ndu

ya, Frag, 50% is yours!

My theory is correct! I went to the Subaru dealer and asked them to test my rad cap to see if it can hold pressure. They were nice enough to do it for free. Sure enough, the cap was not working properly. So I got a new one from Canadian Tire for $10 and the cooling system is working normal now. Also my fan problem is also fixed---previously it was on all the time when engine is at normalo temperature. It feels good if your theory turns out to be true.

I drove a while today and checked the overflow tank and I do not see any bubles.....I think I will try the rad cap replacement first. Any ideas how much it will cost? any after market ones? Other observation is that my after driving for a while, my cooling fan will be always on ---- after I stop the car and kept the engine idle, the fan will keep on going -- I waited a few minutes and the fan will not stop. I think my car is experiencing a very mild overheating because the coolant at the top of the engine (where the temperature sensor located) may have been pushed out of the system so the sensor sees a slight higher temperature than the actual coolant temperature (because not enough coolant near by to take away the heat) therefore it will trigger the fan--but the temperature gauge will still roughly in the middle position--a plausible theory? Thanks for all replied.

I got the car recently so I do not know when it started......I have just chnaged the timing belt, water pump, changed the entire coolant......

Ya, check the simple things like spark plug wires first....It happened to me before....do not run car with misfire for long, it may damage your catalyst converter....

I kept my coolant level in the over flow tank between "LOW" and "HIGH" (actually close to LOW mark). After some mixed mode driving including some highway, the coolant level in the overflow tank will allmost full to nearly overflow. I think there may be a problem here. After I shutoff the engine, I can see in motion the coolant very quicky being sucked back to the radiator. I do not know if this is normal to Legacy 93....because this is still winter in Toronto. My car did not show any overheating (temperature guage allways points to the middle) I am concerned that so much coolant has been pushed out of the engine and radiator....Is this possibly due to a bad head gasket? Doesn't look like it because I am not comsuming coolant and I do not smell any coolant. Possibly a bad radiator cap? It looks and feels normal. Can somebody advise? I know there is the possibiity of gas pockets in the system so when I fill the system, I was careful and opened the air bleeder.... The Engine runs normal otherwise. Thanks

The first gen 2.2L engine, I would like to know which cars are equiped with it. Can some one provide a list? Thanks.

Wkoepp and others: Thanks for your reply. I decided to check the "simple things" first. Sure enough, one of the spark plug wire is lose from the spark plug possiblly got lose during my work. So I have been running the car with some misfires. The shake is because the misfire. I have made the connectiong good and now the car is running silky smooth. I also changes the water pump, t-stat, front oil seals in addition to the timing belt. Since it is my first time working on Subaru so it is a learning experience for me. I am glad I did it. I am sure for the next Subaru, It will be much easier.

I have just took off the cam sprocket covers (two on each side and checked the timing marks, they are both accurately positioned. I was very careful when I installed them, counting the tooth in between marks. So I do not think timing is the problem. I took the car on the high way, at around 100km with RPM 2100-2200, I would feel some kind of shake or vibaration, but as soon as I push the gas and the RPM increases, it feels OK again. The car otherwise drives OK. Any thoughts?

I have just replaced my timing belt, water pump and oil seals. It went OK and I was able to start the car the first try. But the car feels some what differently now. For one thing, the car shakes noticeably now at idle (even at P or N). It almost feels like the idle speed is low. But I measure the idle speed and it was 700 RPM which I think is OK. I also measured the vacuum and it is normal and stable. Also, the car feels little sluggish than before. At high speed (4th gear-around 2000RPM) the car also shakes. But if the RPM is high, the car feels OK. When I install my timing belt, I was careful not miss the mark and I think I installed correctly. Any other reason that can cause this? Any other way to check the timing belt (other than taking it apart again?) 93 Legacy 2.2L

ShawnW: Thanks for your reply. I really appreciated it. I guess there is no key for the cam sprocket.

I am on my way to replace my water pump. everything wet well...... I took the cam sprocket (close to the car battery) off. Before I took it off, I did not put the mark on the sprocket to lineup with the mark on the timing belt cover, now, I do not rember exactly the position the sprocket should align with the cam shaft. Looking at the back of the sprocket, I see a small cylindrical protrusion, I think I should linup (slide it into) the notch on the cam shaft, is this correct? also, I kind of expecting a pin (just like the one on the crankshat, but I do not see one. I do not know if I lost it or not....can some let me know? thanks. My car is 93 Legacy 2.2 engine...

After a lot of effort and bad language, I eventually got it off without damaging the timing cover....I used a lot of penetrating oil and let it sit overnight (what choices do I have?). I tried to remove it several times and stopped because of exhaustion. I think the way to do it is to use a screw driver work on both side of the pulley alternately, each time you can not use too much force otherwise you are going to damage the cover. This is a lengthy process and I think what a stupid design is this from Subaru. It is apparent that Subaru Engineers did not think about maintainability issues when they did their pulley design. Sure, if engine is fairly new, it should not be a big problem, But look at my engine of 12 years old, it is obvious the pulley was never been pulled before. The pulley was stuck very tight. after I got it off, I found there was some gunk cementing it to the shaft. The pulley was designed such that there is no easy way to use a puller without potentially damaging it (there are no holes with thread, the rim is so thin you can easily damage it)! What a stupid design. I did the same job for my Toyota and their pulley design was much better with tow pulleys (one for alternator, water pump and the other one for power steering and A/C) bolted together by 4 bolts. You remove those 4 bolts and you have threads to use pulley pullers-It is none issue at all! I am a engineer responsible for maintainability issues for the system we provide. There are requirements (the term for this is called MTTF "mean time to repair") for those kind of things. Subaru engineers did not think about those things carefully or may be they only thought about newer cars! The repair manual did not help much either! The Haynes manual I have show that the car they took apart are almost brand new! The point is, little consideration when they design the car can make many peoples life much easier! For me, I wasted so much time for almost nothing! also, simple things like these Subaru can not get it right, I am not sure they can get other things right either. I worked on Toyota a lot and I know because of the space limitations, it is not always easy to work on them, but after a while, you realized there is always enough room and there are a lot small things make your repair life easier. It is obvious Toyota engineers thought about them in some detail and I always appreciated it after a while. OK, enough complaints, I guess I have to run off my steam......I guess my next step is to replace the water pump. I have a question, do I need to remove the cam sprocket and cover behind it? Also, since I am this far, I also think about replacing all the front oil seals (even though there is no oil leak now). But my bad experience with the pulley make me think twice.....can somebody share their process of getting them out? I read some posts suggesting drill a holes and drive in a screw, but I do not think I have enough room for a electrical drill there...also can you get the seals out by using a screw drive with radiator on? the space seem to me a concern.... But first, I need to take a rest. I am still having muscle pains. I guess my first working experience with Subaru is not particularly good...I hope the car will treat me well after I am done......The timing belt seems very worn with cracks and yellow dusts, I think it the the original belt.....The car is no good chape otherwise. I am really, really disappointed with Subaru on this one! Sorry for a stupid question, what is PB Blaster?

I used some penetrating oil and still no go.....I am alsking for any suggestions.

no, nothing really happened at the front before other than I have to replace the water pump.... I used two screw drivers on either side of the pulley and try to work it lose but it did not work so far...there must be a better way than this....? my pulley seems realy tight and I am really afraid of damaging the cover.... any suggestions? any body used puller before. I have seen some boday saying pullers damaged their pulleys....

I am in the process of changing my timing belt and water pump. I have losened my crank pulley bolt. But my crank pulley seems to refuse to come off easily. I have tried screw driver to pry it off but do not want to force it too mcuh because I do not want to damage the timing belt cover. I have read some posts here warn people not to use pulley puller....I am just wondering how you guy took it off the crank shaft.....

May be there is nothing wrong with my cooling fan after all! I have been reading the shop manuals you guys posted here and I noticed in "1992_Subaru_Service_Manual-Engine_&_Wiring" Section 2-7, 8 "Radiator Fan Control", the radiator fan is controlled by a) Water Temperature Sensor Vehicle Speed Sensor #2 and c) A/C Switch. Since every time I checked the fan, the car is always stationary (I do not know how else to check!) that is why the fan is always on (after the engine is hot). Maybe as soon as the car starts moving (or reach certain speed), the fan will stop? This is a much more sophisticated design than I previously thought. The question is, how do I verify this feature? (Funny thing is, I am in a business where verification and validation of design features are my daily concerns, I guess old habit is difficult to get rid of....Hahaha....) Oh, Skip, according to the same book, not only those 3 signals can turn "on" and "off" the fans, they can also set the fans in "HI" or "LO" speed. Looking at the schematic, there are two control lines (other than the grounf wire) for each fan, I studies them in some detail and maybe the fan can operate in HI or LO mode. Again, this is a feature that is not easy to verify. What you guys think? Since everything else looks OK, I am not going to worry about it now other than keep a close eye on it. I learned a lot from you guys.

Skip, thanks for your answers. In your previous reply, you said: "Located on the ldriver's side rear portion of the intake manifold (American model) just behind the PVC connection to the crankcase. Screws in horizontaly, will be brass in color. Mine has a brown plastic connector." Are you sure it is on the driver's side? I think my car (1993 Legacy) it should be on the passenger side. I saw two sensors side by side on the passenger side of the engine, on top of the coolant tube. One fits your description "brass in color. with a brown plastic connector." It has two wires coming out of it. I think this must be it. The other one is much smaller in size and has only one wire coming out of it. I think this is for the temp gauge. what do you think? Thanks again.

Thanks Legacy777 and Skip for your advice “By chance have you seen the check engine light flash on occasion?” No, my engine light did not come on. Skip, I have a question about CTS: is it a analog type sensor or it is an “digital” sensor with on and off ? (like in Toyota, the cooling fan is controlled by a “on” and “off” cooling temperature sensor. Also, is this sensor only used for cooling fan or it is also used for other things? Thanks guys, you are great!

This is my problem: I do not think my fan cycles on and off as I expected.....as to A/C selections or on the defrost setting, I noticed this because even at low temperature, the fans will be on as soon as they are selected, so I made sure they were off, and I still not seeing cycling on and off of my fan. Any suggestions?

I got my first Subaru Legacy 93 last week. It is a AUTO and got 155000km on it and it was running very well. I have been reading a lot of posts here before I bought the car. I have to say you guys helped me in making up my mind. I have a question regarding the cooling fan. When I start the car, the temperature gauge is near zero. The fan is not on. After a while, the temperature gauge will reach the middle and stay stable. And the cooling fan (both fans) will be on. In cold weather like Toronto in the last few days (25 degree C below zero), the cooling fans are still on all of the time. I do not know if this is normal for Subaru Legacy 93 as a design feature. I am concerned if the fans are on all the time, they may be wear out soon. I have owned Toyota’s before and in winter, the cooling fan will not be on as often. The cold wind will cool the radiator sufficiently so that the fans do not need to be on. My Subaru certainly feels different in this aspect…..maybe other owners can let me know please? Also, are Subaru cooling fans have different speeds as those in Toyota? I know in Toyota, there are high speed mode and low speed mode of fan operation…depending whether the A/C is on, the engine temperature etc. For example, if you turn on the A/C at low engine temperature, both fans will be on at low speed mode. When the engine reach certain temperature, both fans will be switched to high speed mode automatically. This transition is very noticeable…… By the way, the cooling system are “normal” in all other way: I got very good heat, the engine is not overheating, the temperature reading is always stable, and when enginine is cold, it reads zero. Thanks in advance! I think I found a home for my car…..