heartless

I can only speak to the 1st gen Legacy here - 1990 AWD LS wagon (LS was the "top of the line" model then) The specs: 2.2L n/a 4EAT tranny (gobs better than the old 3EAT's!!) AWD All the usual power goodies (windows, door locks, mirrors, etc) including power moon roof (LOVE this feature) Cruise Control AM/FM/Casette w/Aux in jack for mp3 player currently has approx 188K on the clock avg mpg (with the AWD auto) - 27-29 - depends on conditions and length of drive... not as good as the 5 spd FWD, but not too shabby either considering) have been driving this car for almost 2 years now and am pretty much very happy with it. Working on it is pretty easy - a bit more reliable than my old GL wagon was (altho that old girl was pretty darn reliable!) It had factory air suspension when I got it - blown of course. Looked at replacing those VERY expensive - went the "convert to standard coil-overs" route and am fine with it. It rides and handles fine (better than the old GL did) Timing belt replacement is not really any harder than doing the EA82's - only one belt involved - i made the mistake of letting an inexperienced person do mine the first time (auto shop student - NEVER again!) and had to completely redo the timeing about 2 months later - it jumped time. As noted in other threads many times over - the AWD versions MUST have matching tires all around to prevent the dreaded torque bind. So far, so good with mine... The following items listed by lostinthe202 are NOT just specific to the 95-99's they also apply to the 1st gens... Not really sure what bheinen is referring to with this statement... as the other half (madkow) has a 90 FWD 5 spd version of the L sedan and hasnt had any major problems with it other than it could really use a new clutch and it needed that when he bought it a year and a half ago! (and this one has about 210K on the clock!) Overall - we really like our 1st gen Legacys - so much so that the old EA82's are going away . Still have an EA82 3dr coupe here, but will be looking for a new home for it pretty soon... Would love to get my hands on a relativly rust free 5 spd version of the AWD wagon - the auto is ok, but miss my 5 spd...

Good Job! yeah, it isnt a hard job, just kind of a pain to crawl back there & do it! LOL Glad you got her all fixed up!

just to be sure - what are you calling #1 cyl?? #1 is passenger side front - not drivers side front as many mistakenly think the only other thing i can think of would be completely mis-timed - but if it was that far out of whack it wouldnt run...

perhaps coil pack going bad? did you check grounds over good? - not real familiar with the 97 version...

MMO is pretty well known here in the states as well - at least in truck driving circles it is! very commonly used as a diesel additive to help clean injectors and condition seals in the fuel system.

you are welcome and Thank you for the props on the ol girl - we like her! if you really want to :slobber: let me say that we only paid $200 for it & madkow rode it home! (had to take him back to pu his car!!) it has just barely turned 10K on the clock, all original (well, maybe not the tires)... Good luck with the resto! would love to see some pics of yours brought back to it's full glory.

well - hate to say it, but have been stripping my old GL of any useful parts. the salt cancer has gotten to her so badly that she isnt safe to have on the road anymore. :-\ (front subframe is so rotten that the jackstands went thru!! have to use 2 stands & a 2x4 to spread the weight on) Soon she will be gone - but never, ever forgotten!!!

do you have the green test connectors hooked up? they are required for proper timing checks... Not sure where they are on the 92 Loyale - on the 89 GL they were just behind the drivers side strut tower - but from what i understand later models had them under the dash?

ok - if whacking it got it going you will need to get in there & check things out - glove box comes out pretty easily. would check wiring connections to start with - fan itself, too - may be the brushes are failing in the fan motor... i do have a spare motor/squirrel cage here if you decide you need one.

have owned more cars than i care to think about - mostly american made (ford, chevy, dodge) to be honest - Subaru is the only "import" brand I have ever owned over the years (and i am 46) All had thier pluses, all had thier minuses - the Subaru - for me at least - has been the easiest car to own & work on (short of my 67 F250 with 0 electronics! lol) I am also a long haul truck driver with nearly 2,000,000 miles behind the wheel (of trucks - not counting car miles here) - 18 yrs worth. So driving is a way of life for me (and something I usually enjoy) there have been times when i cursed my Surbaru a blue streak & was ready to chuck it in favor of something else, but other times when i wouldnt have traded it for anything (more of those to be sure!). Yes they can be problematic sometimes (lack of funds for minor repairs can be a real b#%! been there too) so i can fully understand where Ben & Guido are at right now. If it wasnt for some of the members of this board (you know who you are! & thank you!) i would have given up on Subaru long ago. Ben - that box of parts will be sent down to you very soon - pay me when you can, even if it is just a few bucks at a time I sincerely hope that what is in it can help get Guido back to where he is more reliable for you and your family. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Holiday!!

my 90 lego has an aux in jack... have no idea about any others tho

cool! we are off to a good start! I have some pics i need to take as well! nothing as cool as the lathes & shaper, but some neet old stuff - mostly mechanics hand tools. Like a Bonney 3/4 drive set - ratchet, breaker bar, 2 extensions & a bunch of sockets. Also have a very unique torque wrench made by Bonney. The Bonney name disappeared in the late 60's, very early 70's...they were held in high regard back in the day - similar to Snap On in quality and craftsmanship. have a pic of the 3/4 drive set (minus the sockets) and a little teaser on the torque wrench...

Seeing GD's 'new' old lathe & the discussion that started about old tools in general - have decided to start a thread devoted to the "oldies, but goodies" We recently "inherited" a whole bunch of tools from madkow's dad (not really inherited as his dad is still with us, but...) His dad was a maintenance tech for many, many years at a Buick dealership, so the tools are MANY!! and most are older vintages - some no longer made. The greater majority are hand tools - wrenches, ratchets, sockets & drivers, some diagnostic tools and a few home-owner type things. Names like Snap-on, Mac, Craftsman & one i ad never heard of before getting these - Bonney I will get the pictur show started with this old beauty - a vintage Craftsman circular saw with a storage box & paperwork!

Exactly!!!

Ah - ok.

altho i find the mechanical much easier to deal with, i can do electrical and am rather anal about it when i do - one thing i absolutely hate is a botched or sloppy wiring job!! call it karma, or whatever you wish - what goes around comes around I always say! i - like you - try to help where i can, altho i probably dont contribute as much as others can (& do!)!!

Bookmarked! i guess i (& madkow) can make a very tiny claim on this, since we provided the donor vehicle for the tranny swap!!

Ben - I completely understand your frustration with Guido at the moment - been there with Hildy. But honestly, with a lttle bit of effort & the box of parts I have here waiting to be shipped & maybe a little help from local friends, you CAN get him running much better. (would be happy to add Hildy's tensioners to that box as well...) I cant tell you how much it is paining me to be taking Hildy apart - we have been thru sooo much together - nearly 10 years & my first Subaru - it's like seeing one of my best friends die slowly. At least I can take comfort in knowing that parts of her will live on in other Subaru's - she has become an organ donor!! Hildy made it to 265,000+ and was still running very strong - it was the cancer that has taken her out. If you do decide to move on I would have to second the 1st gen Legacy - as much as I loved Hildy, she cant hold a candle to "Cherry Bomb" - my 1990 Legacy LS wagon - in the creature comfort or power catagories. The only thing that would make Cherry any better would be the 5spd AWD tranny instead of the auto... The EJ22 is NOT hard to work on at all - was a little intimidated at first, being MPFI, but have found it isnt as bad as i thought it would be. It is still a non-interference engine, so no major worries there, timing belt is not hard (only one instead of 2) and parts are usually much easier to come by, depending on what you are looking for...rear wiper seems to be an issue tho. Whatever you decide to do is entirely up to you, but i think those of us here hope you will stay in the Subaru family!

Me too! had a limited understanding of it, but the water/pipe analogy just made it crystal clear! Thank you!

humming noise - i would seriously check into the wheel bearings - they could last a long time yet, they could fail tomorrow... the steering issue may or may not be related, i would lean toward not related to bearings, just coincidental... jack up the front end - support it properly - and start checking things over carefully.

are you gonna sell Bucky back to her??

yeah - thats the stuff! works very well on motorcycle windshields too.

I admit I was hesitant to do it too, thinking "what if I screw it up?" the first ones I tried were on the work truck - they were extremely bad (the lens was as yellow as our little yellow smilies!!) & the boss was talking about getting new ones for it (he thought the yellowing was on the inside) - I asked him to let me try 'polishing' first. the scariest moment was after the first few swipes with the sand paper and seeing the scratches - OMG - but I forged ahead, working progressively finer & finer - the big thing is to keep it WET! and work each grit until you can no longer see the scratches from the previous grit (tip: working in opposite directions w/each grit really helps - up/down w/one, side/side w/next, then up/down w/next again - final grit i worked in circles) rinse thoroughly after final grit - Yes, it will still be very scratched looking - you're thinking "crap, i really screwed up now" - guess again - good old fashioned polishing compound (i used the ol standby "Turtle Wax" brand - buck fifty to two fifty a can depending on your location) damp (not soaking wet) cloth, generous amount of compound and start rubbing in a circular motion (wax on, wax off! hehe), work until it feels nice & smooth - then work a little more - buff off residue with a clean dry cloth. I did follow the polishing compound with some plastic polish - either maguires scratch x or plast-x work very well - just like using wax on the body of the car - it helps to seal the lens and keep it looking good longer. the results are simply amazing! and a fraction of the cost of replacing, or even the flitz stuff (sorry, not to knock the product, but it isnt exactly cheap for those on really tight budgets - $50 for a Flitz headlight kit -vs- maybe $12 for a few shts of wet/dry paper, the polishing compound & the plastic polish)

dammit GD - you have got to stop it - I am gonna ruin my keyboard with all the :slobber: !!! looks like a keeper for sure!