Fairtax4me

More than likely it's the filler tube. There is a plastic cover over the filler that traps dirt/salt/water and causes the metal to rust. Eventually it rusts through and starts to leak. Very common. If you can take another car, do.

I have a flaky lifter on my 96 that comes and goes. Generally shows up about 2500 miles on oil. Has taken over 100 miles to go away after a change before. Usually it's within a a day of driving after the change. What Lucas additive did you use? Oil stabilizer? Marvels Mystery Oil works better to clean up noisy lifters. Start poking around with a screwdriver or stethoscope and see if you can figure out which side the noise is coming from. Pull the valve cover off of that side, spin the engine so the rockers are unloaded. Line up the crankshaft at 90 degrees clockwise past TDC to unload one side, rotate another 360 degrees to unload the other side. "Unloaded" means the cam is not compressing any of the valve springs on that side. Check each for play. Press firmly on the ends of the rockers to check for squishy lifters. The lifters sit directly on the valve stems. You can use a prybar against the frame to help apply pressure on the lifters. If any compress before moving the valve, the lifter is either no good or is not getting proper oil pressure. The oil feed holes in the rocker assembly are tiny and easily clog. That's another possibility, and disassembling the rocker assembly and blowing out the feed holes with compressed air can clear the obstruction which will let proper oil pressure reach the lifters.

You need to order some Knock sensors from Bheinen74: http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=128092&highlight=Knock+sensors Much cheaper alternative to the dealer part and will make you some labor $$ rather than possibly losing a customer due to a very common issue.

It just goes between the distributor /ignition module and coil so should work regardless. Make sure you set the box to run on 4 cyl mode if it isn't already that way. I had to drill out the rivets on mine and open the box to get to the mode selection wires so I could solder some of them back together. Wiring is pretty simple. The stock power and "ground" wires to the coil get run to the box instead through the small red and white wires. The black and orange go the the + and - on the coil. If your car has a tachometer hook up the wire to the "tach" plug on the MSD box. I have one on my 85 V6 Ranger with the stock electronic distributor and EEC-IV ignition/emission control system. 85 was the last year with a carbed v6, and the carb has a screwy feedback system for emissions. A carburetor with a throttle position sensor, and electronic idle speed solenoid, then there are two engine temp sensors, and an oxygen sensor, all that it uses only to adjust spark timing. Should have just made it fuel injected. Anyway... my original point, it made a HUGE difference in the way it idles and revs through the power band.

When was the last time you changed the gear oil? Or even checked the level?

What he means is, you should correct for the larger wheel diameter with a lower profile tire mostly so your speedometer isn't wrong. Check out the Miata.net tire size calculator for help choosing the right size.

Yeah probably the gaskets. I've read about the "peek-a-boo" pistons that stick up out of the block by some small amount. You have to use a certain thick gasket in order for the pistons to not hit the cylinder head.

Vacuum hose routing is different between some engines. Also, if your old engine had EGR and the new one doesn't, you're stuck with the cel and code. What year is the car? And what year engine did you put in?

Like put a bolt in it? Maybe the later ones are different, I pulled an engone out of a 99 that still had the stud and 17mm nut on the trans bell housing for the starter.

That makes it much easier then. Thanks for the info!

Is the XT6 flywheel any different than an EA? I can get an EA flywheel easy, but if it means I would have to use the smaller 7-7/8" disc I'll hold out for an XT6. Also, got a part number for that Sachs kit?

Was the car you got the trans from a 2.2 or 2.5?

So you're using a re-drilled EA flywheel with an XT6 clutch? Does the XT6 clutch have the 8-7/8" disc with 24 spline?

Hey Daredevil, What size clutch did you use? I see some listings for a 7-7/8" disc with 21 spline, and some for a 8-7/8" disc with 24 spline. Trying to figure out if there was any rhyme or reason to which clutch a car had. FWD vs 4WD?

Duhhh.

If they don't fit on what?

The old 3.3 has belt driven cams, the new ones are chain driven. Maybe 3.0 heads on a 3.6 block would produce some change in hp. Would be interesting to know combustion chamber sizes and "flow rates". Didn't know about any 2.7. Where was it used?

Pound a smaller socket onto it. If the wheel was wobbling and the nut was tight, I think you probably need new bearings.

Right you have to match up the final drive ratio. Other than that 99-03 is a safe year range for a donor.

Nah they are hard to find. I usually have to search the store names for "TheImportExperts" ( one word) to find them. Check out mizumoautothey had a 2.2 kit with Aisin water pump and brown seals for $128 shipped.

A local auto upholstery shop can probably repair the damaged section. If not repairable they can replace the section for probably only $100-$150. Probably less if you can take the seat out of the car and take it to them. Friend of mine had a side bolster on an old BMW leather seat replaced for $100 by a shop here.

Large prybar is the answer to everything. Takes 15-20 minutes to check everything in the front end for play.

Yeah, I always jam something in the rotor. Screwdriver, small prybar, large punch, etc. While we're talking about these, what's the torque spec for Subaru axle nuts? I found 137 +/- 14 ft lbs in the MY 95 FSM.

Not at all, I just think you have a misunderstanding of how these engines work, and i'm trying (in a seemingly not so polite way) to educate. Sorry if I come off as rude or condescending. Had you asked about ticking valves here first you could have avoided buying a set of heads. But, you now at least have a perfectly good usable set which can easily be sold if nothing else. But seriously, don't mess with a 300k mile engine. You'll only make it mad. If you need a "new" one cheap, talk to GD. He's got the resources to get whole engines cheap, and even if you really want a rebuild I think he said not long ago that he can do most engines for under $1,000. You already have heads so all you would really need is a short-block.

I've done that. Drove a car around the parking lot while someone sat under the hood and listened. Creaky under load could be anything. Axle, ball joint, engine/trans mount, loose/broken bolts. If you have a knock bad axle, start there.