ericem Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Well just out of curiosity, the only thing i have dont with my 1993 Legacy wagon non turbo was oil changes, and a new tranny, and timing belts but not a single sensor! Is this acually normal i hear all these things about blah this sensor and that. The car runs perfectly but i was wondering is there anything i should really change to be safe. ANd the seals on the engine were probably changed while doing timing im sure of. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 i had a 89 GL, it gave up the ghost at 230,000 miles (rust). i purchased it at 80,000 miles. The car only had one clucth replaced, the usual timing belts, radiator, altenator, cv joints, and the ignitor and a cat. Otherwise not a single thing was touched. i miss the car with the D/R my 1997 OBW from the original owner (185,000), only had a timing belt and usual suspects replaced by the original owner, and the PS pump. i rebuilt the AWD unit. Not a single electronic item has been touched, and it still passes emissions. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 O ya i had my cat replaced and water pump. And it still meets emisions with no issues at all. But i think im going to bleed the brake fluid when i hit the brakes feels like a marshmellow. Ya just wanted to be sure i didnt need to change anything or clean anything. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I have about 40,000km more than you on mine. I replaced the O2 sensor to get a better fuel ratio (and a bit better milage). No other sensors have been replaced. I did have to replace the balljoints and clutch (I got the car free with those dead), and besides putting in a really crappy clutch (never buy a Duralast clutch) that did not have as much oomph as the engine, I have not had to do anything to the engine. I recently replaced the timing belt, seals (they had been baked hard and were not sealing a damn thing. the engine was filthy), clutch again (this one came out of a 2.5L Impreza that had been totaled), waterpump (at 200K miles, it was time. . .) and headgaskets (I wanted to have a look in the combustion chambers to check condition). basicly a reseal of the engine, a timing belt, a water pump, and headgaskets. none of this was really needed, other than the reseal and the timing belt. One by schedule, and the other because of failure (the seals). What i found was that the combustion chambers were very clean, and the original crosshatching from the factory honing of the cylenders was prominent. there was very little varnish, and the whole inside of the engine was clean. The outside on the other hand. . . One thing that surprised me was that the knock sensor was still in good shape. I see so many of those things cracked that it took me aback to see mine looking like new (and I have personally put 80K miles on it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 Ya i did hear alot about this crank sensor, but if it was cracked or any other sensors werent working it would show check engine light right, and would run weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commuter Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 97 OB, 503,000 km... hmmm... As to sensors, can't complain really. O2 sensor a couple of years ago. Given the age and mileage, not any surprise. MAP sensor (manifold / atmospheric pressure sensor, tiny black box on the passenger strut tower, expensive) a few years back. That's been it for stuff like that. I threw a code for the camshaft sensor recently, but I think it was some missfiring, or damp connection that caused it. So far, it's been running fine since. Not really a sensor, but I had to replace a couple of parts in the EGR circuit to get rid of a recurring CEL. What bummed me out was replacing the engine at 260,000 km. Trust me, I'm getting a little nervous, the second engine is very close to that point. Commuter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 What happened at 260,000km? Mine is getting close to 320,000km now, and not even close to needing replacement. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pldawg Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 My 91 Legacy has 245,000 miles, what I would call normal work...belts, hoses, cv boot and one alternator. That's it until a year ago, then a clutch and transmission, it had 240,000 miles on it when I did the clutch and transmission... bought the car in 98 for $4,000 with 120,000 miles on it. I have owned a 2000 OBW for about 2 years and have alread replaced, front sway bar, ignition coil, knock sensor, radiator, hoses, thermostat and now it needs a new oxygen sensor or cat convertor... I thought these things were supposed to get better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 You would think but i guess when people the original owner's had the car, they didn't take good care of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hohieu Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 I have about 40,000km more than you on mine. I replaced the O2 sensor to get a better fuel ratio (and a bit better milage). No other sensors have been replaced. I just did the 105K-mile mainteance on a 99 Forester 2.5 SOHC, would you consider replacing the coolant temperature sensor (or any of the other relatively inexpensive ones - knock, crank, or cam) as preventative maintenance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 I don't mess with sensors if they don't mess with me. I have only replaced my ox sensor because it threw a code. Sensors tend to be in a range and as long as they stay in that range you are fine. As soon as they give me a code they are gone. With solid state electrical stuff they can last forever if you are lucky and get a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 I just did the 105K-mile mainteance on a 99 Forester 2.5 SOHC, would you consider replacing the coolant temperature sensor (or any of the other relatively inexpensive ones - knock, crank, or cam) as preventative maintenance? No need, really. The O2 sensor has a life expentancy of about 100K miles, and I was way above that when I replaced mine. I did get better milage after, but it was not technicaly bad yet. It was just starting to respond slower than it was supposed to. The knock replace, if the old one is cracked. The temp sensor I would only replace if it showed a code, or the car was hard to start either hot or cold (the temp sender giving a bad reading to the ECU). As for the cam and crank sensors, leave them. they are not cheap, and really should last the life of the car. I had a smallish issue with overheating just after resealing the engine (I had no fuel to speak of in the car, and did not do as good a job of burping it as I could have) that I just corrected (by burping it, of course). while I was idling it to see if it would overheat (that was the only time it would do so), I placed a full glass of water on the plastic cover that goes over the throttle body, and took a short movie of it, showing how smooth this 200K mile engine is (the water is hardly moving in the glass). Heh, if anyone is interested in the movie, drop me a PM (or an email), and I'll email it to you. :clap: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hohieu Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 That's good to know. I think reading through all the problem threads can make a person extremely paranoid so it's a relief to read a thread like this one. When these sensors fall out of range, they do so gradually over time? I do a lot of long distance driving and would hate to get stranded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnuman Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 That's good to know. I think reading through all the problem threads can make a person extremely paranoid so it's a relief to read a thread like this one. When these sensors fall out of range, they do so gradually over time? I do a lot of long distance driving and would hate to get stranded. O2, knock, and temp you will hardly notice, unless they go in an extravagant way (extremely rare). cam and crank rarely fail unless damaged (the car gets hit, for example). On your car, keep the oil changed, replace the timing belt every 100K miles, keep the tires matched, and change the coolant on schedule. With this, you should be fine. On a board like this one, where a lot of people come to get advice regarding problems they have, you get a disproportinate number of problem threads. Your car is not in any way near as bad as all of those threads make it look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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