Midwst

I'm trying to remove spark plugs from an aluminum head...and they don't seem to want to turn. The engine is cold. Afraid of pulling the threads out with the plug. Any tricks to avoid this disaster?? Thanks.

Good to know. Thanks.

MilesFox....will have you hold off on the tranny for right now. Still have a few leads here I'm looking into. Thanks.

If one pulls the engine out of an EA82, does the A/C system have to be opened up?

ACutally, i think someone just added ATF to diff because they didn't know one dip stick from the other...what a dip stick!

some professional tranny guys have told me that transmission power flush may be a bad idea. Lifts gunk/debris off bottom of tranny pan and pushes throughout the tranny. Can sometimes cause a tranny to fail. Would recommend changing the fluid...drain and refill multiple times in a row, within a few days/weeks/months of each other...instead of power flush. Power flush weakened my already noisy tranny pump causing it to die faster. But it was already making noise. Would like to hear others ideas about tranny power flush.

No. You cannot save the R-12 unless you have a very expensive recovery machine. Will have to switch to R-134a. Not horribly expensive. Just a valve switch I think. Will need to be professionally serviced to refill properly. To drain r-12...w/o proper equipment/recovery machine is illegal. But someone once told me that if you have an r-12 ac guage kit, and run one end into a bucket of water, you can safely discharge the r-12 into the water w/o it going into the atmosphere. I don't know if this is true. May or may not be legal. Breathing too much r-12 can freeze your lungs...dangerous. Stick with a good quality gasket brand, I always prefer factory for head gaskets, but Felpro and National are okay too I think. Avoid cheap auto parts stores!!! good luck. If you find R-12 in a store...DONT BUY IT!!! It is cheap knock off and can cause an explosion. Real r-12 has been off the market for many years. ps. I am airconditioning ASE certified.

The junk yard told me that they had a 92 Legacy tranny, but the drive gear had to be switched over. They say my car has a 4:11 and the 92 Legacy has something else. I didn't realize there were 2 different gear ratios. Is there any way I can tell by looking at the car which gear ratio it has? For example, does the Legacy L use a different gear ratio than a regular legacy?Thanks.

I looked at a junk yard tranny. It had ATF in the front differnetial. I told the guy he shouldn't be selling that tranny do anyone. He said that it wouldn't matter. Personally, I think there is a huge difference between ATF and 80W90. Wouldn't it damage the gears?

Pinging is caused by many things. Most often, an engine running lean. Not getting enough fuel. This can be caused by fuel restriction, or problem with emission control system, ie O2 sensor that sends wrong info to computer. Also caused by carbon build up in cylinders...though seafoam should have fixed that. I'd check fuel delivery system first. Also ignition system???

I have a friend with a 96 Legacy, 98K miles. Getting a clutch. Taking it to a shop. She's trying to decide, should the rear main seal be replaced even if it is not leaking? I said either way there is a risk. Replace it, maybe will start leaking. Don't replace it, maybe will start leaking later. Wanted to get other soobie lovers opinions.

That's me. Yep, valve stem seals leaking. Not real bad, but definately leaking.

Okay...thinking of sources of an intermitant dead miss. Acts up when hot/humid. Electrical, cap, rotor, wires, distributor, fuel injector resistor, fuel injectors, plugs. Am I missing anything?

Have done the water trick myself on cat cars. Never had problem...knock on wood. thanks for the tips. Will definately make use of them. Not sure about the snake oil thing....additives make me nervous.

good idea. It occurs to the that the oil pump is driven by the crankshaft. If the car has a dead miss, the crankshaft turns unevenly, causing oil pump not to pump as well. Fix the miss, fix half of the oil pressure problem. Will check basics too, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, injectors. Maybe I can save this baby after all. Will fix miss first, then reseal oil pump. any way to tell if distributor is worn out...guess that wouldn't be it, becasue that would be a constant miss. This is intermitant. Electrical or fuel I think. Is the distributor mechanical or electric driven?

Actually starts fine on a hot start, just runs like holly hell.

What type of engine would be in a 1995 Legacy? 2.2L or 2.5? Thanks.

Well crap. I just decided to keep the Legacy and now it is running like hell. sounds like it is not getting oil pressure on restart. On hot restart, runs really rough, like a dead miss and that sickening not quite enough oil sound. Has plenty of oil. Timing belt was replaced...but by previous owner. Not quite sure how long ago. Odd thing is car often runs fine when started cold...excepts takes a little while longer to build oil pressure than I would like. Obviously need to reseal the oil pump. I would suspect fuel, but it runs all uncoordinated, like 2 drunk men in a 3 legged race. Damnit! Engine and a tranny job?..god I hope not. Have noticed oily film in area where intake manifold bolts onto head. too high to be valve cover gaskets...its above that. I know the valve stem seals are leaking oil. Get blue smoke out of the tail pipe on initial start up. Don't really think this is realated. Who knows. Sometimes it runs uncoordinated on a cold start, but most of the time it is on a warm or hot restart. Need help!! BTW, am I allowed to say "damnit" on this forum?? Don't want to bend rules. 1991 AWD Legacy 2.2L

Well crap. I just decided to keep the Legacy and now it is running like hell. sounds like it is not getting oil pressure on restart. On hot restart, runs really rough, like a dead miss and that sickening not quite enough oil sound. Has plenty of oil. Timing belt was replaced...but by previous owner. Odd thing is car runs fine when started cold...excepts takes a little while longer to build oil pressure than I would like. I know this is the wrong forum...but any ideas? Obviously need to reseal the oil pump. I would suspect fuel, but it runs all uncoordinated, like a 3 legged race. Will also posts this on New Generation forum and see what I come up with. Damnit! Engine and a tranny job...god I hope not. May take you up on your offer Miles Fox.

No takers on the temp light? Does anyone have a catalog that lists accessory auto parts....JC Whitney maybe? Any others out there I can check? Would really like one. could probaby jurry rig something bizarre looking... but it would probably leak.

I'm quite sure the Loyale will be long gone by august. Will be paying someone $420 to put a junk yard tranny in the Legacy. I can swing that if the first one is a charm. If the first one tanks, the next $420 will hurt pretty bad. Are there any junk yards in the midwest that would install a subaru tranny for me at a better price? Maybe not a good idea actually, since if the "new" tranny is bad, it may not make it back for the second round, but its worth looking in to. hope to see you guys and gals in august. ps. check out my "oil overfill" story in the New Generation forum. Kind of funny. If anyone is interested in the 92 Loyale, send me a personal message and I'll give you the dealer details.

Humerous TRUE story: A man in my apartment complex bought his first car at age 58. He knocked on my door and said that the car was making noise. Would I come look? I discovered it was quite low on oil. I advised him to "top it off". The next day he knocked on my door again. The car would not start. I asked him if he had added the oil. He said Yes. I went down to check it out. I pulled the dip stick. The first 18" were covered with oil. I opened the oil filler cap. Engine oil was up to the top of the valve covers. I tried not to laugh. "yep, looks like you topped it off pretty good! How many quarts did it take you?" Answer: "10"

Yeah. I am leaning towards making the 91 Legacy immortal. It has rust, but I have a 94 geo metro...no rocker pannel metal left...all bondo. Bondo is good. Still holding up nicely after 1 year of heavy use. Rust isn't so horrible if you keep up with it. I'm not sure I am willing to deal with the Loyale excentricities.

What kind of car?

Leaking valve stem oil seals. Quite positive of the diagnosis. been here before on other cars. Suspect one problem is carbon build up in cylinder causing pinging. How expensive is a new cat? Mine pings terribly when car is shut off. Not restricted yet, but may be on its way. Junk yards won't sell me a used front pipe. Damn feds. Too many stupid laws. Here are the symptoms just in case: blue smoke out tail pipe on initial start up. After warmed up, still smell a tiny bit of oil burning, no smoke. Oil consumption is very slight...maybe 1/4 to 1/2 qt every 2,000 miles....some of that is leakage...multiple small oil leaks.