Barry_007

It's definitely a manual transmission. Mechanical clutch. And the hill-holder works as intended. However, because of the nature of the situation I'm just going to work around it. If I have to bypass the hill-holder for now to get the car on the road, then I'll do it. It's been an extremely frustrating situation. I've never had problems like this with any other car. Going back to VW for my next car.

Well I believe I have landed on the crux of the issue. My car has the Hill Holder mechanism. Not many Legacy's from 1999 have that. It makes the right MC hard to locate and you definitely can't find the part used around here. I'm thinking of changing out the entire MC/Brake booster with a non-hill holder version from the junk yard and removing the hill holder from my car altogether. The process would require that I swap out some brake lines too. I'll do it if that's the only way to make this work. I'm pretty frustrated at this point and just need this car to pass safety inspection by the 31st.

@FairTax4me: The guy I bought it from specialized in buying old Subarus and rebuilding them. He probably had plenty of spare parts around. Including brake lines. The situation is so weird I don't know what to think anymore. Actually the pushrod I'm referring to is basically an extension of the piston on the MC. I'm not referring to the one on the brake booster. It's a black cylindrical piece that the pushrod on the booster slides into. Maybe there is another solution here. The brakes are pretty soft and the pedal will occasionally go nearly to the floor before I feel resistance. The brakes just are too soft and if pumped up a bit will provide more resistance but the pedal will slip down with continued pressure. What should I check? I can find no signs of leakage anywhere or ballooning of the rubber lines.

Thanks everybody for your help. I'll try to clarify the issue as best I can. @Fairtax4me All of the rebuilds I've purchased thus far have been in the neighborhood of about $80-$100. I've had to return 4 units because, while the records the parts store had indicated thy had the right part, it turns out that it doesn't fit. The average price for the used units at the junkyard have been about $40. I've looked at Outbacks and GT's. All have the same unit, but that one isn't interchangeable with mine. @grossgary The brakes are pretty squishy. I've bled them several times. It feels like a failed MC. Anyway, the unit at the link you sent is pretty close to what I have except for 2 small but important details. One of the outlets is on top rather than the side (like mine) and there's no pushrod attached. The photo I uploaded is a little dark but you can make out a black pushrod on the back. It's about 1/2" in diameter. Those 2 variations are the root of the problems I'm having finding the right MC. My car has ABS and is a manual transmission. I've been combing ebay for days. Every once in a while I'll find something that looks right but they usually end up wanting over $200. I just don't have that kind of $$ and it's also why I've started looking in the junkyard. The other ebay link is to a unit I already purchased and returned. They never specified in their list whether the unit is for ABS or non-ABS. I found out the hard way that it's for non-ABS. It's hard to see in the picture but there are also 2 ports on the bottom of the unit. @MIlesFox Yes, I agree. They *should* bolt up the same. However mine has the pushrod in the back that makes necessary to replace with the same kind of unit. That particular feature is the rarer of the characteristics that I need in my replacement unit. That's making it quite difficult to find the right one. What I'm thinking of doing is getting the brake booster and MC together at the junk yard and replacing the whole thing. I'll also need to replace one of the brake lines to make it work. (I think the person who sold it to me did some 'creative' work with the MC etc.) Any thoughts on this idea?

I sure hope somebody out there can help. I'm having the hardest time finding the correct master cylinder for my 99 Legacy L 30th anniversary Edition (wagon 2.2l, w/ABS) Everywhere I go i get referred to a part that doesn't actually fit. I can't find the correct part on any other 99 Legacy L in the junk yards. It seems to be a rare part or one that wasn't used in many vehicles. Please help! Maybe someone can shed some light on the issue. I've all but given up. I'm running out of time before the deadline for the safety inspection. I've included a picture of the unit from my car.