davebugs

I ALWAYS leave the airbox and stuff in the car. I never bring it over from the donor engine. Grounds? Only issues I ever had was different vacuum lines for EVAP. One time swapping the lines for MAP and stuff over on the pass fender by the strut. A fovorite trick is it's easy to "miss" the stiff 1' 1" hose that goes to the IAC. Car will try to start then immediately die. I'd say general ground, check those 3 connections as already said. Other than that I'd go back to original airbox/MAF/etc.

The radiator will need flushed or replaced. But usually the heater core still suffers.

I needed new shoes a while ago. Someone here posted NAPA. And NAPA appears to be the only choice other than the dealer. Folks do make kits for you to glue new lining on yourself. Sounded like something I didn't need to do.

A LOT of us have been there, repeatedly. Figure 1k or so, do it right with OEM head gaskets, idlers, crank & cam seals and be done for another 100k. Or 2.2 it often for similar money and have a much more reliable engine. MUST BE DONE BY SOMEONE THAT KNOWS SUBARU's. If the garage you're using doesn't realize how Subaru HG's fail YOU DON'T WANT THEM DOING THE WORK!!! A VERY common problem. The usual attempts including putting crap in the cooling system have been beaten to death. Fix it right, be happy for another 100k. Many good threads here.

99.9% it's the head gaskets. You can kid yourself and throw money at "easy stuff" all you want. It'll just be money pissed away in the end. I'll go back and look at the miles. But if between 110 and 180 it's the HG's. Only time it's the WP or anything is if someone already was in there and put CRAP parts on it. So we're back to maintenance history. Edit: miles and maintenance history not listed that I can see. If it's been overheated while you attemot fixes that don't/won't work go straight to a 2.2 - that's what most of us do. No since in fixing HG's then needing rod bearings in a few months.

It's amazing how the little body spacer on an Outback makes this easier. Still not pleasant but easier than on an L.

I have done this. Had an old section or garden hose (that actually I keep to drain the old style water heaters occasionally. Popped off the "incoming line at fuel filter and stuck that rubber hose into the garden hose that had a 5 gal can (yellow so I could see the level). I forget sometimes on VW or Subaru I need to hotwire the pump at the fuse block.

I only installed them on non-interference engines. They do look good though. And supposed to be OEM - but I'd never take that risk. I know of atleast a few that went 100k. Don't know of any that failed - but I sold all of those cars. Some folks called me after 100k wanting me to do the next timing belt change.

Welcome to the USMB Search for "head gasket failure" and similar and be ready to read. Subaru HG's fail in a way that others don't so most "normal" mechanics don't knwo what's happenning. They will pass a compression test, won' tblow white smoke. They WILL after a trip of lets say 45 minutes blow your coolant out of the rad and into the overflow bottle. Classic 2.5 HG issue!

Welcome to teh USMB. I believe I still have a few of those around. All of cars I couldn't drive. They do vary.

What year/engine would be nice. Most WP's come with the thermostat Oring gasket.

I'd request he pull the engine - I think it makes for a better job and really doesn't end up taking any more time I don't think. I never pass up an opportunity to reseal the baffle plate - although that one should be metal. Accessory belts & coolant. I get OEM HG and WP gasket. Intake I don' tcare but OEM are about the same price as OEM - and often aren't needed anyways. Exhaust gaskets Felpro and OEM are pretty close in price, OEM are a little nicer but not worth a special trip.

It's WELL documented here. Search for skipnospam when I did my first few I mostly relied on it. It's a link to a fella's comcast page IIR.

And NEVER pay attention to arrows on a Subaru. "Dots and dashes" - really hash marks on everything. Crank, and all cam pulleys. OEM HG's, idler set, WP, ets. HG repair is well covered here.

And I've probably got a head and cams already off if you need them PM me. The cams are on Ebay now, ran outta time with free listing to get the heads listed.

I have heard of difficulties for some reason on the slightly older cars is the pigtail of the knock sensor is routed wrong. The torque spec on the knock sensor isn't much.

I'm electrically challanged. So I swap the whole throttle body rather than the sensor.

Marvel Mystery Oil. Never used it until I saw folks here saying it works on Subaru's - and it does.

MMO and a "spirited" drive has always worked for me. I'd do this before changing filter. I usually take a 15 minute drive and all is fine. Change oil & filter afterwards.

I yank the engine. But HF has actually a rather nice support bar often onsale for 50 bucks. You can't take the time and materials to make one for that IMO. It gets used here all teh time for VW timing belt jobs and transmission swaps.

Welcome to the USMB. Lots of good folks and historical info here.

The 97 2.2 will be single port exhaust, and the 2.5 had a dual port. So YOU WILL NEED the single port that you say you are getting with the 2.2.

Knock sensor was a good guess. Does it happen more when damp? Some folks spray it with a spray bottle to see if they can replicate the problem. Look at it and see if it's cracked. Almsot always it won't throw a code ( or even a pending code).

This is what I'd be doing. And actually have done with all questionable 2.5's. Look them up on car-part.com and see if anyone will ship to you. Or take a road trip and pick it up. They aren't that heavy. I've halued them in the back of my VW Golf. An old tire is about all it takes. I always put them on some kind of mat becasue usually they leak - coolant usually.

I recently parted several of these engines (and have more to go). For me, and maybe for you rather than messing with the snap rings on the pistons it was easier to stand the engine(halves really) on end. Wiggle at the 2 sides a bit and walk them further apart. And undo the connecting rod nuts/bolts. Then pull out the pistons. I'm not sure about reinstall though. Every piston removed gives you more room to seperate the halves and get at the rest a little easier. In the only procedure I really found you really only had access to one clip on each piston and driving out the wrist pin definately causes a chunk to break off the piston where the spring clip was. I have some in the garage I can take pics of if need be.