Author Topic: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza  (Read 3808 times)

DumpTruck

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Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« on: January 15, 2014, 04:40:29 PM »
So I troll CL sometimes looking for deals and came a cross a 93 Impreza 4 door with a 5 speed, AWD, has 273,000 miles on it, I purhased it within 30 minutes of the ad posting for $600 cash.

I got it for a good deal the single mom who sold it to me says it runs perfectly for a week and then randomly won't start. She has to let it sit for a while and then it will start up.

It drove home but then immediatly starting having issues with not running. I had all the receipts this poor women had been to a subi dealer, and to an indie shop, and they had replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor, and the fuel pump. They charged her something like $260 for the temp sensor which costs about $10 and 10 minutes of labor. Sad.

I was getting spark and getting air, but no fuel.

I ordered a power probe III to help me isolate the issue more effectively. Lame excuse for a new toy

 on Saturday I did more testing. The pump turns on when I powered it up with the PPIII. The harness had power when I was turning it over. I deduced somehow power not getting to pump.

I pulled the pins out of the harness (on the wiring harness side, the male end) and reshaped the pins (the pins are the female side inside the male side of the harness) to make them tighter and put the pins back in.... What do you know it primed and started up.

Every day I start in the morning, drive it when i get home from work, start it twice more before I go to bed. It's started up every day for 4 days and today I drove it to work! It ran perfect.

So I got a great running car for $600 that's work $950-1000 easy! I'm pumped! I love older cars. New cars suck.

I'm either going to flip this or ecomod it by removing the power steering, ac compressor, back seat, sound deadening, smaller wheels, smaller tires and adding an under tray. I think this could be a nice 40 MPG 4wd ski car!

Greg

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2014, 05:03:41 PM »
Nice job on the fix.  I think you meant bigger tires, or at least larger diameter.

RobsEG

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2014, 10:33:31 PM »
Nice job on the fix.  I think you meant bigger tires, or at least larger diameter.

Bigger tires = less gas efficiency

Op, very nice! Wish I was more mechanically inclined.

fodder69

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2014, 06:04:31 AM »
You mean heavier/wider tires. Taller tires could reduce your RPMS and give a small boost in economy but probably not much.

exranger06

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2014, 08:07:37 AM »
I ordered a power probe III to help me isolate the issue more effectively. Lame excuse for a new toy
I don't think that's a lame excuse at all. You needed to fix your car, and you needed a tool to help you do it. Fixing it yourself was way cheaper than bringing it to a shop to fix. The tool probably paid for itself that first time you used it. And it will continue to pay you back every time you use it again in the future. That's why I always say tools are an investment. Never let having to buy tools deter you from trying to fix stuff yourself.

olivia

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2014, 08:21:24 AM »
That's awesome!  I've been thinking about going for a 90s Subaru or Toyota myself.  I'm semi-handy but my dad is great with cars, so he could teach me a lot.  Older cars seem easier to work on than newer ones.

DumpTruck

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Re: Craigslist Find - 93 Subaru Impreza
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2014, 10:59:28 AM »
It's pretty funny I've always been kinda handy, but my father and older brother are much more so. Anytime i had a big car project I always took it to my brothers house because he knows how to do things and has all the tools you could ever want. (he also has a SICK brewing setup). That's when I first used a Power Probe but he just has the base model.

Anyway, I moved away from my family in 2012 (they are in Texas) when I moved here to Denver. I was scared to be away from the safety net of my know-how family.

But I discovered my prowess grew exponentially as I was away from that confort zone. Sounds obvious but at the time I couldn't see the advancment for the fear.

Anyway... I did a heads, cam and header build on my corvette in my garage by myself which I never would have thought I could do. Thank god for the internet though. Now I feel I can do pretty much any project by myself.

Thanks for all your comments! This forum sure is nice. Reinforcement is so great. But i need a kick in the ass too. The subaru is my fourth vehicle and the only one that's not a V8. I have a serious motor sports addiction issue.