Fairtax4me

A clogged heater core and/or bypass pipe can cause this type of issue. If the coolant is at the normal level, air/exhaust gas pockets from a bad head gasket can be ruled out.

:banana: Sound like a happy ending to me!

CORRECTION::: The numbers I posted before are for a 1/32" tread wear, or 1/16" in difference in diameter. I probably shouldn't try to do math at 1:30 AM. :-p Still, I think you would be safe to use a new tire. Put it on the front with the old tire with the LOWEST tread depth and this will help balance out the difference in axle speeds between front and rear.

Yeah the DOHC heads are a pain to get the sprockets lined up from what I understand. Check the cam sprockets on the number one side again just to make sure.

You are better off replacing one tire than to replace two tires. The reason is because of the difference in axle rotation speed. Honestly with only 1 or 2/32" wear it's fine to buy a brand new tire to replace the damaged one. Subaru recommends no more than a 0.25" difference in overall circumference of the tires. With an original diameter of approximately 26", that gives you a circumference of ~81.64" Take off 2/32 of an inch of thread depth that makes a 1/8" difference in diameter which equates to an 81.44" circumference. Your 3 worn tires are within the maximum difference which would be ~81.39".

A bent valve will more than likely show 0 compression. The usual cause for low compression after a timing belt install is incorrect timing. Being wrong by just one tooth changes the timing of the closing of the valve in relation to the position of the piston during the compression stroke, which means there may be less air in the cylinder to compress. But the fact that its only low in one cylinder does put up a red flag. A leak down test would tell if the valves in that cylinder are bent. What engine are we working on? Year? Mileage? Reason for timing work?

Red fluid on top will be steering fluid. Alot of times the leaks are so small that the level in the reservoir does not drop noticeably until it has been leaking for a long period of time. There are no transmission related lines or hoses on or near the top of the engine. Automagic Transmission Fluid dipstick is on the driver side down low kinda hiding underneath the heater hoses. It's yellow, but usually covered in crud so you can't see it as well. The ATF dipstick is about 18-20" long. The front differential gear oil dipstick is on the passenger side of the transmission. Also yellow, but is short, only about 8" length. A good pic for locating the Oil pressure sender. This shows the sender with the alternator removed, but if you look straight down just to the left of the alternator between the bracket you will see it. http://www.autometer.com/article/bodyImages/96.jpg

Nice caramelization on that one! Yeah the dogbone got me the second time I pulled the transmission out of my sedan. Only took me about 3 minutes to realize it though. Is that an old ranger in the background?

Just order the valves from a dealer. Online dealers list them for 16 and change. You can probably get your local to come down from the normal 23 list price if you haggle them with the online price. Get a hand valve lap tool from the local Parts store and chuck it into a drill to lap the new valves in quickly. Only takes a few seconds but be sure not to grind them too far or they will end up getting burned.

Power steering fluid leak are common on these and tend to result in a reddish pool of fluid on top of the block. Check the level of the fluid in the steering reservoir. Another possibility is a leaky oil pressure sender, which is on top of the block under the alternator, more towards the passenger side of the engine. Both are easy to check. The sender can be replaced relatively easily. The steering pump can be resealed in about a hour with some basic tools and a vice.

Are you inside of the 60 day warranty? (assuming you bought it from a dealer)

Post in the Classifieds section that you need one (probably help to post a pic of the connector and pics of the exact location on the car) and someone can probably cut one out of a junkyard car for you. The piknpull is usually the easiest way assuming you can find a car with the same setup. At a dealer you'll have to order a whole rear body harness to get that one connector.

It's higher up on the block, about 3 or 4 inches from the original mounting point towards the left (driver side) rear corner of the block.

So I hooked up a scanner to my wagon to check fuel trims today. Stft at idle and at 2500 rpm (sitting still) hovers around 0, but varies from about -1.5 to 1.5. Ltft at idle sits at a steady 4.6%. At 2500 rpm it jumps up to around 8.6 - 10.1%. Seems kinda high to me. Sound like the O2 sensor is fouled?

Did you put some Heet or Dry gas in it to pull the rest of the water out? :-p I'd do the driveway flush another time or two and see how it does. It might just need another 100 miles to make up it's mind.

If it was the ring and pinion I think the oil coming out of the drain plug would have been extra chunky. The drain plug is directly below the differential, so anything falling off of the diff will end up right at the drain hole. The rest of the gears in the trans are sort of cordoned off from the front diff by walls inside the case, so if any of the other gears blew up you might not see the chunks. Honestly these transmissions aren't worth rebuilding. Its way too time consuming and way too expensive. You can get a good used transmission for way less than half the price of rebuilding the one you have, and all you have to do is put it in the car. Yank out the one that's in there and take a look at the clutch. If the clutch disc is in tact open up the trans (takes about 25 minutes to get it opened up) and take a peek inside to see what happened.

Still say bad battery connection. You checked the grounds but did you check the Positive cable? If it's the original battery terminal with the wingnut off to the side of the post clamp, make sure the wing nut is tight.

May the knowledge be with you! You have the USMB on your side. All the knowledge you can possibly need for changing head gaskets is right here. Tools, a basic set of metric tools can get this job done. The only specialty tools you need are a Torque wrench which can be rented, and a 12 point 14mm socket (get 1/2" drive) for the head bolts. Get a 1/2" drive breaker bar if you don't have one, at least a 16- 18 inch, the longer the better. (that's what she said ) I bought my last breaker bar from Sears for about $25 I think, but that was like 5 or 6 years ago. Good ol' Craftsman hasn't let me down yet. But if it does I can get a brand new one for free. Sears will also likely be the only place you'll find the socket you need. Do your homework here, ask questions about anything that doesn't make sense, or anything that does make sense, get to know what you're doing before you do it and you'll be fine.

Fel lucky. The best I can get out of my 95 L wagon is about 23. And that's on the highway.

The nuetral switch on the autos is referred to as the inhibitor switch. It's on the side of the transmission. The shift lever for the trans sticks out through the switch and can be operated by hand if th cable is disconected from the trans. Start by removing the shift cable from the selector lever and push the lever as far back( towards the rear of the car) as it will go. That will be the park position and you should be able to start the engine with it in that position. Remove the cable and soak it down with penetrating oil to help free it up. Reinstall and adjust the end at the transmission. You'll also have to check the brake light switch and the shift lock mechanism in the console to figure out why it won't release the shifter. The shift lock could just be gummed up with that soda that got spilled in the console a few days before it got parked. :-p

Kinda sounds like a loose battery cable. Make sure the battery cables are tight at both ends.

What about the EJ20? :-p

Equus Innova makes great easy to use scanners, and their research department has probably the most extensive list of manufacturer specific codes. Whether it's a Ford, Acrua, Subaru, Mercedes, Toyota, or what-have-you, chances are they have the correct code definitions already in the scanner. Their stuff is pricey on their website, but you can find any of their scanners for around half price on Amazon. They do also have a cheaper model that doesn't display the definitions, but you get a CD with all of their current definitions. Canobd2.com

It doesn't look to me like it's very far off, but the cams need to be turned 180 degrees so we can check the dash marks against the notches in the covers. With everything just like it is, fully intact, turn the crankshaft one full turn, the cams will make a half turn and their marks will come up to the top, where they will be easier to get pictures of. One thing I do notice in your pics, the dot on the crank sprocket is behind the mark by about half a tooth. The notch for crank alignment is just to the right of center (actually towards the drivers side of the car) of the crank sensor. It looks like you have the crank sprocket lined up with the center of the sensor and that's wrong. Clean the dirt and crud off the housing and the notch will become more visible.

Yeah do the spark plug non-fouler trick. Lots of info about it here if you search for it. People use the non-fouler to get rid of the P0420 code. If you search for P0420 you should get some info about it. But basically it's a 14mm (I think) non-fouler threaded onto the end of the rear O2 sensor. If the car doesn't have a rear O2 sensor (because it was removed) you'll have to get a signal simulator to get rid of the code. You can buy them at tons of places online, but they are usually kinda $$$.