95LEGOBW

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[i am writing to update all those who helped me through this ordeal. I hope this is useful for others someday.] Photos in the gallery show the 2-pot caliper currently on the front of my 95 Legacy OB Wagon. What model Subaru is it from? [These 2-pot calipers, it turns out, were OEM for the car. After getting different answers from my local parts houses, dealers, and some experts on this board, it was getting pretty frustrating. I needed to fix my brakes, and no one could find a consistant reference to a 2-pot caliper, rather than the common 1-pot design. Usually part questions are solved by knowing the year, make and model, but not this time. Even with the VIN, dealers directed me to the wrong part. The code-breaking clue was the factory 15" wheels - an upgrade in 1995. One parts house showed different caliper part numbers for 14" and 15" applications. Armed with Rockauto.com's photos of the alternative calipers, I went to NAPA. The correct caliper, with a bracket, was ~$70, and available in just 8 hours. My new caliper is installed and the brakes work! Thanks again, Soobie Gurus. The end.] The background: I need to replace or rebuild the calipers. The parts guys are not sure what to order for me, since their parts system is telling them that that my car should have 1-pot calipers. Can one of you Soobie experts tell me what model Subaru these calipers are from so I can get the equivalent replacement parts.? Thanks, all-knowing Soobie Gurus.

The shop that replaced the front pads on my 95 Leg OBW left off the pad shims - the ones for anti-squeal, etc. Are these normally included with a set of new OEM pads? (Which he said he used.) Can I purchase just the shims, without pads? Is the dealer my only source for the shims? Thanks!

Y'all were correct: there were no shims installed when the front brake pads were replaced on my 95 Legacy. Superior Import in Portland did the work, and told me, at the time, that I would have to live with the squeeling. Live and learn.

Would someone direct me to a site to see a parts blowup for my 95 Legacy? This kind of blowup is usually made available on the websites of online parts suppliers, but I can't find one for Subarus. Specifically, I am looking for a diagram of the front brake assembly.

I had the same problem as the original poster tonight. On a 95 Legacy Outback Wagon, the ABS light came on at startup, and I heard the hydraulic unit continue running 5 minutes later when I shut down. One tape on the side with a screwdriver handle shut it off. I'll look into it further this weekend. "Check the easy things first."

Jamal, thanks for your quick reply. Question to All: On motorcycles, where it can be hard to find space for horns, the low tone is usually the recommended one. If you were only going to put on one aftermarket horn, would you go with the low tone or the high tone?

I find one horn on my 95 Legacy wagon. It's inside the engine compartment on the left side (as I'm facing the engine). Is there another horn somewhere? Also, if I'm going to put on ONE aftermarket horn, should I pick a high frequency or low frequency? I'm guessing high frequency, because it's more likely to pierce the booming stereo of the guy about to hit me.

My experience with OBDII on my '95 2.2: Local auto parts store says, 'Can't read 95 Subarus'. I say, it's OBDII. They read the codes. Done. Nice guys.

All, thanks for all your input. It looks like my engine missing problem is solved, after installing new plugs & wires, from Jason, and known-good ignitor and coil pack, from eBay. I installed these new parts one at a time, starting with plugs, then coil, then ignitor, then plug wires, one cylinder at a time. I tested it between each step, and the problem continued until the very LAST STEP: the plug wire on the #4 cylinder. (My oem plugs & wires had <10K on them, BTW.) Although I don't know the root cause of the missing, my suspicion is that one or more of the existing plug connectors was not fully seated. The introduction of moisture caused misfiring on several cylinders, and the weak plug connections got worse under the stress. This resulted in spark failures on several cyclinders under different engine load situations, complicating diagnosis. It's likely that simply replacing the plugs, and re-seating the existing plug wires, would have fixed the problem. An intersting side note: When the problem first started, I read the OBD codes. I found misfiring on all but one cylinder, and also a fuel injection error on #1 & #3. The plugs for #1 & #3 were black, while 2 & 4 looked fine. I think 1 & 3 had the most water on the plugs, which triggered a FI problem. Now, after changing all these parts, the check engine light is off, and it runs well. I'll check the codes aagain fter I've driven it awhile. Thanks again.

Thanks all. I'm all set now on my request for a source for OEM parts.

Thanks Jamal. I checked that site, and they show $11 per wire, after discount, so the same as my local dealer. Am I missing something at this site? Anyone, suggestions on other sources for OEM parts? $44 for a set of four plug wires seems steep, but I'm a noob at these things.

Local dealer wants $44 + tax for a set of 4 plug wires, plus has to order them in. Any suggestions on where else to try?

Is this correct? If I'm facing the engine from the front of car, looking over radiator: #1 #2 , are closest to me, left to right #3 #4, are away from me, left to right, closest to the firewall? Thanks in advance, Sub-experts.

Thanks for all the input, Subaru experts. Interesting discussions. It's cool how a question posted here leads to all sorts of conversations. It's an organic network. I digress. Back to the problem of engine missing after engine wash: 1) With caps, plugs, and coil ends all dry, and engine run for several hours, is it possible that some of those connections are still wet somehow? 2) Where else should I look for a source of water-induced missing?

Virrdog, you are right, I don't drive this car much. Maybe more time at operating temperature would help, but it's already been there for hours, and the problem persists. On your WD-40 suggestion: What connections should I go after with the Water Dispersing 40? The inside of the caps and the spark plugs are totally dry. The coil end of the plug wires is totally dry as well. What are the other suspects?

Porcupine73, thanks for the advice. I want to make sure I understand your suggestion. She was running fine before I washed the engine, and the plugs & wires are only a few years old. Are you saying that the washing caused the plug wires to fail or caused the coil pack to have cracks or carbon traces?

Here's my sad story: I sprayied down my engine with Simple Green, let it sit for awhile, then rinsed it with a garden hose. Lots of accumulated gunk dissolved away. Nice. A few hours later I drive 5 minutes to the store, and she's missing a bit. The Check Engine light comes on. That's to be expected, I figure, and whatever connection is wet will soon dry. I come out of the store after an hour, and now it's missing so badly it will barely run. I pull the plug caps. Yes, there's some water down by the plugs. I use twisted paper towels to soak up the water down in the holes. It starts right up and runs better, but still with a little miss. I don't drive it for a couple days, then same routine: Runs fine on the short drive to the store, then when I get back to the car an hour later it's missing badly. So I take it up a level. I get the engine up to operating temps, pulled off the plug caps, & left the hood up, with the engine in full sun. I figure any H2O should be long gone, but no, it's still missing. What should I try next? Where else should I look?

Thanks all for your input. Combining all the comments above, here's my summary. Does this make sense? - Break-in is important. I followed the process recommended here. - Squealing brakes can be avoided - I should not 'have to live with it" - There may be a problem with the brake work, such as shims left off or un-intended use of lower quality pads - I should ask the shop to fix this, checking on the shims & pads Does this make sense? Thanks again.

Johnceggleston, 165K on the car. Timing belt replaced at 125K. I'll have to check my paperwork to see when the H2O pump was replaced, perhaps it was replaced with the timing belt. Most of my water hoses have been replaced by Superior Import in the last year, partly to track down this leak, w/o success. Your note says you had a leak from the oil pump - this was an oil leak, right, not a coolant leak? Thanks all for the useful advice.

The squealing started shortly after I drove away from the shop, so I don't think break-in was a factor. Also, I did not get any instructions from the shop about breaking in the new breaks. What should they have told me?

My local independant Subaru shop, Superior Import in Portland, just did front brakes on my 95 Legacy wagon. In all the time I've owned the car the brakes have never squealed, but with the new pads it squeals a lot, and is getting worse all the time. Superior Import says they used OEM pads and told me there's nothing they can do about the squeal, that I have to live with it. Is that right, do I have to live with it? Any suggestions on what needs to be fixed? Thanks in advance.

My 95 wagon (2.2 engine) has developed an unusual leak. When parked for a day or two, I get a puddle of coolant under the front center of the engine. This only shows up after it has been parked for a couple of days, and even then it happens only sporadically. The local shop (Superior Import in Portland) could not tell me where the leak was, but wanted to try replacing the water pump for $300. $300 is too much to pay for a "try". The heater works. There's no moisture inside the car, and no oil in the radiator. Fuel mileage is normal. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the input. How are they when cold, such as in the first stop of the day? (Fade's not an issue for me, as I don't go fast and rarely are on long downhills, unfortunately.)