johnceggleston

just to be clear, there is a seal on the front passenger side, but the cap o-ring is on the rear of the head on the passenger side.

and 01 was the last year for the 2.2L in the impreza line.

mine did just reading about it. i guess this answers the question of whether 140ft/lbs is too much.

thanks, i learned none of this first hand, all of it came from others on this site. i just had the time to put it together.

all legacy products, outbacks, GTs, LSi are "B"s. all imprezas, outback sport, wrx, STi, RS, are "G"s. the dates are manufacture dates. in older cars, before 97?, the manufacture date can be found on the door column between the front and rear driver doors. on newer cars, after 96?, the date tag is on the bottom of the driver door. it should also have the vin on it so you can make sure the door is original.

a lot of folks will use a kit from an ebay vendor, something with import in the name / title. (search here for it.) if you call them up you can get a the kit with what ever you want in it. i got everything, belt, idlers, water pump, cam seals, valve cover gaskets, oil pump / crank seals, etc, except the tensioner. most folks here will discard the t-belt and get one from subaru (online), that's a pretty good idea on an interference engine. i used the ebay belt since my engine is non-interference. if your engine is not leaking oil, you may not need all the seals, but eventually, if you drive it long enough, you will. the t-belt has to come off for the cam and crank seals.

yes, that would put you in the clear. and buying the car with that in mind, subtract the repair cost from the purchase price. however, the only advantage to doing it right away, is that you can plan on it. but usually the problem progresses so slowly it does not leave you stranded, you can plan on it anyway. some of these engines went bad at 60k miles and some are only going bad now at 180k - 220k. and many more outback and GT engines go bad than forester or impreza. (someone has suggested that the extra weight of the legacy size over taxes the original 2.5L head gaskets and the lighter cars do not.) so depending on the car and the number of miles on it you may be able to drive several years before the gaskets blow, or they may never let go. in any event, when you do the repair, make sure the gaskets come from subaru, no after market gaskets allowed. read up on the timing belt procedure to avoid a 'no start' problem after you finish. and if you pull the engine to do it and have an auto trans, read up on "seating the torque conveter" before you re-install the engine. you may make a very costly mistake if you don't. let us know what you decide to do.

the internal head gasket leak works like this: exhaust gas leaks into the coolant, displaces coolant into the overflow, and beyond, (adding gunk to it) and eventually causing an "air" pocket in the cooling system and over heating. over heating can be cause by loss of coolant or from an "air" lock in the system. when the leak is new, just beginning, it will only leak a little and can cause an occasional overheat. this is usually address by flushing the cooling system and maybe replacing the t-stat. (if you see service receipts for either, or they mention either in the car ad, look harder at the car). depending on the car, the driver and the leak, it could be weeks or months before it overheats again. as the leak gets worse, it will happen more often. some of these cars with bad head gaskets can be driven around town "forever" and show no sign of over heating, some will over heat after 20 - 30 minutes of any type of driving, and some only after 30 minutes of hiway driving. so "test drive" the car. in a normal car, the coolant level will vary in the overflow depending on the conditions and type of driving. usually when the cars heats up it will push more coolant into the overflow, then when it cools down it will suck that coolant back into the radiator. this is a normal process, but the cold level should be the same from one day to the next. in other words, it is not loosing any coolant. if the car pukes coolant out of the over flow it's bad news. if there are little bubbles in the coolant in the overflow bottle after the test drive, this is bad. if the coolant level when cold before you drive it and the coolant level when cold after you drive it (cold, hours later) is not the same, i would think this is a bad sign. if there is any gunk in the coolant, this is bad. if the coolant is brand new, i would ask why and look harder at the car. typically, cooling system pressure testing does not "catch" bad gaskets in the early stages, maybe never since the exhaust is leaking into the system, not coolant leaking out. there is a test which will look for exhaust gases in the coolant, but if the leak is small, and the coolant just changed it may not catch it.

what did you torque it to?? any lock tight? you don't want it to loosenup.

i'm pretty sure the o-ring goes on the rear of the head on the passenger side.

i don't remember exactly, but it 's pretty simple, one nut and a wire connector. it's a pretty simple device. i wouldn't spend the money removing the command/remote start. what ever that costs would be better spent on the part. maybe your mechanic can figure a way to "jump out" the switch, wire it temporarily so the car thinks it is working properly, to see if that eliminates the problem. a much better way to spend your money. you have diagnostic code telling you have a problem, spend your time and money there first.

there is a mark, it is not on the face of the crank sprocket, it is on one of the "TABS" on the back of the crank sprocket. this is also in one of the pictures. not a bad idea telling newbies that the keyway goes down, but with the alignment marks on the the cam and crank sprockets and the marks on the engine housing and with multiple people telling them the timing is off and to read the articles on how to do the timing belt and with pictures included....... anyway, glad you got it running.

the head gasket need to be subaru only, unless you want to do this again.

http://opposedforces.com/parts/

they'll fit, the struts are identical, i suspect the springs are as well. you can always use outback struts ans springs. that will give it a lift.

yes they are the same, no changes. in a nut shell, when one rear wheel is spinning, it sends power to the other wheel. in an open differential, when one wheel spins, the other just sits there. the viscous LSD was offered in outbacks starting in 01(i think) and standard in outback and GTs in 03 (i'm sure). for regullar hiway and city driving you don't gain a lot. snow and ice it will come in handy, off road it's a "must"?. but the viscous type is less desirable than the mechanical type. although a subaru is AWD there are times it can be only 2 wheel drive. if you have open differentials front and rear, and both right side wheels are on ice you can get stuck. the right side wheels both can spin and both left side will do nothing and you are stuck. (appling a little bit of brake while giving it gas will stop the spin may cause the other wheel to grab.) most cars on the road to day are 2 wheel drive and if one gets on ice, it's zero wheel drive. if you add an LSD it is always a 2 wheel drive.

what makes you think the computer is bad.? i don't know for sure the computer listed will work but i bet it will, matbe not perfectly. if you already have it, try it. you won't hurt any thing. what car is the new one out of, do you know? the closer the car match is the better the chance it will work. on the legacy side, a legacy trans will run on a outback computer and vice versa. same for a GT.

so the tick goes away short term when you prime the lifters but your compression goes way down. when the tick comes back so does the compression. i was wondering if it might be t-belt tensioner noise, not lifter tick, but that would not go away with priming the lifters. this way beyond my knowledge. keep at it and good luck.

do me a favor, take pictures.

nice catch ob99. he's right, when the crank is in the correct position for the timing belt, none of the pistons are at the top. the crank timing mark is designed to have all pistons at the halfway? point. that way if the cam slips, the valves will not collide with the piston.

i have had 2 legacys with a wobble. i bought both of them that way. the first one a 93, failed, timing was off, and i had the mechanic replace everything timing related and "glue" it back together. it ran till it die in an accident several years later. the second one, a 95 replacement for the 93, i recognized the symptom before it failed and was able to correct it before any real damage was done. on both cars, the wobble that i noticed was in the bolt head, not the pulley. now maybe the pulley wobbled and i just don't remember, but i definitely remember the bolt head wobbling. for what it's worth......

first remove the headliner inside the car. i don't really know if this is necessary, maybe you can reach the hardware from the sides by just peeling it back or prying it open.

i just finished re-reading this entire thread. if you just bought the car and it has been sitting for a year, the fuel guage is probably not working and shows empty when it is not empty. how do you know it is not full?? how much did you put in? how many miles have you driven it while it's empty? buy a bottle of techron fuel additive w/ injector and fuel sender cleaner and add it to the tank and drive the car until it quits or the fuel light comes on, if it has one. carry a spare 2 gal gas can with you. a new one that has never had gas in it will stink up your car less. reset your trip odometer and see hao far you go before you run out of gas. this is just a guess, but the fuel senders in these cars a notorious for reading empty when they are not. and sitting for a year doesn't help.

i'm no expert, but that picture sure looks like an open diff to me.

aside from the fact that a lot of us grew up in the "muscle car" 60s, a lot of us want a car that will get 50 mpg but that we can still carry 6 large men on a week long fishing trip and will not die in at 70 mph accident when we are hit by a dump truck. i'm staying with the late 90s subarus for now, but i think in the future i will buy a car that matches the majority of my driving and 'rent' a car for the occasional use. (or just keep an old subaru hanging around, they don't cost a too much if you don't drive them.) my nephew lives in NY city without a car. if he needs to drive somewhere for the weekend, he rents. of course what he used to spend on a car, now goes to rent.