Al_SemC

Differential? A bearing? Could be alot of things. Does it do it in every gear?

Allowed to not necessarily meet the labeled specs? Uh, false advertising? Guess I'd better switch to Mobil 1 soon.

I'm pretty sure that would be interpreted as a misfire on the cylinder you diabled the injector for. That would represent a code you'd have to clear. Take it to AutoZone when you're done and have them do it for free?

4.111 is the final drive ratio for a few 4EAT Imprezas (93-01 Impreza w/ 1.8L and 2.2L, the 02-03 Impreza TS, Outback Sport and the 02-03 WRX). It also happens to be the final drive ratio for the 96+ Legacy Outback with the 5MT. According to my FSM, I've got a 4.444 front and rear end ratio. From what I can tell, the 00 and 01 Impreza RS AT models had 4.444 end ratios and LSDs equipped in the back. Looks like I'll need to find one of those dead. ...anybody got one?

I've got a 4.444:1 ratio on both diffs like a normal Legacy AT. Only the older WRX had the 1.1:1 drop gear in the transfer case, AFIK.

I'd like to both replace my leaky and noisy rear diff with an LSD unit since it's crappy 8 months out of the year here. Does anyone know if they made a 4.444, i.e. AT rear end with limited slip? I recall reading something about a "Cold Weather Package" for the Outback and an LSD being part of it, but I can't find that now. Furthermore, if one exists, does anyone have one they'd be willing to part with?

I never heard anything about MTBE eating engine parts, but they here in New York they stopped using it because the EPA noticed it showing up pretty much everywhere in the environment that they tested. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether kind of causes plant life to die, accumulates in fish and causes cancer in lab animals, so they told the refiners that if they wanted to sell fuel here, they'd have to drop the MTBE. As I understand it, they replaced the MTBE with one of the two major alcohols. The AKI stayed the same on the gas, but everyone in the state saw a 2-5% drop in milage practically overnight. My old car even got pissed. I had to reset its computer to get it acclimated to the different gas.

The Dodge Magnum has several problems, as I see it: It's a Chrysler product. Fine if you want a fixer-upper. Since it's a Dodge, it doesn't get the spiffy Mercedes sourced suspension bits the 300 HEMI C gets. It's huge on the outside. It's tiny on the inside. What do you mean you need to see out of it? Corners a bit like a sleepy whale, what with all that weight. Mediocre brakes. It'll goes like stink, but drinks gas like it too. Pushrods? What is this, the 16th century? What, no manual? People around where I live see it as a car for a guy whose wife won't let him have a midlife-crisis car. By the way, soobmater, you can get the Magnum in AWD.

I second that. In '97, they changed the EJ25 from hydraulic to solid, the Phase II DOHC motor. The Legacy got that through MY00 until they switched to the SOHC Phase III motor that has screw-type adjusters in the rockers. Incidentally, don80, have you used the Mechanic's Stethescope, aka the Really Big Screwdriver to locate the general location of the sound? My motor (which has 30k on the bottom end and thus doesn't, rather shouldn't have rodknock) makes that same type of noise -- a clicking over 2500 that isn't there while the engine is cool-ish. I've tracked the noise down to three really loud injectors. Maybe you have the same problem? If that's it, try running some cleaner through it. I hear Seafoam works well in the gas, though I've never tried it. I'm partial to Castle Fireball (may not be available except in Rochester and Buffalo, NY) and Chevron Techron.

Hmm. I distinctly remember the speedo on mine pointing at 115 before my friend and I decided that we'd better allow room for slowing down. Maybe I'm wrong. It really doesn't matter. All I know is I can outrun my dad's car on a long strip because his tops out at 109. Unless he chips it. Then it'll run out of steam at about 130. I'll just have to hope he doesn't chip it.

The ones with the diamond studs?

The wiring actually isn't too bad. You just have to sit down and digest the wiring diagrams, get a bit creative and perhaps make with some interesting dances with relays. All the parts can be had relatively easily from a junkyard with MT Subarus in it. Getting decent ones it the tricky part, especially a tranny and diff that don't suck. Do note that if you use an actual Legacy Turbo MT drivetrain, you'll get a limited slip 3.900 rear end. This =

I've done alot of research into this. Check out my webpage (link in my sig) and poke around until you find the AT->MT Conversion stuff. I've basically determined that it's just as cost effective as a trany rebuild assuming that you don't place a value on the time you spend on this. There is also an issue where the ABS module talks to the transmission controller about something in the AT models and won't work at all without a TCU installed. This renders your ABS inoperative. It's illegal to disable a safety system unless it's malfunctioning in most states (including mine), so that won't fly. There's a thought that replacing the ABS controller with one from an MT model might fix it, but I've heard little about it. Of course, if you don't have ABS (I don't think the 93's had it at all), you won't have this problem.

Those are some really expensive o-rings!

Tensioners are expensive, though. A couple hunge, IIRC.

My ceramics stop interestingly. They grip more as they heat up to a certain point where I'm sure they'll begin to fade. I haven't pushed them to that point, but it must be there; physics dictates this. It feels a bit weird at first. You hold steady pressure on the pedal but get more braking performance as you proceed with the stop. You get used to it very quickly, though. I don't even consider it bad. It's kind of handy, like an autobraking feature or something. My only complaint is that they squeak and creak a bit on the first stop after sitting for a while, but they quiet right down after that and they're much better behaved then my last set of Unknown Brand pads that kind of annihilated themselves.

Either it's leaking or it's burning it. There's nowhere else for it to go. Hope for a leak.

I spent about $300 on Akebono ceramic pads and a full set of Brembo rotors from TireRack. They're absolutely awesome. You might want to take a look there if you are gunna replace the whole shebang. Do not, under any circumstances, buy cheap rotors. It'll come back to haunt you quickly. I replaced my last cheap set after only 10k. Same thing happened twice on my old car. I've learned. It's worth the money to buy good ones and to only have to do it once instead of three times. This is, of course, assuming that you value your time and/or don't get excited about brakejobs.

The official flavor of oil for that motor is 5W30, all the time. That's what I run and it's all over it. If you switch to synth, watch for some minor leaking at seals. I got a little when I ran semi-synth before and will get back to you about how it is on full synth, as I plan to run som Mobil-1 come wintertime. The capacities of the tranny and diffs differs with models. The rear diff is 0.8qt, regardless. MT gearboxes share oil with the front diff, so you need not fill it separately. Don't know how much exactly the MT's take, but I recall it being a little less than a gallon (I remember a gallon bottle of gear oil and putting the leftovers into a little can). The AT's hold 10qt of ATF total, 4qt in the pan. You'll have to do interesting dances to change the fluid without a pressure purge pump thingy. The front diff does not share oil with the tranny in this case. It holds either 0.8qt or 1.3qt. I forget which and my manual's not handy.

Me too, especially if it's on a DOHC. There's alot of conflicting information about how one goes about doing it.

Considering that you have a '91 with 185k on it, it might be better to just retire it and pick something else up for your 1650. You can get a halfway decent beater until you get the cash to buy a real car. I'd say it's not worth it unless you have a real attachment to the Legacy.

Did they give you the option of picking your ATF?

I meant to suck it in through a vacuum line. Clean out the whole combustion chamber hardcore. But now that I think of it, that won't help a sticky valve. Whatever it could probably use a clean anyway.

What happens in a Level III Diagnositic (omfgstartrekreference!)? Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread.

I'm coming up on ATF change time and I figured I'd give Mobil-1 a try. I'm told it's the shizznat, especially for old-gearbox guys like me. I do know about the whole torque-converter issue with changing the fluid yourself and would like to swap out all the fluid, so I was thinking about letting a shop do it, like AAMCO or something. Thing is, how much fluid do you need to do a full-out flush? I'm concerned that the 10qt the tranny holds won't be enough since you have to blow the old stuff out. Anybody every have anyone do this? I'm just curious. I'm probably going to do a drain-replace-drive-drain-replace-drive-drain-replace job on it.