Rooster2

I agree with General Disorder's advise in that you might have lost half the coil pack. Spark plugs and spark plug wires don't wear out, or break instantaneously as you have described. Don't waste your money on replacing them right now, as the source of fixing your problem. Get a read out on the check engine light code. I am betting that the code will tell you exactly what is wrong.

The smaller tire will make your car lower to the ground, so you will have reduced ground clearance. Maybe loose one half, or close to an inch of ground clearance. The tire store should be able to tell you exactly how much.

+1 on don't swap to a 5 speed. With all the time and money, and down time on the swap out, you would be far better off to sell this car with the A/T, and buy a Subie with a 5 speed.

+1 on replacing the alternator. I am thinking that your new battery will survive. Replacing the alternator is an ez do it yourself project. All bolts, including tension-er bolts/nuts are easy to access. Just part of the beauty of owning a Subaru. Had this been a Honda, it would be a nasty cussing job to replace an alternator.

Your mechanic prolly does not know about the feasibility and practicality of swapping in a ej22 motor. It is just not public knowledge. Like said earlier, it is an easy swap, with the ej22 being a much better (reliable) motor then the current ej25 that came with the car. For my money, it is the best solution to your problem.

I seem to remember that the 2.2 motor takes 4.2 quarts. I experienced the same problem, when I had a 2.2 motor. Like someone said, add 4 quarts, and a bit more. Don't worry about being just slightly above full on the dip stick. Replacing oil is not rocket science. It does not need to be super precise. A little extra won't cause problems. Just don't go over board and dump in 5 quarts. That would be way too much.

A good looking ride! You sure have addressed the problem areas on the car. Do you have a grill to install? I would hate to hear that a rock got flipped into your radiator to cause a leak. The grill would prevent that.

Yes lots written in the archives on this forum about how to set the timing. Use the "search" feature on this forum to read up on the subject, and how to precisely set the timing. My last Subie was a 91 Legacy. It was a great running car. The 2.2 motor is built really tough, and will run many many miles. Yes, you are correct in that it is a non interference motor, so if the timing is off, the valves will not get damaged. Hope you get the motor to run. Keep us posted, we like to hear success stories! If you run into additional problems, we are here to assist you.

Perhaps you already know this, but I will still repeat. If you go to a car parts store, the counter guy will check out your charging system at no charge. It only takes a couple of minutes of time, and the guy will do it in their parking lot. I agree with the other guys, it sounds like your alternator is going south.

Same thought, thoroughly bleed all 4 wheel cylinders to fix the problem.

I don't have the answer you seek, however, having cleaned up broken window glass, the best way to do so is with a vacuum cleaner. Suggest using gloves to pick up pieces. A few years back, I neglected the gloves, and got a sliver of glass deep in my finger print. It hurt every time that I pushed a key on the keyboard. It took a hand surgeon to remove the sliver. I learned my lesson.

Congrats on the MC install. It is always satisfying when a do it yourself project is successful. Drive your Subie another 100K miles!

Yea, I bet there is one more rally left in that motor. Just be sure to fill it up with oil before the start of the rally, and make sure that the spark plugs are good and clean (oil free). Tell the rally promoter and any nearby farmers, that you will be happy to fog the course to keep down mosquitoes and crop eating pests!

I think you will need to replace the knock sensor. I can't see how soldering, taping, or whatever, will repair the knock sensor, as the correct electrical imput traveling through the wire is crucial. With a bad sensor, engine timing is so retarded that the car will run like a sick slug with poor power, and gas millage will be down.

When I bought a car at a Goodwill auction, the belt driving the A/C compressor was missing. I simply replaced the belt to see if the A/C would operate. It didn't, the compressor was locked up. Suggest you replace the belt to see if your compressor will work. Also, remove the cap to the low side port of the A/C. Depress the Schader valve a tiny bit to see if you can hear the hiss of refrigerant escaping from the system. This will instantly tell you if the system has any refrigerant remaining in the system. If no hissing sound, then you will know that all refrigerant has leaked out.

I am trying to figure out after watching the video, if the smoke was burned oil or steam, or a combination there of. How much oil or coolant is lost after you drive this beast for any distance?

You should be good for another 150K+ miles on your baby!

Thanks for the write up. Learn something new every day!

If you need to drill out the screws, a friend recently showed me how to do this in a cool way. Purchase a drill bit smaller then the screw diameter, that is designed to drill turning left (counter clock wise). Use a reversible drill, put the setting to turn left. As the bit bites into the screw, it will be twisting the screw left, and eventually will back out the screw with little drilling. I was amazed how easy this works. As a bonus, by backing out the screw, the threads are not damaged, so a new replacement screw threads into the hole easily. Also, suggest soaking down the rusty screws with penetrating oil, or PB blaster. Let the oil soak in many hours, (overnight is best), before drilling. You may be better off buying after market replacement fog lights. Best done, by removing one of your old fog lamps, and taking the unit to an auto parts store, or even Wal-Mart to match up size wise to get one to fit your car. This is what I did, when replacing a fog light on my Audi. I was able to buy nice lights at a good price.

Harbor Freight has been a good source of tools to work on my Subie. Quality is really focused towards the do it yourself projects...good enough to get projects done, but not for daily use if you were a mechanic working in a garage. Their torque wrenches don't have the best reputation for being accurate, according to what I have read and heard. The pic of the trany jack looks like it works well for a cheap $80. Absolutely everything in the store is made in China. Seems like they should rename the store "China Harbor Freight," to more accurately describe their biz.

It is an easy job. The blower motor is accessible behind the glove box. No need to remove any of the dash. Remove the glove box for easy access to the blower assembly, as the blower is located directly behind the glove box. This provides lots of room to work. It is easy to figure out which screws to remove to take out the blower unit. Years back, I thought I had a bad blower motor, only to find out upon removal that the blower motor unit was bound up with bits of old tree leaves and crud. I cleaned out the crud, and the blower motor worked as good as new. Maybe you will get as lucky as I was.

I think you are on the right track in that both cooling fans should be operating together. If you have a multimeter or test lamp, see if you have power at the wiring connector going to the cooling fan that is not operating. If you have power, but the fan fails to operate, then if it were me, I would get a replacement fan from a wrecking yard. The good news is that your problem seems to be a bad fan, and not a head gasket problem.

I would use only one application of Barr's stop leak. If that doesn't stop the over heating, then it has to be a bad head gasket. On your Subie motor, what is happening in all probability is that exhaust gas is leaking into the coolant. This causes the over heating. The bubbles you are seeing is exhaust gas bubbles. This is a very common problem with the model Subaru that you own. Resist the temptation to drive it when it over heats. That will lead to destroying the motor. Only fix is to replace the head gaskets. Use genuine Subaru head gaskets only! Others from after market manufacturers just won't last long.

X2 on MC seals going bad. I would replace the Master Cylinder, if it were me.

I would have laughed loudly in the guy's face at a $900 quote, then asked him to quit kidding around, and give me an honest quote!