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100%. It's really interesting to me that the toothed idler fails at such a higher rate than the smooth ones. The one spontaneous timing failure of an EJ25 I've experienced in about a dozen years of driving these things was that idler seizing, and the result wasn't pretty.

No argument here, just asking the question. And important to note that this is the 3 litre H6, not just another 2.5 . If you haven't driven one, then you're going to have to trust me that regardless of whether it's interference or not, this motor kicks the 2.5's @$$ in a way I didn't expect (and we've owned more than half a dozen EJ25s (AT and MT, all NA of course, no turbos) in addition to a couple of EJ22s). When it's all loaded up, towing a boat, and climbing a hill, it has the juice where the 2.5 struggled.

I thought I'd update on the coolant pressure performance. It's on the brain now that my radiator started leaking. Turns out Subaru still sells radiators for my GL. How grateful I am for that. From a cold start by the time the RPM's have fully dropped it'll be steady around 10-12 PSI. When driving it'll fluctuate anywhere between 4-12 PSI. I think I should have tapped into the thermostat rather than the heater core inlet, that way I could see if the thermostat has opened or closed. There is a correlation between RPM and pressure, however the temperature of the engine does play a factor. I'm not informed enough to say how much is head pressure and how much is the pressure buildup from heat, but it's cool to see them all interact by watching the gauges. I live in an area with lots of rolling hills and vastly different temperatures between summer and winter. I actually have to keep the revs above 3k in order to keep the engine warm enough in winter. I don't cover my grille, I've found that prolonged highway driving with it covered can cause the engine to get a bit too toasty for my liking. About 1/2 way up on the temperature gauge.

This is the one - worked a treat, fit perfectly, without having to unnecessarily dismantle stuff that's just fine where it is. I found it locally at Canadian Tire as OEM Tools 77515. It's also on amazon.com as 37308 and 26553, and god only knows where else by what other number(s). OEM Tools doesn't appear to be a "real company" - that is, they just link to their amazon store. So without an actual catalog or data sheets where I might confirm dimensions, I can only say that I think that these are all the same tool rather than, say, different versions (e.g. sizes) of the same style of tool. What-ever, it works and I like it. And I see that amazon.ca has a $45 five-piece kit in a case that includes this puller. I paid almost that at CT for this one, so it is left as an exercise to the reader what my plan is now.

We bought a 1998 Forester in 2003 with 100,000 miles on it and kept it until it had 335,000 miles on it. We sold in in August of 2025 for $500 and it was still going. Looked like hell though.

Still have the random power loss. Seems to be more frequent. Still no CEL lights. I've found if I just select N, the engine revs just fine and I drop it back to D and keep on going. Crazy

Smart Kid. Values passed down, well done Parents

Get new cam cover seals

There seems to be some piston slap or rocker arm noise. So I am planning on doing the adjustments on the valves and reseal the covers. Probably will do the timing belt at that time also. Changed out one of the axles and did an inner tie rod end and new boots on the rack. Thanks Hush

Yeah the sundials are different- the stubby shafts on a manual trans don't pull out of the front diff from the outside like the auto's.

They're a solid platform. Interference engine so I'd immediately be installing all new Subaru or Aisin timing belt, tensionser, pulleys, and water pump if it's in good enough condition to warrant that. You don't really want a 25 year old lower cogged idler - they are by far the most failure prone item on there. If minimalist is preferred: replace the timing belt and lower cogged idler - those are the two parts most likely to fail. The others don't fail often anyway and often times give you warnings the others don't. After market belts and pulleys aren't as good, I've seen the pulleys fail and the included tensioner bolts shear. While you're in there it's not a bad idea to reseal the oil pump (anaerobic sealant, one o-ring, and the crank seal) and tighten the backing plate screws - more than one are always loose.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've passed them on to my daughter. She has a big savings account and could easily buy a very young car if she valued having a decent looking car, but this one is generally super reliable, which is good enough for her. She'd rather buy a piece of land.

Next time it happens ask her to try starting it with the throttle flat to the floor. This cuts the injectors when cranking to remove a flooded situation. You might find the engine is full of fuel from stalling and just cranking it puts more fuel into the system so it won’t start.

That may be the style I need to find.

Forgive any errors here, because I'm working from memory. So I'm now unbolting the caliper in order to take the rotor off in order to get at those dust shield screws. And I think that there's an opening in the shield that will then allow me to slide it off (and not unstake the hub nut and pull the hub) - but that's the part I can't remember for sure. Regardless, that's a lot of stuff that's working just fine and doesn't need to be disturbed in the interest of simply getting a puller around that tie rod end. Not a lot of work by any means, but completely unnecessary. I just got the two pullers that Princess has, and neither fits.

I rented (for free) this tool from autozone last summer and it worked well. I replaced both the ball joints and tie rod ends, and I'm pretty sure it was the tie rod ends I was having trouble with (hammer not big enough?), so I went out and rented this as well as a pickle fork that I didn't end up using. https://www.autozone.com/p/oemtools-ball-joint-separator-57308/787834

Doesn't make much sense. If possible, the next time it happens, disconnect the negativity battery cable, step on the brake pedal for a few seconds. Reconnect the battery cable and see if that helps.

The dust shield is only held on by 3 bolts, so it's easy to remove if it's in the way. I just did mine, but I stripped off the shield before I used the puller.

My favorite way to re-grease them is to remove the drive flange, push the axle shaft in a half inch (so the cv cup is no longer in the inner wheel seal), pack the area around the shaft with grease, and slide the drive flange back on, using the drive flange inside the wheel seal like a piston to force the grease through the bearings. Repeat until grease comes out the back.

How are you guys still arguing over whether an engine is interferential or not? EVERY SUBARU ENGINE AFTER 1997 is interferential. EVERY.ONE. Geez, I've been gone a few years and you guys are still arguing this point? 🙄 We lost non-interferential in return for a lousy 5Mph power gain. Crap trade if you ask me.

I never repacked my wheel bearings when doing CVs or at the 60,000 mile interval (100,000km I’m guessing). I run sealed bearings with the inner seal removed as mentioned above. Before installing I always pack each bearing with fresh grease to remove the packing grease - do not just run on the packaged grease as the bearing will fail in a short distance! And I always run the outer seals with a little bit of grease behind them. I figure more seals the better for an offroader. Always use a quality Japanese made bearing too

Unless you have a run-in with a drunk driver, it'll run forever...

My daughter reported today that her 1996 Legacy (180,000 miles) this infrequent problem. If she accidentally stalls the car by letting out the clutch too fast the car doesn't want to start for a while. She says it's happened about five times in the last year or two. Typically she comes back after 30 minutes and then it starts. It cranks just fine but doesn't start. This morning it happened again and she only had time to wait 15 minutes but no success. So she borrowed my car. About seven hours later I went out and it started fine. Any ideas what causes this?

Well the mystery got solved and the solution is rather embarrassing! I had no idea this car has an immobilizer and that the fancy Subaru key is necessary to start the engine. Shortly before the starter motor issue arose I had a simple copy of the key made at the grocery store for about $1.98. l was using that key exclusively to try and start the engine. Finally on another Subaru Outback forum somebody asked about my key. As soon as I tried the fancy Subaru key the problem disappeared! Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Maybe this thread will help someone else in the future with the same issue.

This is the smaller one, with jaw gap 1.125". That appears to correspond to the size of the tie rod end. They have a larger one with a 1.625" gap. But I'm really uncertain about that leg fitting between the knuckle and the brake shield. I just bought an old Bridgeport J-head I can use to cut it down to fit if necessary, but I'd also be concerned about making it too thin and fragile. Also, the mill is going to need work, starting with figuring out how to spin a 600V 3-phase motor when all we have on-site is 220 single-phase. (Note: I know what all the options are, so no suggestions needed, thanks.) Point is I need to get this car back on the road long before I expect the mill to be up and running.