legacycentral bbs

Hey all, this is my first post...

I plan on getting more involved here so i figured i should introduce myself. I am from West Virginia and I attend WVU. 4 Months ago I gave my soul to Subaru, and didn't regret it at all.

I bought a 1990 Legacy L AWD (sedan) for $800.... It had some rust and some holes that were filled, It was spray painted flat black, and was an Automatic... It had 204,000 miles when I got it... It didnt look the best, bt it ran like a dream.

Soon after, I got bored and bought some lime green spray paint... Laid down 2 green stripes on it. They were 11" wide and about 3" apart... It stood out so wonderfully.

Then, last Sunday, about 70 miles from hitting 210,000 on the odometer, I got in a wreck... my fault, only liability... The damage didn't look too bad, until I opened the hood and noticed there was a lot of bent metal, broken stuff, bent radiator... Got some estimtes at $2000 worth of damage.

Well, as of today, I am the new owner of a 1994 Legacy GT Wagon.. I haven't seen it in person yet, as my parents found it and im in dire need of a vehicle. My parents are 70 miles away so they picked it up for me.. It's deep sapphire pearl and a 5 speed manual...

I will be doing the following to it very soon
- Mastercraft Glacier Grip II tires all around
- Fog lights
- Seat covers
- And this weekend when I go home i'll be changing all fluids and anything else that needs it.

It cost $1700, has only one small spot of rust (surface rust, not in the fender wells... easy fix), 129,000 miles, and runs great... It has new brakes, new timing belt, and a few other new things.

I wouldnt have impulse bought if it didn't fit my needs so well.... I work at a ski resort, AWD isnt crucial, but could save my ass now and then.
I will have to haul skis too, which will be a lot easier in the wagon..


The catch: I've only driven stick once... a 1989 Nissan Sentra, starting on a downhill... so I got past the hard part, but I didnt need any instruction on how to shift and stuff.. so I should be fine, esp. with the hill holder ;p

Wish me luck!!!!!! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, of the wagon and the wrecked 90 legacy w/ the green stripes...

def. a good ski and winter vehicle.
you know if it has a raised roof?
learning stick should be a little more forgiving on snow but be damn careful once youre out in traffic on the snow until youre very confident with the clutch.

Welcome to the BBC!

Learned to drive stick this weekend, but having a little problem on hills... In the car i got, the hill holder does not work... I was wondering what the problem likely is, and if its an easy fix and how much it will cost.... The town i'm in has a lot of hills, and the hill holder would benefit me sooo much...

Can someone give me an idea about how much the parts will cost and how many hours of labor?

Oh, btw, it has the raised roof... I'll post pictures eventually...

Are you sure it has hill holder? I hate hill holder, in my 1990 loyale as soon as I start letting out the clutch the hill holder disengages and lets the car start rolling before the clutch has engaged at all. Maybe this is just my dumb loyale though??

Whatever, congrats on your second subie purchase. You will be glad you have AWD sooner or later

Yeah, it has hill holder... to my understanding all subarus with manual transmissions up before they started using the 2.5L engine had the hill holder, plus the manual for the car mentions it...

I've found info on adjusting it, but I'm not sure if what I need to do is adjust it or replace it. I figure i'll try to adjust it because I've found some good instructions on the net...

If it weren't for where I have to drive, I wouldn't worry about it. Where I go to college (Morgantown, WV.. if anyone is familiar) there are dozens and dozens of hills that are morethan 3 degree inclines... The hills i'm worried about are the ones that are, my best guess, around 8-10 degree inclines.


Oh, and I love my subarus so far. This one has the same engine as the first, but it feels like it has a ton more power.... I don't know if it's because its a stick shift or if the motor is just less worn out....

I'm pretty sure that all MT Subarus that used cable clutches up until the hydro clutches came out, have Hill-Holders. The cable-clutch cars after the hydro clutches came out didn't have them. I think that's how it goes.

The spring on the Hill-Holder valve is the clutch fork return spring.

All you have to do is trace the cable off the Hill-Holder valve to the clutch fork. There's a nut on the end of the cable, and that's how you adjust it. The earlier you want the Hill-Holder to engage (or the longer you want it to hold as you release the clutch), the more you want to tighten that nut.

Also remember that it won't work on an incline of less than 2º.

I contacted a former Subaru dealer and they said that it probably needs replaced.... I will try to adjust it first, if that doesn't work ill buy the part and replace it...

Has anyone replaced the hill holder assembly? Is this something I can do myself? I've done my fair share of mechanic work before...

Not all cable clutches have the hill holder....or I don't believe my impreza outback sport has one...

No, not all. There are anomalies, I can't find anything specific that says when they stopped using them.

So far it looks like Imprezas only had them in 93-94. But it looks like Legacies had them through 1999.

Yet, I know I've seen a 99 Legacy without one.

F'ing Subaru

Now, only the Foresters have them and they're set up differently.

They're not hard to replace, but they're kinda hard to bleed. I replaced the one on my XT, and I still think I don't have it bled right. It feels like the pedal sinks slightly when I push the clutch in.

CCR used to rebuild them, that's where I got mine from, but I can't find a link on their page anymore. You can email them and ask, website is www.ccrengines.com

I've found a site that sells them, I'm going to try to adjust it first before I spend $110 on this... I'm fairly certain the previous owner of the car beat the hell out of it, and it's a car from Pennsylvania I think, so the previous owner may have loosened it to a point that it doesnt work.

I'll try that this weekend, and if it doesn't work ill replace it. If I can't get it bled right, I know a place I can get it done... Thanks for the info.