Adam Lee

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Guys, my Leg Wagon outside hatch handle is rusted and I have to manually "push" it back to a non-release position every time I use it. This is the ONLY rusted part on this car...weird...but anyway, I was wondering if this part commonly rusts early because it is unpainted, or what.. And of course, the flip side....anybody got a trunk latch mechanism non-rusted for sale/trade from a parts car? Gracias! Adam Lee

Glad to hear these responses...ironically, I believe this car had gone thru a timing belt/seal r&r just before it was parked for a 2-year "abandonment"....perhaps not, but anyway....I sure hope I open the covers and all I see is leaking from the seals. Since my car never made terrible sounds that morning and the CEL didn't get tripped, and the engine temp gauge never wavered, hopefully no warpage or badness occurred. Hey, a little curious...anyone recommend best/cheapest/most efficent or whatever online source for the seals and whatnot? How about an East Coast source, if it matters? (I'm in Alexandria VA) OK, enough for this thread...I have to start another about my s/w rear gate handle.... Adam Lee

Thanks for the reply....the car is still in the school parking lot where I work, I am going to tow it back home with the chevy maybe tomorrow, then I'll know exactly what's going on. The last I saw oil was completely sprayed back underneath the engine (well coated) from the bottom area of the cam cover. Are you suggesting that if it appeared to be leaking primarily from the sides rather than directly beneath the cover, that perhaps one of my cam gear seals blew instead of the main seal? Thanks..... Adam

Looks like (from the sudden smoke cloud and the pool of oil) that I might have blown my front crank seal the other day. No bad engine noises,but sudden smoke and tons of leaking directly from the region of the plastic cam gear cover led me to think the front crank seal blew out. Other thoughts? Is a crank seal r&r pretty easy to do once the radiator etc is outta the way? And the reality: how about general price for a shop to do it? TIA Adam

Btt

Thanks, Cougar....you're right, basic inspection stuff, soon as I get time off from work (those pesky 3rd graders!) I'll be checking the Soob out this weekend. And a simple engine vacuum leak might just be what it is all about....that would be sweet....I'm not dreaming, though....

It's too cold and no time to lift up the Soob, but I think I have just had a fairly sudden inner engine "event"....my 150,600 mile 2.2 l motor just suddenly became difficult to start first thing in the morning...acts like it's flooded, that kind of thing...then after 3 tries, it starts with a slow-to-react wind up, then after about 30 seconds, it's idling fairly normally. On the highway, which is where I drive right off the bat at 6:30-7:00am, it's fine and like normal....except it is obviously leaking/using oil, because I smell it when I come to a slowdown near the end of my 30-minute commute...and I park the car, I notice the burnt oil smell. Now, a quick visual shows me oiliness on the pass side valve cover area, which is not normal....my driver's side valve cover/oil filler tube area has always been kinda greasy, but I'm thinking I have done something. Maybe I swallowed a valve? Valve seal? or just blew out a valve cover gasket? Either way it goes, I'm obviously dealing with oily spark plugs somewhere....least, I'm thinking this is why it's harder to start when cold, but easier when warm. And the engine performance/visible exhaust etc is fine, normal power, no dirty smoky exhaust when driving....but a puff of blue/black (oil) at start-up (which never happened before this past week)..... OK, I know I'm grasping at straws until I have the time/area/mental focus to lift the car and evaluate....but what recommendations does anyone have? What types of tests should I do? FYI the only repairs I've had to do recently are knock sensor and O2 sensor replacement....they were OE, and they finally threw codes this winter. Thanks! (BTW been driving for some thousands of miles in a 4EAT AWD tranny fused to FWD due to torque-bind...and the car drives fine this way)....

Can someone post a link for me to a site that breaks down the OBD-I trouble codes for 92-94 Legacy? I read somewhere that it might be on the Surrealimage site, but I couldn't find it.

Hey all... The writer of various 4EAT trans posts drove his "new" old 94 Legacy home today. Pretty darn good for a car that's been sitting outside behind a horse trailer, next to a stack of farm implements for the better part of two years! Only sad thing is the pool of water left on the rear right passenger floor - dang sunroof drain is not draining...my first "must fix" item... but anyway, surprisingly enuff the battery held a charge after a jump and the motor ran pretty well. trans is the main issue...torque-bind and mega-shudder/vibration at hiway speeds (all tires gauged out equal, all same type/size rims) so I'm ready for a trans job in my future. But it is fun to see how much stuff came with the package...this little car was pretty loaded in the day! Anyway, I'll post some stuff later. Too tired....I actually did the round trip and then I even went to the DMV after I got back....glad to have tags

.......I meant to say....if anyone has done such a remove & replace (r&r) to their AWD pre-95 Soob, love to hear about it! Gracias Adam

Hey yall... I've taken up the call. I'm going to start collecting all the facts I can related to repairing the troublesome pre-98 4EAT tailshaft extension with the metal-on-aluminum bearing scenario found only on the AWD units. (the famous "torque bind") Rather than call it quits and simply pass the wagon on to the trans shop, where they'd just trash the trans as a unit and bolt in a rebuild, I want to try my hand at ONLY doing the extension portion. My '94 4EAT shifts and operates absolutely fine. I really don't think the torque converter or the clutches in the trans housing have been harmed...just that the bearing support needs to be replaced along with the bearing, the solenoid, and fluids. The best case scenario would be me finding a used take-out tranny complete with AWD tailshaft extension from a 98-up 4EAT. I'm not holding my breath! However, if anyone knows of such a beast...I'm all ears! And...more importantly...if anyone has done such a remove & replace (r&r) to their AWD pre-94 Soob, love to hear about it! Gracias Adam

Hello all! What is the max tire size to comfortably place on the stock "whirlpool" shape alloys that are on my 94 Leg LSi AWD wagon? The car is not back with me yet, and I don't even have the owners manual to look at. I seem to recall the rims were 14"ers, but no idea as to how wide, nor the stock tire size. Dying to find an excuse to put some kumho Ecsta 712's on this car, from what I've heard about them, they seem great. adam

Yea, I just made my second post! Whoopee! Before I get my old Legacy back, and hopefully (but maybe not) the shop manual I had bought for it as well, I needed to ask a trans question. Did the AWD system on this model...with automatic trans...have an easily fixable cure for the dreaded torque bind prob these beasts can suffer? I seem to recall that was one of the issues this car used to have. Wasn't there a need to replace a bearing and some innards within the transfer case, along with a bearing support? AND of course another question...for this vintage (94) and model (LSi non-turbo) what would the rear diff ratio and model number be? I used to know all this stuff several years ago...its been awhile. I wanted to get an LSD setup for the rear...with a posi in my 96 LT-1 9C1, it's kind of addictive to have one... thanks all! adam

Good day! My first post to the site. Ironically enough, I am about to re-acquire a 94 Legacy LSi wagon that has been dormant for about 2-1/2 years from my ex-wife. Thought I'd prepare myself for the reality by logging in and registering on the board...this is gonna be kind of a flashback for me, in a way...strange but true. The last time I saw the car, I had taken her over to a shop I used and had them install a new timing belt and seals, as well as 4 new tires and other minor work thinking that this car was going to be used by my au pair to haul my kids around in. Didn't work out that way....the legendary Subaru bullshiit air suspension system came to the rescue, and gloriously failed...ending my interest in further fixing the car, thus it went to sit at a farm for a long time. My ex'es brother, meanwhile, spent the time and effort to convert the car to a conventional spring/shock setup - and piddled with minor BS for a while, and still the car sat. Now, the ex says "hey, the old SUbaru is just sitting there at Donny's farm. Do you want it back?" So here I am! Adam