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This is common, if not actually normal. If you make sure the guide pins are lubricated properly (lots of copper grease, wipe off and apply new during pad swaps) then you will minimize the problem.

Oh dear, the sound apears when the oil is warm? That could mean a worn bearing. These get noisy as the oil thins out.

Dr.RX, the car will become FWD. The input to the viscous coupling has a direct mechanical link to the clutch output shaft and front diff. grossgary: Don't XT's have a selectable AWD drive, with NO center diff?

Yep, MT means you just need to press the throttle hard if you want some tail-sliding action in snow! ("All We'll Drive" still cracks me up!!)

Good news, indeed! No need to dye your engine oil :-)

What's the mileage? The smooth pulleys usually last 120k miles before getting noisy. The toothed belt follower will usually only last as long as the timing belt, so DO replace that one. All can be done with the engine in the car. Some people remove the radiator to gain space, but the engine doesn't have to be out.

Both display symptoms consistent with a small internal headgasket leak.

I beg to differ. If the oil in the coupling has been overheated and the molecules sheared to pieces, your Sube will be FWD. Easy to check for on snowy or wet roads.

Very happy to hear that you are okay! What type of car hit you?

If you leave the Sube in standard tune it will last a long time. The simple rules for any car apply: Don't thrash it until its warmed up, monitor oil and coolant weekly to avoid surprise failures, don't let other people drive it :-) Leave turbo, intercooler, and boost level where they are. Limit yourself to a simple induction kit, and maybe a straight through silencer and the Sube will provide years of reliable motoring.

Unless you've driven far/hard with the temp pegged high, you'll be fine. Cracks in EJ22's are not a common thing. The bolt may have stretched under the added heat, and therefore be easier to remove. Also, coolant could easily pass through the layers of the gasket and end up in mysterious places. No cause for alarm. Do remember that you need to use new headbolts!

My European owner's manual states 50 liters. Is it the Imperial Gallon that equates to 4.24 liters and the Customary that comprises 3.9 liters?

Bigger intercooler? Sure it would help to relieve some of the overboost stress, but it will also add throttle lag. I don't mean that this engine is already so stressed, that it you overboost it will explode. If you want your engine to run 200k miles on nothing more than oil, coolant, and timing belt changes, then stick with normal boost. You could just dismantle the stock exhaust system, and optimise flow in there. Usually there are many edges that can be smooth out. Easiest thing to do is get the pipes welded INSIDE the flanges too. While your in there, a tuned up- and down-pipe would be good, but often you can't fit these into the stock system. You'll need to replace everything, and that brings us back to the noise problem... Bear in mind that this is my personal view. Lots of people spend lots of time (and money!) successfully tuning their engines. Just remember to upgrade your brakes too :-)

A full exhaust system can yield up to 30 horses. It will also yield up to 15dB ! The main thing to note is the turbo up- and down-pipes. Good replacements are far less restrictive. You could replace these and leave the standard cat and silencer on there. HP gain? Maybe ten on a sunny day, but the throttle response will be much better. A K&N (or similar) panel air filter, accompanied by removing any intake silencing could free up a few extra horses. Overboost, and the related fuel delivery upgrades will be more complex and will harm the longevity of internal components.

Well, the only difference between key-start and push-start is that the starter motor isn't turning. A running starting motor will easily pull 40-80 amperes. Perhaps lack of electrical power is the key?

NO it doesn't.Not on EJ-series engines.

Agreed. Stick with your present car. Unless it's a complete rust-bucket. Your valve failure sounds like some details were left out. If the engine shuts off, there is still residual vacuum in the brake booster to make an stop easy. Anyway, don't worry too much about being a woman and therefore tricked by mechanics. Men get conned all the time too. Men just don't like admitting that they don't know anything about cars!

Sporadic rough running sounds more like you have a sensor or ECU fault somewhere. No need to switch any hardware.

The knock sensor being screwn into a coolant passage is the only fault I have found in my well used Haynes.

No way! All you need is an eight inch extension on a socket wrench and you can get to it. Buy the new one first, and you'll know exactly what you're looking for. Screw on to the top of the rear section of the engineblock. Might be easier to get to if you remove the air filter box. Clean the mating surface and don't tighten it harder than by hand. Most often they fail due to cracking..

Yep, that's gotta be the AirCon. Idle will jump 2-300 revs.

The engine runs a slightly rich mixture at start-up to get things warmed up faster. Signals from the O2 sensor are ignored until the engine coolant reaches normal operating temperature. This is because the catalyst needs to be hot to work properly. SO, I would suspect that something is up with your O2 sensor or circuit. If the new sensor can be trusted, then I think it is likely that you have a GROUND problem. The O2 sensor uses the exhaust piping as ground connection. If it's old and rusty....you need to fit a "three wire" O2 sensor or replace the exhaust. Probably cheapest to get a three wire sensor - the third is the ground. Good luck!

I think the smoke sounds more like you may have an exhaust manifold leak. Get under the car and check that all three (per side) bolts are still holding the manifolds tight. The rough running could be caused by a confused O2 sensor.

In order of merit: Factory Manual Haynes General Automotive Diagnostic/Repair book Chilton

Around 5 inches. But the exhaust and rear diff are sensitive to taking ramps are angles.