svxpert

<<I know there's a law (Magnuson-Moss?) against manufacturers (dealers?) requiring buyers to service their cars @ the dealer to maintain the warranty. If your warranty is provided by Subaru, it may be covered by the law.>> true, they cant make you use a dealer for simple services like oil changes and such. but you better save the reciepts for the oil and filters you buy when you are going to file a claim for a warranty repair!

<<So, I filled the car up again...with the front end raised (not hard to do, driveway is on 30% slope), I waited for air bubbles to escape. It ran for at least 20 minutes with the rad cap off; steam was coming out, air bubbles had subsided, temp gauge was still normal. I put the cap on and waited another 10 minutes to see if the gauge went up, it didn't.>> yeah, you need to research how to properly bleed the air out of the system like john had advised. << parked it, popped the hood and (very) carefully removed the rad cap to release the pressure (with the front end up). Started it up again and the temp was normal as it sat there idling. Not 1.5 minutes earlier it was pinned at hot.>> letting the engine temp rise to the red is never good. each time this occurs, headgasket integrity gets compromised.

<<No one had an opinion on my transaxle theory...is that just not possible?>> your a/t temp light would come on before you overheated the coolant in the trans cooler. as for your overheating problem, you didn't fill/bleed the air out of the system correctly so you may (most likely) have an air pocket in the coolant system. you can also develop a head gasket issue if the air pocket hasn't been resolved.

<<After the flush, I installed the new thermo, reinstalled all coolant, and let the car run 20 minutes (per directions on flush bottle). The car reached normal temp and stopped. I even drove it around the block and the car felt great (I had taken the opportunity to change the oil/filter too).>> how did you refil your coolant exactly?

whats the name of the parts supplier, i may have heard of them.

<< I have a 2000 legacy outback wagon with an interference 2.5 motor. Talked with the mechanic and it will be $450 to change the timing belt, tensioner, and seals in the crankcase. >> you dont post your mileage, but, skip the tentioner and get the water pump. after doing almost 100 timing belt / reseals at my shop, i havent seen one fail yet. and like posted above, do your crank seal and your cam seals if needed.

the picture posted above is just a plain open diff. this is a pic of a LSD diff. i believe the only difference between LSD and VLSD is the VLSD is sealed with a special oil inside. the LSD uses the fluid of the diff to work.

<<the timing belt changed. At the same time the hydraulic tensioner and water pump was changed out.>> what kind of shop replaced the water pump but not the thermostat? time for a new shop:lol:

i have a 2008 leather, third row model. works great, granted only 15,000 miles on it. it is great in the snow and sand,mud,dirt here in the nj pine barrons. takes regular fuel too. only issue so far was a HID bulb that went under warranty. first two rows are fine, third row is cramped (good for a teenager and smaller)

theres 4 main bolts (two bolts, two nuts) that connect the engine to tranny in the early EJ engine years, but i know subaru added two more bolt holes in the late 90"s to there engine. regardless you can fit those two fine.

to be honest, i have an '07 and never looked. i can figure it out with my fingers which of the 4 buttons i need to press or pull for each window. i guess its because there all basicly the same from year to year?

<<Seems like it runs hotter than it used to, all fluids are at normal levels.>> how did you replace the coolant you lost during the HG job?

something you need to look into, the 2000 Outback isnt a DOHC its SOHC. so the year is most likely a 1999 with the DOHC engine.

if you bought the car already, get the title in the mail, then register and insure it in wyo and put the wyo plates on it. then you can drive it or ship it back.

<<I am still curious about a rust removal product to help me get the old studs out. >> are you able to run a nut onto the stud or are the treads trashed?

do the valve cover gaskets too/

<<is there a way u can modify the hose or dis is a lost cause >> its not a hose, its part of the metal turbo housing. plus, the td04 came on the 2002 wrx's that put out 220 hp, the vf40 on your turbo legacy put out 245 hp. sell the turbo and get a used vf40

<<i bought a tdo4 for it bc my turbo went out can some one help me out looking for mechanic in Ga or Ky to install louisvill ky or columbus Ga>> a tdo4 isnt going to fit because of the turbo discharge pipe is at a different angle than the one on your legacy.

<<See, I replaced the radiator and T-stat only less than 2 weeks ago. I am not sure I got air out of the system. >> thats the problem, you need to bleed the air out of the system. steps mentioned in the post above.

'84 Flat-Four, p.m.'ed you back JohnnyB, p.m. me what you need done and model car. thanks

do yourself a big favor and buy a $20 engine stand so you dont have to lye it on the ground!

<<I am wondering if I can snake a flexible camera (aka colonoscope etc.) thru the clutch inspection port and look? anyone ever done that?>> not going to see much as the flywheel is bolted to the crankshaft. rear main goes in/ just slightly clears the metal face. too far and it will leak.

<<I bet it is the oil pan gasket. So often I pull an engine and find out that there is NO gasket, just some permatex. What a lame way to seal the pan. I put in a new rubber one and they work great.>> i think subaru stopped using an oil seal gasket back when the EJ series engines came out. i havent seen one since the ol' loyale days. you use the high temp RTV sealant now.

i believe the top hole on the starter is for the bellhousing bolt that connects to the engine. the bottom/lower is a stud from the trans. here is a pic of a manual tranny setup. chances are the bolt may have worked its way loose and fell out.

<<Now to find the leak>? I can't. the plate isnt leaking, I pulled it, the perma-tex was great and you could see it wasn't compromised. ANy ideas? >> well, you can post pics of the oil areas or we can guess where its coming from. if its not the separator plate, or the rear main, it could be the following: valve cover gaskets, cam seals, front oil seal, or the oil pump. what was the reason you replaced the rear mail seal last time?