Fairtax4me

Something caused the cat to fail. Any damage to the outside of the housing? Is it getting poor fuel mileage? Spark plugs old? Air filter clogged? Check O2 sensor readings and fuel trims on the scanner while driving. Fuel trims more than +/-10% while cruising or at idle are indicators of an AF ratio problem and can cause damage to the cats.

I see it all the time in the wire diagrams but I've not seen any reference to using it for diagnosis. I think its only used for factory diagnosis when the car is built. The important ones are the yellow 9 pin SSM plug, the 2 bright green and the 2 black single pin test plugs. On later models there is also a black 6 pin diagnostic plug used for testing ABS/TCS, Airbag, and TCU modules.

Crank or cam sensor, either one will give a no-spark condition, but both will set codes. Even if the CEL isn't on check it for codes. The igniter module on the firewall can give intermittent spark. Used is the best option here. New ones are expensive, and aftermarket parts don't usually last long.

X2, get OEM boots and slide pins! Huge difference in quality between original and aftermarket. Antiseize works, but is not ideal for this style of slider. The oil in antiseize causes the rubber to expand which creates more resistance between the boot and the hole the pin slides in. Good chance the old boot was torn during re-assembly, probably because it was already expanded due to previous use of antiseize or some other incorrect lubricant.

Dealer should have new plugs but they may have to order them. Can you hammer in an 11mm hex? Or a large torx bit? You might be able to hammer a 3/8 square drive extension into it.

No Swap "kit". You would have to swap the whole wire harness or run standalone engine management of some kind. Tons of work. Check with CCR Inc. They rebuild nothing but Subaru engines. Used is a much less expensive option. Try Car-part.com to searh salvage yards near you.

If the crank is right, set the cams and put the belt on. Inspect the belt for any tears or obvious damage, more than likely its fine and you can run it.

Sand, rocks, bugs, who knows what else, all happening to be airborne just at the time you're driving by, and that's the result. The only thing you can "do" about those is have the front of the car sanded down and re-cleared. Subaru kinda cheaped out on the clearcoat on the later models and the chips on the hood and front bumper is something many many people have complained about. Even if you fork over $1000 to have it re-done it will still get chips in it because that's just the nature of a moving vehicle. Its gonna hit stuff and the paint is gonna get chipped. Learn to live with it, because you'll worry yourself sick otherwise.

You cant spin the crank a full revolution without spinning the cams with it. Set your passenger side cam with the notch pointing straight up. Drivers side cam with the notch pointing straight down. This completely unloads both cams and sets all 16 valves closed. Now spin your crank to the proper mark. With the crank at the proper timing mark (the notch on the back of the sprocket straight up, keyway straight down) the pistons are all at half stroke, so you can turn the cams freely to their proper timing marks. Then install your belt. You feel the cams wanting to pull themselves over as the valve spring pressure presses back against the cam lobes. When the rocker arm rolls down the lobe it pushes the cam over. Use a box end wrench to turn the cams so you can control how far or how fast they turn. Never use a new belt to tighten the cam bolts because it can damage the belt. Always use an old belt if you're going to use a belt to tighten or loosen.

There are a handful of manufacturers that make 27x8.5R14 AT and offroad tires. General used to make the grabber AT2 in that size, they may still but I don't know for sure. Do some digging and you'll find some. They tend to cost less than those ATV tires as well.

Good chance its a burned exhaust valve. Those engines don't get regular valve adjustments because its a pain to do. The seats on the exhaust valves wear and eventually a valve hangs open and burns. Leakdown test will quickly confirm. Or compression test and check lash clearance if the compression is low.

Sounds like head gaskets, but that engine doesn't typically have those symptoms. I would suspect either poor quality gaskes were installed, or the gasket surfaces were not prepped properly and the gaskets have now failed due to surface imperfection or dirt/oil betweennthebgasket and surface. The metal gaskets used on the 2.5 engines are not very tolerant, and WILL fail early if the surfaces are not perfect.

I think 96 was the last year they had all the doors unlock with the drivers door. You could try rigging up a door lock sweeper switch from a 95-96 model.

Kinda sounds like a burned valve. Did you check and/or adjust the valve lash clearance when the valve cover was off?

The Imprezas had cable driven speedometers until 97 or 98 IIRC. Those little drive blades are not very tough, and can be broken by a dragging or worn out speedometer cable. You should probably replace the cable as well. That won't fix your tachometer problem, but should get the speedo/odo working. If someone has been monkeying around in the dash and had the instrument cluster out at some point the plugs on back could be loose. Check for that and any visibly damaged wiring. If that looks OK the tach problem is probably because of a broken solder joint on the circuit board.

Should only be 3 or 4 screws around the end of the covers. You can compare marks on left and right sides to determine if either camshaft on the 1-3 side has jumped.

Yes, the hill holder is actuated by the lower cable on the clutch fork. Loosen the adjusting nut all the way until the cable is loose. The tighten just until the cable starts to pull on the lever on the actuator on the frame rail below the master cylinder. The spring on the lever helps to pull the clutch fork forward slightly which keeps the release bearing from dragging when the clutch is not being used. If you have a slight hill nearby you can test the release point of the hill holder. Facing up-hill, trans in neutral, push the clutch pedal down, then press the brake hard and release. Slowly release the clutch pedal, and you will feel the car start rolling when the holder releases. Properly adjusted, the hill holder will release just as the clutch begins to engage. If it holds the car while facing down hill, the holder is adjusted way too tight.

Ignition typically affects 1&2 or 3&4. 1&3 are both cylinders on the right side. Scan the codes first and see what comes back after erasing. One cylinder misfiring at idle will make these run really rough.

Does it only happen when you put your foot on the brake and clutch at the same time? Kinda sounds like the hill holder cable is adjusted too tight. Back that off a turn or two and see if you still have the problem.

Possibly jumped timing belt. That also means possibly bent valves on that engine.

Cars101.com Check the archive section about halfway down the list on the left side.

Still? Can you feel the relays click on when you turn the key? You have 12v going into the relay when its on? But you have no voltage coming out of the relays when they're on?? The fuel pump relay will only stay on for about 3 seconds unless the engine is running. If you have 12v on the yellow wire at the ECM, that's the same wire that gives power to the center yellow wire of the ignition coil, do you have 12v there?

The OUTER joint is what fell apart. Can't really see much detail in the pics, but either the circlip the holds the shaft in the inner bearing spider fell off, or it just got jerked around enough to pop circlip and let the end of the axle slide out of the spider.

Airflow, You're talking about the steering wheel rattle? The clunk you hear if you quickly turn the steering wheel back and forth about 15°. That's in the steering rack. It's the small amount of backlash between the rack teeth and the pinion teeth. Only happens over certain bumps and usually on gravel or rough roads as small bumps cause the wheels to quickly rock back and forth. And no, there's no way to fix it. Even a replacement rack will still do it because of the rack design. Other car makers get around this somewhat with cushioned tie rod ends. The Germans fixed it by, well, being German.

The broken ring with all the holes is the bearing cage for a needle thrust bearing. All the needles are somewhere in there.