NorthWet

PCV system needs some attention. The PCV valve itself may need replacing. The cam-cover PCV vents tend to gunk-up and narrow (easily visible if you pull the hoses off of the cam-covers), and this tends to pump oil upwards. The breather at the back of the block (near the timing window of the bell housing) might also be gunked up... as might the hoses. Check over the entire system, but BE GENTLE with the molded hard-plastic "tree that all of the PCV hoses connect to: It tends to get brittle with age, heat and oil, and may be impossible to buy new.

The IHI RB5 VF7 (I think that I recalled that correctly) is pretty much a forgotten and ignored stepchild. Most people seem to favor upgrading to the VF11 off of the Legacy, or using a TD04. I can't remember offhand of the VF11 requires flange modifications, but the TD04 does. (Apologies in advance if I remembered some of this incorrectly... It's been a elevated-migraine day this week.)

Most likely IMHO is that your uppipe has cracked at the turbo flange... a very common problem. Oil often comes from PCV system: you might want to check in the rubber inlet boot for oil. I might have an extra turbo lying around.

MilesFox to the rescue!

Setting by feeler gauge is something that gets better with practice. Assuming that you have followed the procedures for positioning the cam lobe for each valve the worst you are likely to do is set the valve too tight or too loose by a thousandths of an inch or so. Are you putting pressure on the rocker throughout the "feeling", or just to get the blade in? You should not be messing with the rocker or anything else while feeling the blade resistance.

The SVX is nice, and need not be a money pit. Lots of shared components with the Legacy, but enough difference to make parts sourcing a pain. The 4EAT really does suit the purpose of the car (Grand Touring), and need not be a problem if maintained and kept cool. Although I have used the previously mentioned SVX site, general conversation seems to be mostly what color car they have. As long as you have realistic expectations for using the car (freeway cruiser), you will enjoy it.

Yes, and yes.

Do you want flow rate or maximum pressure? Pressure needs to kept close to standard, or you can overpower the float and valve.

My guess is FOD hung up the exhaust valve (and possibly the intake by the looks of it), either holding it off its seat long enough to cause erosion, or nicked the valve; From either point, exhaust erosion could have done the rest. Replace the valve(s), check to see if the seat needs replacing, reassemble and drive for another 200k miles.

+1... + little hose running from under the carb/throttlebody to the thermostat housing. Lots of leak possibilities, the head and headgasket have nearly 0 chance of being the source for an external leak. If I had to guess, the leak is running down into the sparkplug pockets on the head and then draining out through the drains in the head casting (which is why those drains are there). Look for a coolant trail running into the rear sparkplug pockets.

Extremely unlikely that your head has a crack. On Subaru engines, all coolant leaks find their way to the bottom of the engine to drip. You need to look around the top of the engine.

Before you start tearing things apart, recheck that you have the dished washer (between the split-conical piece and the axle nut) on properly, and then retorque the axle nut. The axle doesn't always pull tight into its seat when you install it, and this can cause the axle nut to lose torque and the axle to shift laterally in the hub, making all sorts of noises. Quick thing to check, and doesn't cost you anything but a little time.

Could be a Techno-Nightmare. Coworker has a 1999 (?) S80, and she can barely afford to keep it running. For her model year, they had just introduced throttle-by-wire, and the first few years used mechanical position sensors (resistive film with wiper contact), which failed with alarming frequency and regularity (MTBF App.70K miles, IIRC). Cost to replace with newer electronic unit was around a couple thousand dollars. The car's computer controls everything, including turn signals, electric windows, sunroof and doorlocks. The computer loses its mind with alarming regularity and predictablility: If you haven't used your driver's key to unlock the driver's door a certain number of times in a certain period of time (like 3 times in a week or a month), the computer program degrades and things stop functioning... things like turn signals just quit working. You can usually get most of the functions back by disconnecting the battery for a period of time and reconnecting it, but this isn't so convenient in the S80 as the battery is hidden in the trunk. Any fault has to be diagnosed by a Volvo diagnostic program: Dealer charges around $200 JUST to connect you to their machine. Independent garages can buy the program, but it costs somewhere around $350-400, covers only a few models, and if you are the only person to use it guess who pays. She was trying to get a recall software patch applied but the Dealer said that he couldn't do it until all of her faults were resolved., requiring a re-hook (and another fee) in order to read the next error. Ad Nauseum. My coworker's car, when her throttle-by-wire's program stumbled into a bit of bad code and got stuck, showed over 200 faults. Currently, her OIL light comes on, her fuel gauge reads zero, her turn signals don't work and she is scared to drive it the 3 miles to work each day. Just saying that you might look at the Volvo Forums to see if this gem has similar issues. High Tech, and built to stay that way.

+1 on the 1/2" business end of a ratchet, breaker bar, or impact wrench. 13mm and 1/2" are so close that I use them interchangeable except on tough situations.

Non-distributor-side (US passenger-side) timing belt is likely not set right. Did you remember to turn the crankshaft a complete rotation before installing the second belt? Since it started before the work and doesn't start now, look for obvious slip-ups before you start looking for exotic problems.

I have no idea what room/clearances you have, but a cutoff disc (or sawzall blade) might work better than a toothed blade. I had to gnaw off the head of a trailing-link bolt that way.

Never had a cone washer fail... can't even imagine how it would. If you have changed the front axle or done the wheel bearing, a loose axle nut is a strong likelihood: Make sure that the dished ("spring") washer is convex side outwards, and then retorque the axle nut.

Worth restating. I missed that this was a Loyale, just because of which Forum this was in. Mea Culpa. Wasn't thinking SPFI injector.

I like to use the gloves whenever I can... it really does make cleanup easier. I would like to find where to get the longer gloves, as wrist-length ones let me get dirty between glove cuff and coat/shirt cuff. On particularly messy tasks (wheel bearings, engine teardown), I often double-up the gloves (wear a pair over a pair), so that if one gets ripped (usually from a snag), my hand doesn't get dirty before I can put on another glove. Speaking of rips, I find that the latex (at least in HF brand) end to "explode" when snagged, and the nitriles tend to rip more progressively. The nitrile/latex "dual layer" gloves that HF sells seem to be more rip resistant, but handle chemicals more poorly than their nitriles. Vinyls are even less likely to rip, but aren't form-fitting: their little wrinkles/flaps get in the way of touch, and also more easily get caught in zippers and such (I use them in class). Any glove degrades my sense of touch, and, if I am tired, sometimes I have to remove gloves so that I can feel if threads are going together right. If not careful, the gloves tips can also get pulled into the threads of a bolt while screwing it in, and the gloves can get caught up when using a drill/air-tool. kn33: More likely to get internal-organ cancer (probably liver) from oil and other chemicals. I have Scott in me, so I understand the sound of screaming pence/scheckles.

If I had to make a WAG, it would be a bad ground. It would seem to me to be fairly easy to test for power at the tail light bulb, and not so much harder to test for ground. If you are not getting power, ignore the "STOP LAMP" issue and find out why. If the ground is bad, found by either testing resistance to ground, or simply making a temporary ground, you can also ignore the "STOP LAMP" issue.

Word to the wise (from the unwise...): Make sure that you can remove the fill plug on the diff before you remove the drain plug. Many years ago, I had a shop (Goodyear, I think) change my diff oil. They pulled the drain plug first, then couldn't get the fill plug to break loose. It took them 2 days to finally figure out how to get it to break free. If you can't fill it, best not to drain it first.

Use which ever Subaru transmission you please. The rest of this is opinion that you have not requested. Any Subaru transmisiion is going to handgrenade under the use that you intend. Unless the rear diff handgrenades first. Or the rear axle joints handgrenade. None of these parts were designed to handle half of the torque that your SBC is likely to produce, even dead stock. I personally think that your expectations are unrealistic. If getting a driveshaft made is too much trouble and expense, consider the costs of adapting a SBC to a Subaru transmission (flywheel, adapter plate, clutch, probably starter). Then the motor mounts and exhaust. Plus the custom setup of rear axles and diff. And, as it has been pointed out, strenghening the unibody: When GM brought out unibody cosnstruction, people drag racing Camaros and Firebirds with SBCs were permamently deforming the unibody, bending, twisting, and sometimes just plain breaking. Good luck!

Compression, spark, fuel... which one is missing? Since it will start and run normally at times, compression can be ruled out. When it doesn't start, are you getting spark? Edit: Text removed as advice was detrimental to a Loyale with SPFI. :endEdit If you are getting spark, will it try to start if you squirt starting fluid (or similar combustible) into the air filter housing?

IMHO, most exhaust backfires are caused by too rich of a mixture finding some oxygen from an exhaust leak. In and of itself, this does not make much sense combined with a power loss. More likely scenario is that you get some cylinder(s) misfiring, and the exhaust providing an ignition source. I would look at the distributor/cap/rotor/wires/plugs.

Intake "backfires" are usually a low-frequency "whump!" type noises, sounding like it comes from the top of the engine. Exhaust backfire is a little more likely to be a sharp "bang" below your feet, or even behind you.