Green96GT

Relationship advice on USMB - who would have thought . Yeah, I agree. She's a pretty self-sufficient country girl, but after full disclosure, she has declined the offer. I'll keep the car for a little bit longer, then it'll be an organ donor.

Yeah, the mechanic replaced all of the pulleys and the belt. I can't recall how much it cost, but a replacement engine was going to be much more expensive, so I took the cheaper way out. Again, the car had lots of miles at that point anyway, so I figured I'd roll the dice. I wasn't advised about the impact of that choice - I should have asked you guys Luckily, there's no emissions testing where I live, so there's no issue about that. You mentioned "long trips." Is there a particular risk that I am facing because of the particular problems I described? The rest of the car is in pretty good shape. I'm planning to give it to my girlfriend to run until it's dead, and it would be good to know what she's up against. I don't want to ruin the relationship Thanks again!!!

First things first: '96 GT Wagon, 201,000 miles. About 10K ago, one of the timing belt pulleys self-destructed. Since then, the car runs a bit rough and shakes noticeably when at idle. A competent Subaru garage told me that there was most likely damage to a valve(s) when the pulley went, and that there's nothing I can do short of taking the heads off, valve job, etc. It's not the kind of thing I'm willing to tackle, or pay for (it's a beater). I was told that the car could continue to run indefinitely with the valve issue if I could put up with the shaking. Last month I started getting a flashing CEL, and the code was P0420. The flashing comes and goes. I get it when the car is idling, or running at low RPMs, and it usually stops when the car gets up to around 40 or so. I've read the threads about that code: check exhaust leaks, use the non-fouler trick on the O2 sensor, etc. I'm going to try those. My questions: Was the P0420 caused by the misfire (i.e., incomplete ignition, and more bad stuff going through the cat)? Will the misfire eventually clog the cat, or am I OK if I can get rid of the CEL with the sensor trick? Any other longer-term issues that I need to worry about with the misfire? I'd like to keep the car for another 25K or so, at least. Recently (starting before the CEL went on) I've been having a really hard time with cold starts (after sitting overnight at below 20 deg. or so). Any thoughts? Thanks!!! Jim

So, maybe a bearing in the front diff? Ugh. Sounds expensive. Can I tell by wiggling the axle when the car is on a lift? The symptom is a subtle rhythmic "thrumming" from the front end at about 20 mph, and occasionally at other speeds. And like I said, some "road noise".

Could driving on a toasted axle result in wheel bearing problems?

On a related note: I was forced to drive a good distance - 70 miles or so - on the bad front axle. It was periodically grinding, clunking, clicking, etc. The guy that replaced it said one of the CVs pretty much wouldn't move when he took it out. Did I mess up my front diff? I'm getting some road noise-like sound from the front end now.

I had a front axle CV fail after about a year, and there was no damage whatsoever to the boots beforehand. What's up with that? Did I just get a bad remanufactured axle? Or is something else going on?

Haynes says: "Check the ground wire attached between the radiator and the chassis. If this wire is not well-grounded, the fan will not run." I guess I'll ignore it....

My Haynes manual Oh, to clarify. It's a ground for the radiator fan which runs from the radiator to the chassis.

I can't find the darned thing. Which may mean that a) I'm blind, or the guy who replaced my radiator didn't reconnect it. Can anyone tell me where it should be?? Thanks!!!

Yup, but not immediately. I few weeks after, at least.

96 Legacy GT, auto, 180K The idle isn't what I'd call 'rough' and I don't think it's a matter of the idle RPMs being low. The best way to describe it is that it "chugs" when it idles, but it's never failed to start, and has never stalled on me. A few months ago the timing belt and pulleys were replaced when one of the pulleys went bad, apparently. Is it possible that this problem is caused by a timing issue? I.e, the garage got the timing wrong, or the belt has jumped a tooth from a mistake in the repair? Just looking for some ideas before I go back to the garage to have them look at it. Thanks!!!

96 Legacy GT wagon 2.5. What's the black plastic canister between the ABS pump and the upper radiator hose, with the vacuum hoses sticking out?

I did this job on my car last year. You may want to price out a new tube, or a used part. Consider leaving off the plastic guard to keep the crud from building up again. On the other hand, it may help keep the JB Weld protected. Just my $.02.

The rotors were replaced with new - they didn't turn the old ones. I didn't notice the strange behavior until a few weeks after I got it back, and I'm sure that they will deny it was their issue. I don't need that fight. The shop has messed up a couple of other sloppy things. I won't be going back there.