help .. .1990 leagcy

hi i am a nooB .. i am thinking about buying a subary legacy that i saw but i kno nothing about subaru .. except for the WRX (vroom vroom) ths car i am looking at is a second hand subaru lagacy 1990 ... does any one in here have one and can tell a bit about it .. its ups and downs and it is is worth getting

I have a 1990 Legacy, I bought it from an old lady w/ only 25,000 miles on it and not had a single problem w/ it. My boyfriend rags it out every chance he gets and has to race every honda he sees and of corse beats them. Sadly the Legacy had the most bhp of any suby in that day, i do belive it was 145. (Even more hp than the turbo-charged ones). The car now has 95,000 miles on it in 18 months, and have done nothing but replace the cv joints witch it seems to have too much torque for, and regular oil changes w/ mobil 1 syn. I have pics if you'd like to see. I've put rims (17's) and an intake and exaust and that has scared every rice rocket off from the sound.

hmm that car is great but wath for it after you hit 100k miles.


doesn't the allmighty ej22a have only 140hp ?

I have a 1990 Leagcy AWD Wagon with 160K. I purchased a few years back with 120K and have only replaced the tires and just this week a wheel bearing. It is getting a little rusty but runs great!

The 90 was the first year (someone correct me if Im wrong), I have one in my driveway along side my '03. They are incredibly reliable and stable. Only issues with them are the auto trans (very iffy) and you need to keep an eye on the temp guage. When they run hot it can really ruin ones day (Mine blew the water pump and as a result now it needs a left bank head gasket). At 238000 miles that and the trany are the only issues, and oh yea the classic rust behind the front wheel wells.

Hmmmm.... i also just recently picked up a 1990 Subby Legacy. I'm currently in the tthrows of a tranny problem(an ecu problem at the very least- pwr light flashes) It also has a bit of a tough first shift and a slip type shift from 2nd to 3rd. Please describe your tranny difficulties and remedies if you would. Also if there are any ways/additives that make it perform better. There has been some 'butchery' in my car, it only has the front air suspension(previous owner put in conventional shocks in the rear), but the car itself is pretty sound still, it rides wonderfully and handles decently.

The power light is a trans problem, not an ecu (if I remember correctly). The Tranny in my 90 slips a little between 2 and 3(when driving conservative) and it also shifts slow in cold weather(it will not go into overdrive until you've driven about 5-10 minutes). I have not had it rebuilt yet, I am looking to take it to a mechanic to have the whole thing flushed out first. Basiclly they put a chemical in the tranny to break down the varnishes and then evacuate the whole system. I figure it is worth it since the next step would be a rebuild $$$$. It seems like this pattern is common on these. When I test drove the new Legacy I made sure I got the stick so I wouldn't have the same issues. In driving the new automatic I noticed the shift pattern was basiclly the same, so that worried me a little. With regards the the air susp. You are better off with the conventional struts (cheaper to replace ;) ) I hope that helps.

I have been working on a 1990 Leg for quite some time now. Its got 200k miles on it. I replaced the timing belt, front main, and both cam seals. When I started working on it it had a really bad oil leak. Now it doesnt leak a drop of oil and it runs great for a car with 200k miles. The most recent development is that it overheats. I have tried just about every thing I can think of to fix it. The only thing that I have not changed is the water pump and I think that might be it. By the way if you ever do a timing belt on a high milage suby I would recommend changing your water pump at the same time... I just took the t-stat out and it seems to run fine. And about the automatic tranny I agree with what the rest of you said about them. The shift kinda slow 2nd-3rd. And its kinda slow with the down shift. Overall its a pritty decent car. We mash the hell out of this thing off-roading and it takes it like a champ.

i own a legacy 91 and it kicks ass , it has 142 hp do a check up at a subaru dealer they will tell you how it is the most important stuff is the pressure of the pistons check that out and the trans . and tried to know who own it before...it helps

91 legacy wagon here. 278,xxx miles and still going. After 200k little elec. bugs started in like only driver door window switch's working the windows and the c.c. going out But all n all I would buy another in a hart beat. Thats it in the background @ around 260k miles.
http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/data/500/1469feb08_02-med.jpg