Fairtax4me

2000 OBW 2.5 MT base. No sunroof to worry about. Nice car that got traded in at work. Interior is a little dirty, but otherwise in good shape, exterior is very nice except a few small hail/acorn dents. Right front fender repainted/replaced, but paintwork looks to be good quality. NO rust. 231k miles on the 2.5 with the usual head gasket coolant leak, and notorious other oil leaks to go along with it. Runs well but clicks alot, sounds like injectors. Did these have solid lifters? Might be that if so. Can't hear anything else over the damn Potenza's that are on it. I have never seen a set of those wear evenly, on any car, ever. They always cup/feather. It sounds like an airplane taking off at 45mph. Maybe rear wheel bearings? Never heard bearings sound quite like that though. They're usually a lower pitch. Couldn't find any play in the rear wheels either, but that's not saying much for the bearings on these cars. Brakes are close but would pass inspection, tires have ~35% tread just noisy as hell, some play in the steering but I can replace everything in the front end for under $150. Trans shifts well, synchro on 1st is a bit worn, takes a second to get into gear when sitting still. Probably from someone forcing it in when coming to stop signs, which is understandable since the 2.5 has no guts under 2000 rpm. Anyway. Best I can do on price is $2,000. Edmunds books it at over 3 grand . KBB says ~$2300. NADA puts it around $2000. I'm looking at this as a summer knock-around and sell it next fall kind of thing, Something to ride until I can find a wagon that I can beat up and not care about. Sound like a fair price to you guys? I know these things are hot around here. We (the dealer) just sold an 03 at auction with a crushed fender and door, rough interior, and 107k on the ticker for $5700.

Tune-up first. Plugs, wires (NGK or Subaru OE), PCV valve, all filters, check for vacuum leaks. CEL on?

OR just put the jack under the differential instead. But don't put it under the pan.

X2. Get it up to operating temp and they should come out with little trouble. Some will probably pull the studs out of the heads which is fine. If you really want to, you can get new ones, but usually it's not necessary.

Go to the parts store and find a T in the "Help" emissions section. There are some similar to the Subaru part I know I've seen at Advance. Although It probably isn't much more to just get the right part from the dealer.

Ah yes, that would make a difference. I could have asked first. I saw 5speed and automatically assumed.

Could mean some teeth are stripped off the belt. Or that you cranked it just long enough for your mark to come back to the same place it started from. The better way if you don't have a helper to turn the key while you watch, is to turn the crank by hand with a breaker bar and socket. Listen to the engine in this video. Yours will sound similar if your cams don't turn or are out of time. (broken/skipped belt)

You can compare all the transmission numbers you can find here. http://www.northursalia.com/techdocs/trannychart/trannychart.pdf If you have AWD you need to match up the FDR.

You can grind some material off the stem if you need more room. From what I've read on here the valve seats in these rarely wear enough to warrant replacement. Generally it is the valve itself that wears the most.

Ultra grey RTV is $6.50ish. The Anaerobic lasts forever though. You hardly use any. Where are you seeing it for $20 though? Advance carries it for $13. Yeah that's what I d like to avoid. I have one of the large pick seal pullers with the straight handle, but I need one that will fit into an area with limited access. Can't fit a 12" handle between a cylinder head that's only 3" from a strut tower. (stupid toyota)

Dave is this the puller you use? its a 58430. I was thinking I would order one. Just not sure how effective it is. Seems like it would sip off the seal?

Mine is under the passenger intake runners. There is a hard steel line under there that connects to the vent hose on the drivers side strut tower by the other two fuel lines. The vent hose runs to the back of the car where the canister is. You get a CEL, but no harmful effects to the engine. If the canister vent hose is just hanging somewhere the fuel vapor will just vent to the atmosphere, so you're causing global warming.

X2 on Torque bind. About the only way the rear diff fails on these is if it springs a leak and gets driven with no fluid. Shifter "popping" is probably loose shift cable.

That would be excellent! Be sure to mention P0500 somewhere in the post so it will pop up if someone searches for that code.

Awesome! Hopefully the fix holds up. This should be added to the USRM.

Just run the plain old green stuff.

Well the FSM references speed sensor #2 specifically for that code. On MT trans the VSS2 is on the right hand side of the transmission, right about midway front to back of the trans case. AT vehicle the VSS2 is on the right hand side of the transmission case, about 8-10" back from the bellhousing, near the top of the case. The input signal from the speed sensor to the instrument cluster is an 8 pulse per second AC voltage signal. The output signal from there to the ECM is 4 pulse per second DC voltage of 5V. The ECU pinouts changed a few times over the years. I don't know if the 95 and 96 are the same, but you can try checking Pin 57 on the ECU connector for a 5V reading while driving. It may be easier to put the car on 4 jack stands and "drive" it in the air than to try and monitor a VOM while driving on the road. Pin 57 is the first pin on the left in the center row on the right half of the ECU connector.

Well the ECM has no way to tell what the oil level is, and the CEL does not illuminate for anything non-emissions related, such as the oil level. Large amounts of white smoke I would imagine was all the oil that puked out of the engine, maybe from being overfilled? Missing coolant, means you have a leak or it overheated and boiled out while driving. Check around the thermostat housing for green/ brownish green sludge.

Hell yes! I bet that thing's a beast! Test the sensors with an analog meter. Look for the needle to jump in a pattern as the engine cranks. The older 4 cyls just have a simple 1,1-2 , 1,1-2 pattern. Suspect the 6 would have similar.

Dimming lights has more to do with alternator output. It's just things getting old though. Nothing to worry about (in my experience) until you start getting new lights on the dash. Put a new connector on the negative and keep riding. Your well maintained battery should last through at least another warm season unless you kill it by leaving the lights on.

The FSM for 95 says this about the P0500 code. AG: DTC P0500 — VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR MALFUNCTION (VSP) — DESCRIPTION: The speedometer system is an electric type; it uses no speedometer cable and drives the speedometer according to electric pick-up sensor (vehicle speed sensor 2). The speed sensor 2 is installed on the transmission. The speed sensor 2 sends the vehicle speed signal (8 pulses per one turn of speed sensor driven shaft) to the speed detection circuit in the speedometer where this signal pulse wave is regulated. The regulated pulse signal (4 pulses per one turn of speed sensor driven shaft) is sent to the speedometer drive circuit and odometer (trip meter) drive circuit. The output signal from vehicle speed detection circuit is also used in ECM, TCM, etc. The ECM gets it's info from the combination meter. I don't have the FSM for 96 though so I don't know exactly which wires you need to check for the proper voltage, resistance, etc.

If you get Autozone brakes get their high end Duralast at the least. Their cheap stuff warps in no time.

I don't think you can test the ignitor. But the FSM mentions you can check for voltage variation at the Ignitor connector Pins 1 & 2 (the two closest to the Firewall) while cranking.

Damn double posts....

X2 on battery How did you check the starter? The contacts in these starters wear out and often cause problems like this.