legacycentral bbs

1. remove radiator cap and start car. allow to warm and then check the radiator coolant for bubbles. bubbles = blown head gasket. 2. borrow a coolant system pressure checker from autozone BEFORE removing the heads. the pressure will cause a noticable leak or hiss if it is radiator or hoses. otherwis...

hey shag, josh is right on and i want to interject some things to consider when searching for good replacement parts... 1. go with oe parts if you can. it is usally just 10% or so these days and you get engineered quality, not mass produced-price competition. oe pads last forever in daily driving ro...

i had a similar problem with idle oscillation in a '94 2.2 at cold start. after starting the car, it would rev to 2500 or so, then back down to 600 repeatedly. this was due to a sticking idle air control valve. to fix, i pulled the large air hose from the intake pipe, poured in some sea-foam and let...

To me, it sounds like ECU is not reading voltage waveform from your inductive cam and crank sensors. The crank sensor is tied into both fuel (pump and injector pulse), and ignition timing. When it doesn't work, your car is completely dead. You might swap a low-buck ECU from a pick-a-part car and see...

After the seal kit arrives, I'll start a new "How to Repair Leaking Steering Rack" thread. Until then, here's a pic of what the internals look like. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w130/bry593/1990%20Subaru%20Legacy/RHRackComponents.jpg http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w130/bry593/199...

I've got good news and bad news. Bad news is the '97 imprezza was gone and there was only an SVX and an '89 legacy available. The legacy had 278K miles on it, but the steering rack boots were original and crack free. I assume the rubber lasted as the car appeared to be from up north (seriously rusty...

just a couple more days and i'll be spending some quality time with the pick-a-part

yes, radiator cap should be first to blow off pressure. if cap is good, then tank needs resealed.

appreciate it! i also used to be a machinist back in the day....

i just recently did this repair on a '90 and it is very easy to do on Gen 1 legacy. previous owner had changed out plugs and somehow managed to strip threads from cylinder 4. BEFORE INSTALLING NEW PLUGS, COAT THREADS WITH ANIT-SIEZE!!!! the fix is to go to o-reily's and buy the heli-coil set. take i...

that's one of the great things about the EJ subie. you can change oil and filter without even jacking up the car! subaru engineering has totally failed status quo. everyone knows that engineers are not supposed to consider maintenance accessibility as part of the design!

You MUST use a Subaru thermostat. Been there...done that. i like stant thermostats! they allow me to buy asian cars with "blown head gaskets" on the cheap. that's how i got deb's crv for $2600, KBB was $5500 at the time. :twisted: at any rate, Josh is spot-on... only use OE thermostats in...

that's cool, but if it's a daily driver i adhere to, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"...

use the stock oil filter, and if you're worried about quaility, go buy a WIX or OE filter. geez, why are you trying to make your life complicated over one of the least complicated cars I've ever worked on? tribology, that's the study of oil, i have some experience with it and can assure you, oil doe...

shag, no, i have not tried gen 2 tie rods on 90-91 legacy. i have installed a gen 2 legacy rack and tie-rods into a '94. i currently have a need for a rack install into a '90. i plan to try whatever is available and low mileage at the local LKQ, but will probably wait until 50% weekend which coincid...

yeah, you can save a ton of money and get better parts than aftermarket by knowing which original equipment stuff interchanges. a used 100k mile subie rack is way cheaper and will likely last way longer than a rebuilt unit. most all rebuilders take a worn-out rack and simply install new seals. becau...

rack has nothing to do with column lock. allowing your steering shaft to rotate while disengaged from the rack, can cause SRS damage. if the timing of the "clock spring" gets off, you can basically pull the wires loose from the airbag when you go around a corner. the clock spring is sorta ...

'90-'91 units have outer tie-rods with a crook, so there is a left and right. '92 up are ambidextrous, LH works on RH. Although I've not tried, it would appear that you can use later tie-rods with the earlier steering knuckles. I recently installed a '95 (Gen 2) steering rack into a '94 (Gen 1). I u...

This is funny stuff. I rotated tires front to back, and now the front passenger wheel is stuck. The center hole/pilot seems to be a little smaller than the rear wheel. Inspection of the front hub shows previous owner had struck the hub pilot with a hammer which flared it slightly (during axle change...

the 2.2 oil pan is assembled new with only RTV. no point in putting a cork gasket in a place that factory deemed unnecessary. besides, cork gaskets allow screws to lose preload and voila, you gots yourself a leaker!!!

about a year ago, i asked subaru why the diesel forestor is not available stateside. they said the emissions will not currently pass epa standards, but subaru CEO has made it a priority and we should expect to see these stateside in the next few years. not sure if that's still the plan with energy i...

Yeah I picked up a new pulley today. I really would like to degree the cam...but I can't for the life of me see a good way to connect the degree wheel to the cam pulley. These engines are just not setup well to do that. if you can find center, you can glue/double side adhesive them on. do you have ...

damn Josh, that looks like a pain in the arse! i can see how it would be difficult to pull out the slack and still adjust the eccentrics. as awesome as the subie self-adjusting tensioner is, it would fight you tooth and nail in that scenario. i wonder if you could pin it shut and slip a spring over ...

amazing how much stuff you can fit in a '93 legacy...

apology at this point does not constitute a perfectly running subaru... this car would have gone 300 thousand miles... it was clean.... now it's just a beat up subie, probably got lots of life left, but still yet... grrrrrrr...... btw, i did hammer the freakin fender, it's broke in three places.... ...