TheBrian

Don't go to the dealer. I got an O ring from a local Carquest for $0.69. I brought my filler neck in with me, and the counterman found a suitable o-ring in his hardware drawer, and even installed it.

What sort of bolt-ons? Stock is "HP 160@5600rpm, torque 181@2800rpm" (cars101.com). Of course, that's BHP, not WHP. I'd love to know how much driveline loss a Legacy experiences. How long did it take to sweep from 3000 to 6000 rpm? Pet peeve: They should start the test at the lowest rotational velocity that can support WOT, which is probably more like 2000RPM than 3k. Seeing as I usually shift at 3k, dyno charts like this one are not so relevant to me. Your peak torque is below 3000, so even a performance tuner would want data down in that range.

Heh... That's why I change my oil in the parts store's parking lot. It may not seem like a good idea at first, but try it. You'll realize it's the smartest thing you ever did. Get somebody else's concrete or asphalt dirty, more oil is right there at your fingertips, and best of all, you don't have to transport used oil back to the store for recycling, you're already there. But do bring a roll of PT and some hand cleaner, plus a bottle of water to wash the hand cleaner off your hands.

You're going to spend a fortune on parts unless you take a scientific approach. Check for spark, inspect the timing belt, measure the fuel pressure. I would also recommend you find a troubleshooting flowchart. Start at "engine turns but does not start". I think the Haynes manual has a few tips under that title.

I agree with Zyewdall If you spilled all your automatic transmission fluid on the ground, it would be like being in neutral all the time. But when cruising on the highway, your torque converter clutch locks up, at which point, your transmission fluid plays little role in keeping the car going. I think you got the $12 blown hose you'd hoped for. Then again, it could be two broken CV axles and a cracked engine block...

Yeah, and they should recall the fuel filler necks on some '95-'97 models, and the knock sensors, and the ... uhh... this would be easier if we were discussing less well-built cars. Yes, they could recall all the components that, due to design flaws, need replacement every 10y or 100kmi, but the fact is, they only issue a three year, 36kmi warranty. If the car falls apart at precisely that age, it's not their problem. Anyway, cut FHI some slack. These cars are solid. Also, buy my speedo head. Does $10+shipping sound fair?

Hmm... a '90, you say? You could fix it, but there's an easier (but less good) way. The JC Whitney Catalog, among others, sells a 12V electric heater. Plumb your heater core out of the coolant system, glue this to the dash, and plug it in to the cigarette lighter port. It is cheap, it may be adequate, and it's a heck of a lot less time-consuming than actual repair.

Rated to -20oF. Failure at 20oF. It didn't freeze solid. Rather, it looked like a slurpee . But the pump sucked most of the juice out of it, leaving inedible ice chunks. I removed the reservoir, shook / beat the slush out of it, and refilled it with Prestone -34oF H2O-free window washer fluid. The Legacy's washer fluid tank holds just over a gallon. I bet if you fill it the moment the front washer pickup tube starts sucking air, you'll need exactly a gallon. *The rear washer pump's pickup tube is about a half-inch higher than the other one. Thus, when you're on your last half-inch of fluid, the rear window squirter stops working. Aha, so that's why that thing seems to have a mind of its own!

Any chance of getting used dual-range EJ trannies from South America or Europe? New trannies are insanely expensive.

Those deliverymen must be paid by the delivery, not by the hour. They are *always* in a huge hurry. It looks like you got pretty lucky. You don't need a new turn signal housing ($150+) or a new door. Just a gallon of Bondo and two colors of paint. The car's frame is seriously beefy. Based on what the underside of my Legacy looks like, I'd guess you have one or more bent control arms, with possible damage to other suspension / driveline components in the left rear. But that's just conjecture. I didn't have a hand in the design of the Legacy; I don't know whether the suspension is designed to shear off before the frame bends. Like Nipper says, it's just a guess. So, I figure $1500. $2500 if it's an insurance job. $500 for a ghetto repair. Heh. I just guessed with a $2000 spread.

180 miles per day? That's an insane commute! But, for any situation, there is a right car. With a stick-shifted Legacy getting 30mpg highway, you'd probably spend $4800 a year on fuel. If you got something that could manage 40mpg, like a stick Corolla or Civic, you'd save $1400 a year on fuel, which is considerable. I doubt a Civic or Corolla would cost you $1400 extra in repairs over the course of the year. Diesels are attractive, but they're hard to find in America. Plus, the VW Turbodiesels really don't get exciting gas mileage. But, if you like Subarus, you don't need to minimize your transportation costs, and you like the "gee-whiz" factor of owning a car with 200kmi+ on it, then my vote is for a Subaru with a 2.2L, 1990 to 1996. '97 was the first year for the interference 2.2L engine.

I just installed synthetic oil, and my fuel economy has plummeted. Because winter fuel and driving conditions have arrived. No, you should be able to get close to the EPA figures on dino oil at any speed below 80mph. There's either something wrong with your speedo/odo, or something wrong with your fuel/air ratio, or both. wqbang, I bought a used instrument cluster off a '95 L wagon last year, because I wanted its tachometer. Thus, I have a spare speedo, temp. gauge, and fuel gauge. I'd happily offload them for $(small)+shipping. Brian

Feel free to whine. I'm going to whine, too: $1700?! You could get 90% of the way with a $100 used door, plus $200 for labor and whatnot. Brian

Are you sure your MPG is abnormal? I have a '96 Brighton, 5MT. My worst tank of gas ever was about 21mpg. 0% highway driving, low temperature, snow, and winter gas. Yet the EPA figures sound about right for summer driving. If your speedo is off, you're actually travelling more miles than the odometer records. Compare it against the highway mile markers on some long trip. My car stinks of gas, too, at idle. The colder it is, the stronger the odor. I guess Subarus run richer than most cars during warm-up. Definately do get your check engine light read before you start throwing sensors at it. Also, many sensors can be tested, which saves gobs of money vs. throwing parts at it.

I switched to synthetic at 205 000 km. So far, I'm very happy with it. I'm using 0W30, which is unavailable in Dino. It's absolutely wonderful for cold weather cold starts. But the primary reason I switched to synthetic is it's a nerdlier oil. I'm the kind of guy who'd want to buy a gas/electric hybrid because of its cool technology, even if it doesn't save gas vs. a diesel. I will send a sample of my oil off for analysis when I get 5000 mi on it, and I'll probably end up changing the oil once a year. I don't think they'll have to drain the oil to change the camshaft seals. The oil drains out of the upper engine and into the oil pan when the engine is not on, and draining the oil pan isn't going to have any effect on what's behind the seals. I see you're in the Great White North. I think you'd love 0W30. Brian

Stick shift or automatic? During these 5-7 seconds, does it just sit there going 0kph, or is the engine slowly spinning up into its power band (3500+ RPM) as the car speeds up? Don't expect big power below 3000RPM; it's not gonna happen. If you have the requisite maths, you can measure your car's power by seeing how fast you can go up a steep hill of known grade at wide open throttle. Your car weighs about 1300kg, and it should produce 137BHP. I figure you should be able to take a 10% grade at 5500RPM and WOT at 79mph = 127kph. You'd be spending 27HP heating up the tires and gearbox and driveline lube, 47HP overcoming wind resistance at 80mph, and 63HP gaining elevation. Point being, I enjoyed Physics 101. But back to your question. Has your car always made so little power, or did it just start this behavior? Or perhaps you just moved from a more powerful car to a Subaru? If you have a lot of miles, and you suspect a loss of compression, do a leakdown test on it. Fun. Brian

You can get a used oil analysis done for $20, for example, at: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard_analysis.html If your oil looks okay, maybe all or parts of your engine can be sold as used. I don't know if there's a market for used heads with 110k miles on them. Out of curiousity, what viscosity oil were you using?

I don't think you'll need the gas can. I can't speak for the LSi, but all the Legacies and even the old EA82s have 15.9 gallon gas tanks, which is some even number of liters. The gas gauges are notoriously inaccurate. Mine's very accurate when it's full, but the idiot light (9L left, according to the spec sheet) doesn't come on until the needle is about to hit "E". I've gone a full pip below "E" and then only had to add about 14 gal to fill it.

It's the best time of the year to be a Subaru owner. Winter is here. Well, I'd better head out to Kohl's parking lot for a refresher course on how to enter and emerge from a skid.

I see two obvious omissions: The 3.0L and the 6MT. Now those two would be a solid reason to buy the top trim package. The German market Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B wagon has both of those things. They also get dual range 5MTs there. Why can't we have the German-market trannies? But the plastic bag for Grandpa's seat makes up for it, I guess.

Subaru = Pontiac Jr. No stick shift required.

Just what kind of fuel economy are you getting, and has your driving style changed lately? Could the fuel in your area have switched to the winter blend? No Check Engine Light, huh?

Spark and Compression are good ways to remember which oil, Service or Commercial, is rated for use in your engine. Many oils carry both ratings. SM spec oils rolled out some time this year. SL oils on the shelf are a sign of slow-moving oils, such as synthetics. For brands and viscosities that move quickly, you might still be able to find the old SL grade oil at the back of the shelf, if they don't rotate their stock. But there's no need for SL oil. SM supercedes SL, as Snowman pointed out.

The Subaru has a fairly common lug spacing: 5 lugs, 100mm from the center. This is also found on Cavaliers, Neons, Grand Ams, Celicas, Matricies, and a dozen other cars with non-ugly, inexpensive steel wheels readily available in the junkyard. However, the Subaru wheel offset is odd: +55mm. i.e., the rim bolts on 55mm outboard vs. the centerline of the wheel. My questions are: Are there any other cars with a +55mm offset and 5x100mm lugs? How wide are their tires? If I were to take a wheel off a Cavy with a +47mm offset and use it four months of the year, would my wheels stick way out and look goofy? Would the extra one degree angle (I did the math) at which the wheel bearings would be loaded shorten their life considerably?

With the engine off, shift through all the gears. In each gear, you'll feel a bit of resistance, then the shifter will go into gear. When you're shifting, slide the stick to that position where a little resistance is felt, pause slightly, then slide it the rest of the way in. Your transmission's synchros are old and worn. It's really not a condition worth fixing, until the car becomes undriveable. The fix is to install a new (or low-mileage used) transmission. It's also possible that the gear oil you have in there is too thick and is exascerbating the problem. p.s. Mine will grind if I shift too forcibly, especially going into third gear. Synchros will wear out on any synchronized transmission, if the car lives long enough.