Brighton96

I'm pretty sure the ECU controls the trans. Also is there a lag when it shifts while driving it? Cause if so, you can try doing a few fluid exchanges but chances are it's just a tired trans.

+1 for it being the washer fluid pump, I guess subaru used the same front harness regardless of the car being a sedan or wagon.

Hhmm... maybe with the donor GT once I'm done with it.

Quarantine Update I have been dead when it comes to motivation and the cars been sitting for 6+ months, I start it up and drive it every so often to mix up fluids and the sort, but haven't felt like doing anything with it. I picked up a GT manual donor and all the parts to do the manual and RWD conversion but I don't know what direction I want to go with the car anymore so now it's in limbo. Feel free to chime in on ideas, the contenders so far are: 1- Optimized stock- Making it as good as it can possibly be given the era of the car. So stock engine, manual trans, awd, and stock interior and exterior (probably just touch up paint) 2- Stripped street- Lighten up everything, probably rewire the car to simplify the 90s tech, don't worry about the paint, stiffen chassis, half cage(?), manual, rwd, sort of copy buckys style build (link below) 3- Show car- Stock engine and trans combo (Maybe manual swap) customize the interior, finish the stereo, coilover/bags, bigger/better wheels, perfect paint (satin pearl white respray or wrap) It got it it's first wash, wax and sealant in like 9 months.

To add to my thing, I kept my HLAs rockers when I swapped heads but that's because I had also recently replaced the HLAs with new units, if yours have 150k+ on them and you want to keep the HLA rockers then I'd recommend replacing your HLAs too. Someone else might chime in to correct me since I don't remember where I saw the information last, but I think you can put phase 2 heads on a phase 1 engine. Phase 1 being the earlier single port non-interference and phase 2 being the later dual port interference. Which means SHOULD be able to put heads on from up to a 1999 which was the last year for the USDM 2.2

You can swap rocker assemblies and supply the EGR with another source of air. I am running non EGR heads (ordered by accident) and I converted to HLA rockers. I ended up using part of the crank case vent system as the supply for the EGR. Also you SHOULD be able to do later model heads on that engine. I've heard you can pick up a couple HP from the dual port exhaust too.

I'm waiting for my donor GT to get back so I can strip it and convert my other car to RWD and Manual. Then just gotta swap some of the GT/JDM bits, do some body work (rust repair) and eventually do air ride. Also got an aluminum overflow tank and possibly do a full aluminum rad and better fans.

It's possible but the side that doesn't have the exhaust from the factory houses the evap canister and all the plumbing for that, so all of that would have to be relocated.

They'd be different noises and symptoms. A bad bearing will cause rotational whirling or whining and a bad cv will cause clunking or binding on acceleration or while turning. The knock sensor can be done in 20 mins with a 14mm ratchet. It's kind of tricky to get at and it helps to remove the air box on the throttle body but it isn't necessary.

Have the battery load tested before replacing any parts. Batteries lose roughly half their cranking power below 32 degrees f so it could just be because the battery is undercharged/weak and being cold means it is even weaker.

I just replaced all my stuff with exedy and it all went really smoothly and was a good value in regards to cost of OEM vs cost of upgrading.

That intake/engine might not be original to the car then, I bought a spare intake once (from a supposedly identical car) and it had those hoses for that canister, so I had to unbolt and swap that vacuum web from under the intake. It's hard to explain but it's literally a network of metal lines and solenoids on the underside of the intake that would need to be swapped.

I think those are the ones that go to the evap canister. Some models have a weird canister thing on the right frame rail and it looks like yours is missing. You could temporarily block it and see if anything changes.

I bet someone was really mad when they lost that haha. It can be either the CV axle one (on the trans side) or the shifter linkage. I would guess CV since that's a pretty normal job to do during the life of the car. Just check the holes on the CV axles to make sure a pin is already in there. Otherwise just hold onto it, those are pain to find replacements for.

I found this a while back and would recommend giving it a watch. I'd also skip like 5 mins in, theres a decent amount of filler content :/

Pull the timing cover off and check the timing marks, sounds like it's off a couple teeth (which it can do without triggering a CEL) Also might not hurt to do a compression test.

+1 Easy but messy without the right way to get the oil in the diff. Get either the ams oil bags of diff fluid or one of those screw on pump bottle tops.

If it's really cold where you are then that can be it too, batterys lose roughly half their cranking output below 0 degrees. It'll return to full power once it's above that temp, but still something to consider when you go to start it when it's really cold out.

Most auto parts places have a starter tester or an option to test it in addition to a battery test but the machine will automatically say it's good if the car starts and not good if it doesn't start. They don't really help with diagnostic. Advance auto (maybe others) have a stand alone starter tester in the store and that will get an actually performance break down, BUT you have to remove the starter and also hope there is someone at the store who knows how to use the machine. I'm 1 of 2 people in my store (advance auto) that know how to use it and I rarely work so at least my store, chances are very slim.

It's possible the starter is failing since they tend to act weird when they start to go, but no need to throw money at it until you can rule out the easy things. Also wouldn't hurt to see if the battery is dying/has a weak cell. Most auto places can test it for free.

Check and clean all the ground wires you can find, these cars have subpar grounding from the factory

I had the exact same thing happen on my 96 2.2L and even the same plug got spit out. You can have it helicoiled (don't attempt on your own) but it's risky and in my case it lasted until I pulled the plug out for the next service and the heli coil came out with the plug. Ended up putting a new (used) head on it.

You can look at pretty much any brand and they will have multiple brightness and color ranges. Sylvania has 5 teirs, factory equivalent (lowest priced) is 3700k ish and will last several years if not more. Each teir jumps about $10 per bulb and goes up to 4200k ish. The life span of the highest is <1 year. With brighter ones they will also burn out very rapidly if you touch or contaminate the glass by the oils from your skin or just dirt. So if you are going to stick with halogen then go with a middle teir, that will give you a nice compromise between brightness and life. You'd be looking at $30 ish a bulb and get 2 ish years out of it. LEDs and HIDs are good options and both have pros and cons. LEDs last forever and can be used in factory reflector housing but are expensive for good quality ones ($100+ ish) Consult SuperBrightLED.com or RetrofitSource.com HIDs are incredible and last a long time too, but again costs are even higher because they require adding a wiring harness and getting headlights that have projectors (instead of reflectors) Consult RetrofitSource.com

Nice! I don't know if that CVT was one of the ones that uses a chain CVT which would in theory make it much more durable then the standard band CVT but only time will tell.

It took me a couple hours to do that job with no experience and limited tools in a driveway, so maybe 2 hours from a professional shop? It's like 8 bolts, and 3 hose clamps to remove it.