davebugs

How big of hurry? I have 2 heads here off a 97 IIR. DOnt' recall if valves n stuff ar ein them yet or not - I know hte cams are laying on top.

No harm in PB Blaster. I buy it by the gallon and put it into a squirt bottle. The back n forth things I always do on any stubborn bolt - with lube if possible. Likely since this car is neglected you'll find oil in the holes due to VC leakage. You may end up wanting or needing plug wires too. If so I recommend OEM plug wires on the 2.5 engine. SOme here say I believe NGK wores will work. OEM's have never let me down and I believe close to the same price. But you will need a nice collection of socket extensions. I usually use a spark plug socket with a swivel built into it - S-K or K-D (I always forget). Liek I said I always do thios on a cold engine with aluminum heads - I'm waiting for someone to say to do it on a warm engine - I believe some folks think this helps.

Likely a valve compressor. I usually only need to remove when scrapping heads. And then I jsut smack them with an impact socket and the keepers break and it's easy to remove the valves,.

Especially the smaller ones towards the front IIR. Note there are TWO torgue's - one for the rest of the bolts and something less fo rthe lighter ones on the end.

A few pointers on teh job in general. I use a somewhat rare 1" extension it seems on Subaru's. On the drivers side I use a WAY long 3/8 extension to get the ratchet out of the engine bay. ANti-seize the new plugs (I do di-electric grease too on the plugs/wires. Don't be shocked if you find out and need to replace valve covers. Some folks like ot do plugs on a warm engine, I prefer cold. Old unknown plugs in an aluminum head is always a bit nerve racking. Good luck

WISH we could get that engine here. But those are CLASSIC gasser HG issues here - especially for the DOHC 2.5's. On our enginers they don't cause white smoke, they will pass a compression check too. The combustion gasses leak into a water jacked and cause a bubble in the cooling system which causes residue in overflow bottle. The classis symptom of the air bubble is that the radiator is low and the overflow is full (and has run over and lost coolant).

Been a while but if you search a little bit you'll find the info here. Remember those rotors have "drumette's inside fo rthe parking/Ebrake cables and shoes.

Seafoam is best into a vacuum line, in the tank won't hurt though. Does produce SERIOUS white smoke if done correctly. Since I'm not worried about cumbustion chamber I'd use vacuum boost line because I could neve rfind a candidate that worked for me by the throttle body. Now the chain places have aerosol cans that you can use and place on throttle body and replace airbox. The simple can used to tell you to stall the car when the can was almost done IIR. Then let it set 5 minutes and take it for a drive (killing all local mosquito's). I still woudl take that route even though I believe the instructions are different now. I've only tried the aerosol cans on a Toyota RAV4 and they make it very difficult due the throttle body replacement half was down engine near firewall on drivers side. I don't realy work on cars much anymore and haven't tried the new expensive aerosol can on a SUbaru.

87 is the lowly standard here. Of course ANYTHING with Ethanol that they force on us sucks. I saw at the local outdoor power equipment place they actually sell fuel for weed wackers n stuff by the quart for like 8 bucks. NO Ethanol. SOme folks that owuld be an excellent idea versus it eating the fuel lines every year and gumming up the carbs (ask me how I know!). I jsut use both of mine too much. ALso the Seafoam cleans the cats and both O2 sensors. But yea - a good basic tunup and OEM wires on the 2.5 are excellent idea's. You're very likely to find the real problem doing basic maintenance things and Seafoam and still be way under what new cats would cost. ALso remember IMO aftermarket cats only seem to last a year or two and OEM are very expensive traditionally.

As a followup to GG's info I have some folks with VW 1.9t's that must run 89 octane (which is recommended in a few of them anyways) and/or caon't buy cheap gay like a local convenience store or grocery store chain (Get-Go or Sheetz) or the light will come on.

Common. I have had excellent luck running Seafoam thru a vacuum hose to fix this for thousands of miles. For the price an option I'd use rather than replacing the cat(s). Do a search. Oftgen discussed here. Starting in mid 2000's I believe it seemed to get less effective - teh Seafoam thing, but considering alterntives still worth a ashot. Besides - it creates an impressive white smoke cloud. Do it somewhere where yopur meighbors won't think your house is on fire.

Welcome to the USMB. Glad you seemingly have fixed your problem - by yourself.

Razor Blade is about the best I've found. There is a "silicone caulk disolver" now at your local home center - never tried it though.

Yep - I've posted here warning about it. WHen the new belt for the 99 SOHC was really, really tight to get on the 2002 I calle dthe parts store and it had a different part#. Got the 2002's part# and all was well.

Hey - it's already off to take to an old fashioned press that way also if you wish to swap the bearing. I'd jsut try to go by feel ont eh new "stub" and only one time bothered having a new bearing installed (I have no press or fancy hub tamer, etc.). Infact I started doing thie instead of doing the bearings. ANd I beleive I got the idea here actually. Not an original idea.

I'm simply saying 2.2's are sturdier. No HG issues which means less rod bearing issues. I also said that if you know this 2.5 it may be worth fixing. But when I dealt with unknown engines/cars the best solution for me was to do a 2.2 swap. It's your choice. ANd not a real clear cut one in this case. If it had many heat cycles fue to HG's for instance I'd definately say 2.2 it.

I gotta tell you I've fixed a lot of SUbaru's. A 99 Forester almsot caused me to swear them off! Took 3 JY engines to get a "good" one. I did HG's, reselaed, etc them all. That was a 2.5 SOHC on most 99 Foresters - including my nightmare. That's what the first engine was. In the end I made an 02 Legacy work (took a different timing belt) Infact I sold the remnants of the engine go Gary a while ago.

Looks lined up. I beleive I threw out most of my valves from paritng 2.5's and have more to do but not for a few weeks likely. I used to do a lot of 2.2 swaps. Yes the 95 auto(EGR) is the best/simplest. Since you know htis 2.5 you may want to fix it. On unknown or neglected cars a 2.2 is a very easy decision.

I used to just buya whole used "stub" - easier to install, no messing at all with that bolt. That's what I'd likely still do - check your local JY's. When I was doing 95-99's they's deliver one for 100 bucks. Not near the frustration.

I cheat and use clamps or clothes pins to pin the belt to the cams and crank and install the lowest idler last. Don't forget is ti's the brass tensioner to slide it left before tightening those 2 bolts.

Compression check? May go a long ways to determining longevity based on how bad any valves may be bent.

Thanks for posting that pic. I've never seen that before.

Very expensive transmissions (auto). Where was HG job done - dealer or independent. These can get picky about which HG's are used. Check for torque bind as stated. Often I check coolant reservoir even after HG's have been replaced. Becasue a place too lazy to clean otu the overflow to make it easier to monitor in the future may have does less than what I consider a "complete job" and you may guess at whatever toehr shortcuts were taken - like no idler or WP replacement for instance.

Check oil pump screws. Accessory belts

Mailbox was full. I deleted some. I'll be in and out the next 2 hours. My mail comes 1ish,