Fairtax4me

The gauges on the little refill bottles are inaccurate at best. The whole system should only hold about 18-20 oz iirc. There should be a label showing how much the system holds, usually in Kg, but that can easily be converted to oz with google. The system pressure may still be too high or the pressure switch may be bad. Find someone with a manifold gauge set and hook it up to see the actual pressure in the system.

ECU can only use the crank and drivers side cam (2&4) for spark and fuel timing. If the drivers side cam is off a tooth you may get misfire codes for 1&3 because the spark and fuel timing is going to be out of sync with the valve timing for those cylinders. If the shims are mismatched lash clearance will be incorrect, but that is easy to check. Excessive lash will cause ticking, too little lash may cause the valves to hang open, which if great enough to affect compression, would quickly result in burned valves. Point is the lash clearance is probably not an issue.

700 rpm idle is considered normal. Does this stumble happen when the AC is turned on?

If you have a MAP sensor code either the MAP sensor is unplugged or the vacuum hose isn't connected properly. A vacuum leak would also cause the low idle condition. Double check all the vacuum hoses.

Coils usually fail front /rear half, not left/ right half. You sure the cam timing is correct? Did you check it yet? Did you check compression on 2 & 4? How does it compare?

The cables are fairly easy to disconnect, did you unhook it and see if the selector lever slides freely after?

Pop the rubber hangers on the back loose and let the muffler and mid pipe hang if you really need room. No need to drop the whole thing unless its just really rusty. I've pulled the driveshaft out without dropping the exhaust twice. You do need to remove the center heat shield but that's six bolts, unplug the rear O2 sensor and slide the heat shield off to the side. You also need to remove the skid plate from the diff before you have access to the rear-most flange bolts. Those can be trouble so spray them with PB or your favorite penetrating oil before starting on the heat shield. You'll probably want a breaker bar with a 1/2" drive 14mm socket.

Need to know year and engine size to know if valve adjustment is even possible. Still want to know if the current CEL is for the knock sensor. I have a feeling it may be something else like a dirty MAF sensor or maybe even a misfire because of fouled or old spark plugs. If the code is still for the knock sensor it's either a wiring issue or a bad sensor.

I've heard of a few instances of stuck rings on these. Wouldn't surprise me at all. Pull it apart, check the hone, clean the ring grooves, it might be fine with the rings that are in it (once theyre clean) but its pointless to not replace the rings while its that far apart.

The vacuum line to the FPR is T'd off to the MAP sensor on the passenger strut tower, if it has it, and the vacuum port on the number 3 intake runner. Cruise has its own vacuum pump down below the AC accumulator on the passenger strut tower. That system isn't connected to the engine at all except for the throttle actuator cable.

Are the throttle or cruise cables getting stuck?

If timing jumped 1-2 teeth the engine will not lock up. More than that and it would just bend the valves and keep cranking. Definitely need to check timing at this point.

Do you still have a CEL? It would be helpful to know exactly what codes are current. The issue may be due to another sensor. If the current code is for the knock sensor it could be a faulty sensor.

Camshaft Timing would not cause an intermittent no start issue. Either it's right or it isn't. It runs flawless or it runs like spoob, no back and forth. If the fuel pump relay was hot there is a high current draw in that circuit or a poor connection to the relay. Did you check the connector to the relay for any signs of corrosion or burning?

A flush and a change are quite different. Flushing usually entails a high pressure pump machine forcing fluid through the trans, it can clear out a lot of dirt and buildup and the theory is that it will often wash away buildup that was covering leaking o-rings and valves inside the transmission. After the flush the internal leaks cause low line pressures in the transmission which allows the clutches and bands that determine the gears to slip and wear out. A change is quite simple. You raise the car, put a drain pan under the transmission and remove the drain plug. Refill with approximately 3.5-4 qts of dexron 3 type fluid. This method simply replaces old fluid with new fluid, but does not force it through the system. The transmission holds about 11qts total, so the change needs to be done 3 times with a short drive in between each. Around the block is fine, I've even just let the car idle and shifted through each of the gears in the driveway before. I'd recommend a fluid change first. You can try a stop slip additive if shifting performance does not improve after the change.

Probably a bad front O2 sensor, though it wouldn't hurt to start with new plugs wires and filters if they haven't been changed in a few years. Also pick up a can of MAF sensor cleaner and clean the MAF element. That will certainly cause power issues. Another biggy on the EJs is the knock sensor, if the housing is cracked it needs to be replaced.

Mic the crank and match up the size here: http://www.skf.com/files/877995.pdf Then I guess you'll have to hope you can find it somewhere.

It can if the axle spindle breaks, which is not out of the question if you're trying to do 80 on the highway. If you have play that bearing needs to be replaced ASAP. It's on the verge of chewing through the bearing races and causing damage to the knuckle, hub, and axle. At this point I would say the car is not even safe to drive. It may also damage the brake rotor, and ABS tone ring and speed sensor if your car has ABS.

You need a 12 point 14mm 1/2" drive socket for the head bolts. Other than that a basic metric socket set is really all that's needed. You may want a high quality 17mm flare-nut wrench for the EGR pipe that goes between the head and manifold. Those fittings are usually pretty tight and standard wrenches round them off. Cheap flare-nut wrenches just expand and round off the corners as well.

If the code is for the knock sensor it's a resistance issue with the circuit. The ECU either can't detect the sensor or the voltage signal is out of range due to poor connection or corrosion.

If your belt is new it should be fine to re-use. I think Gary is thinking your timin idler pulleys need to be replaced, which is true if they were not replaced with the belt. If any feel loose or dry when spun or have noticeable play they need to be replaced. The one with the teeth is the most likely to fail for some reason. A failure of any of the idlers or the water pump will result in a broken timing belt which will also cause valve damage.

All of these engines had the evap purge solenoid in the same place under the number 3 intake runner. I think someone must have snagged the one off your 2.2 manifold. It should have been there otherwise. I've never seen a 2.2 that didn't have it. The placement of the evap canister was different on some but that just meant routing the hoses a bit differently. All the fun of an engine swap, figuring out how to make it all work. Now the big question, does it run?

Glad to hear that it runs, that's a start. Make sure you have all the vacuum hoses connected, and all of the hoses for the breather and PCV system that connect to the intake tube.

Hey Will! Glad to see you're still around! The stubs are not press fit nor are they a tight fit. They have some room between the diff carrier and stub to allow an oil film for lubrication. They wiggle a bit but it doesn't hurt them any, nor will it cause a noise. Carrier bearings hardly ever to bad unless something strange got in there and that's kind of a stretch. Wheel bearings on these are common failures as im sure you know, but often have very little or no detectable play until they're completely shot. I just replaced the left front wheel bearing on my Legacy which has been making noise for about two or three years, as far as I can remember. The "turn test" said it should be the right side. When I turned right the noise would subside, and when I turned left it would get louder. Upon disassembly of the bearing I found the inner race (toward the trans) of the bearing was worn and the rollers were pitted. The outer (toward the wheel) was fine. This even stumped a couple of the instructors at school who swore up and down that the right side was bad. I made sure with the chassis ear kit before replacing it. I couldn't afford to do it twice. Left side replaced, and my whirling grumbling noise is gone. The best test I can offer (in lieu of a chassis ear kit) is to remove the axles so you can spin the hubs with no resistance. Once the axle was out on my car the bearing damage was easily felt and heard by quickly spinning the hub. Also, don't rule out rear wheel bearings. They seem to fail more often on the Foresters for some reason.

Spin the axle stub a few times while tightening the ring to get the diff case to spin and allow the carrier bearings to roll together, just like you would do with a wheel bearing when setting the spindle nut torque. This should take out any slack between the two sides. Tighten until it won't tighten any more then back off to your mark. Make sure the trans is in neutral so the whole case spins and not just the spider gears inside it.