toni1595

That's one thing that I failed to mention, the AT temp light is blinking. IIRC it was blinking 16 times when it's started. I'll try the fuse, I had forgotten about that one. But I would prefer this to have the 4wd working, if given the choice that is.... Not sure how long they ran this with the binding, but I think he might have said a few months. They were running it into the ground I think, some idiot like me thinks that I can save it from the crusher. Of course I've had such longevity from these that I know it will run for a while yet. The engine sounds really good to me. If I can get the bugs out of it, should make a good car to fall back on when one of the others is out of commission. I do have another option on the power steering, there's one at the junkyard for $35.00, could go that way.

Thanks Fairtax, I didn't realize that the kit that Rock Auto sells was w/o all of the parts, I guess I'll have to remove this from "my cart" and look around more. So drain and refill the tranny 3 times and that's it? I have read about some solenoid called a "duty C solenoid" that is supposed to cure this, are you saying that this isn't necessary? That will be a big help right there.... Also I've read about some clutch packs that can be replaced too, sounds very labor intensive to me. I'm not real up on this "torque bind", but I know when I test drove it, it felt like it was binding, like it was trying to go into 4wd or something. And my son in law said that it was wearing tires, I believe on the front prior to them taking it off the road. Is that one of the symptoms? Toni

Hey all, if you've been following this at all, I have acquired my younger daughter's 1995 Legacy. I figured I'd make this a 3rd vehicle, as a backup. This is what I knew going in: It does have some rust, but I know how to deal with that. It had a severe oil leak at the rear of the engine....as you may know, I found that the notorious separator plate was leaking. So I pulled the motor and replaced the plate, while in there, I replaced all of the seals that I could find as well , rear main, any covers that were exposed, etc. I also was aware of a buggered up end on the crankshaft/timing gear because I had repaired this a few years back and I wasn't sure how it would hold up, well it didn't, so I took a TIG welder and rebuilt the woodruff keyway, ground, filed and sandpapered it back to size with a Dremel and also Loctited this on,so now it "should" stay put. I hope. (This design leaves something to be desired) OK, I knew that I needed to change the rear struts as this was bottoming out on bumps, so I bought struts from Rock Auto, but then I learned that the springs are what really lifts this up. So far I haven't been able to find a viable set of springs, except at the dealer, and at $86.00/ea. prepaid, I'm still looking...... I haven't gotten to this because now the weather has turned too cold and I don't have a garage. I'll get back to it next Spring, but I want to prepare as much as I can prior to that. I also found after test driving that the power steering pump is leaking (this helps explain where some of the oil that was on top of the engine was coming from) and it also has the infamous "torque bind", at least that's what it acts like to me anyways based on what I've read here. My questions are: 1) Can the power steering pump be removed without disconnecting the hoses, so I can rebuild it where it's warm? 2) What is the best route to take when addressing this "torque bind" issue? (I know the tires are all relatively the same size.) Sorry for the long story, but I wanted to let you know what was going on with this project. Thanks, Toni

$86.00/ each for the springs at my nearest dealer. That's pretty pricey in my opinion... I'll keep looking around I guess. Toni

Thanks for you quick replies. Imdew, not sure what these are, I got them from Rock Auto. This car is a 1995 Legacy 4wd sedan. How much and what are the condition of these springs that you have? I'd be concerned about the $$$$'s for shipping too, as they would be fairly heavy. heartlesss, thanks for that info. I took a look around and it seemed to evade me. Yes I do have some offset wrenches at my disposal. Fairtax4me, I didn't realize that these were for European models, that kind of makes sense. I'll check my local Subaru dealer and also online too. I'm a little surprised that the struts don't have the springs as a unit from Rock Auto like some others that I've purchased in the past. Toni.

Hey all, According to some of the posts that I've read, I guess I should be replacing the springs as well as the struts in this 1995 Legacy. I bought the struts earlier this year, but have not installed them yet. The main reason was to help lift the rear end of this car up. I'm reading that in order to do that, you must replace the springs too. However when I look up the springs in Rock Auto, it lists a bunch of odd descriptions like, Legacy II, MKII, (BD and BG). What does all this stuff mean? Will these springs still fit a regular Legacy sedan? And by the way, how the heck do you get to the top of the strut mount? Is it hiding under the plastic somewhere? Thanks, Toni.

OK, I have the engine all back in and seems to be running fine. Actually haven't worked on this for a few weeks, but I seem to have developed another problem since I started removing the engine, torque bind. At least that's what I think it is anyways. I can feel a definite binding in the rear when I'm driving it. Question is, will it clear itself or will I need to intervene? I thought I read somewhere that a battery that is low will cause this too, is that true? I know when I first started it, it would barely turn over from sitting so long, but it did start. Also, I intend to change the rear struts because the back end will bottom out when you go over a good bump. My question is, should I change the springs as well as the struts? I already have purchased the struts, but not the springs..... And does anyone here know how to access the tops of the strut mounts? They must be under the seat cushions I guess??? Just sitting here in the rain and gloom in the Great State of Maine. Thanks

I'm sorry Shawn, but that can't be the correct torque value. I believe you are referring to the drive plate to crank end, I think that is about right for that. These are the bolts that are connecting the drive plate to the torque converter and they are only 8mm, so at that torque, I would fear breaking them off. I didn't detect any movement in the crank when I had it tore down, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I have resealed the oil pump already the last time this crapped out, in fact I did all of the oil seals on the front section of the motor. Hopefully that will hold up. On the bolt torque, I did finally get an answer from the local Subaru dealer, they are saying it's 18 ft/lbs, so I'm a little high I guess at 35. Toni.

Well I had the engine out, repaired the crankshaft nose where the woodruff keyway was chewed out (TIG welded the worn area and dremeled it back to a good keyway again), loctited the crank gear this time, resealed all of the possible oil leak covers, replaced the rear main seal and harmonic balancer, installed the new timing belt and water pump and now have the engine back in. My question now is: what is the torque value for the 4 bolts that hold the drive plate to the torque converter? I do have an All Data subscription and it doesn't say. I emailed them and they couldn't give me an answer either. Does anyone on this forum know what this may be? They are only 8mm I think, so it would most likely be in the 30-40 ft.lb range I suspect. I know this has gone on for a while, but it seemed to rain every weekend up here and this has really only been a part time project. Thanks

Well I have the motor out and trying to decide whether to replace the rear main seal or not...It does look like it has some oil or grease spots around the seal face, but I can't say if it's really leaking or not. Would be real easy to do with this out though and I do have quite a bit of experience replacing oil seals as I have been in the maintenance field for most of my working life. So do I or don't I? This does have 254K on the odometer, so it has some time on it. Also what is the other small cover that's across from the separator plate? Does this have a gasket too? And which hole does the pre-loctited screw go into? I'll probably notice it when I remove the plastic one I guess. Thanks

Well that don't sound all that bad then.....I check these spots carefully when I clean the top of this up and see if I can see anything that looks new. Thanks

Well I'm finally getting to this engine pull. I do have one question. There appears to be some amount of oil on the top of the engine block itself. I can't see where it would have come from except for maybe the gaskets on the head. Does that sound plausible or is there some other reason that the oil is sitting there? It seems to be on both sides on the top, of course it is mixed in with a bunch of dirt and debris, which I am planning on cleaning up some. Has anyone seen this type of thing before? Should I consider replacing the head gaskets? Thanks

Dream on.....Aerosmith

Thanks bratman, that makes sense.......

Well thanks 987687, I appreciate the gesture. Not sure what a "bnib" waterpump is, unless it's a brand of it, but I could probably use it. I would be interested in these parts and my son is going to school at U of M, may be able to work something out that way. I'll private message you and work out the details. Toni.

OK, pull the engine it is.. I'll kind of wait until the weather gets a little better, quite cold in Maine right now. I will get the new plate though, do one of you guys know the part number on this plate? I assume it will be a dealer only part. Also, while I'm thinking of it, what happen to the old threads? Did they get tossed? I was wondering what the mileage was when I last worked on this beast to see if the timing belt was ready to be replaced. Most likely it's time to do it anyways. Especially is there's any question, I don't want to crash the engine if it's an interference type. Does it pay to buy one of those kits that has the water pump and idlers in it or just change the belt alone? I don't plan on running this too much longer anyways. Thanks Toni

Well thanks for your replies guys. As far as pulling the engine, I am concerned about the A/C. Won't that have to be unhooked? I guess it can be and then just recharged afterwards... I do have a tranny jack, it's a homemade apparatus, but it works pretty good. And I do have a good set of ramps. Ones that I made myself, so they are a lot higher than the store bought ones. As you can see I'm leaning towards pulling transmission what are the pros and cons of this? Toni

Hello all, been a while since I have bothered you guys. I finally parked my '92 Loyale due to rust, but my middle daughter has given her 1995 Legacy to me and it has a terrible oil leak. With over 250K on the clock, I'm not surprised that it's leaking something somewhere.... I have been reading about the separator plate leak and this appears to me to be in the area of this leak, unless it's the rear main seal. Man, it is really running out of this. It took her husband around 4 quarts to get it up here and its about 150 miles. Hell when we placed a drip pan underneath it to catch the drips, it was really coming out. I'll bet there's over a quart in the pan right now that came out after he shut it off. Although I do think he overfilled it too. I am wanting to get this car up and going because my son has a 2002 Chevy Prizm and it is burning a lot of oil and we need to do a ring job on that, so we'll fix this up and he can use that in the interim. Anyways my main question is, I know I have to either pull the engine or drop the tranny, which do you guys recommend? Thanks, Toni

Hi all, just a note to let you guys know that I did get this straightened out. I did end up using the JB Weld around the new key as well as the new timing gear. There was no play at all with this setup. The biggest problem was getting the timing belt back on, the right side cam sprocket kept popping off its cam. I had to make a tool to hold the cam sprockets in order to get them off to be able to change the oil seals. The strap wrench that I tried, just wouldn't hold them. I simply used the opposite end of the harmonic balancer tool that I had previously made and welded a holder onto that. So now I have a multi-use tool. Pretty handy I think. Has about a 2' handle and its no problem keeping things still. I can post a photo of it if anyone is interested. I did find that whomever did the last cam seal job, evidently used silicone on the seals and probably never replaced them as they were quite hardened. The oil pump kit or crank seal kit that I picked up from NAPA had a gasket, but I didn't use it, I just used the RTV as suggested here. The screws in the back were all tight, so I left them be. One thing that I did do that I am a little apprehensive about was reusing the timing belt, I know that's a no-no here, but it only had about 20K miles on it and it looked real good to me. With the $$$'s being tight and this not being an interference engine, I figured I'd let it go. Thanks to all for your suggestions and help. I'm certain this won't be the last ordeal I'll run into in Subaru Land. All the best, Toni.

In reading some of OB99W's information, I just had an OH SH** revelation. One of the articles mentions about the tabs on the back of the timing gear and how there is a pickup unit that reads them........well in trying to pry off the stuck timing gear, I broke one of those tabs clean off. Damn,I hate to admit that, but I have a feeling that's what it is. Should have known those tabs weren't there for added air movement or something like that. Anyways that being said, the new timing gear should have these tabs on it and that should clear this up. While I'm back in there, I think I'll have my daughter pick up a new crank seal and maybe 2 new camshaft seals as well. I know this is leaking oil, but I'm not sure where. Are there any other seals that I should do while I'm in that area? Meanwhile, I'm going to hang my hat on the wall of shame, for not knowing better. Toni.

Hey, thanks for all of the replies guys. That's quite interesting about the doweling of the crank gear to the pulley. Sounds like that might just work. My regular job entails doing some machinist work. I'm pretty sure I could pull this off. By the way what did he use for the dowels? I would think a couple of split roll pins would work. I have also considered the Loctite route. No doubt it would hold it on there. But you'd probably have to have some heat to remove it. I know the stuff we use takes about 300 degrees to get it loosened up. The JB Weld might work, although I do have some reservations about that. Mainly where it is merely stuck there like an adhesive. I wouldn't expect it would have the shear strength of something that's actually welded to the shaft. I have located a new crank gear at the local Sub dealer, around $50, not as bad as I thought it might be. Now I just need to make sure I get the timing correct. I think on my next go round, I'm going to try starting it up before I finish the job. I should know right off if it's correct, then I can put the drive belts and end covers back on. I'll keep you posted as things progress. Toni.

Hi all. Its a 2.2 95' Legacy. My daughter runs it. Well she called me last Thursday and said that the car just quit running and that a pulley came off. I went and checked it out and the crank pulley fell off (it was toast). I had it towed to a warm garage and proceeded to try a repair. I'd done a few 1.8 but never a 2.2 Liter. When I got down to the taking the timing gear off the crankshaft, I had a heck of a time because the key was rolled over. I made up a puller and I did get it off, but it almost didn't come. Needless to say, the keyway in the shaft as well as the timing gear aren't the best. I did manage to get a used pulley (harmonic balancer) at a local junkyard and I had her pick up a new woodruff key just in case. I finally got the car back together today and it runs quite rough. I'm pretty sure I have the timing off. It starts OK, but when you try to accelerate, it acts like it starving for fuel or something. I'll have to pull it back apart and recheck my work. One thing that I didn't do that I used to on the older Subs was to rotate the engine 2 turns and recheck the timing marks. Is that recommended on these 2.2's? I don't know why I didn't do it anyways, in a hurry I guess. There is one thing that really worries me, the play on the timing gear on the crankshaft is about 1/8" back and forth. Will this be a problem? The only repair for that,as far as I can see,is a crankshaft replacement. Not really an option on a car with 182K on the clock. I did torque the crank bolt to 125 ft./lbs because whomever did the last repair, evidently never got it tight enough. Unless the crankshaft/pulley had issues back then as well. I also put some removeable Loctite on the bolt threads also, maybe it will help it stay on. Of course, now I need to remove it again. So what do you gurus think? Is this thing salvageable?? All the best, Toni.

Hi all, just wanted to chime in and tell you that the crossmember replacement was a success. I had to wait "another" week to get back to working on it due to a family wedding but, I did get it done and have had it aligned as well. I ended up taking the plates off where the lower reinforcement arms bolt on from the old part and welding them onto the crossmember that I picked up at the junkyard. Otherwise it was an exact replacement. While I had everything apart, I went ahead and painted all the rusted places with Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer, which I've had real good luck with in the past on such things. I've actually had the crossmember replacement done for couple weeks now, I'm just finishing up with a few rust spots on the exterior of the body and will take it down to her today. I'll probably change the oil and maybe a few other cosmetic touches. I do need a bracket to mount the radio with. My older daughter took the one that was in this one was going to put it in her new car. When she took it to CircuitCity to have it installed, somehow they lost one of the mounting brackets. Now I don't have one to put the old radio back in with. Stupid me shouldn't have let her/them have it. She called them and tried to get it back and they, of course, can't find it. Does anyone have a '95 Legacy radio/cd player bracket kicking around they could part with?? Well that's all from here, thanks for the help as always. Toni.

OK, I have the piece off and I'm pretty sure this replacement one will work, I just need to weld in a plate on the front side of the cross member where the arms connect to it, to anchor the lower reinforcement bracket and I should be set. It didn't go too bad. I am glad I didn't try to do it with the wheels setting on the ramps though, without the arms connected, its quite loose. Thanks Gloyale for that tidbit of info. I'll pop back in after I get the cross member back in and have something of value to report. One thing I'm sure of, some of those bolts and nuts came off pretty hard. Particularly the ones on the back of the cross member where the differential bolts in. I had to split those two.