mikaleda

I'm running 195/75/r14 tires with no body lift, no strut blocks and just my new struts that at welded at the max spring hight. I even fixed the rubbing issue with new strut rod bushings Your subie has enough adjustment in the stock system to run these tires fine without modification

nipper has a thread on this subject, there is a mod that will give you room to put a radio in without trashing your hvac controls. it does involve cutting the circuit board and doing some fine soldering

Yep sounds like a head gasket, something went wrong.

I would put a new radiator In and do a system flush. The main reasons for not running without a thermostat for prolonged periods are #1 if you are using multi viscosity oil it will never get up to the right viscosity and could possibly put increased wear on the bearings. #2 carbon buildup running cool can make combustion less efficient causing carbon buildup wich in turn could clog your cartilitic converters #3 the reason for the malfunction of the thermostat could be a head gasket failure and prolonged running like that could cause excess damage I just thought I would answer your original question

Wow good score.

It depends on the year of the 2.5 not all of them had head gasket problems, but the non interference 2.2 is one if the toughest engines subaru made. Maybe just get a less tired 2.2 you'll probably see a significant power gain

Ya there is no conventional transfer case in your awd Subaru, if its an auto it has transfer clutches and firstly wouldn't be making a rattling noise under hood and shouldn't cost that much to replace or if its a stick it has a vicious center diff and still wouldn't make that noise or cost that much.

They are usually mounted in the front of the cat. I would just put a bung right in front of the muffler and put it there

First things first, how long has it been since its had a tune up, are you using Ngk plugs and wires, is the check engine light on, is your gas mileage going down or up.

How's the o2 sensor reading? Maybe it's a faulty front o2 sensor

I would clean the maf and change the coolant temp sensor and see what happens.

Felpro head gaskets for this particular engine are exactly the same as oem. I've done a lot of reasearch on this since working on my 90 legacys head gaskets. The felpro gaskets even have the same oem symbols on them

90 MT cars have a four wire IACV and the rest are three wire IIRC +1 on cleaning/checking the IACV and checking for vaccumme leaks

What I woul like to know is why you mixed synthetic and conventional oil, I always thought that was a no go. +1 on tensioner easy enough to check

Okay you need to be more clear, when your having the problem is your starter turning the engine over or not, from your description I would bet its not since you can "clutch start it" wich I'm assuming means push start it. It sounds to me like your cylinoid is getting stuck and not engaging the the starter to the flywheel, next time this happens tap the cylinoid with a hammer and see if it works

This is not right, carbed cars never had fuel pumps in tank. Even the fuel injected cars of this era didn't have in tank pumps.

If the pump isn't pumping it might not be the pump at fault, there is an fuel cut switch for accidents. It will only turn the pump on if it has spark like when cranking. It is up under the dash right above the hood release, there is a way to test it but I can't remember how.

If there wasn't any water in your engine then your temp sensor would not have been reading right, a Subaru engine can't work as an air cooled in the car like a VW because VW had a body that was designed to cool the engine and the VW engines were made to be air cooled Just my $0.02

I'm confused are you looking for the TCU code code chart or a chart on compatibility of trans? Either way the info is on the bord a search should find it, try searching through google instead of the search built into the site wich sucks.

How's the oil pressure?

Oops lol, ya that would take a really looooong screwdriver. This is a good way to find a sound on the engine while its running though.

Yep, sounds like a pack rat. I remember a car my dad had that a pack rat had gotten into and had stuffed the whole heater box full of dog food. Unfortunately we didn't find out about it till we turned the heater on and the smell was awful

+1 rip those heat shields off!

The cheap version is a long screw driver, put the tip on the spot where you think the noise is and put your ear up to the handle, that an easy way to pinpoint the sound.

When I upgraded my alt in my 80 (95 impreza alt) I re wired the charge lead with a heavier duty wire. From my experiences with Subaru I've noticed they tend to make their wiring too small and after 20-30 years it tends to degrade, I would say it would be a good idea to re wire the charge lead with a heavier wire that is less likely to fail.