Rampage

A lot of guys never think about checking the tightness of the Schrader valve cores on the low and high ports. It could be that. Even with the caps on, my Ranger leaked through the high port. Best to replace them. On our 97 Legacy, it held a vacuum, but the Freon leaked out past the shaft seal on the compressor. I have seen the high pressure rubber hose get oily from leakage. I think I may have caused it. When I pull the engine, I remove the compressor and lay it in the battery box.

On our 95 2.2 I found the two metal tubes that run under the throttle cable were blocked.

What is the vehicle? One time I used insulated alligator clips on the pump connector and wires to a cigar lighter plug. The two largest wires in that harness run the pump.

Well that is one thing out of the way. Years ago the alternator had a broken brush in it and going up hill it would slow down then surge and repeat, then run fine. Never did it on a flat road. My volt meter showed 14-12-14-12 volts and I found the broken brush. First I'd ever seen a broken brush.

The knock sensor can actually shut off the engine and not set a code. It happened to my wife's car 3 times. I found that info on this site years ago. The old sensor had a crack in the plastic. Put on a new knock sensor and no more shut downs. One question. Do you see any lights flickering on the instrument panel when it is acting up? Like, when you first turn the key on.

I don't know if you'll have the following problems where you live, but I did here. The Neutral Safety Switch (on the tranny) gave me problems. I had to replace it on the 95 because it was sending incorrect signals to the Transmission Control Module and the torque converter would not go into lockup. On both the 95 and 97, the voltage was not going through it to operate the starter solenoid. So I added a push button on the dash to bypass the ignition switch and the neutral safety switch. I had to change one transmission because reverse quit. Here is why I said they will take a beating. Both cars are Right Hand Drive Legacy Wagons. My wife has almost 700 mailboxes on her route. When she has a package she must turn the engine off and lock the doors when she gets out. It gets started and shifted more than a 100 times every day. I've only had to replace 1 starter. The 95 has over 467,000 miles on it. Lucas makes great products. If you have time, check out this article. Then go to Products. Their (GM) Shudder fix is amazing. I've seen it work every time. https://www.lubegard.com/technology/ Excerpt from the page: In 1972, the Endangered Species Act outlawed the killing of whales and the use of materials derived from those animals. Automatic transmission failures went from less than a million units in 1972 to over eight million units a year by 1975, due to the loss of sperm whale oil additives.

Yes. To get the filter off, you must remove one tube on the valve body that runs under the filter. And, that will allow oil to drain from the top of the torque converter.

Great transmission and will take a beating. My wife delivers mail. I would have it flushed or drain the oil and drop the pan then one pipe and the filter. I'll bet the filter looks clean and you won't find much metal powder on the doughnut magnet inside the pan. Doing that it will take 8 quarts to fill it. You can use Dexron 3 or a full synthetic.

I just looked at the wiring diagram for the cooling fans. The ECU in your 96 uses the same 2 pins as our 97 to control the main and sub fan relays (4 relays low and high speed). Pins 73 and 74. If need be we'll get into that later and I'll explain how I fixed our 97 fan circuit. On it only the sub fan would run when the engine warmed up. First, under the dash steering wheel side, you will find two 2 pole test connectors with one wire in each plug. Plug them together. Turn the key to on, "do not start". That starts the cycle. The fuel pump will turn on then off, the A/C clutch will pull in then release, both fans will turn on low speed then high speed then off. This cycle will continue until you turn the key off. Unplug the two test connectors. Did both fans run low then high? If both fans run low then high, that means the fans, relays, multiple connectors and wire is all good. Next, start the engine and let it run until the fans kick on. Do both fans run, or does only the sub fan run by itself?

Very good, on both.

Here is the fuse description. I use a test light. The ATO and Mini fuses have test points on top of it on each side of the amp rating. Light on one side, not the other - open fuse. Light on both sides - good fuse. Fuses and circuits 96 Legacy.pdf

Both are controlled by Fuse No. 2 in the fuse panel under the dash. I'll see if I can find the fuse description.

Surface rust will rub onto the pads, then you have rust against rust and rust is slippery causing heat. The pads will wear the rust off the rotors. Once the rust gets off the pads it should brake a lot better. Yes, the drums probably have a little rust in them too. On our van, I had to take the pads off and run them over the wire wheel to get rid of the rust. I have cut thousands of rotors and drums on a brake lathe and rust will ruin a carbide bit in no time.

Is the braking surface of the rotors rusted? That makes a big difference on the peddle. You can get semi metallic pads from rock auto. A few years ago I tried ceramic pads on the front of our 95 RHD Legacy wagon (postal). My wife called me the next morning and said "What ever you did to the brakes on this car -- UNDO IT--. I rolled past my first two mail boxes". They are not allowed to back up when delivering mail. She had to push harder on the peddle than with the previous semi metallic pads. So, I went to the dealer and got the postal pads I had been using. They will last 7 to 8 months. Raybestos and Wagner work good but, they only last 3 months. She has almost 700 mail boxes on her route. Our 95 and 97 have the single piston calipers and they work good.

I have seen vehicles run hot and others that barely warm up, when driven with the thermostat removed. I have never driven our Subaru's without a thermostat, so I don't know how they would react. I agree and it makes sense, the quicker you can get the water to the radiator the quicker it can be cooled down. But, It takes time for heat transfer to happen in the radiator, it is not instant. The water has to spend a little time in the radiator in order to be cooled down. If the water zips through the radiator really fast not much heat is removed from the water. Years ago we had triple core radiators and if the thermostat was removed the engine would never reach operating temperature. They needed the thermostat to stop the water flow so the engine could warm up.

Do not use the Blue Devil Pour and Go in a Subaru. We sold it where I used to work and had no complaints from people that bought it. So, I decided to try it in our 95 Legacy EJ22 when I saw a slow stream of bubbles in the overflow tank. I knew it was a HG. The directions say you do not have to remove the thermostat. Big MISTAKE. (or is it just my luck) The water stopped circulating through the radiator and the temp gauge was going way up. The radiator was cool and the engine was hot. I thought ok thermostat. When I removed the thermostat housing I could not believe what I saw. I have pictures of it one of my computers. The bottom of the thermostat was coated with a light yellow material that looked like a hornet's nest that curved half way into the housing towards the lower hose. I could not see the t-stat at all. The Motorad and Stant go for a year or two in our cars. If you can borrow or purchase an Infrared digital thermometer check the temp of the coolant pipe that the upper hose hooks to on the engine. I think the t-stat temp should be 192, it is in our cars. Putting in a 170 in the summer might cause the following to happen. It opens at 170 and will open all the way and lets the water circulate too fast through the radiator and is not cooled down by the fans.

Try turning the key on and listen for the fuel pump to run and stop, turn the key off then back on and try to start it. The Fuel Pressure Regulator bolts on to the end of the fuel rail that the injectors are connect to. https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2010/subaru/forester/fuel_injection/fuel_pressure_regulator.html The small hose is vacuum as stated by nvu. The large hose is the return to the fuel tank. On our 95 and 97 Legacy's I hook a pressure gauge between the fuel filter and the engine with a tee. According to the factory service manual, with the engine running normal psi is 30, disconnect the vacuum from the regulator and it goes to 38 psi. I found that ours normally run about 36 psi. If I pinch the return line the pressure jumps to 80 psi which tells me the pump is really working good. The fuel pump has a check valve to hold pressure. Our cars have sat for days and still have pressure in the lines. A few years ago the 95 was having a rough time with hills. After checking a bunch of stuff, I hooked up the gauge and pinched the return line and the pressure would not go above 36 psi. I put in a new fuel pump and my wife got her car back. Chirp the tires on 1 -2 shift.

No bubbles sounds good. Drive the left front wheel on to something that will raise the radiator cap a couple inches above the bleeder screw side. Leave the bleeder screw in place and remove the radiator cap. You will see if any air is left in the system. You mentioned fan... Does your 96 have 1 or 2 fans? A/C should have 2 fans. If so, do both of them run at the same time? If they do, then that leaves the thermostat or water pump. The only water pump failure I have seen in our EJ22's has been shaft seal leakage. The impeller always looks good when I swap pumps.

Several years ago I ran across a comparison chart of oil filters. They only opened about 5 different brands of filters. I can't remember the part number of the filter they chose. Purolator had 100 sq. inches of filter surface, Wix had 80, and the others were less.

I drive the front wheels onto ramps when I fill the radiator. It works perfect for our 95 Legacy. On our 97 Legacy I can hear a few air bubbles in the heater core, but it blows hot air so I don't worry about it. Both are RHD with Ej22.

Low on coolant would explain why the fans did not run and it over heated. The temp sensor did not have hot water on it to tell the ECM to turn the fans on.

That does not sound good, they are supposed to cycle. The Engine Control Module is not doing what it should be doing. Disconnect the battery for a while then reconnect it and repeat the test. Do not start the engine, just turn the key to ON. Do you have the Service Manual for this car?

I usually carry two flashlights in my pockets. Just reach under the dash (drivers side directly under the steering wheel). I only use one hand. You will feel a bundle of wires. The two connecters are usually hanging down from that bundle close together. They only have enough wire to plug them together, no extra. When you connect them --do not squeeze them hard enough to click the latch. You can remove the panel under the steering coulomb to see them. 2 Philips head screws and the top pulls out of clips.

Yep, that happened on both our Legacy's. Yours look very similar. I replaced left and right on our 95. On our 97 it was just the right side, so I got out the heat gun and used a board to get it back into shape and added a few screws and washers to hold it.

I use this web site https://www.hollanderparts.com/ to find parts. Look up your vehicle then enter your zip code to sort closest to you. There are a lot of listings for your 02 Forrester transmission - transaxle. Get the number on the sticker located on the bell housing above the starter and using the chart in the attachment you can identify your transmission and a replacement. The first 7 digits are the important ones. I found this chart somewhere when I needed a tranny for our 95 Legacy. TZ102ZA----