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Found the seal fragment on the garage floor stuck in rag. Made sure to stick the new ring seal on with extra grease and didn't squeeze all the excess out of the groove. Torque converter went back in to within 0.15" of the trans bell housing. JDM engine working great. Shout out to JDMracingmotors of Montreal for the replacement engine. They post compression test results video on every engine. They also post pictures of known defects, if any, so take a good look at the pics. Had a few issues with the wiring harness but spliced sections of the old and new together to make a complete working harness. Used the stock intake as the JDM has the brake vacuum hose on the opposite side and I could not get the plug out, some kind of strange square fitting. I suppose I could have ran a longer hose...Swapped over the JDM fuel injectors and replaced all fuel lines and injector o-rings. No affiliation with this company. Will post full write-up in a bit.

Intake vacuum test Does this mean there is no restricted exhaust?

Finally got some garage time. Replaced both upstream and downstream O2 sensors with Denso parts. Looks like an exact match to OEM. Took a short test drive on flats, power is still dismal at heavier loads. Much less than my 2.2L that has 290k miles. So pulled out the plugs. Gapped ok, just some brown ash, doesn't look burnt or oil fouled. Dry compression test results: cylinder 1 205 psi cylinder 3 165 psi cylinder 2 180 psi cylinder 4 185 psi What's up with 1 and 3? Just did valve adjustment in the last 5k miles when head gaskets were done and I admit I didn't check compression afterwards. If timing slipped a tooth wouldn't all cylinders be affected? Still baffled about this loss of power. Took apart the air intake. Not obviously blocked. Going to post the video of the vacuum test in a bit.

Vacuum gauge shows more vacuum at 2k rpm vs idle. If restricted, vacuum would drop. Don't think there's a restriction. New O2 sensors on the way.

Eek! So that's where my 9 lost mpg's are glowing to haha.

I like this thought! PO had all wrong AND mismatched plugs. I was like what were you thinking? What's a blow gun? Torch?

Idle is unchanged. I like the vacuum gauge test idea.

For oil pan, trans pan, I use three bond 1217H in a caulk gun tube, which is fairly affordable on Amazon. I find it easier to use than ultra grey in the toothpaste tube. Apply and immediately follow the recommended bolt pattern. Make several passes around until all are torqued to final value.

Heck yeah! It will leak a bit during the repair so have some rags handy. Just keep the fitting elevated some and it will drain into the reservoir. That plastic fitting can break so check for cracks. Get a old toothbrush and some mineral spirits before the repair to just brush off the top of the pump.

Power steering pump. There's an oring in the plastic fitting on top. Get from the dealer.

If it's pre-ignition then I'd say the knock sensor wasn't sensing it. CEL isn't burned out either. ECU wouldn't limit power without flagging CEL right?

2007 Outback 2.5i wagon, base. 110k miles. 5 speed manual. Recent hard drive through the mountains late for a wedding avg 80-90 mph about a month ago without any problems. Wife's daily driver. On a morning drive all of a sudden it could not hill climb. Any incline it loses power. Weak acceleration from a stop. I can feel AVLS kick in around 3500 rpm but it hardly helps power. On flats or down hills it can eventually get up to 65-70 but it takes minutes. On steep upgrades, it struggles to maintain 40 mph. There is a rattle from the front with engine load that sounds like preignition. No CEL. MPG has dropped from 27 to 18. Coolant temps running a bit hotter than usual, hot heat in cabin. Not overheating. Recent work in the past year: Has new radiator and water pump. Timing components replaced last year with Gates kit by previous owner. I think aftermarket wires per PO. Recently changed to new NGK FR5AP-11 plugs. Gates tb tensioner was leaking so it was replaced with OEM, $176, ouch. Head gasket job last year. Original exhaust. During engine work I noticed wet oil around exhaust port 2nd cylinder, so I'm thinking a ring problem, it consumes a lot of oil but hasn't been starved. Car is new to me one year ago. After last year's engine work, we renamed this car to "damaged" and it is living up to this quite well. About four months ago got a P0420 code (catalytic converter efficiency) but it went away and hasn't returned. Last summer it flagged CEL p0026 and that forced it into limp home mode, had loss of power (would not go above 4k rpm) but this is different. That CEL went away after replacing both Variable Valve Lift Diagnosis Oil Pressure Switches, and power was restored. So the possibilities are: Cat or muffler obstruction. Slipped a tooth on timing. There is no engine fuel filter anymore compared to my 2002 and older. Fuel injectors? Plug wires? Haven't tried anything like pulling plug wires, trying to finish an engine swap in a 2002 H6 that is taking all my garage time. How are fuel problems diagnosed? Pull injector connectors one at a time while running? I don't have a fuel pressure gauge. Any help is appreciated. Going to start with plug wires, then fuel, then timing, then exhaust.

Old (intact) ring seal next to new torn seal.

2002 H6 Outback sedan. 325k. 4-speed auto trans replaced by previous owner. In the middle of an engine swap. During the engine removal, the torque converter came out a bit, despite my crappy hand made ring gear keeper tool. After replacing input shaft o-ring, and oil pump shaft oil seal, spring clip, and seal ring, and reinstalling the input shaft into the transmission and the oil pump shaft into the torque converter, I attempted to reinsert the torque converter into the clutch case. It had some resistance that I thought was 'normal.' It went in to within 0.1-0.2" of the trans bell housing. Spec is 0.11" so I pulled it back out. Upon removal, the majority of the seal ring was just inside the clutch case opening. No sign of the missing 2 cm fragment of the ring seal. I had stuck it on with some dielectric grease but it must have popped out of the groove in the shaft and sheared off. I used a piece of copper wire to fish around inside the area where the oil pump shaft resides without finding anything. So my obvious choices are: 1. Install new seal ring, reinstall and hope for the best, like the missing ring fragment either stays put in the shaft area or ends up in the trans pan and doesn't block any oil ports. 2. Drop the trans and remove the torque converter clutch case and fish out the piece. Would love some input on this dilemma.

Good thought. That's engineering talk. If I ever do this again I'll try to remember that. PV = nRT and all that. I used to use only Subaru rad hoses. I've gone cheaper, these are probably Gates. They don't fit quite right and the old style OEM wire-bolt clamps don't work as nicely anymore. Those new compression band clamps seem to have too small ID. Wonder if they fit better with Subaru hoses. Thinner wall and therefore reduced outer diameter?

Rebooted the NTN driver's side inner boot. Drawing shows a circlip for the inner cup but unless it got ground to bits it isn't there. Tripod is mildly pitted. I used a Doorman part with a Lisle 30950 band clamp tool. Disassembled, wiggled the tripod bearings back into the cup, and reclamped the aftermarket inner side. No problems since reinstalling. I know these will need replacing eventually so I'm in the market for salvage yard NTN's to rebuild. Problem is that in Tennessee at least two salvage yards lists other model years as non-interchange. One won't bother looking for or selling me anything but my model year. Opposedforces.com lists 2003 and up as compatible. This is the list from the dealer website for front CV axle interchange. Why do the salvage yards have a different (and much more restricted) list? Going to shop at car-part.com. I miss the yards in Maryland who let you bring tools and pull parts yourself. Subaru Legacy 2.5L 4AT 4WD Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L 4AT 4WD Limited Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L 4AT 4WD Sedan 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L 5MT 4WD Limited 2005 Subaru Legacy 2.5L 5MT 4WD Limited Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L 5MT 4WD Sedan 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5AT 4WD GT Limited Sedan 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5AT 4WD GT Limited Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5AT 4WD GT Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5MT 4WD GT Limited Sedan 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5MT 4WD GT Limited Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 5MT 4WD GT Wagon 2005, 2006, 2007 Subaru Legacy 2.5L TURBO 6MT 4WD GT Limited Sedan 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 3.0L 5AT 4WD Limited Sedan 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Legacy 3.0L 5AT 4WD R Sedan 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5L 4AT Base 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5L 4AT Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5L 5MT Base 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5L 5MT Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Subaru Outback 2.5L TURBO 5AT XT 2005, 2006, 2007 Subaru Outback 2.5L TURBO 5AT XT Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 2.5L TURBO 5MT XT 2005, 2006, 2007 Subaru Outback 2.5L TURBO 5MT XT Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 3.0L 5AT L.L.Bean 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Subaru Outback 3.0L 5AT Limited 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Subaru Outback 3.0L 5AT R 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Deck is flat without any pitting. Car went back on the road last week. No bubbles in coolant overflow tank or gurgling noises behind dash in cabin. Overflow tank level is drawn down overnight as expected during burp period unlike before where it would stay high. Rad level is constant unlike before where it would drop. Coolant is staying green not dirty gray. No leaks at head or valve cover. Small pesky coolant leak at lower hose, rad side, which undoubtedly contributed to pressure loss during leak testing of cooling system. I'm gonna send the machine shop a Christmas card for saving these heads from the scrap pile. Thanks to all who posted key advice above.

Concur about false negatives on exhaust gas testers for radiator bubbles. Fluid didn't change color. I had the same problems sucking up coolant into the tester. Had to use a turkey baster with a hose to draw down radiator fluid. Gives a false sense of reassurance. The only positive I got was on tailpipe gases...yep, its exhaust all right.

Well the old dewalt DW292 electric impact got the axle nuts off in less than 5 seconds. Not rusted though. Pulled the axle out. Tried to manipulate the joint to get it back into shape but it wasn't happening. Took the inner boot off and looks like the tripod style triple-toroid bearing assembly doesn't automatically slip back into the grooves in the cup unless the toroids are at the outer extremes of the center ball. Just like GD said, there is no keeper mechanism to prevent the bearing assembly from falling out of the cup. Once it falls out, its probably not going back in unless you can fiddle the three donut shaped bearings back into the cup slots. Looks like OEM axle has a stamp in small type on the inner cup, "NTN" grey coated metal. Engine bolted up ok to trans a lot easier after the axles were taken out. Lost a bunch of gear oil. No axle stubs to keep it in like in the 90's. Well I wanted to change the gear oil anyway...

Good to know nothing damaged except for boot. I have a corded dewalt electric impact, can handle lug nuts and then some. Maybe time to upgrade to the HF earthquake wrench. Old style OEM had green painted inner cover. How can you tell OEM for later models? I'd rather have it rebuilt then go aftermarket.

Driver side inner boot torn. Has to come out. How to loosen the axle nut with no engine? I usually use brake power to hold the wheel.

2007 Outback Wagon 2.5 with 5MT. Engine going back in after head gasket job. What I am having problems with is both front CV axles are somehow locking, they don't rotate freely. Passenger side inner joint is all stretched out. Driver side inner joint was at an awkward angle. The inner joints don't have freedom to flex 360 like they should. All wheels off the ground. In neutral. Parking brake off. I tried to stretch the inner joint on an old axle all which ways to force it to fail but couldn't. These are the new axles with the pin-less inner joints. FSM says to lever them off the transmission. PS axle is aftermarket for sure, maybe also DS. Car is new to me this summer. Do these axles need replacing or can I just take them out and coax them back into shape? Some background: Before the engine removal I disconnected the transmission mount crossmember and supported the front of the trans with a jack, figuring the extra degrees of freedom of movement with the unbolted supports would help lining things up going back in. Both front axles left in place. I left the exhaust hanging by the transmission bracket so now picture the front two cats mated to the passenger side straight pipe all loading the transmission toward that side. During the engine reinstall I tried various pitch and roll changes of the engine and trans to get the bellhousings to line up. Somehow the trans got into an awkward roll to passenger side weirdness and wouldn't budge. Pulled the engine back out. The driver side axle's inner boot was bent at an ugly angle and stuck, LF wheel would not turn more than 45 degrees. I finally unbolted the center trans exhaust bracket and then was able to lift up the bellhousing and rock the DS axle into a normal position and free it to spin. PS inner joint is still all stretched with the boot sucked in. Sometimes the RF wheel won't turn. Engine is just minding its own business on the crane. I'm doing all this manipulation standing in the engine bay.

2007 Legacy Outback FSM, SOHC section https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?18087-Subaru-Factory-Service-Manuals-(FSM)-Every-Model-USDM-EU

Switch to engine assembly lube for head bolts, use no oil. Grind slots in an old head bolt, fill with assembly lube and chase the threads. Run all the bolts down the threads after chasing. Replace rusted bolts. Lube the top of the washer and the mating surface of the bolt head. Leave engine side of washer dry.