99obw

I think I explained that pretty well above. As myles points out the pressure differentials involved are on different orders of magnitude as well. I could be wrong, but I think SOA would have recommended this for the Phase I some time ago if it did any good.

Thanks for the encouraging words. Yes, unfortunately I do feel your pain. I got the other bushing 20251AA000 at the dealer today along with four new washers for the lateral link bolts. Believe it or not my tools should be here tomorrow, so I will probably get after this blasted project again this weekend. I keep telling my wife that I do the work myself because it saves money, I wonder if she still believes me.

Well, I resumed the wheel bearing job Saturday. Yes, a microphone would have recorded some interesting words! Right side: I got the lateral link bolt out without any trouble. The axle is rusted into the hub. No combination of heat, penetrating oil, BFH, or wheel puller would dislodge the axle. I have ordered a tool, OTC 7208, front wheel drive hub remover, which looks like it should push the axle out of the hub no problem, but it won't actually remove the hub AFAIK. The hub tamer should do that. Left side: I underestimated how badly rusted into the bushing the lateral link bolt was. I ended up cutting the head off of the bolt, then pounding the bolt into the rear bushing as far as I could(1/2"), pulling the lateral link to the rear to expose a bit of the bolt between the bushing and the knuckle, then cutting the bolt with an angle grinder. Then I pushed the rear outer lateral link bushing out of the lateral link with a ball joint press. I pounded the remainder of the lateral link bolt forward and cut the bolt between the front bushing and the knuckle with the grinder. Then I removed the front bushing with the ball joint press. I never did get the bolt pieces out of either of the bushings. Rust is a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure. That is where I am as of last night. I need to get another bushing at the dealer today and at least get the car back together so my wife can drive it. I will finish the bearing job when the tool arrives. This has turned into an epic! Never a dull moment at the monster barage.

I can't say I would definately buy one. I am very interested in a diesel subaru, but I am also very dissapointed in SOA and Subaru for the perpetual 2.5l head gasket circus. I think the newer subarus are lacking something that attracts me the the older ones that is hard to define. Oh yes, I know, RELIABILITY. I would stand back and observe the reliability, economy, ease of repair, etc. of the new subaru engine for a few years. Then I might pick one up used to see for myself. Diesels have very high compression ratios, I think Subaru would have a hard time designing an adequate cylinder head sealing mechanism.

I would start by replacing the wires. I replace them every 120k miles or every two plug changes. They are hard to reliably test so periodic replacement is the easiest. I use OEM parts.

It looks like there is an oil/water heat exchanger on there too. Kind of a dumb question, but is that OEM on the forester? I have never heard of them coming from the factory with one of those. It looks like a very clean installation. Notice the thermostat housing has a coolant pipe on it going to the heat exchanger. Interesting. Amsoil ATM and ASL (I use both) are group IV PAO based, btw. With my preferred customer discount I get them for $4.55 a quart. Very good PAO oils IMHO.

wrxsubaru, I feel your pain. I am again trying to do the rear bearings on the outback and I have the lateral link bolt out of the right side. Can't get the left one out yet. The next step on the right side is to get the axle out of the hub. Penetrating oil, BFH, heat, no luck. My stepdad is on his way with the air hammer and his massive assortment of pullers. Why can't Subaru just put a dab of anti-sieze on this stuff!? Man I wish I had that tool.

You probably could, but I wouldn't. To me it makes more sense to buy the proper tool for $25 and not risk damage to the timing components.

I honestly do not know. I have been using a chain wrench with old belts to protect the pulley.

It's funny you ask, as I JUST fixed the one on our car. What usually happens is the handle doesn't return all the way, and when you unlock the car the rear lock won't unlock because the handle isn't fully returned. The handle needs to be cleaned and lubricated regularly. I clean it at the car wash and then spray it with white lithium. Try that first and if it doesn't fix it we can explore other options.

Well, now that you mention it, NOS is a gimmick too. It's cheap HP at the expense of engine longevity and reliability. NONE of my engine builder friends use NOS. They build engines that make huge HP without it and last. A lot of engine building purists consider NOS cheating. It's a cheap way for someone that doesn't necessarily know what they are doing to build HP that would otherwise cost a lot of money and require a lot of expertise. Temporary HP doesn't impress me I guess. A 2.5l engine that can make 300 HP all day long and last for years, that impresses me.

To me this is a perfect illustration of the law of diminishing returns. Look how complex, heavy, and expensive they had to make this thing in order to get the electrical supercharger idea to work, assuming is does work. 15 seconds of boost every twenty minutes? IMHO this is a street racing gimmick designed for the kiddies.

While browsing my favorite tool catalog that came in the mail today I found this. It looks like it might work great for holding those pesky 2.2l cam sprockets when replacing the cam seals. Pretty cheap too. Universal Cam Adjuster It would make a good addition to my toolbox.

IIRC, the haynes manual instructs you to first line up the mark on the crank pulley with the timing mark on the timing cover with cylinder #1 at TDC. It then tells you to remove the timing covers, then turn the engine clockwise until the little mark on the crank sprocket lines up with the mark on the oil pump. At that point the cam sprockets should line up, but they won't line up exactly. Once the crank pulley is off you should use the marks on the sprockets for proper alignment.

Yes, please ramble-on.

Oil pressure. EDIT: Sorry, I mean "What is oil pressure"

Well, they also still sell the EJ20 and the EZ30. Perhaps one of my biggest dissapointments with SOA is that they stopped selling the EJ22, must be it was too reliable. Listing all of the engines available in used Subarus is beyond the scope of this post. I will not buy another EJ25 powered vehicle unless I buy it for what I believe it to be worth, which is unlikely to happen. For example, recently there was a '98 OBS for sale locally with 154k on it. The book value was just shy of $7k, but I wouldn't give a penny over $3k for it. A friend of mine is an auctioneer and sees outbacks with Phase I's in them for less than $1k all the time. Many of these cars are selling with the head gaskets blown. I may pick up one of these at some point, but really I have more interest in driving cars with other engines at this point.

I will get it at autozone next time, though I generally try and avoid them as I have had terrible luck with their junk parts. Napa parts are slightly better. I live in the middle of nowhere, and napa is two minutes away. Autozone, advance auto, and a private auto parts store are about 30 minutes away. Many times napa is too convenient and I probably pay a premium.

Jake, I wouldn't put it in the '99. I won't be putting it in our '99 that has had the gaskets replaced. The typical failure mode of the Phase I and the Phase II is completely different. In the Phase I, high-pressure combustion gasses push their way into the cooling jacket, so any stop leak wouldn't be able to plug the leak, it would be pushed out of the way. In the Phase II pressurized coolant pushes it's way through the head gasket and out of the engine, so stop leak would be pushed into the leaking gasket, presumably plugging the leak. The problem IMHO is the detrimental effects of this stuff won't be seen for years, when it may cause plugged radiators and heater cores. The dirt road I live on is still frozen, but not for long. Weather like this is nice but it makes it so much harder when the next snow storm hits.

Wow, $5. Where at? It's $10 at my local Napa for ultra-grey, $5 for ultra-black. FWIW I have never had a leak with ultra-black or the anerobic, but the blue RTV seems to be hit or miss. I won't use the blue stuff on my own cars. A little OT, paid $23 for a bottle of blue loctite at Napa a couple of days ago. Ouch!

Half a ton should be more than enough. Last weekend I installed a 302 V8 with AOD tranny attached with a half ton hoist.

Jake, AFAIK the official Subaru statement only applied to '99-'02 Phase II engines. If I had one of those engines I would think long and hard before putting this stuff in, especially if near the 100k cutuff for the extended warranty. Your '03 should have the improved head gaskets, so I wouldn't add this stuff unless you develop a leak and the dealer recommends it. Just my $0.02.

Yes, but some engine other than the EJ25.

Josh, Did you buy any of that three bond yet? I am curious about the size of the container. From http://www.subaruparts.com 004403007 Super Three Bond 1215 $20.03 SOA635019 Super Three Bond 1215 $5.00 I am guessing the only difference is the size of the container, presuming that the two are actually the same otherwise.

Try telling that to someone who has suffered a head gasket failure only to have SOA play dumb and act like there is not a problem. You are probably right, I doubt they are ashamed. They are laughing all the way to the bank with this "solution". It will plug the leaks long enough to get the cars out of the warranty period and minimize the number of head gaskets they have to pay to have replaced.