Fairtax4me

I had other things on the list. The white car was gone anyway, but I did find a left headlight that wasn't broken. I might have to start collecting those, they seem to be a rare find.

If it seems to shift rough it may be due to an engine problem. The transmission control unit uses throttle position to determine when and how hard the trans should shift. If the engine is ow on power due to a misfire or issue, you will be using more throttle to get the same power as you would if the engine were running normally. This means the TCU will see more throttle input and higher engine RPM, which tells it shift harder. Yes, heat exchanger. It's inside the radiator, so heat can go either way. Engine coolant will move heat into the trans fluid which will help warm up the trans faster. It will also draw heat away from the trans fluid if it just so happens to be warmer than the engine coolant. Thus the "exchange". Usually trans fluid will be the same or slightly cooler temp than engine coolant, unless you're towing or doing a lot of stop and go city driving.

Looks like you got it right to me. Lots of people have done this swap so some searching might dig up a thread or two about it.

Depends on what I'm buying, but for most tires, by the time I pay shipping to get them here, I can usually buy 4 tires at a local place for about the same cost if not just a few dollars more than the online places. Then mounting can be anywhere from about $12 - $20 per tire in this area. Most tire shops here will charge extra for low profile tire mounting, as much as $75 per tire from what I've heard. So that's something to keep in mind when you splurge for that set of 24" Dubs with flapjacks.

Well bad news, I'm gonna have to pull the engine... :-\ ...to seal up all the damn oil leaks, because it's running like a top. I need to pardle around in it for a few weeks first just to see how it does, but I got about 50 miles on it Saturday evening without a hitch. Took forever for the lifters to shut up. I ran it for near a half hour at various engine speeds before they finally quit yelling. I was beginning to think I'd have to pull the rockers off to make sure the oil feed passages weren't clogged. Then I left it idling for about 10 minutes while I packed up my tools and cleaned myself up, came back from the bathroom and it was quiet as a mouse. I thought it had stalled for a second, then I started to hear the timing belt idlers whirring along (a few of those are pretty loose). Burped the cooling system, checked all the fluid levels, then took it out for a good spin. Plenty of power, a little sluggish off the line, but that is probably due to the 1st gear ratio of the trans. Once it's moving it feels like it has just as much get up and go as my sedan with the manual trans. And speaking of the trans, besides needing a fluid change, it seems to be in great shape. No torque bind, shifts smooth under light throttle, firm under heavy throttle, torque converter lockup kicks in the way it should and runs at a calm ~2700 rpm at 70 mph. Should get plenty good fuel mileage that way. I'm pleased as a pig in... you know.

Of all the things that can go wrong with this, your idea is just another on the list. I gambled $55 on the parts to see if this engine is worth keeping. I know full well it could bomb out. In fact, I almost expect it to. But if it works, it's certainly worth $55 to keep it running IMO.

Have you checked the trans fluid condition? Engine warm, running, in park, after shifting through all gears, is the level between the marks on the dipstick? What color is it? Does it smell like burnt toast? Don't bother to drop the pan, the "filter" inside is just a coarse screen. Drain and refill the fluid 3 times with short drives in between. Some of these have an external canister filter between the transmission and the heat exchanger in the radiator. That would be worth changing if yours has it, and is worth adding if it doesn't. Shaky engine might mean low compression or misfiring on one or more cylinders, or the cam timing could be off a tooth. Are the spark plugs new? What about the plug wires?

My 95 wagon has that. Map light on one side, sunroof buttons on the other.

I had a similar problem. Well maybe. Mine would just straight up stall. Like I turned the key off. Would do it at idle, at speed, in any gear, or just sitting still. Would restart and run just fine until it decided to die again. MAF sensor had a broken solder joint. I also had a CEL and P0100 DTC though. Olnick asks the right questions. Answers to those will help the troubleshooting process.

Why is the strut still in the car? There's no room to work there. Remove the 3 nuts from the top and it will fall out. The trick is to only compress the spring as little as is absolutely needed to remove it from the strut. Some people wail down on the things trying to compress the entire spring. The springs are not much taller un-installed than they are installed. Often hooking the compressor around the coils on either side of the center coil of the spring and pulling them an inch or so is enough to remove the spring safely.

Too late, because it's already back together! :-p Actually the seat cleaned up pretty nice. I picked at the splatter for a long time, finally got the majority of it off, then I came up with a grand idea courtesy of one of the techs at work. Grind the OLD valve into the seat. The small amount of stuff left on the seat disappeared in no time, then I plopped the new valve in, lapped it, and got a nice even seat all the way around, close to the max seat contact according to the FSM, but still within spec. Put together, cleaned it all off one last time and stuck it back on the engine. Engine is all back together except the timing belt and accessories. I need to compress the tensioner, install it, and tighten the pulley bolts. Then I can see if it'll start, and if any of this worked. Mike, I know all about Chesterfield Auto. I drove from there to your friends shop and bought some wheels this past summer, remember? Actually might be down there Sunday looking for a few random things. I see they have a white Legacy on the list, would be cool if it's an Outback so I could get the scoop hood off it. If it hasn't been wrecked of course. But if this engine doesn't run the way it should, I'll probably be getting one of those. It's gonna make or break tomorrow after work.

As long as it's for a 5 speed it will fit. The engine mounts I'm not sure about, but I wanna say 03 and earlier should fit fine.

Yes it will. But don't pay that price for it. Order it from Subarugenuineparts.com or 1stsubaruparts.com (easier to call them to order). 1st lists it for $65 Here's the part number. D1010FE020

One concern. New parts on the way should be here tomorrow, so I cleaned up the mating surfaces on the head and the block this evening. Then I hunted down a spring compressor and took the old valve out. Here's where the concern part comes in. Just a little bit of the old valve splattered itself on the seat, and it won't budge. I planned to just lap the new valve in put it back together and go, but I don't want to do this again if I don't have to. Should I worry about cutting the seat to get the little bit of old valve off of it, or will lapping the new valve in take care of that?

I think the mounts for manual trans cars are stiffer to help control torque roll of the engine and trans during shifting. Depending on your definition of "upgrade", either buy the stock replacement mounts from one of the online Subaru parts dealers, or if you wan them stiffer, get the "Group N" Impreza STi mounts.

If they did not remove the engine, then they removed the transmission for access to the clutch and probably pulled the axle stubs out of the differential, which you're not supposed to do. I'd have to guess they damaged the differential in the process and are trying to hose you out of another $1500 - $2000 The clutch job should have only been around $900, maybe $1000 at a Subaru dealer, with dealer parts. I'd have a serious talk with the owner/manager of that shop. Go get estimates from a few other shops showing their charge for a clutch replacement, and be sure to show them to the shop that did the work. Make some stern demands, and bring a nice "thank you" letter from your Lawyer into it if you have to.

Search "headlight cleaning". There are plenty of ways. 3M makes a great kit with little wheels that you an chuck onto a drill for polishing.

If you get a map light there should be enough room on the panel for you to mount the sunroof controls, but then you might have a hole in your head liner. From what I know about these cars, they run wiring for pretty much every option in all of the cars, they just don't put in the components. If nothing else, pull the rubber trim off and you can pull down the head liner by the sun roof opening and look to see if the wiring is there.

Quite often with trade-in vehicles the dealer will not receive a title from the owner right away, if at all. Dealers also generally don't keep titles to every vehicle on hand. They just file an electronic Title with DMV. When the car is purchased they will have you sign a title reassignment form, which authorizes release of the title to you. This is usually done electronically, and takes a few weeks for the title to be mailed from DMV to you or to the dealer depending on how the paperwork is filed. Once the dealer receives the title they will forward it to you. If you have a buyers order with the VIN of the vehicle, and a title reassignment form, you can apply for a title yourself, but it's easier to just wait for it. You don't need a paper title in hand to apply for registration as long as the title has been filed electronically in your name.

Don't be. I already had to pull the headliner down and reconnect one of the drain hoses yesterday after I washed it. Not entirely convinced it's going to stay either.

Was this a Subaru shop that did the work? Did they remove the transmission, or the engine to replace the clutch? Did they drain the transmission oil? Differential problems can be difficult to identify, especially to a shop that might not be familiar with Subarus.

I patched a hole in the corner of one of the tires on my old truck several years ago. Put about 15k miles on it like that. Still holds air just fine.

The top is clean because I cleaned it. The bottom is sorta kinda clean, because I cleaned it, :-p but you can still see the mess on the cross member. The separator plate must be what was leaking, because the PCV valve is plugged solid. Also think the power steering reservoir is leaking. Found some red fluid on top of the engine underneath it. The timing belt is pretty well worn. The PO did say he replaced the water pump a few years back, and he must have read all the warnings about the crank pulley coming loose because that bolt was TIGHT! I bent the 1/4" allen key that I had stuck through the hole in the bell housing, and had to put a larger one in there to hold the crank while I pulled on the breaker bar. Hopefully the valve seat isn't damaged, at least not more than what lapping the valve can take care of, but I'll find out tomorrow. The second valve looks a little funny on the one edge. Couldn't tell if it was crud or wear, but I'll pop that one out while I'm at it, clean it up and take a close look.

Finally got some pics of it today. The car And look what it came with! The car nage. A little JB should fix that right up eh?

Seems to me last year we got one of these "mid winter thaws" and then immediately got ~20" of snow.