ScottFW

Mine developed a crack under the top neck at 158K. I replaced the stock turbo inlet hose at 182K while replacing the turbo. That one gets spongy near the compressor housing. Not sure what other hoses are going bad for you but rubber parts don't last forever and yours are pretty old if still original. I did both front axle seals at 158K. Replace those (use new clamps too) when doing your timing belt and water pump jobs while the coolant is all drained out. Won't have to worry about those hoses for the next 105K miles. Haven't had any of those yet but have gotten a few (literally three) random misses on the highway over the last 5K miles which has me thinking coils because it's not the spark plugs or injectors. Common issue, they all fail eventually. Did mine at 169K. While the oil cooler was off I also replaced the little rubber coolant hoses & clamps and the worryingly rusted hard pipe between the oil cooler and water pump. You didn't mention multiple wheel bearing replacements, CV axles with torn boots, brake caliper rebuild/replace, and other stuff that won't make it to 200K miles. The good news is that this stuff is all pocket change compared to buying a new car. Not experiencing this to any noticeable degree at almost 220K, but 2/3 of my driving is highway with it sitting in 5th the majority of that time. Make sure your trans fluid is fresh and that your clutch hydraulics are getting enough travel. Keep the power shifting and race car stuff to a minimum, drive it with mechanical empathy, etc. Lower and stiffer are not advantageous qualities in daily driver situations. Especially with any precip on the road, a more compliant suspension is safer. If you don't need the advantages of AWD for driving in rain/snow where you live, you might be happier driving something with a more properly sporty (read: RWD) drivetrain. You will soon realize that you need to adopt a Miata into your family. Congratulations. Your restart & fuel odor issue sounds possibly evap canister or purge solenoid related, although I haven't had that specific issue on this car. Wonky cam/crank sensor signals "should" trigger CEL codes because the ECU expects to see a narrow range of outputs from them. I've had those sensors fail on other cars and the ECU triggered codes before I noticed any driveability symptoms. A bad coolant sensor might not throw a code, but I doubt that's your issue. Also FWIW my experience is the sidefeed injectors need servicing/cleaning on 80K-100K intervals because that's when they start accumulating varnish/gunk that causes a suboptimal spray pattern and lumpy idle. Particularly if the injectors have never been out of the car before, look around where they sit in the rails for any evidence of fuel leaks. Also check around the fuel line fittings on the driver's side near the brake master cylinder. Because you're smelling fuel, any place that "could" leak fuel should be checked until you find the problem. But I'm still thinking it's evap system related.

Just happened to trip across this thread. The ECU has to relearn the idle conditions (mostly the position of the throttle plate, I believe) anytime it is reset, which it will be if the battery runs down or is disconnected. From an ECU reset and a cold start, it will relearn idle if you just let it sit and idle for at least 10 minutes before going anywhere. When you eventually drive away, it will behave about normally, instead of stalling at stop signs for the first few miles.

These are the correct answers. Stock-ish if you want to rebuild a LGT at a sane cost. Even if a slightly different motor will bolt straight into the chassis, anything involving ECU or wiring changes complicates stuff tremendously, from the first install to any troubleshooting down the road. Could also question the sanity of spending even that much. Those on proper college budgets should be buying used Hondas or Toyotas. Spend the minimum amount of wrenching time necessary to keep them maintained (which isn't much at all relative to any Subie, let alone the turbo models) and just put gas in 'em and change the oil.

I did reuse all crank & cam bolts... this time. Had no issue with the crank bolt getting the proper rotation at the specified torque and that one has been R&R'ed at least 4 times that I know of. It's a bit more stout than the cam bolts of course. No issues with intake cam bolts either. In other words, oiled threads = no problem hitting rotation spec. I pondered it while I was in there and ultimately decided to accept a few degrees less than specified rotation on the exhaust cam bolts given the torque already applied. I was more worried I'd either snap the 10mm hex bit or damage bolt heads if I continued. I've never had to apply anywhere near that much torque through such a tiny bit on any other vehicle I've worked on. Ever find yourself cranking on something and an inner voice starts questioning your own common sense? It was like that. I also half-pondered a dab of oil on those threads, but then the torque/rotation spec would be different/unknown so I left them dry (exh cams only). I would probably go with new bolts next time, but I have no concerns about them being A-OK from now until whenever I change cam seals again.

I have a kit that looks almost identical to that. Same mediocre bits, even the same driver handle that comes from the factory pre-bent for your annoyance. But mine didn't come with the flex cable!

3 of the 4 HVAC actuators on LHD cars are accessible from the passenger footwell without removing the dash. The 4th one (driver's side blend actuator) is not.

I finally did cam seals along with a timing belt job this weekend. Pretty sure they were the originals with 219K on them, and they were not leaking but I figured their days were numbered at this point. The belt wrap & vise grips method worked fine to hold the sprockets while working on the bolts. I did have a proper 1/2" drive 10mm hex bit (Gear Wrench brand) and no damage was done to any of the bolts. That bit is actually impact rated, but mounted to my IR231 it was about 1/3" too long to fit with the A/C condenser in place, so I just used it on a standard breaker bar & torque wrench. On the tightening torque of 22 lb-ft plus 45* rotation... The intake cam bolts on mine took right at 80 lb-ft to achieve 45*. Threads & bolt face oiled. The exhaust cam bolts I had run up to well over 130 lb-ft. Same as crankshaft bolt torque, actually a bit higher since I was leaning on that beeyotch beyond the torque wrench clicking, and the bolt had rotated "only" 30-35*. Dry threads & bolt face. I called it good enough, and feared causing damage if I took things any further. I would be rather surprised to see a cam bolt work loose after being torqued that high, as in "wake up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet" surprised.

Gave mine its third timing belt this weekend (now at 219K and change) along with the associated idlers, water pump, t-stat, rad hoses, new coolant, etc. Went deeper into it and did the cam seals too this time, since I hadn't done them the last time I changed the belt over 100K miles ago. They were actually not leaking, but I figured they might not make it to over 300K. The cam seals probably doubled the amount of wrenching time this weekend. Not having the cam SSTs, I used the belt wrap method to hold them while loosening/torquing the sprocket bolts. A bit fiddly but it worked, and with a proper 1/2" drive 10mm hex bit there were no issues with damaged bolts. And I finally removed the banjo bolt filter in the driver's side AVCS line! It was pretty clean actually, a few teeny bits of debris but nowhere close to any amount that would impair oil flow. New V-belts too, well one of them (for now). I will report that the Gates versions of these belts, which I grabbed in a rockauto order because the price was right, are probably best avoided. I did get the 4-rib belt for the A/C on okay so I'll run that one, but the 5-rib belt for the alt & P/S was riDONKulously tight, impossible to mount even with the alt at full loose while using various objects in attempts to lever the belt over the pulleys. So this should just reinforce what most of us already know... OE Mitsuboshi is the way to go. Had to reinstall the used belt to get to work today, and I'll swap a new OE belt from the stealership this evening.

Luckily I already had one of those pocket-sized right angle screwdrivers in my tool drawer. Very useful for R&R'ing the actuator mount given the tight confines. http://johnpoelstra.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/right-angle-screw-driver.jpg

No, I ordered one of each and they gave me one of each, in clearly labeled bags.

I just so happen to have the part numbers saved in a note on my phone from when I was buying these. 5MT axle seals: 806735290 = left/driver's side 806735300 = right/passenger's side

Did the A/C condenser earlier this month. I used TYC #3314 from rockauto, comes with dessicant bag already installed, drops right in. Also pick up an O-ring kit. Refrigerant and oil bought locally at Pep Boys. Vac pump and manifold gauges from Harbor Freight. R-134a cans seem to mostly have the Cali-approved self-sealing valves now, so make sure to pick up one of the $3 adapters that allow those new cans to work properly with a standard can tap.

Those parts do have the force of the clutch pressure plate on them, which is >1000 lbs IIRC, so those little spherical surfaces are seeing a couple-few thousand psi. I use a NLGI #2 moly-fortified wheel bearing grease on those points. Already had a small tub of it on hand, does the job.

Yes and yes. Misfires will trigger a CEL and one or more fault codes that clearly indicate a misfire. "Someone" may not know WTF they're talking about. The whole reason anti-seize exists is to prevent threaded steel objects like spark plugs from galling and sticking and damaging the threads in aluminum holes, like the ones in your cylinder heads. Skip it and you will eventually get to learn how to install a helicoil. When you first put the plug in the hole, turn it CCW (backwards) by hand until you feel the little "click" that indicates you have the threads properly lined up so you don't cross-thread them, then go CW/forwards. The new plugs should not resist much for the first few turns when threading them in by hand. If they require a crap-ton of force, the holes could already have been cross-threaded, perhaps by the same genius who neglected to use anti-seize. Some people should not work on cars.

Used plugs should have a bit of light brown crust/char on them. Google image search for "reading spark plugs" to see what's normal and what's not. I don't know if the Ruthenium plugs are "wrong" or wouldn't work properly, but the correct plugs are NGK Laser Iridium SILFR6A. I've never used anything else. They usually come properly gapped but I verify before installing. Use anti-seize on the threads and see how well they thread in, and don't over-torque them. I like to avoid chasing threaded holes where it could result in debris getting into the cylinder. Unless the old plugs came out with bits of cylinder head stuck between the threads, you're probably fine. That coil pack maybe looks a bit more rusty than mine, but coil packs aren't in need of replacing unless the car is actually misfiring. Weak coils usually misfire under load first (which you would definitely notice) especially if the spark plug gap had grown too large on old plugs. If you're getting some rough idle, there are several other possible culprits (gummed up fuel injector/s, TGV o-rings, burned valve, pistons/rings). However, you could use RomRaider to monitor roughness counts per cylinder, and swap a suspect coil to another cylinder and see if the roughness moves with it.

Never heard of that. What's it for?

1. Koni yellows, even when set to full soft, are a good bit stiffer than stock. At half-way up like you have them, it would likely feel objectionably stiff and be prone to jacking down (that dial adjusts rebound damping but not compression damping) unless they were paired with springs stiffer than Swifts. I'd recommend setting the Konis to full soft, then adjust upwards based on testing over speed humps at 20-25 mph. Adjust the shock damping up just enough to prevent the car from "hobby horsing" (it should bounce about 1.5 times- compress, rebound, maybe a slight additional compression then settle) and then go no stiffer. Only reason to ever stiffen them up beyond that is if you're doing an autocross or track day, depending on the venue. 2. You are looking at the wrong class of tires for a plush ride. UHP summers have stiff sidewalls by design. As whitetiger says, touring or grand touring tires will ride much better, but compromise steering response and some grip. No free lunch. With only one set of wheels/tires for my LGT I've been running UHP all-seasons as a compromise, specifically the Pirelli P-Zero A/S Plus. One of the aspects I like about it over the Michelin Pilot AS3 is that it has a slightly softer sidewall, so it rides much better over bumps. On a mostly highway car I was willing to sacrifice a bit of steering response for the better comfort and lower noise, and they still grip plenty well for any sane DD use. 3. 45 psi will definitely ride like poo. If you check the sticker inside the driver's door, I believe it recommends 2 psi higher in the front due to the weight difference. Lately I've been running 38/36 F/R to eek out a smidgen more fuel economy, but for a few years prior I ran 36/34. With regular tire rotations I get nice even wear and long tire life. 4. Personal preference here, but I don't like tires with an overtly directional tread pattern on my daily. Being able to rotate all 4 tires among all 4 corners of the vehicle (without drastic effect on water evacuation) helps maximize the service life of the set of tires.

Mine did the groaning & clicking routine for a solid couple of years, maybe 50K-60K miles, before it stopped working altogether. Maybe you have some time, maybe not. LOL Maybe you'll get lucky and it will die at some mid-point in its range that is semi-tolerable. Mine died at full cold in December. Best I could do was set the passenger side for full hot and the air to recirc. The cabin would slowly get a bit warmer but my feet were always cold. Never had to deal with such malarkey on my older cars with manual climate controls.

^^^ Just gonna throw this out there for you to ponder. Since you are planning to have the dash out anyway, might be worth your while to listen critically around the driver's footwell/dash area, while you manipulate the climate control system, for any noises that could be coming from the driver's side air mix actuator. Those things commonly fail with age/miles. To me, the saved PITA would definitely have been worth the cost of the part to replace it preemptively "while I'm in there," instead of spending most of a day disassembling and reassembling the car in order to restore functioning heat in the middle of winter. Did an oil change with T6 and a Mazda Tokyo Roki filter last night. Replaced the air filter and cleaned the MAF. Also sent a set of injectors out for cleaning & flow testing. Idle is a touch rough, and it has been about 100K miles since I last had the injectors serviced.

Could not get a good handle on the noise from that short clip. Is it purely engine rpm/load related? (exhaust?) Any noise free revving in neutral? (exhaust again?) Or is there a component of wheel speed dependence? IOW, if you shift gears then replicate the same engine rpm/load at higher wheel speed, is the noise the same or different? (age/miles on wheel bearings?) Just to eliminate the obvious, make sure you don't have any loose items rattling around the trunk or spare tire well. Spare, scissor jack, tire iron properly secured, etc.

It's funny, I got my EPA 609 nearly 20 years ago, for the sole purpose of buying R-12 which at the time was $20/can in private transactions. I then provided the cans to the shop fixing my 4runner's A/C rather than have them charge me $75/can, so the certification paid for itself immediately. Until this weekend I had not actually done any A/C work because none of my other vehicles have needed any. A few weeks ago I took the LGT to a local shop to look it over and verify where the leak was. I told them I was 99% certain there's a hole in the condenser due to the obvious rock impacts in the morning (two chips in the windshield as well) followed by total loss of cold air on my drive home that afternoon. So they evacuated and added UV dye with the recharge, but told me the system was holding pressure in their shop, blowing cold air and they didn't see any dye coming out, so they gave me the car back without replacing the condenser and told me to let them know if it fails again. You can guess how long that lasted. I drove the car for a bit while it was making cold air then inspected things with my own UV lights. Sure enough, a faint circular cloud of glowing dye on the condenser perfectly surrounding a rock ding in one of the crosstubes. Not sure how the shop missed that. Pondered my course of action while not needing the LGT over my July 4th vacation week, and quickly reasoned that I could buy the proper tools and parts and do the replacement myself for less than half the cost of hiring it out. More tools and skills for me, less money paid to other people. Especially once I got the manifold gauges on it with the leaky condenser still in place. Holding pressure, my ass. Pulled a vac and slowly but surely it started leaking back up to atmospheric pressure (pinhole sized leak) which they would have known had they followed proper procedures. Just reinforces my DIY bias. If my time is going to be wasted, I prefer to waste it myself rather than have it wasted by others.

Replaced the A/C condenser this past weekend (old one got holed by a rock in a pavement milling zone on the interstate) then pulled a good hard vac and recharged. Nice to have it ice cold again after living a couple weeks without, and just in time for the 100* weather about to hit.

It has been a long time, 6-7 years since I did them so the memory is fuzzy. There may be one accessible from the console inside the car, but the one at the back of the trans requires crawling underneath. I think you need to drop the heat shield, but I don't recall if the driveshaft has to be dropped as well. This is a popular procedure so search the forum and/or youtube for walkthroughs.

Subie shift lever is connected to a rod that runs externally to the transmission, and the rod connects to a U-joint type piece at the other end. This sort of linkage system feels inherently less direct than the trans on, say, a Miata, which is basically a one-piece rod connecting the shift knob to the control shaft inside the trans. The Subie also has multiple rubber bushings in the linkage that develop slop over time. Replacing those bushings will tighten up the feel quite a bit.

No, clutch pedal pressure is not adjustable without modifying the hydraulic system or changing to a clutch with a lighter pressure plate. Pedal pressure varies widely by vehicle. Stock LGT clutches have heavy-ish pedals. The Clutchmasters setup in mine uses a lighter pressure plate (because Kevlar disc) and therefore has a good bit lighter pedal than stock. Still, when I get in my Miata that clutch feels so feather-light by comparison that it takes a second to get used to it.