Snowman

It would probably be much easier and potentially cheaper to just get a pump from a junkyard.

It's easy to change the spark plugs if you pull the engine out:drunk: . Ratchet and 3" extension is pretty much standard procedure, and it sucks big time. I've been told that lots of newer American cars, especially minivans, are much worse than these.

Or different diameter, requiring that you calculate in the % difference.

Do it after the car has sat overnight, and most of the pressure should be bled off. You can also put a rag around the fuel hose when removing it to keep the fuel contained.

Woops. Sorry about that. There's a bunch of different terms that get used for the S and C, and I had heard Spark and Compression the most often so I guess I assumed that's what it was. Anyway, use the SM oil in your car.

Use a volt meter to test in the following places: 1. On the battery terminals with the engine running, test with all factory electrical loads on. The voltage should read at least .5 volt above the voltage with the engine and everything off (open circuit voltage), generally between 13.5 and 14.5 volts. This will tell you if there's a problem or not. If there's a problem, proceed to the next steps. 2. Place one lead on the alternator case and one on the terminal on the alternator, with the engine running and all electrical loads on. Like above, the voltage should read at least .5 volt above open circuit voltage. If it doesn't, your alternator is failing. 3. Place one lead on the battery positive and one on the terminal on the alternator, with the engine running and all electrical loads on. Voltage should read less than .5 volt. If it's more, there's a bad connection between the alternator and battery. 4. Place one lead on the battery negative terminal and one on the alternator case with the engine running and all electrical loads on. Voltage should read less than .5 volt. If it's more, then you have a grounding problem. Those tests should give you a decent idea of what's going on. You can further pinpoint problems in the power and ground cables/connections by using the method described in steps 3 and 4 to test the voltage drop across individual cables or connections. Hope this helps.

Wow, talk about coincidence. My EJ22 had 141k on it when I switched too. After a few thousand miles, I have yet to see a single drop leak...had some PCV-related problems for a while until I got a new valve, but never any leaks.

Looks like fun! It's clear why the Yota got stuck, his tires are WAAAAY too wide for that kind of use. Yours look about perfect.

SL is now an outdated oil rating. SM is the new one, and it meets the SL standards plus some additional ones. The oil rating system is divided into S for spark ignition and C for compression ignition, with the second letter indicating how "good" the oil is. The farther along in the alphabet, the better the oil is. BTW, the latest Mobil1 oil is rated SM. I don't think it really matters whether you switch to synthetic at 3k, 6k, or 9k. By 3k, the engine SHOULD be fully broken in, but if you want to make sure, it won't hurt anything to wait a bit longer.

That'd be sweet. If you've got a removable sunroof, or could adapt some Brat T-tops, it'd be even cooler (both figuratively and literally). I dunno about making a "bed" in the back, but I think an RX sort-of-convertable would be awesome.

If you look at the manual's definitions for "severe service," I think just about everybody on this board would fit into that category.

I'm going to have to go clean myself off.

Oh. Woops. Completely disregard my previous post then.:-\

If it needed a reseal due to a bad HG or something, it may have a bunch of crap left in the exhaust that's still burning off. What exactly was wrong with the car, and what exactly did you replace? Does it look and smell like burning coolant, oil, or what?

So let me get this straight, the fuel pump itself is working and you are getting fuel flow TO the injector? Does the check engine light come on? (And if so, have you checked for codes?) How about spark? My first inclination if you aren't getting power to the fusebox is that a fusible link is bad.

My SPFI engine had similar symptoms this last summer. I think I had it tracked down to the coolant temp sensor like WJM said. Never had time to change it before I swapped in the EJ22, but I'm pretty sure that's what the problem was.

Looks cool, and definitely very unique. What's with the front bumper?

You can put struts from a 97-99 Legacy Outback on your car. On AWD models, it raises it about 2". Your car may get more lift if it's lower than an AWD model. I really don't know if it would actually improve your mileage any. Raising the car will increase the frontal area and drag, and larger tires are harder to turn. Anybody that's actually done this care to give some MPG numbers to prove or disprove?

Now that's some real snow driving! Is that even on a road?

I would go with a deep cycle or marine type battery, as it will handle repeated discharges a lot better than a regular automotive starting battery. Optima yellow-tops are probably the best, but one from NAPA or wherever would probably do just fine, as long as it's a deep cycle battery.

Try various punches and chisesels with a BFH. It will come off with a little BFH lovin'.

I've used that 5-minute epoxy to repair holes in headlights before. It yellows a bit over time, but lasts forever.

I've had great luck with my Optima. It's been in the car for four years, seen temps from 80 above to 40 below, been overcharged by a bad alternator at least once, sat for long periods of time without use, and has never needed a jump or a charge.

OEM and Purolator are the same filter with different packaging, and are the best in my opinion. Change it at 3000 miles or less, probably closer to 2500 or 2000 if it's really cold for long periods (fuel and condensation in the oil don't get a chance to burn off).

It's obviously not getting fuel, or it is getting fuel and it's bad from sitting for so long. My recommendations: 1. Drain the fuel tank, flush it out with a gallon or two of new gas, and fill it up again. 2. Replace the fuel filter. 3. Take the fuel line off the carb and crank the engine to verify that the fuel pump is working. 4. Take the top off the carb (you'll probably need a new gasket, and you might as well put an accelerator pump in while you're at it) and clean out any crap that's built up in the float bowl. Spray carb cleaner through any orifii you can easily access as well.