DiscoPete

I've also got a '96 Impreza (with a 2.2l engine). When I researched this idea a couple of years ago, the best info I found was on the NASIOC forum, in Subaru Conversions, the sticky for FAQs and Threads of Note. To summarize that, these cars and later use the EJ series engines. Newer engines will drop in mechanically because the engine mounts and transmission bolts match up. The complications occur with the wiring harness, the engine computer and the exhaust system, since you will have to replace or modify those to get the engine to work correctly. There doesn't seem to be much speed equipment available for our cars, either. It looks like there are plenty of practical performance options for the cars made after Y2K. I've decided that my money would be better spent on a newer Subaru with a turbo on it, instead of trying to hot rod the '96. :-\

1. The door lock control unit is behind the instrument panel to the right of the fuse box. 2. Test the switches for continuity. 3. Check for bad grounds at the switches or control unit. 4. It is common for wires to break in the part of the wiring harness between the body and the door. Opening and closing the doors fatigues the wires and eventually breaks them.

Hi! I also have a '96 Impreza sedan, although it has never had that problem. The Haynes manual shows that the door lock switch on the driver's door applies or removes a ground to the "door lock timer". This timer supplies both the power and ground to all the door lock motors to lock/unlock the doors. It evidenly applies one polarity of power to lock the doors and, by reversing the power connections to the locks, reverses the direction of the motors to unlock. Off hand, it looks like it could be the lock switch, lose or shorted wires on the switch sending an incorrect signal. Or the door lock timer could be acting flacky. Or maybe the wiring harness to the locks is shorting, applying a signal to the motors that the timer didn't send. That's about all I can guess from this distance.

Go to www.subaru.com/owners/schedules to get the maintenance schedules. You can print them out.

Each certificate expires four years from the month of issue. The expiration date is printed on each one.

As the disclaimer says "Your results may differ". In my experience, I would steer clear of Firestone. I've owned two sets in the past 20 years - one set recently, the other 'way back when. On both sets, some of the tires developed problems during what should have been the last 1/3 of useable tread life - stuff like shifting plys, thrown tread and a shimmy that was only temporairly cured by balancing. From the first day onward, one set was so slick when they got wet that they were dangerous immediately after driving through water, let alone on a wet road. I've run Goodyears for years and never had a problem.

I bought Goodyear Assurance Tripletreads for my '96 Impreza about three months ago. I like them very much. They ride well and have good dry/wet grip. I'm waiting to see how they do in snow. I didn't have Geolanders, so I can't compare them.

'96 Imprezas can have a 2.2L with AWD. (Mine's not for sale )

You could charge a $24K car to your card only if you had a $24K credit limit. (That would get you the yearly maximum of five $100 certificates and you would earn no more rebates for a year). The other problem is that there is processing time involved in issuing the Subaru Bucks. The charge has to appear on your statement, then the certificates are sent after the monthly closing date. So you would have already paid for the car before you got the Subaru Bucks, and you wouldn't be able to apply them to the car purchase. I like the program. I have spent $1000 in Subaru Bucks on maintenance and repairs over the past three years - money that would have come out of my pocket otherwise. It makes owing a Subaru quite economical.

Actually, that isn't always true. I have a Die-Hard maintenance free battery and I was able to pry off the battery caps without causing any damage. Then you can see into the cells just like on a regular battery, and add water if you like. The battery looks like it is designed with extra electrolyte capacity so that adding water shouldn't be necessary. The cell caps have a detent action that makes a "snap" sound when they are pried off or reinstaled. They probably weren't intended to be removed by the customer.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm glad to hear that alternators typically get very hot, fast. My alternator is probably OK, after all. I applied a temperature probe to it and measured 175 F . That is well below the 220 F on that Legacy or the 239 F maximum temperature. Great! A "hot rated" alternator? I didn't know that such a thing existed. Worth looking into next time...

I mounted the antenna on the forward area of the roof, using the rear-view mirror as a guide to center it, then routed the antenna cable underneath the windshield molding and brought it out at the bottom of the windshield near the wipers. The cable was then tucked under the cowling ahead of the windshield, in a way that the hood would not pinch it, and then into the engine compartment. There is a rubber plug sealing a hole in the firewall; I used an Exacto knife to cut an "X" in it and then fed the cable through the center of the cut to get it into the passenger compartment. Route the cable to your unit, bundle up the excess cable with wire ties and secure the cable under the dash and in the engine compartment with more ties as needed. It was easy.

That's comforting. The belt and the voltages are looking good. The alternator has over 100 miles on it and hasn't fried yet, so maybe there is no problem. After the engine heats up, the brackets that the alternator bolts to and the surrounding engine are about the same temperature as the alternator. So it would get hot by conduction even if it wasn't making the heat itself. Thanks.

I could have phrased it a better, I guess. What I was trying to say was that the BAD alternator was putting out 15 to 18 volts, making the battery boil over, and was also running very hot. So I changed it out. My concern is that the new alternator also gets hot enough to burn the hand. The new alternator voltage output is 13 to 14 volts, and varies downward over time, evidently in response to the level of charge on the battery. I think it is working fine. I was just wondering about the large amount heat the new alternator was generating. It seems like the alternator would have a longer life if it ran cooler.

Hi, folks. I'm new here. I've checked out the message board and it looks good. Glad to be meeting you-all. I replaced the alternator in my '96 Impreza LX the other day when the voltage regulator went bad. Besides water boiling out of the battery, I also noticed that the alternator was very hot, which seemed reasonable under the circumstances (output voltage of 15-18 volts). A rebuilt alternator went in with no problem. The voltage regulation now looks right and the electrical system, warning lights and accessories are all operating fine. But the new alternator runs about as hot as the old one - too hot to hold on to after just 3-4 minutes of operation. Is this normal?? I have about 80 miles on the new alternator and it seems fine so far. I hope that I'm not slowly cooking it. I am concerned about this because, in my experience, most electrical parts are not supposed to get excessively hot in normal operation. Fans or heat sinks are used, if necessary, to keep down the temperature. So what's up with this alternator? Are they made to withstand elevated temperatures? I never felt up the old one when it was working, so I don't know how hot they are supposed to get. Any insights, anyone?