alias20035

The bulbs are probably gone in the dash, but it is possible that the 95 did not have a transmission indicator? In 95 Subaru really decontented the Legacy, owners complained and Subaru returned with items like individual door ajar indicators in 96. The P switch is for parking lights. Press it and the parking lights will stay on even with the key out. All cars are required to be able to have there parking lights on with the key out. It is to be used when parking on a dark road to avoid having your car hit. You can normally run the parking lights for many hours without a significant drain on the battery.

For 99 only there was a phase II SOHC EJ22 engine in the Legacy, and it may have been in the Impreza as well. The Phase II EJ22 had about a bit more hp and torque, but it also developed its peak torque a lot lower in the rev range. Phase 1 EJ22 are very good... It is the Phase 1 EJ25 DOHC that should be avoided because of head gasket problems. I added the turbo engine for information only...

If will run in the heat/defrost and defrost mode when the air temp is above freezing..... The A/C will dehumidify the incoming air.

Subaru changed the wiring harness for the 93 model year, but most Legacy's continued to use the old harness until MY95. It is easy to tell which model you have though. If you have one single factory radio connector you have the new 1993+ harness (still in use today), if you have two separate wiring harnesses you have the old style one used on 89-92 Legacy's. Some earlier Legacy's did use the newer connector though, so you have to take the radio out to confirm. Here are links to Crutchfield's wiring harnesses: 89-92 old style dual connector 93-current single connector

When my 93 had is stalling bouts there was a horrendous amount of clicking from the underdash area as it was stalling out. I cleaned the IAC and the problem never came back. Temp sensors are an extremely common failure..... Did you disconnect the A/C clutch wiring harness to rule out a seized A/C compressor? That should have been the first thing to do, perhaps it was not obvious in my previous post...

The SVX's 3.3 H6 is far and away Subaru's best normally aspirated engine. For turbocharged ones, get the closed deck EJ22T used in North American 91-94 Legacy Turbo sedans and wagons. It was 160 HP in the Legacy, but the block can do 300+ hp very reliably. For a smaller normally aspirated flat four, the Phase II EJ22 SOHC used in the 99 Legacy is probably the best choice, followed by the EJ22 SOHC that preceded it. There were a few DOHC EJ22's, but only in 91 Legacy LS 5MT models (only car that I routinely see the DOHC on), and only in Canada? From having driven both the EJ22 SOHC and DOHC models, I can tell you that the DOHC version is a lot more lively and powerful. If going the EJ25 route, get the Phase II EJ25 SOHC, it develops its power a lot lower in the rev range, and does not eat as many head gaskets.

The front diff is incorporated within its own sealed section of the 4EAT transmission. The 4EAT has two fluid fills, one for ATF, and the second for 75/80w90 GL5 gear oil just for the diff. On the 5MT the diff is also incorporated but it is not in a sealed compartment, the gear lube serves both the transmission and differential parts. Depending on what was done to the transmission, the diff may or may not have stayed in place. The 4EAT mainly develops tailshaft AWD problems not transmission problems, so it is possible that the case was not even split open. If there were shifting problems, many of these can be fixed through the transmission pan opening without splitting the case. It's $3 of fluid, if in doubt change it.

I spray a paper towel with silicone lube and apply it. It does smear the windows if you don't hold the doors open to allow the silicone to seap into the rubber. I also coat the "under flap" area of the seal too. It will not last as long as the stick method, but I found that I could not get even coverage with the stick. I usually do this every 2 months or so when I do a very complete car wash, it only takes 10 minutes. I also spray the door seals liberally with silcone, no problem with smearing there. While I am at it I usually regrease the door hinges too. I also apply silicone to the edge of the door sail (mirror attachment point), as it is rubber and a sealing point (and also a major area for windnoise problems).

A quick search of the forum would have turned up this very recent thread dealing with the fuse box on JDM cars: http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7704

He's in San Diego, so I doubt studded tires are legal there, most places will allow studs from November 15-April 15 (or something like that), but not likely coastal southern California. Studded tires do a lot of damage to roads... Studded tires are also very "loose" and dangerous on dry pavement. The studs lift the rubber off the pavement and there goes 80% of your traction. I have driven both studded and studless tires, and found the studded tires are far and away the best on snow and ice but absolutely suck on dry pavement. I gave up on studded tires 6 years ago when studless winter tires got a whole lot better when the Bridgestone Blizzak and its competitors hit the market. The studless tires work about 70-80% as well as studded tires on ice, they are equal performers in snow (studs are of no advantage in snow) and are much better on dry pavement. I do agree with the point on narrow tires, I have stock size (225/60-16) Michelin Arctic Alpin tires on my 01 Outback, and sometimes it feels like my car is wearing skis. No real traction problem though, it just doesn't have the same "digging in" feel that my 93 Legacy had with its narrower 185/70-14 tires. The problem is that the stock alloy wheels and all aftermarket steel rims are 6.5" wide, which as far as I know requires at least of 215 tire to prevent debeading. On Subaru's 5.5" wide rims are good for 175-195, 6" are good for 185-215, and 6.5" are good for 215-235. I look around for narrower 16" rim but could not find one. The 2001-2004 Outback absolutely requires 16" rims to clear the front brake calipers, so dropping to a 15" wont work (it will on the 2000 model though). Some narrow tires will work on "wide" rims, but your getting in to $pecial order territory. On the Outback there is also very little clearance between the factory tires and the lower spring cup on the front strut (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch), so mounting larger tires is a no-no. It is also this lack of clearance on the Outback that prevents tire chains from being used.

Run the power wire through the firewall in the passenger side footwell. 8 gauge wire will easily fit through the A/C evaporator condensation drain hole in the footwell along with the drain hose. It is easy to route the power cable from the firewall hole to the kick panel and under the carpet. 4 gauge wire is too big for this particular hole, it will crimp and block the drain hose, and your passenger will get wet feet. Be careful with power wire routing on the engine side of the firewall, the A/C drain is close to the exhaust. Make sure the wire is firmly tied down out of the way.

Go to Autozone (or another autoparts store) and have them connect their ODBII diagnostic device (usually no charge for this). They can download the CEL code stored in the ECU (the code should still be there even though the CEL is now off). Depending on what the code is, it may or may not point you in the right direction. Sometimes the ECU has to guess what the problem is and it guesses wrong, but its usually not hard to figure out where the true problem lies. Temp sensors are really common on Subaru's. There are two sensors, one for the dash and one for the ECU, it is the ECU one that fails. Its about $40 for a new sensor. If the temp sensor is gone, the ECU will think the engine is cold and run it in cold mode (high idle). I would rule out problems with the throttle cable first though, problems in this area are not too common, but they are really easy to rule out and correct. I haven't seen any broken return springs on the throttle body, but I have seen binding accelerator and cruise control cables. I would check that the cable ends are clean, and with another person moving the accelerator pedal check the throttle/cable mechnism out for any signs of binding. You can lubricate the return springs, but generally the cable ends and cables are not lubricated because the lubricant can draw in dust and dirt. Also check the cable case for kinks and damage, sometimes the cables are damaged during repairs (pinched or dropped tool). The accelerator cable may be worn out and in need of a replacement, not too common, but it happens. You can clean the throttle body and its springs with carb cleaner, sometimes this will free up the throttle mechanism. Also check out this thread on Idle Air Control (IAC) valves, malfunctioning IAC valves will cause really erratic idle, and in some cases cause the engine to idle at 3,000 or so RPM (if the IAC is stuck open). http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7944 Another possibility is a failed Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) but this is not very common and the ECU is very good at identifying it, just check that the throttle position sensor is still firmly attached to the throttle body, if it is loose the ECU may get the wrong throttle reading. If loose you will have to tighten it back up in the original position, hopefully you can find the "dirt line" that denotes its original position.

I have owned 4 Subaru's in the last 12 years and driven them a lot. I have also done all of the maintainence myself, or at least all of the maintainence that I could do. My cars: 1985 GL dual range 4WD wagon (died at over 700,000 km (don't know for sure, the odometer broke about a year before I got rid of the car). 1994 Legacy Turbo Wagon that I converted to 5 speed manual transmission (the Turbo wagons were all 4EAT). Had too many hot weather problems (due to there not being an intercooler) and it was really expensive on gas (I averaged 18MPG!). Ran it one year only and then sold it for a lot more than I paid for it. Wish I still had it, Subaru Turbo parts are a lot easier to come by now.... 1993 Legacy L Wagon, bought it in 95 with 48,000 km on it, hit a deer in 2000 with 466,000 km on it. 2001 Outback, now with 59,740km on it. No major gripes thus far. Changed jobs, so no longer a need to drive as much.... I also have a close friend who owns a Subaru dealership, but I don't think that makes me a spy. I have been rock climbing with a few executives from Subaru of America as well, it wasn't planned, they got lost in the woods and I found them..... Also within my group of friend's and co-workers there are 36 Subaru's. Twelve years ago there were only 6 or so, but the reliability, fuel economy, and versitility of Subaru's has won many over. You will also find that Subaru owners share an active livestyle that tends to bring owners together. Often when I go rock climbing the parking lot is 60-70% Subaru, with one old air cooled VW Vanagon thrown in.... Now that I have found an inexpensive kit to install a Subaru EJ engine in the newer water cooled Vanagon I am considering building a Subagon (or Vanbaru).... My 2001 Outback is the only Subaru that I have not done maintainance on as it is still under warranty. You will also find that Subaru's tend to develop the exact same problems at roughly the same intervals. If the parking brake holds well and the parking brake does not drag you are all set. You can tell if the parking brake is dragging be having someone in the back seat. Put the car in neutral while rolling and pull the parking brake lever slowly. As it approaches the first or second click you will hear (and feel in the lever) the shoes contact the drum. Release the lever and this sound should go away. If the brake does not make this engagement sound, they could be dragging. The person in the back seat should be able to hear the left and right brakes engage and disengage a lot easier than the driver. The left and right brakes may not engage or release at the same time, but this is somewhat normal, so long as the bar in the console is straight when the brakes are on and off the brakes are applied about equally.

If the car is exposed to road salt or salty air (near an ocean) you should get it rustproofed yearly (or every 18-24 months depending on the type of rustproofing used, see the products warranty guidlines). Cars will rust from the inside out, usually it is the fender edges, and door and tailgate bottoms that will rust out first. In Canada, where a lot of road salt is used, most cars of ten years of age have very significant and dangerous amounts of rust. But cars that have their annual rust proofing usually have no rust at all and so long as the rust proofing is continued, the vehicle bodies will last practically forever. Some cars are better than others at preventing rust, and Subaru's are somewhere in the middle, but I find that Subaru's tend to start falling apart once rust appears. Subaru has an interest in keeping their cars looking good for five years (hence the rust through warranty), but beyond that it is in their best interest for it to rust apart so you need a new one. Most people are conditioned to accept rust after 5 or 6 years, and just replace the car, but with rust proofing this does not have to be the case. I recommend Rust Check (availble in Canada and many states), or Ziebart (popular in the US). The rustproofing agent to use is not an oil or a wax, it is a product used in the aircraft industry that is used to protect planes from corrosion. Rust Check uses this chemical, and I think Ziebart now uses the same stuff. I think the aircraft rust proofing agent is called CSC 850? Aircraft are exposed to very corrosive chemicals (like Skydraulic fluid) and deicing fluids, and need to be protected for both safety and economic reasons. About 30 years ago someone decided to use the aircraft rust proofing on cars, and Rust Check was born. I had a Rust Check "Coat and Protect" application every summer on my 93 Legacy, and after 8 years and 466,000 km I had zero rust. Even though the car spent 5 months of the year on heavily salted roads. In fact the car was in such good shape that I got a $5,000 settlement on it from insurance when it was totalled, about $4,000 more than its book value. Older used cars that have been Rust Checked are a lot easier to sell in Canada, the same is probably true for those in the northern states as well. It is best to have the rust proofing done in the summer because the summer heat will expand the metal allowing the rust proofing to seep in and protect. http://www.rustcheck.com

Silicone lubricant in a spray can (like WD40), not Silicone adhesive..... Silicone is Silicone, any spray silicone lubricant will do.....

The parking brake cable does stretch and the parking brake shoes do wear a bit. Both parking brake shoes can be adjusted to the proper clearance, and there is a cable adjustment in center console just behind the parking brake lever. There is one cable that goes from the lever to a bar which attaches to the two individual parking brake cables. The single cable between the lever and this bar adjusts in length to remove or add slack. Your parking brake should firmly set after 4-5 clicks.... and really firm at about 7 clicks Generally the first thing to do is to adjust your parking brakes, but this is a science and best left to the brake professionals. The rea hub backing plate has a rubber plug, when you remove the plug there is a adjustment wheel that can be turned to move the shoes closer to the rotor to accomodate for wear. Some drum brakes self adjust during brake application in reverse, but I don't think Subaru's do, I have always adjusted them manually. I have heard that this trick applies to Chryslers..... Someone else will need to comment on this. Then adjust the cable to remove slack. You should see the adjuster nut if you remove the heated seat control (on 2000/2001 models), but I find that it is best to remove the center console/storage bin to access this. The cable should be adjusted so that is still slack until near the first click, this is to prevent the brake shoes from dragging with the lever down. Before you adjust the cable it is important that the bar connected to two individual parking brake cables be straight when the parking brake is off, pull relatively straight and be straight when the parking brake is set. If it is not straight, you need to adjusted one or both of the parking brake shoes to get it straight, otherwise you could have very uneven brake power on each side. Since the parking brake shoes are not used to stop the car, just to hold it, I would guess that your cables are stretched. I just had to adjust the cable on my 2001 Outback, it has just under 30,000 miles on it. I did not require any brake shoe adjustment. Parking brake cables are like bicycle brake and shift cables, they will stretch a lot when new, and then the rate of stretch will slow greatly.

All rotors will rust easily...... Everytime you apply the brakes you put small scratches in the rotors, and you also end up with some rotor and pad dust deposits containing iron. The iron dust and the scratched rotor surface will rust very quickly, especially in wet climates. I see rust on my rotors within 3 hours of washing my car. It is not an issue..... or not an issue that can be solved by anything but switching to not metalic rotors and pads. You will note the amount of rust on the rotors after two days is about the same amount of rust after ten days. The fine coating of rust quickly develops but also acts as a barrier slowing further rusting. One or two brake applications will scrape the rotors clean. I find the Subaru rotors to be excellent, as I have only replaced two of them in over 700,000 km of driving Subaru's. So I can't really recommend anything else.... Other's find that Subaru rotors suck, were they unlucky to get bad ones, or is it their driving habits?

Your Punch 45 requires dedicated power wiring, powering it off the Subaru connector will immediately blow the fuse. The Punch should use 10 or 8 gauge wire with a 30 or 40 amp fuse at the battery (take the Amps fuse rating (probably 25-30 amps) and add a bit of amperage to spare). If you talking about the signal cable, that is a different ball game. The underseat unit you talk about is a probably a subwoofer (with integrated amplifer) not an amplifier for the rest of the system. It wiring harness provides speaker level inputs and power. The speaker level inputs may connect to your amplifier if it supports them, otherwise you need a speaker line level convertor to convert to the RCA input format. Check your amp's manual for more info, or the Crutchfield site for info on line level convertors.

Do you happen to know the latest revision of the Phase 2 EJ25 SOHC head gasket? My 2001 Outback leaked coolant externally when new on very cold days (-30 Celsius), and I may request a new gasket if I smell coolant on the next cold day. The two weeks after I bought my 2001 Outback were very cold, and the dealer said that coolant leaks were somwhat normal on brand new cars. The dealer indicated that it takes a while for the seals and gaskets to properly seat themselves, and I agreed with them. In my second and third winter I only smelled coolant once, and have no signs of a leak or coolant loss. This is my fourth winter, and the last winter in which I will have a powertrain warranty to change the head gasket under. I did clean lower back driver's side of the engine a few weeks back, so any coolant leak should be easy to notice. So far no problem down to -10 celsius.

If you get a new/used replacement tranny, make sure it has the rebuilt tailshaft. Most likely fixing the tailshaft will be far less expensive than getting a good used transmission. You should go to a Subaru expert mechanic for this work, they have probably done this procedure many times. Dealers could also do this work properly, but you may pay a bit or a lot more, depends on the dealer. A non-Subaru expert mechanic could do the work, but mistakes could be made, and it may take him/her a lot longer to complete, so I would not recommend it. I find that mechanics that are not familiar with Subaru's tend to be scared off by them, and are not aware of how easy they are to work on. I have had the comment that the engine in my Subaru is "weird" from more than a few mechanics. The transmission part of the 4EAT rarely causes any problems, almost all of the problems are confined to the rear tailshaft assembly. The only Subaru 4EAT's that seem to encounter transmission problems (as opposed to tailshaft problems) are the ones in the SVX and Legacy Turbo. Some of the 90/91 4EAT's had problems, but they were corrected by TSB's to install an external ATF filter on the outlet side of the transmission cooler (radiator). Subaru's from 92-97 have this filter from the factory.

Spraying the weatherstripping with silicone is part of the regular maintainance schedule that everyone seems to ignore..... It is right up there with the requirement to change coolant every 2 years / 30,000 miles. I had a hard time convincing someone that coolant is green and should not be rust colored when I stopped to help with his blown rad hose. I spray my weatherstripping about every second month (as part of a complete car wash). Doing it every oil change is a great idea....

go to http://www.cars101.com Lots of SVX info there.

I didn't mean that the valve was vacuum actuated, just that vacuum within the intake will suck the IAC closed. I have had these apart and there is no spring, or apparent mechasim to precisely control the opening and closing of the valve. There is no "motor" to control the valve either, just apparentely a magnetic cap. Because of the limited number of wires on the IAC, there could not be multiple magnets within the IAC, so it must receive pulses from the ECU. By using pulses to open the valve, a spring would be required to close it, but there is no spring.... This is why I think the intake manifold vacuum or the air moving through the IAC conteracts the magnetic opening pulse from the ECU to close the valve or hold it at a precise opening point. I agree that you should not adjust the IAC unless properly trained on how to do so, which is why I recommend using a paint pen to mark its location prior to disassembly, so it can be reinstalled in the exact same position. I don't think the IAC is too sensitive to slight adjustment changes as the ECU does use other sensors to control idle speed (MAP/MAF, Crank angle sensor, etc). As far as I know the ECU will keep the IAC completely open until it decides to close it. Which is why the idle speed will be high for a brief period and then over a few seconds reduce. The IAC is kept open by default because it does not respond very quickly to ECU inputs. The IAC is fully open when the throttle is open, and I have measured this with my ODB tools.

In 2001 the Outback got the bigger rotors, the 2000 model's were way to small. The 2000 had the same brakes as the 99 model, but gained 350lbs in weight. Brakes are not warrantied anyways (I think 1yr/12,000 miles only) as they are a wear and tear item. In Canada replacement rotors are about $60 and pads are about $55. The parts I get are aftermarket, but curiously look to be 100% identical to Subaru OEM parts. Rotors will usually last a lot longer than just 36,000 miles. They usually go for 100,000 + (I got over 250,000 miles out of mine and they never warped or required turning). I also get better than 70,000 miles on my front pads and well over 100,00 miles on my rear pads. I do have a manual transmission which is a lot easier on the brakes, and I do mostly highway miles though. If you allow the brake pads to totally wear out, it will score and destroy the rotor which is what sounds like happened to you. If the brakes start grinding or squealling, it is a "fix it yesterday" condition, driving even a little with this condition destroys the rotors, and turns a simple inexpensive brake pad job into a more expensive one. Ideally you should check the brake pads everytime you rotate tires(every 6,000 miles), and note the pad wear. You can see the pads though a hole in the caliper when the wheel is off. If you note accelerated or eneven pad wear, deal with it promptly. Slightly uneven pad wear on the inner and outer pads is normal, but yours sounds excessive, so I would check the caliper sliders to insure that they are not stuck. The inner (piston side) brake pads always wear a little faster if the brakes are correctly functioning. Check the new pad wear in 5,000 miles (take the wheel off and look through the caliper) and see if the new pads are wearing evenly, if not get the caliper/sliders fixed...

Most Legacy/Outback and Impreza rims are interchangable. The only restriction is brake clearance. Some Subarus require 15 inch wheels and others require 16 inch wheels. Since you are replacing 14 inch wheels, you do NOT have any restriction. How to measure tires: there are three numbers in tire size 185 / 70 / 14 The first component (185) is the width of the tire tread in milimeters (metric) The second component (70) is the profile (sidewall height) which is measured as a percentage of tire tread width. The third component (14) is the wheel size and is measured in inches. When changing wheel sizes, you must keep the tire diameter very close to the original size. I know for a FACT that 195/60-15 tires were installed on the Legacy LS/LSi/GT models and will work perfectely, but here is how to calculate tire diameter to be sure. take the tread width and multply by profile (185mm X 70%) = 129.5mm (this is the tire sidewall height) divide the tire sidewall height by 25.4 mm/inch to convert mm to inches. 129.5mm / 25.4 mm/inch = 5.1 inches Multiply the tire height by 2 (5.1 inches X 2 = 10.2 inches) Add the wheel size (14) (10.2 inches + 14 = 24.2 inches. So your 185/70-14 tire diameter is 24.2 inches. With the 195/60-16 tires the diameter is 24.2 as well ((( 195mm * 60%)*2) / 25.4mm/inch)+15inches = 24.2inches The above are "design" diameters, not the actual diameters which can vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer and with tire wear, but the calculated method is more than close enough. You can usually change the profile by up to ten percent so long as the overall diameter does not change, any more the ten percent can cause problems though. Tire width is usually the cause of restrictions such as strut and fender rubbing. If you decide to get the wheels from the scrap yard, inspect them very carefully for damage. I would also NOT use the tires on them, as you don't know their history. In fact in many areas it is illegal to resell used tires not attached to a vehicle. If you decide to take the tires too, it is very important that all four tires have the same circumference. You have to properly inflate each tire and measure around the center of the tire with a slim tape measure. Each tire should be within 1/4 inch of each other (according to Subaru). The taller/wider rims you saw were probably from the 91-94 Turbo Legacy or 95/96 Legacy LS/LSi. The Turbo Legacy wheels were also used on the 96 Outback.