johnceggleston

typically, the car has the wiring for the options that were available for that model year. if outback offered different stuff, then the wires would not be there.

year, model, trans and miles would help. lots of parts stores, advance, autozone, oriellys?, will check your codes for free. find out what the code numbers are and report back.

just drive it and forget it. this will be hard to do with it clicking and reminding you it is there but give it a try. most shops will install a reman-axle. and some folks have had trouble with them right out of the box. i have one that was replaced last spring and one of the 2 is making noise now. i'm not sure if it is the replaced one or the older one. if you do your own work, or if your shop will let you buy your own parts, good re-built axles can be purchased at mwe. you will have to search to get the link. they are located in colorado and shipping will make them cost a little more than the ones at your local parts store, but they are better. a second alternative is to buy a used one and have it re-booted before you install it. but that will end up costing more than just swapping it out with a reman. but if you trust your shop and have a good relationship with them, just have them do the work and trust that they will re-do it if there is a problem. if they are trustworthy, they will not install a part that they know will cause trouble. they do not want the headache. they want you to keep driving your older car and to pay them to repair it when needed. so you can drive it in the snow and fix it when you can. eventually it will either lock up or fall apart and leave you stranded, but that could be a long time down the road. a napa reman-axle cost about 90$ (others are less) and the labor is about an hour, maybe more. so for 200$ - 250$ it's done. but i would not be surprised if they want 325$ to do the job.

probably not caused by the flat. and it usually takes a while for a torn boot to damage the CV enough to make it click. no problem driving it to the shop, 15 miles is nothing. some would say you can drive it 5k miles or more, but your wife, if she is like mine, will appreciate having it corrected sooner rather than later.

check the large tube from the pcv to the bottom side of the plastic air intake tube. but a backfire does sound like a timing issue.

this is a bad CV, replace the axle. 95 is a great year even if some of the colors are a little drab. glad you found what you wanted. if you have to, you can buy whatever you need to make the inside ''fresher'' for your wife?.

no vacuum associated with the trans cooler lines. there is a large vac hose under the plastic air intake that connects it to the pcv (on 2.5L cars any way). but usually the engine dies if that is open. it is hard to see. it is about the diameter of your thumb or larger. the pcv is on the passenger side towards the rear.

it is not unusual to get abs codes in my outback during snow driving conditions. if you can melt or wash off all the snow around the wheels, you may find no problem. but i know noyhing about the newer cars so i'm no real help. do you have a garage you can park it in over night??

the 97 outback manual did not come stock with an ej22, it had the ej25 (dohc, count them). the 96 obw 5 speed did. so you might want to clear that up first. the 5 speeds from the 2.5L lego & outback cars 96 - 99 all have the same final drive ratio. so if the ''new'' 5 speed is from an outback it will bolt right in, no issues. if it is from a 2.2L car you will need the matching rear diff. the only other trans question is are the clutches the same, hydraulic vs. cable. i have no idea, but someone will. so what car is the donor engine coming out of?? ditto for the donor trans?

know any online sellers??

it sounds like you got the timing right. there is a link in my signature below to good pics if you have any doubts. my next guess would be a vacuum hose, maybe. wires might cause the crappy idle but not the rev-ing to 2k and back. double check all connections and hoses. did you get the fuel lines back on right? i have never heard of it happening in a subaru, but in small engines they will some times rev up just before they die from lack of fuel. is the plastic air box / filter and intake on correctly?

some folks have had the belt slip a tooth when installing it. i would double check that. also, if the crank pulley came loose, did it mess up the crank key way? or the crank sprocket key way? if there was any slop between the crank sprocket and the crank that could cause this problem. you say you used a new key, was the key way in the 6 oclock position when you aligned the timing marks? it is unusual for the loose bolt / pulley not to cause damage to the crank end / key way. it can be over come and corrected, but if the crank is ''one tooth'' off it will run crappy.

the original screws had phillips heads. i think that would limit how much they could be torqued. get them tight.

don't forget the alignment.

technically it has 2 fuel pumps, at least that's what subaru calls them, but really you only have one. it is on the passenger side of the fuel tank and does the work of sending the fuel to the engine. the other ''pump'' is more like a siphon, i hear, but i don't really know. it's job is to move fuel from the driver side of the tank over to the passenger side. (the tank straddles the rear diff.) any other symptoms of the car ''bogging down''.

did you look on the floor? have you vacuumed out the car since the heat quit? where would it go if it dropped / popped off?

ej25s 96 - 99 are prone to internal head gasket leaks. some as earlier as 60k, most in the 100 - 200k and a few later than that. i have swapped out two ej25s, one at 142k and one at 148k. i drove one ej25 from 98k to 139k and it's gaskets had been done before i got it. and i have one waiting with 152k. so you get the idea. but there are plenty of them for sale with bad gaskets now with 200k+ miles. the 00 - 03? ej25s have external head gasket leaks, less often, i think. this is slightly better. you can see the leak and since it doesn't cause overheating until the coolant level gets low you can continue to drive it as long as you keep the coolant topped up. (internal leaks can cause overheating by displacing coolant in a single drive cycle when sever, or by causing a ''vapor / air lock'' which keeps the coolant from flowing properly.) the only way to be sure about a car with an ej25 when buying is to have the HGs done or have a warranty which includes head gaskets. usually when the gaskets are replaced correctly they do not re-occur. there is lots of info here to read about them. start with the link below and then search on from there if you are interested. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=104353&highlight=badheadgaskets

i don't have a problem with state inspections. if it is bad enough to fail it needs to be replaced / repaired. i do have a problem with shops who tell me it will cost 450$ to fix what the car needs to pass only to learn when i go in and look at everything that the service writer''mis-spoke'' and he mis-understood the technician who actually did look at the car. it only needed front pads. that's just wrong, and it happens every day. it does seem unfair to have to buy a new windshield for a 90 nissan pickup when i only drive 1500 miles a year. but if i want to drive it on the open road in VA that is what i will take. the last time i needed a windshield i shopped and got it installed for ~100$.

if he calls, offer 550$. see if you can get it for a bargain, or miss it altogether.

well it sounds like you did it all right. (you have been lurking here for a while , good work.)

i learned recently that an alt will make a whinning noise when it is charging. if the noise ''changes'' with demand, it may be normal. there is a shop here that will rebuild an alt. for 28$ , i think, plus the parts needed. if you are really concerned, take it ot a rebuilder and have it tested. if they a reputable they will tell you the truth, rather than '' oh yeah, good thing you brought it in. it could go at any second.'' from the labor fee, it does not sound like it is too hard to do. but then lots of things are easy the second time. you may have to ask around to find some one who rebuilds. most big electric motor shops don't mess with automotive stuff. at least not around here.

when did it start using the oil? soon after the separator plate was done? did you replace it or reseal it? did you torque the knock sensor to spec? did you replace the rear main seal?? have you looked under the engine to see where the oily dirt is, front or rear? did you reseal the oil pump, o-ring / backing plate screws, when you did the timing belt?

the 2 i've seen were mounted on the fire wall or strut tower, passenger side.

if you do this on a c ar with an alarm, it will sound the alarm !!!!! holding both buttons on a car with the alarm part is like pressing the ''panic'' button.

my 97 GT has remote entry, without the alarm part. it does not chirp when activated and there is no ''red'' indicator light on the dash. (near the fog light switch.) my 98 obw has the alarm part and the red indicator and it chirps. if you have the red indicator, either the alarm part of the harness has been unplugged or the ''horn'' under the hood has been removed. the alarm horn is different form the car horn. the alarm horn is shaped like a PA system speaker, ''horn'' shaped.