Rooster2

I would like to see pixs of your Subie motor in the 914. Please post here if you have any. Gotta be fun driving that car.

+1 on above, I change fluid as described above. Walmart branded ATF works fine for me. No issues after using it for several years. Suggest driving minimum of 5-10 minutes between changes. The trany dip stick from low mark to high mark is only a pint. Pour in slow intervals, and check level on dip stick between pours, as it is very easy to over fill.

For what it is worth, I recently bought a 95, 2.2 motor from a wrecking yard for $400. Suppose to have about 146K miles on the odo. I transplanted the motor into my 98 OBW. I saw prices advertised on 2.2 motors for sale by yards. Price was from $400 to $750, just to give you an idea of cost. Another thought is that the lower end of the 2.2 motor could be rebuilt. Prolly take a new crank and bearings........worth thinking about.

Thanks for all the advise. I appreciate it.

Thanks for your advise. I never knew about lubing up the slides on a regular basis. I just thought the slides should only be lubed when pads replaced. I also just learned their is a special brake slide grease. I always used lithium grease, but maybe the special slide grease is better??

Got my car back from the shop today. Problem turned out to be brake slides that were mostly frozen. I learned something new about how slides today.

A mechanic friend, who works on my Subie said you can do one major over heat without damaging a Subie engine. Maybe this is so, maybe not. Maybe a Subie motor over heating is like a cat with 9 lives, except it only has 2 lives. I understand your fixing only what needs repaired when it breaks. It makes little sense to dump extra money into a car that is on its last legs. I have had that approach on 2 previous way over the hill rides, and glad I did what I did.

Nice pixs! Looks like a nice well cared for ride. Enjoy!

I hope the responses fixes your alt problem. I am very curious how well a Subie engine performs in a 914? If I recall, the 914 was air cooled flat six. So, how did you rig the Subie engine for it's water cooling needs?

+1 on KYB GR-2's. I have used them for years on various vehicles, and been very satisfied. They are gas filled, so they are a bit more firm than OEM. They last a long time, highly recommend them.

I don't think adding Subaru radiator conditioner is necessary. The product is made for the 2001-2004 or 05 models that can develop an external HG leak. Your 1995 motor won't leak coolant like these years do. I use ordinary green antifreeze and distilled water. The 50/50 mix antifreeze is convenient to use, though a bit more expensive. All your planned work sounds reasonable. Glad to hear you have no bubbles in the over flow tank. Keep us posted on your results after work is completed.

If you score marks on components, it is not necessary to get an alignment. Just make sure all scored (scratched) components are reassembled so the score lines match up. Not difficult to do.

My 98 OBW has developed bad brakes. My wife drives the car, and I don't drive it much. Noticed recently that the brakes seemed to work okay, but foot pressure on the pedal made it seem like the brakes were no longer power brakes. It seemed to require considerable foot pressure on the pedal to stop. Stopping distance seemed okay, and car would brake hard if you really pushed hard on the pedal. Now today, the brakes seem weak with increased stopping distance. Now pressing down hard on the pedal just gingerly slows the car. Now, impossible to come close to locking up the brakes, or activating the ABS system. Something is definitely wrong, and bad brakes makes this car unsafe to drive. The weather is locking in chili, wet, and cold. I don't have a garage, or the time to work on this project myself. So, I dropped the car off to my favorite independent garage for them to fix on Monday. I am thinking this may be a master cylinder problem, but I am uncertain. I know the brake pads are good, I checked their condition last summer. Besides, there is no brake grinding noise. Any advise???? Thanks!!

Original post said 98 OBW, so highly likely that it is the DOHC 2.5. Like others have said, the valves prolly need replaced. From what I have read on this forum, that breaking the timing belt only damages the valves, with no other internal damage done to the motor. I understand the 4 valves per cylinder collide with one another, but do not collide with the head. I am not a hands on mechanic who has experienced this, but I have read this is so.

If new battery has caps on the top, pull caps to see if water level inside battery is full to the top of the battery. I have put in new batteries in the past that were very low on water. If you can possibly get it running enough, go to an auto parts store, where their counter guy will come out to the parking lot, and test both battery and alternator. No charge for this at a parts store like Autozone or Advance Auto.

I had fan stop working when I had a 91 Leggie. Remove the glove box, then remove the fan motor. Not a difficult job. I found my fan clogged with leaves and crap. I cleaned up the mess, and fan ran perfectly afterwards.

If head gasket is bad, it will blow bubbles into the over flow tank at normal operating temperature, or after the engine is started from cold, and once it begins to warms up, the bubbles will start. I would put on a new radiator cap. Maybe the old cap is preventing coolant from re-entering the over flow tank.

The test I remember from years back was to us something like litmus paper that was dipped into some of the coolant removed from the radiator. A chemical reaction changed litmus paper color, I suppose when detected hydrocarbons in the antifreeze. That test was done on a VW that I owned, and shop said test showed I had a leaking head gasket. I decided not to repair, as motor ran good, so I went on to drive the car another 10+ years, and 100K+ more miles with no head gasket problem. So much for needing a head gasket. I don't know anything about the radiator vapor test you described, but I bet it is not much different from the litmus paper test. There is much written on this forum about the 2.5 motor, (not the 2.2 motor you have) blowing head gaskets with exhaust gas going into the cooling system. The most telling test on that motor is motor over heating, and bubbles coming out of the hose from inside the radiator over fill tank. The bubbles are actually the exhaust gas escaping from the cooling system. I personally saw that on my 2.5 motor, so I know what that looks like. Reminded me of fish aquarium air pump that pumps air bubbles into the aquarium. When this is happening, the engine water temperature and temp gauge goes to hot. The least expensive fix is to just replace the front oil seal only, since that is where you are loosing oil, and really why you took your car to a shop in the first place. That seal is located right behind the front engine cover, where you could see oil leaking from. I have never personally replaced the oil seal, so I don't know if it is simple job or what it would cost. Others on this forum could answer that question, who would know. If you want to know, ask that question in a separate new post here. When I have had a shop replace my timing belt, I ask that the water pump and front oil seal get replace at the same time. This I do, because my mechanic says since he is working in that area, it is labor saving to have all that work done at once. Your coolant leak could be from a bad radiator cap, or loose hose who knows. Question....was your car motor absolutely stone cold when you removed rad cap, and some coolant squirted out under pressure? If not stone cold, then the slight squirting out would be normal. Hope my advise helps..........Larry (Rooster2)

I am thinking many of the responses to you questions are getting way ahead of themselves. Take a deep breath, and resist getting panicky, with considerations about selling the car, or having expensive work done to fix what is being described as a head gasket question. Determine this......... Has your engine been heating? Has the temp gauge been reading anything above normal? If not, I wouldn't worry much about the head gasket, and I wouldn't be alarmed about what a mechanic saying that there is gas vapor in your cooling system, which may not be true. The overheating is what happens when you have an internal leak head gasket leak. It causes the engine to over heat. However, your 2.2 motor does not have a reputation of blowing head gaskets, and I don't read anything in your original post about any over heating problem. For what is being quoted by your mechanic, I am thinking he is wanting to do a lot of work, that is going to pay off very profitably to him. I get the feeling he is more interested in making big money, rather then simply fixing what needs to be fixed on your car. Unfortunately, too many shops have this greedy attitude. If it were me, I would have only the front oil seal, water pump, and timing belt replaced, probably not by that mechanic, and drive on. I am betting there are many good miles left in the engine in your car.

Parting out a car is just so time consuming as described above. I am thinking that is why wrecking yards were invented. They are so organized to do just that..."part out a car," then have the means to crush the rest, and have what's left hauled away as scrap metal for recycling. Just my 2 cents worth of thought.

If the weather holds, I will install plugs and wires tomorrow. Currently running on plugs and wires that came with motor from wrecking yard. Who knows what they are, or in what condition. Motor runs okay, but loops a little, and idle just a little harsh. Hopefully, the tune up will smooth out performance. I will let you all know.

You remember right! I have a 95, 2.2 motor in my 98. I just bought plugs this morning. I bought the Bosch Platinum 2 plugs, model #4303. I have had excellent service from the Bosch plugs. About $17 from Walmart, with a $6 mail in rebate, brings cost down to about $11. To me, they are a great value.

Agree, most after market exhaust is junk or near junk. After market prices are low, but quality is lower. Maybe you can find exhaust parts at a u-pull wrecking yard. My experience is that they have the cars safely suspended, so that you can safely get underneath to unbolt the exhaust.

12/31/11 is coming up fast, especially with all the holiday activities. You need to get this fixed right away, so dealer or Subaru doesn't try to wiggle out of repair coverage. It is never good trying to get something fixed under warranty, after time has expired. Agree you should contact Subaru directly. I would contact the Subaru Zone Manager, and submit your problem, as you have had 2 dealerships not fix the problem. If it were me, I would push for a replacement transmission. Time is short, act now.

Glad you and your family are okay. My 2 cents worth.........I am thinking the $7K+ as pay off from your insurance company is a fair figure. To me the $1,300 for buy back seems high. If the car were to go to auction to dealers and wrecking yard buyers, it seems unlikely to fetch that high a figure. I am thinking at auction, it would bring maybe $600-$800.