Bushwick

My mom gave me her '91 Geo Storm GSi many years ago with about 60k miles on it. It had the DOHC 1.6L non interference. It broke the factory belt @60.5k miles, while lightly accelerating before shifting into 4th. Although a completely different Japanese engine (Isuzu IIRC) belts break regardless.

Like Gloyale stated, shorten, weld. If the assembly has soft rubber isolation bushings, those can often be replaced with something like a harder durometer rubber, or maybe urethane, etc. The stick will vibrate more, but should feel more solid. I used to completely bypass the rubber in my Fox bodies (different set up) effectively making the shifter feel like a solid piece with the trans, and it firmed up the feeling quite a bit.

A clogged cat can/will reduce power, and it CAN physically (substrate) change over time, depending on how damaged it might be i.e. typically part of a cat substrate melts first, other part still allows flow, so it reacts fairly normal under lighter throttle, but WOT will choke. From my own own experience, a CEL typically isn't tripped until some of the substrate actually breaks free. When it breaks free, the exhaust bypasses the restrictive ceramic substrate section and flows through the empty cavity, which causes the "raw" exhaust fumes like a cat-less car regardless of how long the engine has been running. They can fail from something as simple as a constant misfire that's ignored too long, incorrect gas additives or additives not mixed correctly, poor maintenance with plugs/wires, contaminants entering the exhaust, etc. Easiest way to check is get a vacuum gauge, connect it to a vacuum port on the manifold (stay away from any fuel-related vacuum ports if any) or "T" it into one, and observe the readings. Gauge can found for roughly $15-20 at a parts store. Might need to buy a separate packet of plastic "T" connectors. https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hsx/2012/02/Testing-Engine-Vacuum/3709071.html https://www.motor.com/magazine-summary/mastering-the-basics-reading-a-vacuum-gauge/ Google "engine vacuum" if you want to look for other sites. Some have handy illustrations to follow. Also, be aware that IF the ceramic substrate breaks free, it has to go somewhere. Unless you are running a glass pack or straight pipe, that usually means it'll end up in the muffler(s). If the muffler is internally baffled, it'll probably get lodged. If you "kick" your muffler and hear a hollow rattle inside, guess what? Also, probably more of a PITA, is IF the substrate ends up jammed in a section of pipe, like say at a bend, a size reduction section, etc. But a vacuum gauge should be helpful there if it's enough to affect engine vacuum or severely restrict flow. Options will be to try and ram something sharp into the chunk and break it up, or remove the section to get it free. FWIW, I just had to replace the cats on my Lincoln Cont. after a misfire was ignored by the previous owner (it had an electrical issue at the time and was driven enough to damage the cats (probably 50-100 miles). When I got the car, I had that fixed, and e-checked it. It fast passed. About a week or 2 later, I was getting wiffs of "raw" exhaust out the mufflers, but it was mild. After the factory cat pipe was dropped, you could see a chunk of substrate caught on the piping where a "Y" was, which was part of the actual cat housing. Other cat on opposite side of engine was still intact. Also, it took AWHILE to pop a P0420 code. Like 20-50 miles w/o popping it, then while light cruising at low speed, it'd pop. I could reset it with hand scanner while driving, and it'd go another 50+ miles. In this situation, since the other cat was OK, the readings were still apparently "good enough" at the O2 sensors (2 up, 2 down) that it couldn't detect it immediately.

Try one of the better brand names from Rockauto.com. and just get the belt, pulley, etc. Should be cheap enough and plenty of different price point (brands) to choose from. I'm not a fan of "new" car parts of ebay regardless of what others say, as it's most likely Chinese junk w/o the better name behind it.

The actual spray nozzle might be clogged then. IF you saved the the one from the old hatch, might be worth swapping. In the mean time, consider disconnecting the hose, and stick an end in a jar or something, then activate the rear sprayer. If the jar gets washer fluid, then you know it's either a issue from there to the nozzle, or the actual nozzle.

Check the rubber vacuum hose and the plastic connector that butts two ends of the hose together for leaks/breaks at the hatch. The hose has the washer fluid going through it. Chances are, it came apart and it's spraying the washer fluid behind the panels. It can spray enough, that it might find it's way onto a connector somewhere and might pop a fuse. Swap the motors over if you use the rear washer wiper a lot. Chances are, the newer one is either more worn, or tolerances are looser on the gears, it's somehow running out of grease, etc.

Think I paid around $85 for mine as well. Pretty good price considering it has the glass AND and hatch, etc. Glad everything worked out though. Everything work? i.e. washer fluid sprays, wiper motor motor works w/o noise, binding, etc.?

Yes, trip is always reset at each fuel up. But but I rarely go above a half tank unless going further than around town.

As far as I know, the gauge seems accurate over the course of ownership. I'm pretty sure the fuel pump was done a few years back, and everything looked normal and operated correctly. Next time it's out, I'll carry a gas can and see what happens

^ That's funny. Used to work for a guy that was the son of a used car lot owner. He would always take cars off the lot, slap a dealer tag on it, and drive it for a week. He was either too cheap, or not paying attention, but he'd do the same thing. Someone would have to go and run him a can of gas. I remember head salesman would get irritated as we'd have to go and fill up every car he was done with. Definitely not worth the aggravation, especially in the cold months, and never mind all the crud that gets pulled into the filter.

Wouldn't it light up with the key on like the rest of the dash warning lights? Car has a ton of exterior rust, and has a patched back together rear strut tower after it busted free (it's back at correct ride height and amazingly handles fine w/o tire wear ). The fact it made it through the winter with zero issues, is why I'm holding onto it atm as a back up vehicle. It might have a rusted filler neck, or it needs some hose clamps tightened, etc. as it smells like gas (part of the reason I don't want to fill it). I've never driven it at E for more than a couple miles, meaning as soon as the needle touched it was filled, but that only occurred a few times in the last 5 years or so.

Was just wondering as I've never seen one lit in mine, though it's rarely low enough to be at the point it'd trip one. Am parking mine as the snowy weather is likely done until fall, and it's on E.

I went with a replacement hatch in my '95 years ago as the factory hatch had a weird rust hole. Sounds similar as I remember the wiring harness had to be fished through part of the hatch IIRC, and the very rear of the headliner needed dropped to access a connector, which was able to be accessed by gently plying the rear headliner enough to get a hand under it and unplug. Good news is it was easy to pull the entire wiring for all the lights, wiper, etc. in one go. Biggest thing you need to worry about is ANY damage the heater element section. Check EACH row carefully. I didn't think about that, and ended up with a non-working rear defrost. The motor for the rear wiper might be bad as well. Rear windows that have or had old aftermarket tint might be problematic as well. Also, you'll need to pull your key lock assembly, if it still works. Do NOT throw away your old hatch until everything works correctly on the new one. Or, strip everything in advance, including wiring, bulb assemblies, latch, lights covers, wiper motor, EVERYTHING

If the heater core is blocked internally (tap water could cause the rows to build up calcium, so def. possible) you could probably bypass it with a " U " section of heater hose from the engine in/outlet and see if any difference. Usually easier to at least try something like that before digging into where ever they hid the heater core, especially if it's not bad. Bypassing can also help in a pinch if you ever get coolant leaks into the car, unless Subaru did something wonky and none of this applies? After owning a Saab, I learned to never assume. Cars where the heater core circuit isn't as important, you can pinch the hose in an emergency. If bypassing helps, at least in CA it won't be detrimental not having heat for awhile. With your struts, as mentioned in another thread, just replacing with new struts vs. very old oem will make a difference. Struts are cheap enough it's worth trying and THEN consider a spring upgrade. Worse case, you might have to search for springs from another car that fit the factory strut assembly, but knowing spring rates is important. Any factory rubber bushings, etc. that are day one from the car, should be replaced. Stiffer sway bars firm up handling too.

Have you checked compression on that side of the motor? You can also measure engine vacuum ( https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hsx/2012/02/Testing-Engine-Vacuum/3709071.html ) with an inexpensive gauge. That can tell you if a HG is actually faulty as well. Not sure what you've done/not done, but if it were me, I'd spray everything off with gentle setting garden hose water (minimize electronic connectors, or anywhere water really shouldn't be) like block, head, hoses, etc., let it dry fully, then idle it until full temp. If no coolant leaks, go for a 30 minute drive, stopping every 5-10 minutes (leave it running) roughly and quickly pop hood and look for signs of misting, spraying, etc. from a heater/coolant hose. Also look under front of car at same time to see if any misting, drips, etc. are showing. As others mentioned already, a pinhole, etc. might be opening under enough pressure, misting/spraying, then closing back up once pressure drops. They can be tricky to find, as the hole might be the size of a threading needle poke, and only under full pressure will it be enough to open it. Once it seals, it looks like it came from nowhere, or wherever the largest amount of spray landed. Then again, it could actually be a HG.

Is it actually overheating? Did you check the fuse, relay, etc.? IF it has AC, turning the AC on should kick the fan on, assuming the AC compressor is working. If you disconnect the battery (a must as it could come on with power) does the fan blade spin freely by hand? Or is it frozen? Binding? If it's moving freely, can try disconnecting the connector, and jump the fan to battery (figure out ground/12v+). If the fan all of a sudden works, start tracing backwards until you find the break i.e. relay, fuse, etc.

Try this vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lRFVaJbzqo apparently if the evap is wonky, it can also cause the too lean condition. You might wanna inspect vacuum lines too, especially ones connected to the evap system. Also look for broken, split, rotted hoses, nipples, etc.

Might be worth checking vacuum lines for leaks, etc. Older hoses can split, rot on a bend, harden on metal nipples causing a loose fit, etc. If it won't idle smoothly in gear and keeps stalling, might wanna inspect your EGR (I assume yours has one but dunno enough about that year). It might be stuck, vacuum line to it is loose/broken/leaking, etc. The diaphragm can become faulty with age as well causing it to fail, or excess carbon/gunk might be messing with it's operation. Idle air control valve sticking? If the engine is cold, does it kick up to like 1500 rpm range briefly, then slowly drop to correct idle? Or does it start and hang at normal idle? (cold engine). Might be worth checking it's properly connected, not gummed up internally, etc. Double-check your battery connections. Although not seemingly as common as it used to be, actual battery clamps can corrode internally, inside the crimp, leading to issues. I had an '84 Chrysler Laser 2.2L turbo that actually picked up some power after replacing the clamps as the factory ones were that bad. Since you messed with your battery briefly, it might be worth inspecting the area for breaks, bad grounds, etc., especially since you are not getting codes yet. These are all guesses on my part as I'm just a back yard DIY'r. Hard to guess w/o codes and car in front of you. You might even have something as benign as a failing fuel pump. I've seen some over the years cause stalling, but start back up, to eventually erratic starts that stall when trying to move.

As someone that's done extensive traveling, both at night and during the day, I never saw a 1+ MPG drop on my personal vehicles from 10-20amp worth of draw. With my Mark VIII, I'd set the cruise at 70 and could get all the way to Pittsburgh and back to the Akron area on a single tank of gas, and had enough gas in the tank to still go a few a days of local driving before topping off. I made that trip every weekend for months. I also traveled heavily to Fort Wayne, IN. over a 6 month period, every weekend (one top off). Granted it was 97% highway, the MPG was static on perfectly flat and straight road. That car had the real time mpg sensor which was fairly accurate (vs. dividing gallons and trip mileage it was spot on). And as stated before, the Mark had an upgraded alt and two very demanding amplifiers, and I was routinely pushing that HARD. At least 200 amp worth of draw. THAT might have eaten .5 to 1mpg along with the AC running at highway. City mpg was around 19-20 IF the car was babied, and between AC always on and alt being taxed, it still stayed that way. Only time it'd dip 15-18 is if I was constantly flogging it from a stop. With that said, someone constantly going 10 over the limit or tailgating only to pass and do 80, hammering it from dead stop to only hit their brakes 10 sec later, then slow down and speed up again, or someone on a cellphone tapping their brakes every 5-10 seconds, etc. will see an increase in mpg regardless. I've seen thousands of people drive like that, and it seems unlikely they are even aware. Also, a severely under powered engine in a car that's not very drag-friendly, might be at the brink of what the car can easily handle. Meaning strapping a bobble head to the hood as an ornament might drop MPG j/k but to some degree I'm serious.

I live really close to Summit Racing, and have had some luck talking to their sales guys in the past. At one point, I upgraded a Ford alternator from a 135 amp to a 290 amp (IIRC) via a local generator shop, which failed to tell me the $350 alt upgrade would no longer charge at idle.... rendering it useless for a daily driver. I called Summit, and while they had nothing on the shelf that could help, they gave me the number for one of their performance under drive pulley suppliers (i.e. company that makes the serpentine set up to spin alt, water pump, etc. slower to free up HP) and they were able to offer a one-off custom-cut pulley to get my upgraded alt. spinning roughly 200 rpm faster at idle, which allowed it to work correctly in a daily driver. So calling Summit and doing some leg work got the part that literally no one sold as a mass produced item. If you are dead-set on Bilstein and they don't offer a performance strut regularly, they might be able to offer something from another model that might fit with a little work. Or Summit might be able to put you in touch with another higher-end strut manufacturer that can do the same thing. FWIW, lowering the car with great springs and adding stiffer bars, plus a strut tower brace (front/back) and cheap stock struts can make most any carve hard, especially if you can get the car on a diet.

If by any chance they are noisy, take them back and get another set. Last set of wipers I bought were actually defective, which I never knew could be possible. They felt fine, rubber was soft, but they were NOISY.

You might get more technical help at a dedicated SVX forum where there are more diehards doing performance upgrades. I think you might need to swap knuckles, etc. to get the brakes to swap, but do not quote me. Try calling Billstein or someone that's an authorized dealer. There are other strut/shock companies out there that might have a comparable variant if not.

This link is for 94 Legacy AWD non turbo (dunno exactly what yours is, change the settings at the site if turbo, FWD, etc.) http://car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?userSearch=int&userPID=1000&userLocation=All+States&userIMS=&userInterchange=BEC%3D%40&userSide=&userDate=1994&userDate2=1994&dbModel=70.6.1.1&userModel=Subaru%20Legacy&dbPart=477.1&userPart=Rear%20Crossmember&sessionID=11000000014202224&userPreference=grade&userIntSelect=1044491&userUID=0&userBroker=&userPage=1&iKey= A quick skim had some in the $50 range for an "A" grading, which I think is a fair price. Just call the yards and ask if they ship, which might add another $20.

If it was acting differently with key position, maybe the signal to cut the engine is wonky? i.e. when you normally shut the engine off with the key, maybe it's doing that when it's not supposed to? I suppose it's still factory VW on that end of the wiring/switch?

My '95 had the same issue when I bought it (looks like the image linked by msmithmmx). Was completely separated from the body by rusted sections that were gone. I found a completely rusted Legacy with 220k and a brand new crossmember someone had installed probably months before dumping the car at the yard. That only cost $15.