aircraft engineer

alternate cam sprocket holder - I used a 14mm crow foot (13 might have worked, but found the 14 first) and a socket handle (a small breaker bar would have been better to not have to play with the rachet, but I had the socket handle handy). turn it so it's 90 degrees to the handle and slide it over a spoke at the bottom, turn the bolt with a wrench and hang on to the socket handle. The bolt pops right off (works the other way to install)

just whacked it a few times with a rubber hammer and it came off. Should have tapped the holes in the pulley before I put it back on - but managed to torque the bolt to 75 anyway. Do a couple more of these and I'll be an "expert"

I just did a mid-97 impreza 2.2 for about the same problem. first ever Subaru work job - spent more time reading the book than doing the work Timing belt, 3 idler pulleys (1 cogged, 2 plain), valve cover gasket set with bolt seals, water pump, cam and crank seals parts $190 IF you wanted a "new" tensioner (new style) post Feb 97 would be $89 more (it comes with the pulley for the pre March 97 EJ22) The MOST difficult part was removing/reinstalling the crank damper without BUYING the tool (It CAN be done, just takes a couple of 7mm allen wrenches (or grind 1/4" to fit 2 of the holes and use a breaker bar to both hold the damper and another to remove the bolt) MUST remove the bolt to pull the timing cover. Piece of cake - just a bit time consuming. Helps to have a pressure washer to blow off the oily crud and a couple of cans of brake cleaner to dissolve "excess" This one took about 12 hours start to finish. I figure I could do another in maybe 4 or 5 (depending on IF I had all the stuff and could figure out HOW to align the cogged idler pulley in 10 minutes instead of 60 ) The CV joint service looks pretty simple from the book description. hey - a kind word for a company out here - Delta Camshaft service of Tacoma. He does Sub's and rally races them, too. Competition cams or street grinds available. He had the camshaft key that I needed and the dealer said only came in the sprocket (metric dowel pin - a bit uncommon - but he had one) and from the post above this one - that's the kit I bought - but I went with the Conditech belt (or whatever that belt manufacturer name is) - easy people to deal with and fast shipping, too. The 2 accessory belts were still good, so keeping the "new" pair for spares.

all right - thanks. I got o-rings in the kit. That's only another 30 minutes of work

if it won't fit get a bigger hammer? I thought "new" parts always fit

How difficult is it to remove the cap (that holds the seal) over the end of the cam with the seal/sprocket drive? If I'm correct, it looks like 2 bolts hold it on (based on the pax side rear of engine - heads being interchangeable and all that). Any danger if I disconnect the cam sensor to take it out? Is there any gasket behind the junction that could leak? Any seal there or just use the anaerobic gasket maker on a metal-to-metal surface? I've got evidence of an oil leak somewhere right there (cam seal didn't appear leaking but I replaced it anyway). The oil saturated the rubber "gasket" behind the timing belt REAR cover (right behind the sprocket between the cover and the head) and that gasket has swelled so it won't "fit" (will replace it) I'm wondering if there is any connection between the sprocket not having the dowel pin "key" and the oil leak? (that oil seems to be coming somewhere in that area - and yeah, I'm replacing the valve cover gaskets - both sides - as well - that's "next") This isn't as bad a job as I thought it would be but these "different" things are slowing me a bit. Oil pump cover plate was loose on 3 screws so loctited all 5 with blue (no idea if the crank seal was "bad" but it got replaced anyway) maybe another 2 hours of work - only because I don't know this engine at all.

and check the wheel for run-out. Usually that type of wear pattern is a bent wheel or other bent suspension part (Like that one side is out of alignment) If you can, get it up on the hoist and then run it a bit and see what the wheel looks like - I bet it wobbles

Actually, you CAN (but it ain't cheap) - what you do is a test program with 2 engines and do an oil particulate test at the same intervals and see what the contaminants are in the oil and what sizes they are. Then at some predetermined mileage, take out the engines and do a tear down for 1:1 comparison of component wear. (like I said, ain't "cheap" - and I suspect that it's been done, perhaps on "other" engine types) The filter manufacturers don't provide any particular warranty anyway.

After taking off the cam sprockets to swap the seals, the 97 Imp 2.2 I am repairing was found NOT TO HAVE THE KEYING DOWEL PIN that serves as the "link" between the sprocket and the driver side cam (with the cam sensor). It was torqued "on" quite high (noticed that on the removal) BUT NO KEY?? (The timing was probably a "little off"). Oh well... off to the dealer for another small part

That's because with the lower voltage the alternator tries to put in as much current "as it can". Failure will happen because of heating the stator wiring (but it's not "immediate" and you SHOULD notice that something is "wrong" and figure out what "broke" ) Charging systems are pretty straight forward

IF you disconnect the battery and the alternator is "good" it won't be after you disconnect it - plus it will throw voltage spike that might take out every other piece of electronics in the vehicle The battery voltage supplies the reference voltage for the alternator - with it disconnected the system goes into "runaway" and the output diodes are the first to go (from over voltage - it CAN go up to over 100v) and then anything else as well bad bad bad get a voltmeter on the system - charging voltage is about 14.5, static voltage is 12.5 or so (depending on battery charge - will be less if discharged). The battery is probably dead - what you need to do to verify it is to pull it out and take it somewhere they can a draw down test of load vs voltage and see the load discharge characteristics just read the later responses - you won't "hurt" the alternator by having it see 10.5V but it won't charge either (the regulator won't like it, though)

pull the bad cylinder spark plug and put a "plug" (any available spark plug) on the end of the wire and clamp (c clamp, vise grip?) the "bare plug" to something metal so it sparks. The other 3 will run and the 1 plug is "dead" but sparking - you need to have a connection to make coil work both plugs. This is one way to do it

oh well - I guess it is NOT threaded. Use a 3 jaw puller?

You might have a similar problem to what I caused - I pressure washed the engine and knocked off the EGR hose at that same connector. Once I put it back on and reset the computer (disconnect battery for 5 to 10 minutes) the code went "away". The engine will run rougher without the EGR and tends to heat the peak exhaust temps a bit as well. But water in it...hmmm...

what he meant - is the baja wired for a single 2 filament bulb system trailer with a flasher converter? (Brake/turn on the same circuit) That's likely the cause if the circuit is like that (and that's 1 smart cookie out there ) The 3 bulb system trailer wiring is 3 separate circuits and doesn't use any additional circuitry except the "wires" and plug. With the radio lights dimming on the flasher, you have a low amperage backfeed somewhere

OK - it's a 10mm but what thread? Bolts out of the "standard puller kit" - 10x1.5 don't seem to fit (or at least I can't screw them into the holes in the damper). Thanks for the help in advance

other than the AC recharge, it's a piece of cake. engine swaps are simple (I need to do a 20R Toyota swap in a pick-up) Best part is that with the engine out it's easy to do the timing belt/idlers/water pump at the same time and have it ready to go for another 100k If Colorado weren't so far I'd consider buying it myself, towing it home, dropping in an engine and make a suby person out of me.

yup - sure am Boing.. Boing.. BOEING!! (29 years) That set from "importexperts" seems pretty good including the price as long as you get the German (made in Mexico..yeah, I know) belt. I'm putting one of them into a 97 - pretty much all you need except for some sealant for the oil pump and water pump.

sure is - it's a "pre March 97" - the model year starts in about July or so when they start making the next years production (US anyway) so 6/96 is "about right" to be the earliest 97. You don't think it's a phantom car that they started selling in September 2007 as "2008" do you? You have the 2 piece timing belt tensioner if it's the same motor it came with from the factory (which costs less than the 1 piece unit)

drive shaft noise is usually a "clunk" at gear changes. See if it clunks when tapping the throtle. if it does, it's generally a U joint. Trouble is that AWD doesn't mean 4wd - the rears only kick in when the fronts lose traction If the diff fluid was "clean", it's not too likely to be a diff. (silver stuff in the oil is a bad sign) Go to a wrecking yard and get one - it's not "fun" but not too difficult to swap the diff I just did the rear pax bearing on a 97 - it was howling from about 10mph up and just didn't go away. It wasn't exactly fun, but I can do another in 1/2 the time (I gather you don't fix your own? - you need either a hydraulic press or the hub tamer)

will use either black or red silicone to seal it up (after I pressure wash the oil off. There might be a valve cover leaking as well - haven't figured it out for sure.) SHE can complain but I'M doing the work

I hope you loctited the oil pump screws as well before reassembly. Red or blue should work well for that app the permatex look pretty good - if i can just find it http://www.permatex.com/documents/tds/automotive/85249.pdf it's available locally and costs about $12 per tube 1.2 oz

If anyone out there has an Impreza 97 wagon with the donut spare, can you take a look at the spare tire info and tell me what it says please. The dragon has a 16" donut and the sister says it should be a 15 (supposedly it came with 14 inch tires, but Costco says it had 15's)

I bought some permatex anaerobic sealant. Was thinking of using a bead on the new cover gaskets as "insurance". Pricey stuff, tho - $12 for a 2 ounce tube. I'll go look for the loctite, too thanx

drove it a few miles and it loosened up to the same as the driver's side (it wasn't that "tight" to start with) The NOISE IS GONE!! Support the inner race on the inside of the housing and press the hub in while supporting the inner race. Apparently the trick is to push the hub to within about 1/4 inch of the housing, put in the axle outer seal then install the housing and pull the unit the rest of the way in with the axle nut (seemed to work anyway) since the depth of the bearing is fixed by the shoulder plus the snap ring and the problem was with the inner races. (I had the entire housing/hub unit off the car because I had to swap the backing plate and hub into the junkyard replacement housing)