New Legacy, but some ??'s

[Flowmastered87GL]

Grrrr the board ate thread number 1.

 

Anyway I got me a new toy today... 91 legacy L, 240K for $300. No rust and pretty decent shape. the clutch is kind of messed up and it was broken into but it hopefully will be an easy fix. Note that its shiny!

 

 

My questions:

 

#1 Since its FWD should I drop the tranny to do the clutch or raise the engine? I have 2 floor jacks and an engine hoist, but no tranny jack and no high car lift.

 

#2 (fixed the wiring, the car starts)

 

#3 (fixed the broken bolt.... just left it there and installed 2 additional long metal screws)

 

#4 The trunk leaks... is there a common cause? dirt under the weatherstripping??? can I just pull it, clean it and put it back down with RTV under it? It was just mentioned to me today that the taillights can leak too.

 

#5 (Found the tilt wheel)

 

#6 (new 5/4) With a jumper box connected.... the auto seatbelts didnt move They are locked in the back and driving position fortunately. Is there a common cause? Or should I just say screw it and convert it to manual belts? (I believe Edrach did it)

 

#7 I dont have a check engine light.... at all... and only 1 bulb in the guage cluster works (I got it started today and drove it up and down the driveway if you cant tell) How hard is it to yank the cluster?? I have yanked the HVAC controls, but never the cluster. Any special trick to it or just start pulling screws til it pops out?

 

More to come likely.... watch for a WTB thread... will need lots of tan interior bits to the lower dash / steering column

[EVOthis]

the only one i can answer is #4......i went through the car wash the other day....got out of the car wash and turned on my stereo system and boom.....so i popped the trunk and i had water all over my amplifers....so im going to say its prob. just wear.......my car is a 96' legacy with 192,000....

[idosubaru]

FWD layout is the same as AWD so use your preferred method for clutch fun. pulling the engine is the typical way to do it.

 

if there was a good way to get the transmission back in, pulling the trans out from underneath would be awesome. the trans comes out much quicker than the engine. but...there's no good way to do that.

 

although hocrest had the ingenious suggestion of using a chain passed behind the engine with the engine lift to aid in dropping or pulling up the transmission. but still, working from under the car is a pain.

[heartless]

#5 Did FWD L 5 speed sedans have a tilt wheel??

 

the other half's 90 L sedan does have it, it should be there somewhere - not as obvious as the older GL's tho

[Rooster2]

#2.........I would suggest using a solder connector. You slide the stripped wires into each end of what looks to be a metal tube, then using a lit match, it melts the metal tube (which is actually solder) around the connector, and the plastic covering around the solder tubing is actualy shrink tubing. I have been happy with the results on many projects.

[Gloyale]

 

if there was a good way to get the transmission back in, pulling the trans out from underneath would be awesome. the trans comes out much quicker than the engine. but...there's no good way to do that.

 

 

I have not had any real problems dropping Subaru trannies from the bottom.

 

Espescially a FWD 5spd! It's pretty small as far as trannies go. Should be able to drop it on a floor jack.

[Flowmastered87GL]

Tried to start it today.... replaced the 3 little relays in the hood fuse box and the black fusible link and soldered the ignition plug back together.

 

Tried to crank, but wouldnt start.... HOPEFULLY because the jumper box needs to be charged more.... or replaced

 

I was able to get the power locks to work, the parking brake light came on and another red light came on, but NO CEL.... ever....

 

Any other fuses I should take a look at or is it likely just burned out? (or removed?)

 

I will try to start it again after the box charges all day.

 

EDIT.... with a freshly charged jumper box it started right up.... the idle moves a bit between 700 and 1000 but once I get the guage cluster bulbs fixed maybe I can find a CEL code or something...

[Durania]

the other half's 90 L sedan does have it, it should be there somewhere - not as obvious as the older GL's tho

 

My 91 FWD has tilt steering as well.

[OB99W]

[...]#4 The trunk leaks... is there a common cause? dirt under the weatherstripping??? can I just pull it, clean it and put it back down with RTV under it? It was just mentioned to me today that the taillights can leak too.[...]

In addition to what you've mentioned, it's possible that the rear window isn't properly sealed.

 

Also, if the weatherstripping is compressed (or there was ever a rear-ender that distorted the trunk area. etc.), there might be small gaps between the gasket and trunk lid. Sometimes you can find that type of problem by placing a crisp dollar bill across the gasket (so that part of it is beyond the lid area) and closing the trunk, then try pulling the bill out. Do that in several spots -- any place(s) where the bill is very easy to remove should be looked at more closely.