pi_1980

I have a 96' Legacy Brighton with a 2.2. Reciently we have been having the cylinder 3 misfire code thrown on the CEL. I have seen a lot of people say one of the steps for troubleshooting is to change the coil pack location that feeds the trouble cylinder. Do I just swap the plug wires front to back to test the Coil pack like that? No one realy explains how to do this switch for this particular test Thanks for taking time to look at my question.

I am planning this work based on AAA's recommendation. The last time my wife took the car into them for an oil change they said that the head gaskets were leaking oil out and would need to be replaced soon. The first time we had the car in there they told me that the rear main was leaking and we would be lucky to get another 10-20K out of that seal. There were some other leaks that I repaired when I did the timing belt. We couldn't be sure where all the oil was coming from till I fixed the leaky oil pump. I don't think this engine had many oil changes when I was young, and all the seals are trashed. All the previous post's made it sound like I am crazy, but AAA is reputable right? It looks like my head gaskets are leaking to me also. I have fresh oil dripping off the bottom of the inside of the heads. The source looks too high to be the pan, and too far toward the center to be the valve cover gaskets. I have no oil that is visible when I look under the hood, all of the oil is under car. I realize that the 2.2 should be rock solid, that is why we bought one, but this thing leaks like a sieve. Thanks, Paul Iverson

This summer I am going to pull the engine out of my wife's Subaru. It is a 96 Legacy Brighton, with the 2.2. It has head gaskets that are leaking oil out, and it is just a mater of time before catastrophic head gasket failure. I am hoping that I get to it before that. I also know that it has a leaky rear main seal so I will be doing that fore sure as well. I don't think this engine got ragular oil changes when It was young, hense Leaky oild gaskets at 100k. I replaces the timing belt and tensioner about 10,000 miles ago, I don't plan on doing those unless oil has gotten on the belt. We also have an intermittent rough running condition, that throws a cylinder 3 mis-fire. My question are: 1. Am I best off to get all my gaskets from Subaru, or are there some improved aftermarket ones, If so what brand and where can I source them from? 2. What other things should I plan on doing while I am in there? I was thinking about a new pan gasket, having the heads surfaced, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, new front crank and cam seals, and of course the head gaskets and rear main seal. Is there an input shaft seal on the transmission? Any sensors, or switches that I would be a fool not to replace while the engine is out? 3. Are there any special Subaru specific or unusual size or shape wrenches I will require? 4. I have seen some talk about replacing the head bolts in the post I have read, Do I have to source those through Subaru, or is there an acceptable aftermarket parts that will not cost as much? 5. Does anyone have any ideas about the intermittent (once every 2-4 months ) rough running? 6. Any other helpful hints, tricks or links with good information would be appreciated. Thanks for your help, Paul Iverson