SubieJEB

I want to add a direct line from my MP3 player to the stock AM/FM/WB/cassette radio head unit in our 2000 Outback. I was hoping I could do it via the connector for the optional CD player, but after I pulled the radio out and discovered the proprietary connector in the back I'm not so sure. Does anyone know the: 1) Pinout, and 2) Any successfull "hacks" - I've read that the radio needs more than just audio, but also some data control lines. I've seen various traffic on this subject, but nothing conclusive. I don't want to do it via the FM transmitter. THANKS!

Thanks for all your comments. My mechanic has been fairly trustworthy over the years - and he claims to have done lots of timing belt changes on Subies. He even lets me buy the parts at the Subie dealer for him to install. Good thing is that I'm not paying for all this labor, bad thing is I need my car and I hope he hasn't done irreparable damage to my engine. As I mentioned, he's used four different professional sources of info to line up the timing belt and all of them agree. Thank goodness he didn't try to fire the motor up with the starter - he has only hand cranked it to this point. I'll definitely have him take care of the things you guys have mentioned while he's got it torn apart. I wonder if something could have been out of whack, or slipped, when he took the belt off. I know he lined it up before pulling the belt off, but maybe he was slightly off? Tis a mystery, hopefully I'll be able to report a solution this week! I still welcome any input...

I took my 2000 Outback to my mechanic to do the 100K timing belt and water pump replacement, but my mechanic is stuck. He replaced the timing belt following instructions from AllData.com and some other resources and seems to have everything lined up. However, when he tries to turn the motor by hand, the #3 rocker gets locked up. Confusing the situation, if he loosens up the rocker bolts a bit it turns OK. He has taken off the heads and is sending those to the machine shop to do some more testing (to see if any of the valves, stems, etc are bent). Everything looks fine using a visual check, so I suspect the machine shop will also say they're OK. Then he'll put the heads back on and we'll be stuck again. HAS ANYONE EVER HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM??? I believe my car has the 2.5L EJ251 SOHC engine.

I've had this same problem twice, and I know what you mean - it does make the car sound cheap. In the first case, the rattling came from the shields further down the line, after the Y intersection where the two pipes come out of the exhaust ports. The dealer shop just removed them for free (I had just bought it from them used), but I'm not sure why they didn't just resecure them. In the second case the rattling was coming from the two spots where the heat shields meet the exhaust ports on the engine. If I recall correctly, the clamps and/or bolts fell out. The dealer shop simply resecured them and charged $50. I thought it was worth it just to get it over with. This must be a common thing. I kind of wish I could get my heat shields back from the first incidence, but I guess I'm OK as long as I don't park in any tall grass!