New owner of a 92 SVX LSI

Hello everyone i just purchased an 92 lsi for $3400 and 125k miles in Georgia and cant wait until morning to drive it again ( i bought it about 6 hours ago hehe.) Ill be takign the car to texas later in a few months were it will spend a year or so.

I have read about the 3 great problems with this car:
1. Rear bushings(mainly rear but happens all arround)
2. Tranny (overheat - install tranny cooler
debree - cloging the narrow path in tranny requiring
an external filter.)
3. Brakes. weak brakes and heavy vehicle.

The one that concerns me the most is the tranny since it can become expensive rebuilding it over time. In this forum I read that someone has put a 5spd tranny into their SVX?? Would this eradicate the tranny deficiency? If this is true were can this be done and about how much??

Any further info would be much appreciated, im a new owner that wants to get the most out of this great ride.!!

[Aredubjay]

Kamaleon, welcome to the Network. I hope you'll find it informative as well as entertaining. You'll find that you've found yourself amongst a great bunch of folks.

First of all a couple of corrections (I'll go ahead now, before someone else does. )

The designation for the SVX with "Touring Package" in '92 was LS-L. The "i" didn't come in until 94.

It isn't the rear bushings that have the problem, it's the rear bearings, and it's usually due to someone installing them wrong as opposed to a problem with the bearing itself. Take the time to do some "searches" on bearings (search function at top of page) and you'll learn far more about bearings than you'd care to know.

An external cooler is pretty much your ticket to saving your tranny. Some swear by synthetic fluid. Subaru added a filter. There are your choices. As for the 5-Speed, there are two members who've installed them. Huck in Somerset KY was the first, and Brian in Washington State has done a 5-Speed Conversion. I think that it's too young a procedure to say it will "FIX" your tranny ills, but, you can generally buy a Legacy stick for less than an SVX rebuild. It's up to you whether or not you want to go through the initial expense and possible subsequent expenses.

Again, welcome to the wild world of the SVX, may she do you proud.

[1994SubaruSVX]

he pretty much covered it. because you have a 92 i would definitely get the tranny cooler installed bypassing the stock cooler or you could run it parallel to the stock cooler. my advice is to just bypass it.

good luck and enjoy your new car.

. ill be installing a tranny cooler and bypassing the stock one..

Some people wrote about installing 2 colers in serial, is this ok? beeter protection or too much cooling?

Hey there,
Reading along I found myself wishing I was here about 10 years ago when I got my first SVX. The information and time that I would save could have been of great value! But I did not, I did however just pay Subaru $6,532.37 in repairs to my '92. I was in shock by the time I had finished the repairs how much it had come to. For anyone interrested I will share the fact I just had A rebuilt tranny installed (there is no more such thing as a new one!) I had a cooler installed, I had the one rear bearing replaced (and yes, I had them repacked, not in the original shipment grease) I had a new timming belt, new front engine seal, a new water pump, a new power steering pump and hoses, new transmission hoses and some other minor work to repair some idiots quest to be a Subaru mechanic. It adds up fast and I hope that you are prepared for the cost of maintaining a car that is no longer in production. Personally of all the cars in the world right now there innothing that compares and I would not have another type car, that is why i chose to purchase this car. I got a pretty decent deal but then add the total for the repairs and I have a fortune invested. But I love the baby. tomorrow will be the first time I drive the car since the day I got it. It has been in the shop for the last ten weeks! I can't wait! Good luck with yours!

[svxter]

Welcome to the Network. If you're still in GA in June, be sure to try to make it to the meet the weekend of 7-9, in Oak Ridge, TN. Dig up the East Tenn Meet thread for details.

PS. Neat handle.