it sits and with all the friction of the new ball joint. doable but not easy.

OK, got today the part, only disappointment is that it doesnt come with a new washer, dam**t... cant see why the kit skimps on a 5 cent part. its 32mm between the flats, got a thin wrench to do it up, if not, then there's always the pipe wrench, even if from memory there's a sub frame member passing under blocking free access. is it accessable form above maybe? havent checked, will try during the weekend for the euro owners out there, tried to get a moog SU-AX-2866 for it but ended up with a sidem 83010 ????? , friendly shop owner told me these are from the same mfg. just sold under different brand names for marketing / distribution reasons.

auto spares shops should stock just bands too, nothing exotic about them. i pull the bands snug with pliers, you should not overdo it anyway as it will make the greasy boot slide off the CV/DOJ

thanks imdew sounds like those joints arent screwed on too snug then? was a bit afraid that it might require high torque to undo it form the rack. tried to search for a tie rod "how to" post with pics in the forum but havent found anything..... any links? TG

thanks john think i manged to locate an aftermarket spare. next question is then: can i manage to unscrew the the tie rod from the steering rack without the special tie rod tool as seen in some DIY videos? it's hard to justify buying it for just one rod, my first in 8 years of subaru ownership and here in italy, there's no tool rental from shops... looks to me like a crow foot with 1/2" is an option, dont know yet what size any other ideas? Grazie mille TG

Lets start with the good stuff After thinking i have to do again the left front CV or worse, a front wheel bearing, I changed today to summer tires and what do you know..... clicking noises stopped completely... stumped. remember reading here about certain tire brands (cheap winter tires in my case) able to cause noises that could sound like bad CV or bearing, well, the legend is true it seems. now for the bad stuff. the inner ball joint of the steering rod, i.e. the one under the rack and pinion rubber boot has developed play. see pic, item in red problem is i cant see this item in the OF diagram http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/en_b11/type_23/steering/power_steering_gear_box/ any links to related sources/fixes will be appreciated.... and check your tires before stripping a front end! TG

so nobody ever changes CV's in europe....?

people round here put LPG systems on turbos too, a 1600 euro job / 2000 US$ is that an option in NZ?

anybody knows these guys? http://stores.ebay.co.uk/J-R-CV-JOINTS-DRIVESHAFTS?_trksid=p4340.l2563

where are you looking? I am based in Italy and might have some tips for you as where to search. Take into account that subaru came pretty late into the market in europe, and 94-98 are not going to be easy to come by. In any case check well with the embassy of the country if this is possible in the first place. in some countries, like italy, a non EU citizen can not buy a car unless he has a valid stay permit. I think that holland/belgium are more relaxed TG

Been using made in Italy Metteli CV's in my previous 1st gen and now also in my 2nd gen, and cant say i am happy with the quality.... 8000 km's and its already starting to make some noise http://www.metelli.com/en/transmission.php is there another brand / source in Europe that makes good quality ones? Would bring from the USA but shipping, taxes, etc. will make this very expensive. any info will appreciated TG

+1

talking about one of those official manual appendix documents from good ole' endwrench lost both the bearing change pdf and the links to it, but i am sure the list for these manual updates is out there.

dont think they even sell stuff, but I think its a good guide to component mfg codes for aftermarket consumables.

enjoy http://infodozer.com/ TG

begs to ask what procedue are you using to replace the bearing. i've built a small set of turned spacers and drive it out/in with a 1" threaded nut as per the manual.

nice that people are knocking off 2nd gen 95' legs, but still, the german TUV reliability site gave that model 4th place ranking of ALL cars in the german market at the time , better than any gen 1 and gen 3.... (and you can trust that site on getting their statistics right and that's up against plenty of Mercedes and BMW out there) http://www.anusedcar.com/index.php/tuv-model/subaru-legacy see 95' models towards bottom of the page in any case, good to know that i have no speedo cable to lube! TG

nice surprise indeed! as my car has a mechanical rather than digital mile counter, was sure the drive would be by cable but instead, yep! there's an electronic sensor indeed in place of a cable at the G'box exit.... must wonder why foresters where fitted with a cable five years later.

mmm... interesting, even nice, will have a look under the hood..... so foresters from 2000 on have cable a 95' leg doesnt? will check in a few minutes

euro 2000c.c. 2nd gen leg , 5spd MT, cruise at 70-75 most of the time, get pretty constant 30mpg. just like i was getting in my 1gen EJ20 for the last 7 years.... unless something is telling the ECU to run leaner than it should (not that healthy long term) cant see how to get 35 running at 90mph. not that we dont believe you of course, just tell us your secret TG

guess its not your case, but if its any help for others... in my gen 1 legacy, what i thought initially to be a stripped gear turned out to be the short flex cable not engaging. the small rubber washer under the threaded plastic plug had swollen and pushed the tongue out of engagement. the short cable was very difficult to turn too and needed tons of spray grease, WD40 , etc to get free again. simply mounted it all back lubed and without the rubberized washer and it worked fine again. TG PS - this sure reminds me that i better lube that short cable in my new gen 2 ASAP as preventive maintenance!

thanks for the inputs again now the big question..... am not really interested in having delayed/timed door auto locking in the first place !!!! and my gen 1 didnt have it either no kids or other such dangers, so is there any way to simply bypass the thing? will try to dig deeper into the schematics but maybe someone has already managed to. Cheers TG

OK, found some threads but the odd thing is some say timer is on the passenger side, some on the driver side fsm shows it in the driver side for a 97 at least....

thanks gary had this in my sights too, but somehow it seemed to me it was a mechanical issue with the switch looking at the fsm, the timer is surely easier to reach, so might tackle that first! TG