aircraft engineer

the cams are timed to the crank and all the marks line up. so the belt timing is OK. Do you still have the timing belt cover off? Pull of the pulley and rotate the crank cogged pulley around until it has the keyway is down. The cam marks should line up to the notches (yeah, I know you said it's all lined up, this is just a check). IF the marks line up, the timing is OK. But still no spark. Hmmm - how about a bad connection cam or crank sensor connection? All the pins straight on the connector? bad sensor itself? Those connections snap tight when they connect - push them in all the way. This was a 2 cam engine, right? If it's a 4 cam then a pair of cams might be swapped? (I admit to knowing NOTHING about that engine)

Be careful, though, if you are trying to use the "big" full engine picture in 102001_08.pdf (the 4th picture down) as a guide - the picture was printed BACKWARDS with "right and left reversed on the engine. THEY PRINTED THE PICTURE WITH THE NEGATIVE UPSIDE DOWN!!

3# is about right. Bash on. Take out the week's frustration on it (Actually should only take maybe 5 whacks if you hit it hard enough and straight) And if it won't come out, get a bigger hammer Just make sure the nut is off the stud first :-p

since the fronts actually do 70% or so of the braking in cars, you won't notice much anyway if the rears fade. It WOULD, however, take about 2.5X as far to stop on ONLY rears. If you lose one system, it's "better" if it's the rear. Now, one thing about brakes (and why ABS helps so much) - when the FRONTS lock up (no ABS) and the rears don't, you go "straight" - sliding, but straight When the rears lock and the front's don't, your rear tries to catch up to your front tires sideways (and is why a lot of older heavier vehicles like say, 93 Econoline 350 vans - only have "rear antilocks") Soooo...If everything locks, you just slide uncontrolled (which is why in days of ore, we were taught to "pump the brakes in slippery conditions" and steer into the skid) Now it's "stand on the brakes and steer the car" - steering only works when the wheels are ROLLING)

put the sledge on the ball joint stud. Beat on the bottom of the sledge with a heavy hammer. beats me what the difference is though. (bigger target??) Some pictures I saw suggested pulling the control arm bolts out, the steering linkage, and then maybe removing the strut and just taking out the rest of the suspension then moving to somewhere "convenient" to disassemble it. Sounds like what you need is a BIG 3jaw puller (or a hydraulic press) or a combo of the 2? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95326

wasn't a SUB but had a similar problem on a Tempo - turned out the temp "switch" on the block failed shut and the relay stayed "on" and the fan ran continuously. you might check the relay too - there has to be one somewhere. usually they don't fail "engaged" but it happens

the head gasket is doable - depends on how mechanically inclined you are. Easiest to pull the engine, do it all, HG, timing belt, water pump, hoses, seals (which you will do anyway with a full head rebuild as well. RESURFACE THE HEADS - particularly with a blown HG and aluminum engine) Parts will probably run close to 600 for the gaskets and the belt kit. You probably want to use the factory HG though (the others don't matter all that much. Try http://www.theimportexperts.com - they're right down the road in Yakima (They say it should be a 2.5 DOHC in their website, though) Don't know how to tell you to recognize the 2.2 vs the 2.5 - somebody else can. Probably an engine serial number check. as near as I can tell, it should be recognizable from the depth of the timing belt cover - on SOHC engines, it's probably 7 inches high - looks like maybe 10 on the DOHC (guessing from what I remember off the 2.2 and the pix of the 2.5 on http://www.subarupartsforyou.com/cp_partdetail.php?partid=1653

try shorting it out then. Either that or find out where the dinger is and pull that plug...

probably - I think they mandated that all safety equipment had to be illuminated (the fan switch falls into that category) - bad bulb?

6-2 and no small person either should have realized FWD - 1.8 engine. I didn't think they did those in AWD

beats me - I can only tell you how to SWAP 'EM

you need a differential compression tester (go look it up at harborfreight.com) that and a long breaker bar and 22mm socket to hold the crank. Then a bottle of oil to squirt in and do a wet test

they attach to the door frame usually (what there IS of it)

except a weasel isn't a rodent. :-p

the only way to kill a cat is to run it very rich for an extended period of time (or run leaded fuel and poison it.) The ceramic will overload from the extra fuel and literally burn up (gets VERY hot)

on the IMP don't even need to take it "out" - just disconnect the tank (all 2 bolts) and have someone hold it up while you swap the driver rear plug (or valve cover bolt if you are doing the gasket)

deleted - nothing like a duplicate

you DO know about pulling the rear seat bottom forward and making the deck lie flat, right? If you can't get it to move, there's a latch about 1/2 way across the pax side under the crack in the back. Pull the latch to release the seat bottom and it pivots forward. There is supposed to be a nylon "tag" strap attached to the latch unless the tires are new in front, you probably want to do all 4 at once. The AWD is pretty touchy about tire diameters. Depending, if you get in to do the water pump, might as well do the whole timing belt thing.

well - about the mid engine thing - remember the Pontiac Fiero? it was a chevette engine in the middle of the car, 2 seats and a cobble of other misc parts off various small GM vehicles. SUB COULD do a mid engine version with RWD using essentially the same idea - boxer engine, same trans as now, open front suspension (essentially the same as "now" but without the motor). McLaren did about the same thing BTW What I'd like to see is a version of the Corvair van with the engine in the back and a ramp side, maybe cab forward (would have "issues" with the front end collision test, though) Of course, not "sporty" enough...

the main thing to watch out for will be the ABS components on the newer unit and disc to drum issues. Backing plates bolt in directly (disc or drum - same bolts) 97 to 2003 drum to disc - The hub will have to come off anyway to install the disc backing plate because it has the ABS sensor 2003 to 97 - similar in reverse (will need to pull the hub to install the drum backing plate). If disc, I expect you still need to install the older backing plate, however, having no experience with that setup directly, I can't say for sure. The 14mm backing plate bolts were on pretty tight (loctite on re-installation) I used an impact wrench on removal after I had pulled the hub out Hub removal/reinstallation is not difficult IF you have a press. 8mm (might be 10 - I don't remember because I have a full set) flare nut wrench necessary for removal of the brake line at the wheel cylinder if drums.

double sided tape - glued on with the tape. Sort of make sit difficult to change it but...

that depends - IF they know it's not coming out easily, a call to the customer explaining that there might be some extra charge depending on how it goes because of "issues" would be "prudent". Book rates were developed with a new test car in a factory condition. I know - I used to develop some when I was with Ford . Our object was to try to get the hours down to whatever was "reasonable" for WARRANTY SERVICE. :-\ Quality was always "JOB 1" <smirk>

steering moves freely...hmmm - you mean the steering wheel moves but the steering is "bad"? That's a sign of a steering rack problem. you need to verify that the steering is "tight" and the ends move when the wheel is turned (not "hesitate' and then move). It's pretty hard to diagnose a steering problem with "words" on the front, the part that has the axle going into it is called a 'steering knuckle'. The steering connects to it thru the tie rods one on each side. IF the suspension is bad it will all wobble around - the ball joint is bad. getthe car liffted up and check whether the wheel (tire) moves when you push/pull against the top and bottom of the tire; then the front and rear. if top/bottom moves, you need to do a ball joint. if front/rear moves, the tie rod end is probably bad since you said you did the bearing if the steering gear - rack and pinion assembly - is bad, you'll know it soon enough - particularly if an inside tie rod end is bad - it's behind the rubber boot near the transmission.

you mean just the part with the studs or the whole housing/hub/bearing assembly? IF you mean the whole steering knuckle - try a junkyard. for a bearing - auto parts store

the cats idea won't work - a marten would eat the kitty. (no joke - they's MEAN hunters) :-p