theotherskip

here it is: the original ones were plastic. when i was doing my head gasket, i tried resealing the plastic one, but it cracked when i was torqueing the screws. so i got the metal one ($16). bad news is that it is behind the flywheel(mt)/flexplate(at), so you either need to remove the engine or tranny. it could be done by removing the radiator, support the engine and tranny, separate them and push the engine forward (without disconnecting everything), then accessing it. but that is somewhat difficult itself. i made a site that has info about changing the head gaskets, including removing the motor and changing the clutch. you can find it here

with mileage being key for me, i am waiting for a diesel to be paried with a cvt (continually variable transmission). with a cvt, you can get better mileage than a manual, because you are keeping the motor at it's prime. you can place a relatively small diesel, then run it at it's peak power point to get going, then keep it at its peak efficency for crusing. i drove one of the civic hybrids with a cvt and was very impressed with what 90 hp (gas) and the electric boost motor paired with the cvt could do. i think subarus are to big and heavy for a hybrid to be very effective, but i think a diesel could do wonders...

i'm with you, 990bw. i've been temped to jump ship to the vw tdi, but would be interested to see what isuzu would put together for subaru. i've driven a bunch of different isuzu diesels and have been mostly impressed. i'd be curious to see if subaru makes them try to make an opposed (boxer) diesel...

it does say forester on the instructions that are scanned on the ebay page. when subaru makes something that fits multiple models, it usually will say. my guess would be that it is not compatiable with the stock stereo in the legacys. you could try calling a dealer to find out for sure.

http://usmb.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2438&highlight=subaru+shop+manuals happy downloading.

the nhtsa site doesn't give you access to all of the tsb's, only ones primarially concerned with safety. i did the 72 hrs for $20, and downloaded the whole fsm. it took 5 hours, 880 files, and 250mb. i posted a how to which you can search for... very worth it. the best source of info...

whoops. that would be a typo. it should read (and will) the timing belt cover seal.

i don't know for the 2.2l, but you can find a list of the 2.5l here . you may be able to cross reference them, or search by their names...

this guy (his site seems to be down currently, but you can read the google cache where he talks about the dip switches on the alarm. his info is for a 97ish model, so your may be different, but it could be the same still...

so you are saying that resetting the ecu completely cured you problems? i'll have to check out my throttle body, etc. i always thought that it was just poor gearing choices made by designers. i've read through all the tsb's issued for my car, and none of them mention this problem.

easiest way to find the size is to take the new fuel filter to the store where you are buying hose. just try them on the new filter until you find your match. another trick you can try to remove the fuel hose is to use a pair of needle nose pliers that are bent (either 45 or 90 deg). loosely put them around the metal portion of the line, and use them to push the hose off. when you pull on the line, it has a tendancy to act like chinese fingercuffs, grabbing the filter more tightly.

bgambino - the short throw kit i have seen at one of the dealers i go to is $200, i think. i believe it fits a whole bunch of legacies/imprezas/foresters. though i haven't installed one, it isn't too difficult, but most of the linkage is behind the exhaust heat shield, so it can be a bit of a pain to get to. any dealer should be able to get it. you can also search google, i know a few of the tuner places had some, but their prices were higher....

also check the the battery terminals aren't corroded.

i've always had pretty crappy throttle transitions, especially when trying to crawl in traffic. i always chalked it up to a poor gearing choices made by the engineers. i've reset the ecu (not specifically for this problem), but it has never solved it like it did for you. very strange... it is next to impossible to leave it in gear while slowly rolling in traffic. you can take your foot off the gas to let it coast/slow down, but as soon as you barely touch the gas, it really starts bucking, even with feathering the gas ever so slightly. i've always just clutched it when i needed to give it gas again. i'd love to hear if there is a fix for this, besides reseting the ecu (which didn't help me)

i only got quotes for the work, and one place was $750 (pretty sure for both, but the service writer was a total jerk, and feeding me a lot of ...), and another was $800/side (they were also new to subaru, and it was a verbal estimate, so it probably wasn't too accurate). both were for minimal replacement (only replacing gaskets and parts which _must_ be replaced and can't be reused), and neither included any machining on the heads. if you are at all mechanically inclined, it isn't too difficult to do, but does take a lot of time, and requires some more advanced tools and a good place to work. for $700, i replaced the head gaskets, timing belt, water pump, all seals and o-rings, and put a new clutch and pressure plate on. you can get details here .

greg... i dunno. you don't know anything about how that engine was maintained, and you will still be putting an engine on with the old design head gaskets. on the other hand, $300 is a pretty smoking deal, and if it does fail, you can fix the old and then trade it back, with minimal downtime to the car... on the junkyard engine, you will want to change the timing belt, and inspect the water pump (replace if necessary) and all the idlers, and change the o-ring and reseal the oil pump. it is also worth resealing the oil pan while you have good access. also check the valve clearance, as it is a breeze to do out of the car, but a bear to do in the car.

in order to remove the block drain plugs, you need a (17mm, i believe) allen wrench. when i went to sears, they didn't have either a 17mm allen wrench or 17mm allen on a socket. so i chose not to remove them. when i later pulled the engine, after throughly draining the coolant by the radiator, less than 1 quart (probably more along the lines of 1/4-1/2 a quart) was left in the block. basically, it isn't worth removing the plugs, you can change enough of the coolant by draining the radiator.

scoobyschmitty, i just pulled my engine to change the head gasket and clutch (you can read about it here ), and didn't pull the transmission. it is a bear to pull a transmission in a driveway, especially and awd, because you have to disconnect the 2 half shafts and the drive shaft. changing the clutch while the engine was out took less than an hour... as for a new engine, mine's been feelin' fine since the new hg, though mileage is down a bit (not sure, some of this may be due to more local). the new clutch feels nice & smooth too...

if you can fix the head gaskets yourself, you can do the whole thing for less than $400. you can't pull both the motor and tranny at the same time. you have to pull one, then the other. pulling just the engine is not too difficult. the crank is the same for both stick & autos. the pilot bearing is located in the flywheel.

ScoobySchmitty - thanks for the tips. i tried greasing and tightening everything the other day, but it still rattles, even with the new bolt that was in the endwrench article. the only thing i haven't done is to rebuild the bottom portion, because that involves replacing a bunch of o-rings... at this point i think i am going to just upgrade to the short throw kit, once i get the $$.

i've used a bunch of haynes and chiltons manuals in the past, and they all seem to be very hit or miss. it depends on how close the car they disassembled to write the book is to yours. when you get the "blanket" books that cover many years and many engines and model revisions, they are often very bad. i usually lean more towards haynes, and the subaru one is pretty good, though i don't know for an earlier legacy. i've know chiltons to have very wrong info more than a few times. a friend was trying everything to remove a crank bolt. chilton's didn't mention the fact that the bolt was reverse thread !!

GLCraigGT - well, subaru seems to be sending mixed messages. i included the fact that they had revised the head gasket many times since its original release in my letter to subaru. in their reply, they said that a) they are unaware of any problems with the head gasket (officially, while many dealers are quite familiar), and that their "parts are updated and improved on a regular basis, as are other manufacturers in order to stay competitive." they seemed to side step my whole argument that the bad design of the head gasket was the problem. setright - i went with the oe (american) clutch and have been very pleased. maybe you got old parts?? what is the relationship of subaru to gm? i've heard a few references, but haven't found anything about it (not that i've looked that hard).

24 - abonrmal abs sensor (abnormal abs sensor signal), front left abs sensor 26 - abnormal abs sensor (abnormal abs sensor signal), rear right abs sensor 51 - abnormal valve relay probably something with the valve relay, because there are 2 valve relays, one for each circuit, and both of the bad readings fall on the same circuit. the bad abs sensor reading is for a bad signal, as opposed to an "open circuit or input voltage too high".

the vote seems to be out on whether or not the problem will reoccur. it seems to be too soon to know. i've heard of a few with multiple failures, but those were ones that went real early (within 20k miles), so they were replaced with the original head gasket. i can't recall reading of anyone who has had one of the newer ones fail, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. as for causes, it seems to be that it will just happen, regardless of how the car is driven/maintained. i bought my car at 60k, and got all the maintenance records for it when i bought it. i can't speak for how it was driven before (other than knowing it was driven by a woman, so it probably wasn't beaten), but i've not been hard on it, and have kept up with the maintenance. other people's stories i have read include high milage drivers, who mainly drive high speed highway miles, and local drivers. basically, there doesn't seem to be a link between abuse, driving styles, or maintenance (or lack thereof), though overheating and ignoring it can lead to warping the heads. my only symptom was a very quick overheat the morning after a long drive, where it ran at normal temperature for the whole time. its your gamble on whether or not to buy it. if you are set on buying a subaru, i would probably get this one, since you know it has been (or will be) fixed, and you have the benefit of the newest head gaskets. you could just as easily buy another had have it go in 6 months and be out the money for the repair...

In hopes of showing Subaru that there is in fact a head gasket problem on the 2.5L motors, i've created a guestbook where people can sign to keep a record of some of the many failures. the guestbook can be reached at: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze730qe/guestlog.html you can choose to use your real name or your screen name, the only reason it is there is to help identify unique cases. feel free to include the names collected when corresponding with Subaru. Please spread this around to anybody you know who has had hg problems...after all, the more names, the greater the likelyhood of getting some acknowledgement from subaru. it should also help track which engines and which years are having multiple failures, and how big (or smaill) the problem really is... thanks for your help... ps... the guestbook acts up a little bit here and there. if you have trouble submitting, try again, it usually works. if you have further problems, mail the info to the email on that page and i will manually add it.