Fairtax4me

Left side is open for the fog light switch and generally the far left blank is used for mounting the alarm indicator LED. How many wires are in the plug there?

I've seen quite a few pads seized in the bracket because of rust buildup under the shims. Saw one not long ago that the backing plate on the pad was bent because the pad couldn't move in the bracket. Make sure there is no rust scale buildup on the bracket like Porcupine said. Remove the shims and file or chisel the scale out. I've also had times when new pads were not cut properly and had to grind some material off the ends of the backing plate to get them to fit in the bracket. They should be able to move easily, but should not be so loose that they rattle around.

It's no different than bleeding the brake system normally. Couple tricks. Before installing the unit pour brake fluid into all the ports and rock it around some to get some of the air out. When removing the lines from the old unit, cap the ends so all the fluid doesn't drain out of the lines and the master cylinder. Once the new unit is in the car, loosen the line nuts while you bleed out the supply lines first, tighten those then loosen the lines that go to the wheels one at a time while bleeding them. Gravity bleed them first by leaving the nuts loose until most of the air bubbles stop. Then pressure bleed them by having someone press the brake pedal and holding it, then crack the line nuts loose one at a time. Once you've got all the air out of the unit, then bleed the calipers in a cris-cross fashion.

Better or fixed?

98 yes. 98 Forester has the same DOHC engine as the outback. A 95-98 2.2 is a direct swap. 96-98 2.2 has single exhaust port heads, and needs the single port exhaust y-pipe to match. A 90-94 2.2 can be used if paired with an intake manifold from a 95-98. If it has EGR you at least need the manifold from a 2.2 with EGR to keep the CEL off.

I'm sure you could handle it, but like I said, the window has to be hot for it to work. The conductive epoxy could work as long as the resistance isn't excessively high. The defogger grids on these cars don't work that well to begin with, and any extra resistance between the tab and the grid can cause a hot spot on the glass. I tired one that seemed to function well electrically, but when the weather got very cold the tabs broke free from the grid again.

That counts as major structural damage. When a wrecked vehicle is being appraised (prior to any repairs), the value is decreased by the amount of damage done to the vehicle. So a vehicle worth 13,500 in good condition, subtract 9,000 for damage, leaves you an appraised value around $4,500. AFTER the repairs are made, the condition that says "major structural damage" is what applies to the vehicle. Usually this will be around $2,000-2,500 less than "good" condition, depending on the vehicle. There is another way you can determine the value of the car in its current state. Take it to Carmax and ask them to appraise it. Carmax is the second largest used car volume dealer in the country. Their appraisers are trained to assess value of any kind of vehicle, in any condition. Carmax buys and sells so many vehicles that their auction purchase and retail sales statistics are what KBB, and NADA (and most other vehicle appraisal services) use to partly determine the retail and trade-in values they put on their websites.

How does the engine run? Does it idle rough? If the engine is misfiring you'll get fuel in the oil quick. How old are the spark plugs and wires?

I usually remove the upper strut bolt because it's easier than messing around with the lower ball joint. Half inch breaker bar with a cheater pipe is usually what it takes to get the strut bolts loose if they haven't been touched in a long time. Spray them with PB and let it soak in. If the nut still won't crack loose, some heat from a propane torch will usually get it. Only heat the nut, and be careful of surrounding wiring (such as the ABS wire) and the brake hose.

I've repaired this a few times on my 95 and have learned a few things on how to deal with it. It can be soldered back on, but its tricky to do properly. Make sure the area where the tab sits is clean. Window cleaner is generally good enough to remove any dirt/oils from the area. Use a very fine sand paper (1500- 2000 grit) to lightly scuff the surface. Just enough to make it bright. You need rosin core solder and a 60-100 watt soldering gun. A little 30 watt pencil iron isn't going to get the tab hot enough to hold. The glass needs to be HOT. I'm talking sitting outside in direct sunlight on a 90° summer day hot. If the glass is cold you'll never get enough heat in that area to get solder to properly adhere to the metallic strip on the glass, and you run the risk of shattering the window by applying high heat to one small area on cold glass. If its cold out, put the car inside a garage and point some heaters at the rear window to get it heated up. If you can't get it out of the cold, you should just wait until you have warmer weather to try this. Hold the tab with a small pair of pliers to hold the tab, pre-tin both side of both pads on the tab. Tinning the top side of the tab increases the heat transfer capacity so the heat travels from the soldering iron tip into the pad faster. With the tab still hot from tinning quickly apply it to the strip on the glass and apply the soldering iron to one of the pads until it melts the solder and you see the solder flow out and the pad seats against the glass. Now do the same to the other pad. You'll have to swap back and forth to each pad several times to get the tab to sit flat on the glass, and it can be very tricky to hold the tab still the whole time. You need to tab to sit perfectly flat on the glass. It may take a few tries to get it right. If you don't have any experience using a soldering iron, soldering on glass isn't where you want to start. Get some wire and some solder and practice for a while before you try it. Lots of resources online that can show you how to solder properly. Be sure you know how to tell what a cold solder joint looks like. A cold joint will not adhere properly, and the tab will just fall off again.

What year make model, how many miles? What area of the car was wrecked? Did your insurance declare it a total loss? Was it repaired and now has a salvage/rebuilt title? Was there damage to the unibody frame structure of the car? Most accidents that so not cause damage to the frame of the car do not greatly affect the value of the car as long as it's repaired by a certified collision repair/body shop. If there was damage to the frame, the extent of the damage can determine the depreciation in value. The condition grading systems used places like KBB and NADA (excellent, good, fair, poor) do take into account repaired accident damage. You just need to read the descriptions of each to determine which grade would be given to your vehicle.

The older security systems had a wiper switch on the key cylinder that would deactivate the alarm when using the key. Newer vehicles don't generally have those anymore, so you pretty much have to use the remote/fob to unlock the doors and disarm the security system. If you're into electronic projects there's probably a way to rig up a switch. Might need to do some searching on the best way to set that up. I have a friend who used an Arduino and a Bluetooth module to rig up a keyless entry system for his car, but his didn't have any kind of factory alarm/keyless entry system.

You wont notice any difference, but the rocker arms will wear on part of the rocker shaft support. When you get it apart you'll see the marks it leaves. Eventually (like after 100k miles), it might start to cause an issue, but i'm sure there are a lot of ej22s running around with those washers broken and sitting in the bottom of the oil pan.

Alright! Glad to hear its running again!

Normally you'll get a big loss of power and a rough idle with the MAF unplugged. The engine will run, it just wont run very well. But there was no change at all?

Probably a burned exhaust valve. Unplug the injector on number 4 and keep riding.

There's a mess of wires under there anyway. Not really sure why they would poke under there and connect the test mode plugs, if I stole a car I don't think I would be trying to do any diagnostics on it while waiting to get caught. If there are no other warning lights on (ABS, SRS/Airbag, etc) then they probably didn't unplug anything important. Take a few pictures and post them here and maybe we can figure out whats what.

Rocker shaft spring washers. I've had engines apart and found them in the bottom of the oil pan. Found half of one one time and couldn't figure where the other half went off to. Not too difficult to fix. Basically remove the valve covers, then remove the rocker shafts and disassemble them to put the new washers in. Part number: 13256AA030 #6 http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_6/engine/valve_mechanism/illustration_4/

Yep. Pretty sure the tailhousing has to be removed as well to remove the lock but on the end of the pinion shaft. Not very common for those seals to leak though. More common leak would be the o-rings on the tube that runs through the diff case that the converter pump drive runs through. The tube is shown in the first photo.

Alot of people like Timken. I've been buying Beck Arnley bearings on Rockauto because they're rubber sealed which helps keep dirt out of the bearing.

Okay.When you initially described this problem, it sounded more like a hesitation or a surge issue. What I see in the data is a total loss of power for the same time that typically occurs when the MAF signal drops out. You just cant see this in the MAF data because the signal drops and returns too quickly for the scanner to observe it. The 95-99ish model 2.2 cars do have a known issue with the MAF signal dropping out intermittently, caused by a cracked solder joint inside the connector housing of the MAF. This momentary signal loss causes the ECU to freak, so it cuts the fuel for a few seconds. If the car is still moving when the fuel is returned, the engine will resume running as normal and you drive away like nothing happened. No lights come on on the dash, because as far as the dash is concerned, the engine is still running. Eventually, if the problem gets bad enough it MIGHT set a code for the MAF sensor, but usually these symptoms happen for quite a while before the computer ever sets a code. If sitting still, the engine stalls, you cycle the key and it usually starts right back up again. The signal drop is pretty much instantaneous and can happen so quickly that a typical OBD2 scanner will not be able to pick up the change in signal because the data sampling rate is too slow. But you have an O-scope, and that should be able to pick up on the signal loss. You can probe the signal wire at the MAF and ride around and watch the scope for the voltage to suddenly dip. That dip should coincide with the loss of engine power. Most of the time you can get the engine to stall while idling if you start wiggling/tugging on the wires to the MAF sensor. If you pull the wire just right, it will flex the bad solder joint and cause the signal drop. This can usually be fixed by cutting out the silicone sealant on the top of the sensor and prying the top up. Re-solder the joints where the pins connect from the plug to the pins on the PCB. Then put the top back on and re-seal with silicone or RTV sealant.

I can't remember, have you replaced the MAF sensor on this?

If the spark plugs are old that can definitely cause this code. A good tune-up is often able to make it go away. Plenty of other things can cause the P0420 code as well, but a tune-up is the place to start if it hasn't had one recently.

The compressor won't turn on because you have a HUGE leak! You can't get the system up to the minimum pressure to allow the compressor to turn on because its leaking out almost as fast as you can put it in. Add some refrigerant to the system with the engine OFF and listen for the hissing sound as the refrigerant escapes from the source of the leak. General source for large leaks is the condenser. Rock or a stick puts a hole through it. The bottom corners of the condenser tend to corrode because they get exposed to salt, dirt, water.

Once they get rusted/seized in place, there is only one real option to remove it, and that generally means to destroy it. If you're patient and have a set of punches, usually you can get the sensor to rotate by tapping on the housing where the bolt goes through, and work the sensor back and forth over and over and pry out a little each time, then you might be able to get the sensor out. Might also ruin the sensor.