heartless

Thank you GD!! went and did a little searching and viola!! there it was, the belt size needed to bypass the PS pump - just for future reference folks, it is a 27.5" belt! see this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104879&highlight=power+steering+belt from the pic that was posted, it looked like the alt was adjusted nearly all the way up, so one could possibly get by with a 27" or 27.25" the old string (wire) around the pulleys method measured out about 26"... just for the record, i dont actually recommend bypassing the power steering, but in an emergency situation (ie: seized pump), it can be done to get to safety.

Direct from the 1990 Legacy owners manual.... 10w30 / 10w40 from about -15* to 90*+ F 5w30 from 0*F and below... altho - there is a "Caution" noted..."SAE 5w/30 is not recommended for sustained high-speed driving" since we only get a few days a year below -15*F the 10w30 is just fine.

Well, all done!! whole pump including the bracket was already pulled on the one parts car, was lying on the battery platform - just had to dig it out of the snow! lol Had to go get tires on Marc's car (he took mine to work this morning), then into town to get the pump swapped. just for peace of mind, i did run some fluid thru the "new" pump before install (and yes, i know they take Dexron ATF) and turned it by hand until it started coming out the pressure side & all seemed to be in order. petty easy swap all in all, just a little messy unhooking the lines... also appears i will be investing in a cheap turkey baster for the garage - old fluid was getting a bit dark... anyway, so far so good - all is right in my Subaru world again.

any complete, running, drivable car is worth 200 bucks - take it!

if that is what is recommended, then fine, go with it. i am running 10w30 in my 1990 EJ22 w/206K, let it warm up about 5 mins or so on cold days (below 30*F) enough to get things circulating good, not really enough to get it up to "normal" operating temp tho, but that usually happens within the first mile or so of driving, getting the tranny fully warmed up sometimes takes as much as 5 miles, depending on how cold it really is...so yeah, usually the first few miles are taken pretty easy...

oh no - dont tell me that! well, i guess i will find out when i pull the parts car one!

even if it isnt on sale, it is a pretty good price for all that you get, and i have seen several posts about this being a good kit to get (ie: good, reliable seller) hmmm,, just got me to thinkin, i am gonna have to be thinking about doing this again pretty soon - got 54K on the last one already!

honestly, have not had to do the lateral link bolts myself, but would think it would work, with liberal application of some type of deep creep oil for several days in advance...have heard the horror stories about those, which is why i took mine in for the rear whl bearing replacement - the shop has the correct tools and if they break something, they have to replace it!

Marc's car has over 260K and his is fine too - so i dont know...perhaps my car was more abused in it's previous life??? (and it was pretty abused, being forced to run around on blown air struts and who knows what else...)

Thanks Miles - we have three parts cars here, just looking for the confirmation of my gut feeling i guess...time to suit up and go pull a pump off one of the parts cars i guess. shouldnt take all that much to swap out, should it? pull the belt, pop off the lines, unbolt the pump, right? ...i know it is gonna be a bit messy, but that i can live with that...

check your owners manual for recommendations - it will have a chart of temps and which weight oil to run for those temps. Follow that! personally, i would not run 5w30 oil in a subaru - tried it once in my old GL wagon, it didnt like it! it got changed out long before the next change was due. just my nickels worth...

yeah, fluid smells, and looks normal and is at proper level. i went around town looking for a shorter belt to "bypass" the power steering, just in case...not happening, not available, not even on special order. would need a 5 rib flat belt at about 26.25 inches long to do it - these belts come in 25" as the shortest, then jump to 27+" for the next shortest - same thing with a 4 rib and even a 3 rib!! (which pose thier own set of problems) And this is not to mention driving a PS equipped vehicle with the PS non-operational is WAY worse than driving a manual steering vehicle - I know, have had PS go out before - requires quite a bit of muscle to move one...

if the rear hatch was damaged i would seriously pull the interior panel on the rear hatch and check for pinched and/or damaged wires - just to reassure myself that all is A-Ok there. there are several wires in that area that could easily get pinched/damaged by even a mild impact. (rear defrost, rear wiper, PDL wires, cargo area light switch...) arent electrical issues fun!

3/4 drive breaker bar, and cheater pipe. works pretty much every time. Tire needs to be on the car & car on the ground, tho. break it loose, then jack up the car & remove tire for the rest of the disassembly. picked up a "cheap" 3/4 drive, large metric socket set (18mm thru 40 something mm) at harbor freight - yeah it says "made in china" on it, but it works...

honestly - i can not say i have ever heard of the engine leaking at the case half seal - i have been on this board since '03 and have never seen/heard anything even remotely like that on an engine that has never been cracked open. as already mentioned, there are a lot of other places it could be leaking from, but the case half seam - um, not likely. if it seriously smells more like axle grease then engine oil i would suspect it is either old grease still burning off, or possibly a damaged boot slinging new grease - right side seems to be unusually susceptible to damage as it is closer to the cat. and gets more heat than the left side. if the installer was careless when installing the new axle the boot could easily be damaged - i would be checking carefully.

it is actually quite common for a vehicle to show "empty" but still have a gallon or more left in the tank. not really relavant to a car, but on a semi the guage can read empty, and even have trouble starting with more than 20 gallons left in the tanks (keep in mind that they usually hold 100 gals or more) all depends on the length of the pick-up tubes.

the car: 1990 Legacy LS Wagon, Auto, AWD, about 206000miles on the clock. the problem: driving into town the other day, after stopping for a light, went to take off and heard what sounded like belt squealing - actually thought it was the car next to me at first, but no, it was my car... next traffic light, same thing, take off from stop and it is screaming again, not just for a couple of seconds, but for more like 2 blocks before it finally quit. another light - again, it starts screaming... drove over to the other half's workplace - nice warm shop with tools - popped the hood, and manually revved the motor, screams bloody murder, sounds like either the alternator, or the power steering pump - coming from up high... for the record, the belt is fairly new - this past summer - and is in good condition - did not appear to be slipping. shut car off and grap a socket wrench, loosen the alt and pull the belt. Alt pulley spins very nicely, no funny noises, no binding, no sloppiness. power steering pulley, not so much. I can move the pully in & out (forward/back) about 1/8th of an inch, and there is a small amount of side to side motion. there have been no problems noted with steering, it doesnt bind or feel loose or anything like that, steering 'feels' fine. Put the belt back on, retensioned and the darn thing has not made a sound since (have put about 200-250 mi on the car since this incident) beginning to wonder if the car wasnt just being b*t<hy that day. So the question is - 1. how much "slop" is acceptable on a PS pulley? and 2. should i be worried about the pulley seizing on me and trashing my belt, & possibly leaving me stranded?

well, this looks like a fantastic father/son project that will keep you BOTH occupied for a while! LOL I think you are making the right choice going back in with an EA81 for now. plenty of time later on for an EJ swap. ya know, i like purple too, but that particular shade is kinda disgusting and what is up with the blue "accents"??? ewww....the po's taste was all in his mouth... welds?? yeah, ok....um, i can do better than that! (and i'm not a welder!) - that is just scary! VERY glad to hear you have the parts to replace all of that! good luck on the build and definitely keep us posted!

honestly - car values are dependant on location, desirabilty, condition and finding the right person to buy that car. around me, that car wouldnt be worth much more than scrap price, nobody wants an old Subaru around here...not even a low mileage one (with the exceptions being myself & my other half LOL but we are they type to seek out the cheap ones - never paid more than $300 for any of our Subarus, drivers or parts cars, and there have been a few that have passed thru here) on the rare occasion I see a Subaru in a used car lot around here, usually an Outback, the price is often way more than it should be for this area and the car will sit there for months. so, "value" is completely subjective - might be worth a lot to you, but not so much to the next person... FWIW - the rockers are a structural part of these car - if they are showing rust, i dont know as I would mess around w/bondo - they should really have the rust cut completely out and new metal put back in...:-\

ok - sounds like we are back to the beginning again you did mention that the CEL has come on so lets start there - FWIW - the EA series does NOT blink codes at the CEL on the dash - you will need to remove the panel under the drivers side dash to see the ECU and get codes from the LED located there. there should be some test connector plugs under the hood behind the drivers side strut tower (depending on the year, they could be under the dash) it has been a while, so someone correct me if I am wrong... to get stored codes: plug the black connectors together, turn key to the normal "run" position (do not start!) watch the LED on the ECU for flashes - long flash = 10, short flash = 1 it will flash all stored codes with a pause between codes and will repeat the sequence so be patient and make sure you have them all and you have them correct. I believe there is a listing of the codes & what they are in the USRM...yup, see here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=49918

O2 sensor only comes into play once the car has warmed up - cold starts it is not a factor.

yup, let us know what year/model you have and we can point you in the right direction. Also what you want/need to do - general repairs, modify, etc.

Welcome aboard Ann!!! We all hate to see a Subaru go to the crusher, but we all also know that sometimes it just has to be done. Had to haul off my first Suby this past summer as she had some pretty serious rot underneath - was not easy to let her go - she was also a FWD 5 spd, but GL....anyway, i take comfort in knowing that she sort of lives on as quite a few of her parts were outsourced to others in need. lookin forward to seein what you can do with what you salvaged!

yes, and then you let it get empty again, which will introduce more moisture in the tank in the form of frost. best to NOT let the tank get that low in very cold temps. as for the CTS - yes it can prevent the car from starting if it is bad, as can several of the other items mentioned in this thread. did you happen to notice CEL at all when it started to give problems? if so, getting the stored code would be most helpful. if not - then basics - fuel? air? spark? you mentioned wondering about the fuel filter - filters are relatively cheap so change it if it is suspect. same with air filter check the MAF - is it clean looking or dirty? have you really checked the spark?? should be strong & kind of bluish white in color - if it is weak and/or more yellow, that will also prevent starting. Also - how old are the plugs and/or wires - if they havent been changed in some time, perhaps it is time to do so. Is the gap on the plugs correct? What kind of condition are the plugs in? Spark plugs can tell you a lot about how your vehcile has been running. easy way to check spark - pull one of the sparkplugs, plug it back into the wire (get the wire pulled loose from the holders so it will reach) and using either heavy gloves or some sort of plastic holding tool (plastic kitchen tongs work well here) hold the sparkplug on one of the strut mounting bolts and have a friend try to start the car - watch the spark - should be a strong, bright, blue/white color. if all of the above check out, then it is time to start checking connections/fuses/relays. also check battery and alternator.

also make sure that the caliper is sliding freely on the pins if not, take caliper off, clean pins up, regrease with proper brake grease and reassemble - when the caliper doesnt move freely, it can cause similar issues