kickascii Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Hello all, For the most part, the car is in great shape for having 250,000 miles on it. However, there are 3 things that bug me. Maybe some of the experts on here can steer me in the right direction (no pun intended)... 1. Shifter is loose enough for me to pretend I have 135 gears to choose from. Actually, I believe the shifter linkage bushings are shot. I'm an average home mechanic that feels comfortable changing them. After looking at the job from underneath the car, it looks like dropping the exhaust would make the job alot easier. Is that necesary? Also, where can you recommend purchasing the bushings? Is there a kit that I should buy to replace the spring and other parts too? 2. CV boot (inner-passenger side) is torn and the grease has planted itself on the underside of the car. I packed some more grease in it for now, but should I just wait till it dies then replace the whole axle? I've been reading some threads on the board here and the job does not look too hard. It seems as if getting the roll pin out might be the toughest part. If I mark the suspension parts and place them back in the same spots, do I still need to have it aligned? 3. It has a slight miss under part throttle. While I have not changed any plugs, wires, or anything else, what are common issues with this engine that I should cause this type of drivability issue? Head gasket failure does not seem to be an issue because no oil in water and no water in oil after driving this car for over 1000 miles. Checking compression and changing plugs/wires would be my first step, but this thing has not burned/leaked a drop since I bought it. The miss almost feels like it could be a lean condition. Any way to pull codes without a CIL? Does this sound like an injector issue? any way to clean one? OK, neough questions. I look forward to any tips/advice you have. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 welcome WV member. 2. reboot your existing axles. aftermarket axles suck so bad it's a waste of time not to try and keep the original subaru axles booted. 3. engine in that car is an Ej22 so you won't have head gaskets so long as the car isn't overheated. EJ25 is the headgasket prone engine, not the EJ22. your drivability could be all sorts of things considering you have mileage equivalent to the distance of the moon! any check engine lights? if not then the spark plugs might be worth inspecting. wires on this car should be Subaru OEM, these EJ engines can be quirky with aftermarket wires. not always, but i've seen them run bad and give a check engine light (cylinder misfire) with new wires right out of the box. subaru wires are like $36 i think online or if the local dealer matches those prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickascii Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 (edited) welcome WV member. 2. reboot your existing axles. aftermarket axles suck so bad it's a waste of time not to try and keep the original subaru axles booted. 3. engine in that car is an Ej22 so you won't have head gaskets so long as the car isn't overheated. EJ25 is the headgasket prone engine, not the EJ22. your drivability could be all sorts of things considering you have mileage equivalent to the distance of the moon! any check engine lights? if not then the spark plugs might be worth inspecting. wires on this car should be Subaru OEM, these EJ engines can be quirky with aftermarket wires. not always, but i've seen them run bad and give a check engine light (cylinder misfire) with new wires right out of the box. subaru wires are like $36 i think online or if the local dealer matches those prices. No check engine light. I'm pretty sure since this is a "Brighton" that it's a 1.8 liter. I don't even have a tach and lucky to have carpet. It has red "bosch" wires and Denso plugs. I could change those quite easily. The car runs great, but that drivability issue is enough to bother me and wonder what it might be. Do you have a place (or places) online that you prefer to buy Subaru parts from? Edited June 7, 2010 by kickascii Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 right - EJ18 then, same thing applies though regarding headgaskets. no, i've ordered from a couple. subarugenuineparts.com libery subaru i think is the only one that's "close" there are some threads about the online vendors, they're roughly 20% cheaper than the dealers. bad plugs/wires usually give a cylinder misfire check engine light, but not always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 If it were me, I would install new spark plugs and wire set to fix the slight miss problem. If that doesn't fix it, I would add a can of injector cleaner to the gas tank. Use the good stuff that cost about $6/can, like Techron. Anything cheaper won't work well in my opinion. I have used aftermarket half shafts from auto part stores with no problems. However, others have had problems. At a consumer cost of about $65 per axel, I don't think the axle rebuild companies spend much labor time, or install many new parts to complete a rebuild. I suspect they mostly clean up the joints, add fresh grease, new boots, and call it a rebuild. I agree that your shifter bushings are prolly shot. I have never replace bushings, but don't think it would be that difficult. Others here can advise you on work involved. I don't know if the 2.2 motor in your 96 is a valve interference motor or not. Irregardless, you will need to replace the timing belt, and prolly some pullys to gain engine reliability. Otherwise, breaking a worn out timing belt makes for a bad day. Perhaps previous owner can tell you when the belt was last changed, or a receipt in the glove box can tell you that, and if changed not long ago, then the current belt will last you for a while. Prolly a good idea to look at the antifreeze in the cooling system. If the coolant looks dark and ugly, then best to drain, and flush, then add new antifreeze. Subies are long distance cars. Many owers are still on the road with 300K+ miles on the odometer. Have fun with your new car, and welcome to this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickascii Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 Thank you for the info so far. The car drives great, except going uphill is where you really notice the miss/slight power loss. It idles smooth and if you slow down to a low RPM in 3rd (for instance) it pulls on all cyl's so does not seem like an ignition problem. It's a really random miss under part throttle. I'll still need to see if it's only warmed up, or closed-loop too. I don't recall... Could it be fuel filter? If so, where are they located on my car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 fuel filter won't fix this issue but it's on the drivers side, easy and cheap to fix. igniter and coil could just have some glitches? if the plugs/wires look new then it very well may be that a previous owner was trying to resolve the same issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickascii Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 I guess the only way to test coil/ignitor (because they can have problems when hot, but not cold) would be to swap with another one. Ignitor? Where is that located? Or, is it all part of the coil pack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 ignitor is the little box in the engine bay close to the firewall and windshield, facing up top with a wire connecor plugged into it. someone recently posted a photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickascii Posted June 7, 2010 Author Share Posted June 7, 2010 (edited) Hmmm, have you ever seen one that caused a slight miss? It's not bad, but I notice it. Also, anyone have any advice on the shifter bushing replacement? I found these instructions: http://http://www.cobbforums.com/forums/showthread.php?32891-5-speed-Shifter-Bushings-Installation-Instructions Edited June 7, 2010 by kickascii Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 no i have not. i'm just thinking ignition related - so plugs, wires, coil, ignitor. coil and ignitor are often easy to swap out as a test too if you have them lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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