NorthWet

My guess is that you didn't really seize the piston on the block, but rather hydrolocked the engine with coolant in one cylinder. You didn't say whether you are getting water in the oil. I have had an oil pump fail. In the course of 50 miles it went from fine to "0" on the gauge (wasn't really 0, but was really low). All of the HLAs were clattering so badly I was sure that I had toasted the rod bearings. Pulled the oil pump and found nearly 1/4" of axial shaft play. (Someday I plan to take a closer look at it...)

Passenger side above the CV on a 3AT is the aluminum dome covering the governor. If the bolts backed out or the seal failed you could easily pump out much of your fluid. (The vac-modulator will only lower the level in the pan until it is below the pan flange...)

Parking brake adjustment? Warped rotors? Does sound like somebody didn't do their job, though.

A bulb issue should only cause the STOP light to light when you step on the brake (i.e. try to use the bulbs), at which time the imbalance will be sensed. On continuously would indicate the reservoir float circuit, or (not sure if Subarus have them; Datsuns do) the pressure switch on your diagonal braking block shows a problem.

As a general rule, all automotive engine references are as viewed from the front of the car. Regardless, this should not affect rotating the engine 360degrees and aligning the second belt. Also, you did use the center of the 3 scribed lines on the flywheel, and NOT anything associated with ignition timing marks, right? Your car has fuel injection, controlled by the ECU. Did you "tell" the ECU not to fiddle with the ignition timing while you were fiddling with it? This is done by connecting the green single wire connectors that are next to your wiper motor. Remember to disconnect these when done. Also, make sure black single-wire connectors in the same location are not connected. I am reasonably sure that there is no water valve in the EA82-series heater system. I believe that it is mixed-air only.

Did you try jumpering the thermo-switch at the connector (take a wire or straightened paperclip and stick one bare end into each side of the connector)? This should test all portions of the circuit except the t-switch.

I have mixed feelings about the 98. Me being me (and not a prospective buyer), I would not necessarily think that an owner-installed headgasket would be preferable to a known headgasket problem and a lower price. I would think the average Joe/Jane would feel uncomfortable about a user-fix, and an enthusiast/tinkerer might rather do it her-/himself. I did not read your other thread, so I don't know if the car is still (test-) driveable. If not, then the repair would probably be worth it just to prove the rest of the car.

Technically, it is not identical. It shares the R4AX-EL core, but certain details are different. I do not think that it is trying to shift into fourth gear, if that is what you are implying. A very unlikely scenario for the example of engine braking in selected-and-locked second gear.

I have had no previous luck with getting any technical question addressed, let alone answered, in the SVX forum. I have my thoughts about the reason(s), but this is not the forum for such thoughts. TC stall seems to be just fine. I would tend to agree that it is the loss of line pressure, but not sure why. It is sharp, and at a specific and consistent RPM. I was going down my favorite hill today in selected-2nd, and allowing the tranny to bump up against this RPM limit on overrun. Engine would speed up in response to engine braking down hill, hit 3100 rpm, tranny would "release", RPM would drop just a little, tranny would catch again, and cycle would repeat.

The problem occurs in all forward gears (as prev stated, haven't tried 3100+ in Reverse). Very consistent that it occurs at 3100rpm, regardless of other factors, even going downhill in second during engine braking. Something sems to be occurring in the hydraulics at 3100-ishRPM, something that the valve-body/control-electronics is telling the tranny to do differently at that point. I can't see a merely mechanical wear condition producing such consistent results under all regimes of driving with only RPM being the (apparent) common denominator.

All gears function. Strong engagement on each (though I think that there is some drag on the forward/reverse component (Band? That is what it is in the 3AT) causing a slight-but continuous forward engagement. Disengagement occurs in all forward gears. (Haven't tried running it up to 3100+ in reverse...yet ) Generally, I agree that the tranny has problems and should be replaced/rebuilt, but would like to limp until the rain and mud stops. Really tough to drive an SVX like a Yugo... especially when the end of my little road dumps into a 50MPH highway.

The brake fluid reservoir on the master cylinder has a float in it that tells if fluid level is too low. This float tends to stick in a "down" position. Quick fix (assuming level is OK) is to poke at the float with your finger/suitable object to get it unstuck.

Gee, does this apply to alloy rims, too? I have a 92 Legacy that is non-drivable (teenager vs tree) that has its wheels stuck on firmly. I REALLY don't want to start whacking on aluminum rims with a sledgehammer, and taking it for a drive is out of the question.

Seems unlikely that engine is in limp mode. Engine revs freely past redline if I am inattentive and just mash the throttle (acceleration to 3100 rpm, then tranny "disconnects" and tach needle swings towards the red end of the tach). Tranny acts like it slips into neutral above the critical rpm.

I have a 92 SVX where the 4EAT tranny seems to disconnect/freewheel/no-longer-transmits-power when the tach hits approximately 3100rpm. Throttle position does not seem to matter; neither does gear, road speed, load, accelerating, coasting, decelerating/overrun. The only factor that seems to matter is RPM. As soon as the engine drops below the critical RPM the tranny hooks up as if nothing happened. There was no blinking "power" light until recently (have to find the procedure to pull codes). Tranny was severely abused by PO, still getting "mud" when I do ATF flushes, so it has plenty of other quirks that I have seen before... but not this one. Anybody know what the tranny does differently around 3000-3200rpm?

Mileage will be better with a 4-cylinder over a 6-cyl, assuming that both engines will be geared similarly, and you don't have to run the 4-cyl at higher RPMS all of the time. (Ring/cylinder friction loss is a mileage killer. Consider how much throttle you need to change idle to redline with no-load.) If the 2.2 or 2.5 produces adequate power this shouldn't be an issue. The SVX EG33 is a WONDERFUL engine, but it is big and it is heavy relative to the EJs. Also, EJs are far more plentiful if yo need a replacement.

Just to be a smartalec , none of the Subarus I have seen use an actual Macpherson Strut anywheres. True Macpherson Strut (named after the developing Engineer at Ford) uses the anti-roll bar as the fore-aft locating link. I have seen it only once, and on a Mazda (Ford influenced). The fronts are modified-Macpherson Strut. Rears are just semi-trailing arms with a shock-concentric coil-spring. Back on topic, I like 4x4 Welder's recommendation for the fore-aft cross-brace. I know one of the improvements to the early US unibodies for racing was simple fore-aft reinforcers to keep the bodies from folding up.

If it's worth doing, you might as well make it last. I don't think any adhesive/filler is going to work out. The O2 sensor bung threads are a common spark plug thread (18mm??... it is the larger end of a spark-plug thread chaser) so heli-coil spark plug repair kits ought to work. Are you sure it is the bung threads that are stripped? Typically, the threads weld/peel off of the O2 sensor, requiring the bung's threads to be chased with the aforementioned spark-plug thread chaser.

Might be the code for the downstream 02 sensor, so it could be several things other than the O2 sensor itself.

It's gotta be asked... how are the plugs, wires, rotor and cap? I have had also sorts of bad behavior out of marginal wires.

By the block plug, are you referring to the one on the bottom of the non-distributor side of the engine, parallel to the ground? I would be very concerned if nothing came out of that one. That side of the engine is fed by a "transom" passage high on the block near the waterpump. (The little hose that runs from the top of the block to the t-stat housing hooks in to that passage.) I suspect that if the coolant isn't high enough to reach that passage then the waterpump doesn't send much, if any, coolant to that side; but there still should be SOMETHING above that plug.

Maybe... I tried to get a 90 Leg to move with the rear driveshaft disconnected and even with full power went maybe 3 inches in 2 minutes. Might depend on the condition of the center diff. 90-model trannies seem notorious for bad input shaft bearings and exploded clutch disks. (#1 probably leading to #2... so to speak ). That and shot shifter bushings, but if she had been driving it she would have noticed the slop. Sorry, I am not much closer to where she is stuck.

I usually use around 3 5-quart jugs of ATF during a flush before the fluid looks decently clean.

Yes, but one can be made into the other, by either tapping or plugging the coolant and oil bosses. +1 on them being the same on non-turbos.

I can't imagine any valve-to-piston contact that didn't noticeably damage the valve (as in "bend the stem") causing anything significant to the piston crown. I agree that the keepers should be in the pan. Hopefully, between their weight and the height of the pickup screen and the screen being intact you should be OK. If, however, your disty-side t-belt snaps and you find that the oil pump no longer turns, I bet you will find one of the keepers! Do you have a magnetic drain plug? If not, you might consider getting a fairly strong flat magnet and sticking it near the low end of your pan. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much.