Subaru Mechanic Recommendations Atlanta, GA?

[shinyhappyzealot]

I just purchased a '93 Legacy SS and it has some things that probably need a mechanic to fix. Does anyone have a recommendation in the Atlanta metro area?

 

Thanks

[idosubaru]

there's an atlanta area soob guru on the board here, WJM, hopefully he sees this, he should have a good recommendation for you. what does it need, headgaskets and headlights require completely different skill sets and scrutiny.

[shinyhappyzealot]

well,

 

at 275K miles, the shifter bushings are shot, but i have those and will replace them myself. second gear synchro was grinding but it might be due to the slop, otherwise, i'll flush the transmission. gear oil looked brand new off the dipstick read. the car bucks and has no power in 2 and 3rd gear below 3500rpm under light/moderate load. evens out above 4000rpm or WOT. plug wires and plugs are new. throttle body idle adjustment was running too high. i turned that down. also filled up with 93 octane. prior owner was running something lower. both helped some. i'll be replacing the air filter shortly. i figure the PCR valve needs cleaning. probably the MAF, too.

 

i don't know what else to check. i'm considering seafoam in the oil and gas tank if not the intake port to flush the engine, but only if necessary because it could remove deposits and compound my problem. beyond that, i'm out of diagnostic tools, i have minimal time since i'm in graduate school and i'm about out of my knowledge range. the engine isn't running well now. finally, there's a coolant leak i can't find, yet. hoses from above look good and coolant appears to be coming from center of car at the underside. that's either a return hose from the radiator or off the heads i think. possibly the water pump. car is maintaining temp, though, but it's dumping coolant. any more direction would be helpful. my chilton's is worthless. i wish i had SOA shop manuals. I still have them from owning my 85 RX.

 

i figure a local mechanic would be inexpense compared to the dealer, although i have $300 in subaru bucks. maybe i can entice a local board member with that. i'd rather pay a fellow subaru owner to help me out than a mechanic.

 

that does it, SEEKING A LOCAL SUBARU MECHANICAL. help me get my SS running. please! cash or subaru cash in exchange.

 

david

 

there's an atlanta area soob guru on the board here, WJM, hopefully he sees this, he should have a good recommendation for you. what does it need, headgaskets and headlights require completely different skill sets and scrutiny.

[idosubaru]

i'd narrow down that coolant leak. if it's leaking it should be obvious where it's coming from. i'd want to know the details on that first because you'd hate to put $ into it only to find the headgaskets are leaking...that's a rather expensive job for a 275,000 vehicle. you can buy another one with far fewer miles for less than the cost of a headgasket job ($1,000-$1,500). clean the engine off and run it until it starts leaking, find the leak.

 

as for the running poorly - do you have or have you had a check engine light? if so, get that code is the first step. secondly what kind of plugs and wires did you use? unfortunately EJ engines are picky with them. the wires are the biggest culprit and should always be Subaru only. i've seen multiple aftermarkets cause hesitation and bucking problems right out of the box, and that's why you'll see many Subaru people recommending subaru only on plug wires and NGK (stock) plugs. i wouldn't do anything for the hesitation until you have the codes checked and get Subaru wires. i can't garauntee anything, but that's common enough that I would want to rule it out.

 

might want to update your location too - says california but you're asking about Atlanta.