Rooster2

If all 4 bulbs blink when using the turn signals, then the problem is prolly a poor electrical connection at the bulb holder with the bulb. My 99 has twice had that problem, and in both cases the problem was with a front turn signal unit. The bulb was not making good electrical contact in the socket. Simply removing the bulb, clean the bulb contacts, reinsert the bulb, and your rapid blinking bulb should now blink normally. Prolly some diaelectric jelly would help the bulb make better contact, but it is not necessary to use that product. I have found that the do-it-yourself wrecking yard prices are much less then the traditional yard, that will only let their employees remove parts. So, the pricing that you presented doesn't surprise me.

The last time I pulled off the plug wires, they were so tight it seemed like they were shrunk wrapped onto the plug. Guess the engine heat does that over time. If they are so difficult to remove, it is a pretty good indication that they need to be replaced, and not worth saving. I just yanked pulled and pried with channel locks and long angled needle nose pliers until they came off, which was mostly in pieces. I added some electro jell upon installing new wires. Maybe the jell will help the next time I want to remove the wires.

Power steering pumps and racks on Subies seldom go bad. Is it possible that you may be low on P/S fluid? Can you go into detail about the particulars of your stiff steering? Under what circumstances does it occur? Is it all the time, or once a week? A detailed description helps us better to help you.

I have a lot of aftermarket parts on my Subies. My dealer is not convenient to go to, and auto parts stores are conveniently nearby. If you buy the middle, to the top of the line parts at a parts store, they are good. Where trouble lies is in buying the low line cheapie parts they sell. The cheapie stuff doesn't hold up in my opinion, and results in some anti parts store negative press. BTW, anything made by Bosch has worked well in my Subies. Also, I have the impression that people on this forum that continually cry, almost demand that you buy OEM replacement parts exclusively, may be people employed by Subaru, or working at a Subaru dealer. If so, I can understand their bias. I think Subaru financially supports this forum, so I can understand their plugging their parts.

At age 66, I am on my third Subaru, and wife and I still drive 2 out of the three. Subarus are very dependable, will easily go 300K miles in a lifetime with proper maintenance. They are easy to work on.....the serpentine belt is up front behind the radiator, alternator is at the top front of the engine, starter is high on the back of the motor. The spark plugs are a little difficult to change, but seldom need changing. Brake pad changes are really easy. However, with high reliability, there isn't much work to do on the car. I have ridden in Volvos, and owned several Audis and VWs. All of which have very rigid bodies and suspensions in the European tradition. A Subaru won't feel quite as solid, but that is not a negative. They drive and ride well. All Subarus have symmetrical all wheel drive, which makes the car feel very planted with high adherence to the road. In rain or snow, they pull nearly straight as an arrow through anything slippery. Their type of all wheel drive is superior to that of other manufacturers for traction. My cars have no rust here in Indiana, but we prolly don't get as much snow, and subsequent salt added to the roads like you have. So, I am thinking all cars in your area suffer corrosion damage if not well cared for. Suggest you look on line for used cars available in your area at dealers to learn pricing. Also look on Craig's list for Subarus for sale. Happy car shopping, and join us here at USMB, if you buy a Subie. A lot of nice folks here, with lots of good advise.

JB Weld can take heat, it just takes several days for it to really harden up. An inexpensive weld job is prolly the way to go. For my muffler work, I go to a family owned cut/bend/weld muffler shop here in Indy. They do great work for little cost.

Harbor Freight sells small welders for cheap as well. If a store is not near where you live, you can still buy one at their web site.

JB Weld does a marvelous job of sealing up exhaust leaks. Maybe using it will make your exhaust system a little more quiet, depending on application accessibility. I have enjoyed your videos.......very informative and entertaining. Your work is indeed a labor of love bringing your 98 back to life. It is always a satisfying experience, when I have done this, and I am sure a satisfying experience with you as well. Please continue to keep us posted on your work progress.

Like you said.......maybe the condensation drain hose was crimped. It happens. Suggest you rig up some box fans to blow air throughout the car for a few hours or over night to dry it out. You don't want water there to promote mildew or mold. Both make a car smell bad for a long time.

How did you quiet the exhaust??

Glad to read another Trans-X success story. I originated this thread about three years ago. I agree that the slight clunk is prolly from PO reving the motor to get it to engage a forward gear. Subie tranies are built tough, so your trany may give you many more miles of service. It has been my experience to fill and drain the ATF with 2-3 miles of driving between changes to mix old and new ATF. Add a can of Trans-X on the last fill. Reason for the 3 changes, is that only about half of the ATF can be drained from the trany at one time. The remainder stays in the system. After about a year to a year and a half, the trany will start to get lazy again about shifting into Drive. A drain and refill with ATF and another can of Trans-X will restore to quick Drive engagement. A nice buy for $1800, and only 80K on the odo. Enjoy your new ride!

It prolly isn't much work to try to install smaller wheel in place of your 16", but I am thinking the caliper will not likely let the smaller wheel mount up as others have said. I think you will have to spring now for the new tires, which is not what you want to hear.

Is your thought of using Bondo to forestall further rusting?? If that is you want, I would simply buy a can of fiberglass resin. Then after cleaning off as much rust as possible with a rag, I would simply use a paint brush to paint the resin on. The resin comes with a hardening agent that you mix with the resin to get the resin to harden up. Once the resin hardens up, the metal that it covers will no longer be exposed to air, salt, whatever, and will no longer rust. I just stopped a CEL light from displaying a code for evap control system on an Oldsmobile by buying a new gas cap. The counter guy at AZ advised this fix, and it worked. Surprised me that a new gas cap fixed the problem. I hate to think what a dealer would have charged to diagnose, and sell me a new gas cap.

The only reason that Subaru installs the heat shields is to prevent a grass fire should you park in tall very dry grass. Which, I am guessing is almost never. Unfortunately over time, the metal heat shields crack, then when loose, it vibrates to make that shrill buzzy sound at certain engine rpm......very annoying. I prefer to drive my car up on ramps, then have someone hold the gas pedal down at the right rpm to make the noise. From underneath, I identify the offending shroud, then with a hammer, I drive a bolt in between the shroud and the pipe as a wedge to stop the shroud from vibrating. It is a low tech solution to a low tech problem. Good luck on your fix!

The difficult part is cleaning off the old gasket off both surfaces. The old gasket is a bear to remove. It really bonds itself to the metal surfaces. A rotating metal brush head on an electric drill is the best way to remove the old gasket. Gentle work with a putty knife helps also to remove the old gasket. Just don't grind or gouge into the metal. You want smooth surfaces afterwords. PB blaster won't work. Replacement gasket is sold for pan replacement. I don't think that using only a sealant will work. Pan replacements are very prone to leak. I know mine leaked, and became a pain in the butt to stop the leak. Simply snug up small 10 MM head bolts upon reassembly. Don't super tighten, or you will bend and distort the pan and cause ATF to leak. Adjusting the linkage is not really an adjustment on automatics. Just look to see if anything is bent or binding with the shift linkage at the trany. If linkage looks okay, don't mess with it. Bending the linkage when it looks correct will just cause more problems.

I remember reading somewhere on this forum, that a 2.5 to a 2.2 swap requires the mounting bracket off the 2.5 to be moved to the 2.2 to mount the A/C compressor, or maybe it was the alternator? I can't remember. You may already know the answer.

For what it is worth, I read somewhere, that a blown HG is usually on the driver side of the motor. If so, I wonder why?

You are a brave man to have traveled 667 with known failing HG's...........or maybe you didn't have a choice, being 667 miles away from home, when you discovered the problem? When my 2.2 blew a HG, it would over heat after about 5 minutes in simple city driving with the A/C off.

Yea, you are correct about "real test is on the road." A 2.5 Gen 1 motor with bad GHs will idle all day, and not over heat. However, run it at highway speed, or drive it up hills, and it will over heat rather quickly. I will keep my fingers crossed that your HGs are good. Nice job of cleaning your headlight lenses. What product did you use??

I don't know the specifics on your 2006, however, when changing coolant on my 99, I pull and drop the lower radiator hose. Coolant will drain out fast. I run the engine for a short period of time to pump out coolant in the engine block. Just don't let the engine over heat for lack of coolant. When changing coolant, I also change the thermostat at the same time, even if the existing thermostat is not causing problems. Just remember to give the cooling system a good burp, when adding new coolant. I also use a garden hose to run water through the radiator, and thru the motor until the water runs clear, then reattach the hose, and refill with coolant.

Suggest drain and fill 3 times on the ATF, as only about half the ATF will drain at one time. The remainder stays in the torque converter, and won't drain out. Drive 2-3 miles between drains to get a good mix of new and old ATF available to drain. The old AT pan gasket will be nasty to remove. It really needs to be ground off, but be careful not to grind metal off any surface. Maybe removing pan dent and adjusting linkage will help. Did your tranny problem start immediately after hitting the rock? Crazy radio sounds like a wiring short. Pull out the radio, and check power wire going to the radio, maybe it is loose or frayed. Also, maybe the radio has just gone a bad with an internal short. You can prolly pick one up for cheap at a wrecking yard.

With the zinc plating removed, you are correct in that the bolts and nuts will rust in no time flat. I am thinking it would be better just to replace the rusted bolts and nuts with new ones. Ace hardware store has a complete line of metric nuts and bolts for replacements. They don't cost much. I use antisieize cream on all bolts that I think may want to rust and seize up, that sometime I may want to remove in the future. I use antiseize on the lug bolts and on the facing where the alloy road wheel meets the hub.

I own both a 98 and 99 OB wagons, and do most of the maintenance work needed on both of them, so I know exactly what your car is. Maybe my repair experience can help you. A/C.........if leaking 134a refrigerant, replace the O rings on both the high and low ports at the compressor. That's where the refrigerant typically leaks out. That is very ez to do. Replacement O rings available at Auto Zone and other parts stores. Both my OBWs developed exhaust leaks at the resonator. It doesn't seem like coincidence that both my cars had exhaust problems at the resonator. I am thinking that is a weak spot in the exhaust system. Maybe it is where your car exhaust is leaking as well. I went to a cut/bend/weld muffler shop, where they cut out the resonator only, and replaced with a welded in length of pipe. This fixed the problem perfectly for about $50. This did not make the exhaust sound louder, which surprised me. Car sound perfectly stock. I think Autozone sells replacement key fobs, prolly other parts stores do as well. So, you may be able to bring the security system and fob door lock system back to life. Somehow, they are able to match a fob code sender signal to the car security system receiver frequency. don't know the cost. Other small stuff like tail light lens etc, can be bought on the cheap at a wrecking yard. You prolly already know this. Prolly worthwhile to check the brake pads, and replace if necessary. Also, bleed and replace the brake fluid. I bet the brake fluid in your car is the color of iced tea. I know on my car it was. Rubbing compound, or tooth paste used with a wet paper towel can help clean the oxidization off the headlight lenses for brighter light on the road. I recently bought tires, and increased the tire size from OEM size 205X70X15 to 215X70X15 for very little extra money. The tires don't rub. It increases lift by nearly an inch, and ride, handling, trany gearing seems better. It also puts a little more tread on the pavement. I recommend the larger tire size. Still, at $600, you got a hell of a deal. With a little bit of time, effort, and love, you should be able to turn your 98 into a nice daily driver. I don't think cost will come close to $2K investment, if you do a lot of the work yourself. Just my 2 cents worth of advise and experience. I hope it helps. Keep us posted on your work........Rooster2

That crud could be what is left when PO added a stop leak product to fix a leaky radiator. I wouldn't worry much about it. Just clean it out, and continue your rebuild.

Watched your video........glad to see you got the timing correct, and now the motor runs. You are on the way to putting this car back on the road. Way to go. There is a thread somewhere describing how to replace broken driving lights with low beam sealed beam round head lights that cars used back in the 60's. Size wise the sealed beams are a perfect replacement size. Cost is cheap.