ThosL

I don't have the tools or space to work on it. We'll get to the bottom of it; probably timing issues as the compression is tops.

However it's clear to me that bent or malfunctioning valves are the reason for the hesitation and sputtering on the other head. A friend said valve timing could also account for this.

We got the job done; the machine shop had to do two valves and whatever else they do to the head. Compression/power is better now. But timing is off, so will have to have the mechanic adjust that which apparently is not easy.

We finally got into this today. Put in a new timing belt; one of the pulleys had failed and buggered up the the timing belt. The passenger side is intact with compression at 150 pounds, but one cylinder has no compression. So will have to pull the driver's side head and have the machine shop get it in normal condition.

I bicycled down to the quality mechanic I've used who said he could probably look at it next Tuesday, and he was thinking the replacement engine would be $600 for a good used 2.5 and around $650 or more for the mechanical work and materials. Someone else who was recommended said that I could have it towed to him tomorrow and he'd get to the bottom of the issue, but having had no experience with him, I'm reluctant without seeing him in person. I'll have to do a hard nosed analysis of my options on it; body is good, suspension, tranny, etc..

I spoke to a mechanic who'd be willing to put a timing belt on but said 99% of the time the valves are damaged as I've heard with Honda.

I looked at the most pertinent Youtube videos on comparable Subarus with Timing Belts breaking and I did not see much hope there; an interference engine often will be damaged when these go, I may not help that I was going only around 25mph uphill when it broke. I called a couple mechanics, Hispanics who are pretty intuitive, the one busy guy thought likely damage. The other guy was going to come up to check it out but may figure that he could be opening up a can of worms. 240K plus miles, generally a good car.

I reactivated my AAA membership fortunately they don't have a wait period if you were a member on 3 mile tows as the vehicle is about that far to tow. The mechanic who my brother has used will go to you; we'll check it out later to see if there was any damage.

2 hour job? I didn't think I'd need my AAA membership so let it expire, good thing that they don't have a wait period at least for the basic, but the next tier that lets you tow for 100 miles does have a wait a week or more and another chunk of money.

I was going relatively slowly, 30-35mpg or so. I heard it break, hopefully no damage was done. How big a job is this? I read a couple threads here where they did damage in breaking and to avoid aftermarket ones. Updated--corrected to reflect what we found once it was opened up.

As others said it could be the driveshaft. My guess is possibly the tires that have under 10k in life left. I replaced one of the front wheel knuckles with a junkyard one. I had one stud on that wheel which was stripped so had 4/5 good studs, not sure if that could have distorted something. Friend's mechanic said to drive it slow in a tight circle for "clicking" tied to CV axles. Also that the tie rods, ball joints, bearings etc. if they are not 100% would account for the vibration.

I have a 2002 Forester, 250K miles. I was trying to diagnose my Forester with a mechanically inclined friend. Over 55 especially and going uphill with foot on the pedal the vibration is the worst. A mechanic friend of Sam thought either it would likely be tire balancing or axles. I had the tires recently rotated so don't think it is them. Any direction on trying to figure this out would be appreciated. I had alignment done after replacing a tie rod end so think the front end is ok.

I finally got the spark plug out nearest to driver. Strange and unexpected, I still don't know why it was such a tough hurdle. I used an extractor sharp edge type spark plug socket, had to hammer it in. A lot of debris was also in the plug wires area so I ran the car for a couple seconds with that plug hole open so any remaining debris would be blown out.

It's the external shaft of the spark plug that is stripped, so not a big job.

You are obviously a very thorough mechanic. Yesterday I was trying to get out the last remaining spark plug, driver's side furthest in out. I will need to get a spark plug wrench easy out as the previous owner stripped it out and I have not gotten around to it yet.

Yes, that's part of the job, inserted new rubber gaskets. Still oil is getting into the plug wire compartments.

I'm learning the reason behind your pointers the hard way. I pulled one of the plugs the other day to check the gap of the Denso plugs and found it had fouled out, but I kept my NGKs so will put those back in. Some of us like me don't respond well to authoritative statements, such as "No!" or "Never do that!!!" without hearing the reasons behind it. Many years of getting bad advice I guess. Also there's oil in the plug holes even after the valve cover gasket change out and I thought I was not overfilling.

Also the local Auto Zone has the tools in their free rental program for pushing out and pressing in new bearings. But I just don't have the tools for most of the work. I was able to get it done at a shop that is reliable for $65 plus the $75 used knuckle.

LaJoies in Norwalk had the one I needed, and a local mechanic may be my choice in the am as I do not have the power tools, just low end ones. He'll probably get me for around $75 so $150 is not bad to replace it plus the yard let me take a rotor which I needed.

Too bad the wheel bearings don't have grease fittings anymore. I was thinking you should be able to inject lithium grease into the area of friction anyway if you catch it early but I'm probably dreaming.

A local yard had one for $75 which is pretty aggressive as a shop 45 minutes away had one for $50; plus one of my studs on the hub was buggered so that will address the two issues.

How did you make out with this? Around 10 years ago I paid a local shop to change out the bearings, spent too much and they failed within 1 1/2 years-2 years, both. So I put in used spindles instead, no problems then.

Thanks, I'm checking around. A member here had the same problem last winter; went to a dealership that has the equipment to do the job on the vehicle but high price.

I'm probably going to look for a good knuckle instead of trying to get a pressed in bearing on my 2002 Forester, but will try to get one in the next couple days. Pulling that off is not easy.

Sounds like you were just the right person to get it!