mnwolftrack

I couldn't find any 2" receiver hitches for a different vehicle of mine, that is, until I looked on Ebay. I didn't see one immediately on there, but I found one for a different vintage of the car I owned and asked the seller if they carried one for my year too. They did and set up a private auction for me. Got it new to my house for $130 shipped. Worth a look anyway.

It sounds like you've covered your bases, and there isn't much left that you can do. A few more things might be to remove all unnecessary items cluttering up the inside of the car (some people carry a lot of stuff!) that adds weight. Drive the speed limit or slower (55mph). Wind resistance increases exponentially with speed. Don't use an aftermarket ski rack. If you have a factory roof rack, see if you can take the cross members off easily to further reduce wind resistance. I'm not sure how the forester roof rack attaches (I've only owned outbacks) but they might come off easily. If you have a tow hitch but don't ever tow anything, take the whole thing off.

The EJ25 is the easiest engine I've ever pulled. The last one took me about 1 hour 50 minutes to yank out. Way easier to work on outside the car. Subi sure screwed up the headgaskets on this engine, but they must of put some thought into making it easy to remove the engine. If I was doing this frequently, I bet I could get the engine out in an hour. P.S. I also have a cherry picker hoist which helps a lot (available typically for about $129-169 from tool houses like Northern Tool).

I've seen plenty of '99's with dual roofs. I think I've even seen some '98's, but the memory is foggy. It's only with the limiteds, but not with every limited. A limited badge does not guarantee sunroofs. I'm not even sure what it guarantees these days on any vehicle. A limited badge I guess. Most every limited I've seen has leather heated seats and authentic simulated woodgrain dash.

In my opinion, pricing simply comes down to location (demand vs. availability). A 1998 around here is typically priced around 4-6k private party while dealers are 5-7k. Even the cars with blown headgaskets that don't run have prices at 2-3k. I don't know where people find these cheap subies because it's nowhere around here. KBB can be high, but not always. What only matters to the bank is NADA because that's how much they'll loan you. Dealers won't give you squat for a trade, not even the reported trade in value of any book (I've tried several times). The bigger concern to me is not the price, but the lack of it being driven. NOT driving a car enough can cause as much harm as one with high miles. Seals get try and crack, things rust and sieze up, etc....

based on the photos, those are some scary looking rotors. Drive cautiously and see if they clean up. Perhaps it is just surface flash rusting, but if it's thicker and scaley, it's been sitting a while. If the rust is thick enough and you "drive it off" it can still require new rotors and pads. The pads get full of rust, and the rotors get funny spots in them resulting in pedal pulsing because the rust is usually less where the brake pad is (creating a thick spot).

instead of holding the new belt on with C-clamps, I recommend using those small plastic spring clamps. They are usually found in the $1 bin at tool stores. I've had a bunch of them and never used them before but finally found a great use for them! Their jaws are very forgiving and they don't clamp too strongly. These are the kind of clamps that do not have any locking mechanism on them. I used one spring clamp on each cam sprocket and used 2 more to hold the cams together with respect to themselves. I did not use special tools either. There's a spot on the cams that an adjustable wrench fits nicely on. Works great. If I'm remembering my sides correctly, the passenger side cams will spin into alignment with great ease. If you try hand-spinning either cam too far, you will feel the points at which you need to stop spinning because it gets too tough to do by hand. The driver's side cams will likely pop out of position once the old belt is removed. In order to get them back into position, you will only be able to free-spin each sprocket *almost* all the way into position. Each sprocket will get pretty close to proper alignment, but you'll likely need a tool to get it in it's final spot. you will likely see that if you rotate freely in one direction (the wrong direction), you will have to rotate with a tool much further than if you spun freely in the other direction. I forget which is which, but one of the driver's side sprockets gets spun counter clockwise into position, and the other gets spun clockwise. It's really not that hard. Oh, I also recommend changing the tensioner, water pump, t-stat as long as you are in there. You may also have to replace an idler pulley or two. You won't know on those until you get in there and spin them by hand. If any of your seals are leaking, it would be a good time to do those too (cam seals, front main seal, valve covers). You can get nickle-and-dime'd to death as well, so take into consideration how much you really need to do.

A blown headgasket will force air into the cooling system, and air bubbles get trapped here and there and are also responsible for the loss in heat through the heater because an empty heater core does not stay hot. The coolant has to go somewhere, and it mainly gets pushed into the overflow tank on this engine. On other makes/models, it can get blown out the exhaust in the white billowie clouds (but this is not what happens on the subi's). Another key sign of a headgasket let is 2 fold in the overflow bottle. 1) make a mark with a magic marker when the engine is cold and mark the location of coolant over time. Always check it when it's cold (checking it hot when you marked it cold would be expected to show a change) if you marked it cold. In addition, combustion gases getting blown into the cooling system inevitably will bring along some oil with it. If the headgaskets are blown, you will likely see black nasties floating in the overflow and clinging to the walls. The combination of oil in the overflow bottle, overheating after getting into town after a drive on the interstate, loss of heat, and the temp gauge going up and down real fast were enough for me. The gauge going up and down real fast is from it getting hit by bubbles, then coolant, then bubbles, etc.... I would doubt you have a cracked block considering the car sounds quite drivable. You will likely be able to get away with new gaskets (dealer updated multi-layer steel only), resurfaced heads, and a possible valve job (may not be needed). Worst case scenario, the block might have to be resurfaced if it is found to be warped or pitted.

OEM gasket sets, at least for the year I worked on ('98) do not automatically come with the valve cover gaskets or spark plug gaskets. Make sure you have those too. I'm not sure why a gasket set doesn't come with them, but a dealer speculated it was because there were like 3 different kinds of valve cover gaskets and they are not interchangable. If it hasn't been mentioned yet, don't radiator hoses and have some spare clamps handy just in case the originals don't hold tight anymore. It also wouldn't hurt to do the transmission front input shaft seal, and if it's an automatic, to do the goofy graphite c-clip shaped torque converter shaft seal.

It sounds like one of those south-of-the-equator things, like the myth of toilets flushing in the opposite direction than here in the U.S.

I would love to see that outboard run--just not up close and personal if you know what I mean. For some reason, I suspect more than just the propeller will be spinning around.

This is exactly what happened in our '98 and it was the headgaskets. It typically tends to happen (in the early stages) after the car has just run at freeway speeds for a bit and you take it back down to city driving. We had just ran about 5 miles on the freeway, and about a mile into town is when the heat cut out, the temp gauge pegged (air bubble), and I pulled over and the fun began. The key in determining my repair was the blackened goo (oil) coating the inside of the radiator overflow reservior. If you are considering buying this car, stay away unless the mechanic fixes it first. Even then, I'd be hesitant because if it isn't done right, you will be asking for future troubles. It's amazing how many 2.5's Subi's for sale that say right in the ad that the car "overheats once and while but just needs a thermostat." yeah right.... There's one on our local craigslist right now that says this.

When the head gaskets go, they really go!

It's probably similar to what I use--assembly lube. It's basically light weight grease in a squeeze bottle. It literally looks and feels like lotion (doesn't smell as nice though!). It's great for assembly. Just wipe it on, and you don't have to worry about oil running out and contaminating other things before you can finish assembly.

I found a picture of my '98 during dissassembly (forgot I even took photos), and it shows the same thing, orange pulley on the bottom, black on top. Regarding the original member's questions about the tensioner, it has to come off anyway for timing belt re installation, so there is zero extra labor for putting in a new one. You might decide you don't need the pulleys in advance, but once work begins, you may find out that yours are actually worn and you have to replace them anyway. If you didn't order the idlers and work began, your vehicle will probably be down for a few more days while the extra parts are ordered (unless someone local has them in stock). You really ought to do the water pump while you are in there too. It's way too much work to have to do over again if your existing pump fails. This pump is not dangling off the front of the motor for easy access like so many other vehicles have it. And on that note, I'd be hesitant to recommend an aftermarket water pump, just because I've had too many problems with them (on non subi's though).

A code P0441 on other vehicles means the same thing, and in particular on Toyota's it often indicates a loose gas cap or faulty gas cap seal. The first thing I do when I see a P0441 or P0446 on a Toyota is check the gas cap. Might want to check the gas cap tightness since it's a real quick thing. I don't recommend replacing it unless the seal is obviously bad. You can wipe a real fine amount of grease on the seal (after wiping dirt off) to see if that helps make a better seal. It could also be a loose, torn, or incorrectly installed vacuum line, or a bad canister as you suggest. If it were my car, I'd check the gas cap, check the vacuum lines, and let it go for a little while and see if it goes away. My search of P0441 on this site didn't reveal much, but a google does reveal the gas cap issues among other things.

I'm not sure if the newer 2.5L head gaskets are exactly the same as what I replaced on my '98 OBW, but your old gaskets looked exactly like my old ones. There was one thick layer of metal in the middle and a black coating on both sides that was flaking/bubbling or just plain missing. The coating was missing in both of the spots the head gasket was leaking on my engine and I think it helped contribute to the failure. The new gaskets were all metal, no coating (there might have been a ring of coating on the fire rings, but I don't recall), and I believe were 3 layers of metal. The new gaskets were crimped together at small points. The small points looked like little "bridges" of bent metal that separated and bent up like a bridge to keep the layers together. My description is terrible and I wish I had a picture instead. I do recall being able to see these crimp points from simply looking in the engine bay, and I recall it being a way for myself to be able to determine whether or not a 2.5L had new or old head gaskets. There are a few spots (like tabs) on the old and new head gaskets that stick out into space and are visible fairly easily and would make an easy identification of old vs. new. Based on your photos, these locations are the dry and dirty locations where the gasket wasn't sandwiched between anything. You'd either see 3 clean metal layers with a crimped "bridge", or you'd see one thick metal layer surrounded by two composite layers/coatings. The crimp points on the new gaskets should be in plain view in the locations where the gasket is not sandwiched between anything. The crimp points would likely do bad things if they put them in areas where they needed to be compressed and they'd probably damage surfaces. Again, this is my experience with a '98, but your old '00 gaskets look identical to what I removed.

Way to go sublute!!!! There isn't a ECU break in period. Just drive, as previously mentioned. There isn't anything special you need to do as far as the ECU is concerned. There is normal engine break-in procedures you may need to follow depending on how much work you did, but nothing related to the ECU. Considering you head cylinder head work done, you will want to change the oil soon. I don't recall if you had all the valves replaced or not, and I don't recall you having any block work done (honing, decking, etc...), so about the only "break-in" procedures you'll need are to change the oil and check your accessory belt tensions (not the timing belt), fluid leaks, etc.... While it would be nice to know what's causing the check engine light, it "may" be an old code or something no longer causing problem. I would disconnect the battery and let the code reset, but if you happen to be driving by a parts store, see if they will read the code for you. They may not be willing to delete it for you though. In those cases, you may be able to let them let YOU press the delete button. This could also be a good excuse to go to Walmart and get the $70 code reader/deleter if you have money burning a hole in your pocket. This is what I have: http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3030-Diagnostic-Post-1996-Vehicles/dp/B000EVYGQY/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_1_txt?pf_rd_p=304485601&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-2&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000EVWDAK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1BRTPYHTXHY5880S9EHF And I bought it at Walmart. I've seen it's price vary anywhere from $50 to $99 at Walmart and other stores. It's very easy to use.

Sublute, you're FAR from being an idiot. We all make mistakes, and this just happened to be a mistake, nothing more. It's 4 cams and lots of lifters and very easy to make a mistake. I'm very much relieved that you found the cause. Getting into the silly scope is where my abilities fall apart because I haven't used one before except back in college for about 20 minutes. You didn't waste anyone's time here. This board is here for the exact purpose of helping others. It helped me immensely, and I hope to give back as much too. Your two threads alone have a lot of troubleshooting and diagnostics work detailed, and rightfully should become part of the archives. I'm sure there's plenty in there to help other people as it is already. I can't say if swapping the cams in the car would be easy, but it is doable (I haven't done it myself though). There are plenty of people on here who have done head gasket jobs with the engine still in the car. It's tight as you can see, but doable. You may want to factor how long you think it'll take you to remove the engine again vs. how cramped your hands are going to be. Having those lifters threaten to fall out when the cam is removed might require a creative solution to keep them in place if the cam is removed. What I can say is I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been waiting on pins and needles to finally see that post that declares you've found the cause. Something to think about--if your cams are in the wrong positions, are the lifters in the wrong spots too? If you're not positive, you'll want to check valve clearance as well. No matter what mistakes I've made, I'd much rather do the work myself than pay someone else to do it. The only things I don't do myself are things that require speciality equipment (such as for boring an engine, etc....). As always, keep us updated on the progress!

Based on your pictures, the belt is on correctly. You are correct in that it is all relative in that all the pulleys are now off 1 tooth. You'd either have to reverse rotate the engine to get it back to the proper revolution # to get the belt lined up just perfect again, or you'd have to rotate in the proper direction many many times to get it to come back. I don't know how many revolutions that would take, but I've heard it's 2 times the number of teeth on the belt (like over 200+). The pulleys are no longer "off." The belt is, rather, the belt marks are. The belt itself is correctly aligned. What ultimately matters is the # of teeth between pulleys. I know you've tested compression a few times now, and the #'s look good, even with the throttle body closed. I've never bothered to open it on any vehicle I've done a compression test on. The engine will still make compression, and your numbers look good anyway. What will affect compression values more is leaving all the spark plugs installed while trying to do a compression test. This WILL make the numbers lower because the engine turns over much slower. Regarding cylinder #4 and the fact you haven't done a compression test on it--even if cylinder #4 was 0 compression, the engine should still turn over and run. As previously stated, sensors and other things don't just go bad from sitting and doing nothing. There shouldn't be any problem with the fuel degrading because it just hasn't been that long. I'm not familiar with silly scopes, so I can't provide much help there but it does sound like it's picking up the signals from the sensors properly. Compression looks good, so that still brings us back to fuel or spark being the problem. I can't recall, did you already comment on how the spark looks (e.g. blue and bright or faint and yellow or orange)? If you watched that video on youtube that I provided the link to, you will see which of the 4 strokes the injection occurs in relation to spark, but yes, it has to occur before spark because otherwise spark has nothing to . This is an incredibly frustrating problem, even for me. Chances are, it's going to end up being something either really easy, or something really bizarre. Either way, it's obviously been hard to track down.

Are you able to get photos of anything? It might help if we can see what things look like, particularly the timing belt and associated pulley positions.

It's basically there to cause leaks, though it's main purpose is to separate your money from your wallet.

If you haven't identified a hole or rip, it's possible it's just loose. Does it have screw/bolt type hose clamps? If yes, you could just try tightening it a little.

There's no need to drain all the fluid, unless of course you're due for a coolant change. I'd recommend just draining about a quart to half gallon. That should be enough to reduce or eliminate a big mess. Plus, if you drain into a clean container, you can reuse it, or use it to determine how much new stuff you need to add. Why are you replacing the top hose? If it's related to old age, you ought to consider the lower hose too, in which case you'll have to drain most the fluid.

Well, what I mean is, it shouldn't generate a new code becuase the engine hasn't even started yet. It would give a code if there was a code already in memory from the last time the engine ran, but that would have to mean that he had a check engine light on the last time he actually drove the car and the engine was running. In order to delete codes when the check engine light has been on (with engine running), you plug the code reader in, put the key and and turn it to "accessory on", read the codes, and delete them. You are not supposed to start the engine when reading or deleting codes. If you are considering getting a code reader for this particular project but don't want to spend the money, you might want to see if you can borrow a code reader from a parts store. Our Checker stores let you rent tools for free.