idosubaru

Friends have bought used Land Rovers for pocket change, had numerous maintenance issues and joked that it's cheaper to buy another used one for parts than constantly order parts. But on the other hand they have somewhat of an air of reliability because 'what else would you drive across Africa in?" Is it excessive parts and familiarity in Africa? Is it just South Africa? Maybe there was a particularly older model that was more reliable than modern mass produced models? Or maybe they're more reliable than I think?

Only other thing id check is timing tensioner but you have fairly classic piston slap by the current description.

Which one? I saw a “European” and Diesel formulation, and maybe theres others?

* edit my bad I didn’t see that he had replied. I’m almost positives he said he uses it. I bought Amsoil cvt for my 2013 and nearly positive I saw him talking about it. I’ll be doing a 2016 i just picked up shortly and will use it again. You could search his user name and Amsoil or maybe CVT to find his comments here.

It wasn’t resolved. Maybe less common than older models, but it still happens on newer ones. Yes there’s lot of piston slap diversity - some have piston slap, some don’t, some worse than others, some were repaired under warranty, some have had engines or pistons replaced since new, some shops install updated pistons, coated pistons or knurl the pistons when doing a headgasket job, at least two shop owners on here do it and others do as well…etc.

It’s piston slap. It’s benign and unfortunately no easy solution. headgaskets or major work, is a good time to consider having the pistons knurled or new Subaru block installed to address it

It’ll still be there when you and I are gone too. His are out of earths orbit or old ones in orbit gradually descend and fall to earth in 200 or 2000 years, they don’t get deorbited like modern satellites!

Best oil decision is to check it often. An average daily driver will have oil related issues due to low oil, not brand. If you really want to know send samples to oil labs and get it checked they’ll tell you how long your interval should be for that vehicle and if there’s anything problematic with your oil choice Run oil not additives. Use Amsoil Or anything else - there is zero data that lightly used vehicles are dropping dead because one ran Castol instead of valvoline. synthetic is superior but if you’re going to change it often anyway or it’s an older vehicle that uses some oil then it’s pointless or not a good fit.

225/60/16's run perfectly fine on my 2009 legacy with no rubbing. But they are very very tight with small wheel well margins. Snow will pack and freeze in the wheel well and rub and is harder to get off with such small clearances. Those are the same width and 2.5mm shorter than the tires you want to install. But you're installing them on an Outback so you should have plenty of room for that extra 2.5mm. (0.1") Use the following and click "comparison" to see dimensional comparisons of two different tires: https://tiresize.com/calculator/

Good job narrowing it down to #2 cylinder. Coil seems likely candidate to check and it failed right? Failed injector or ECU seem unlikely given those symptoms.

What’s this data and due diligence? You’re supposed to say “my car shifted funny should I replace the coil? Youre sure it’s a phase II 99 EJ22 and the proper FSM numbers? 99 is an odd year for EJ engines. They have both earlier EJ and later EJ characteristics Did you have a code or codes? Is there a reason you’re not confident the failed test means it’s bad?

You probably already do this but - use excellent quality 6 point sockets. No 12's. Use the combination of socket/adapter/reducers necessary to get a 100% perpendicular seat on the bolt and torque on the socket handle. It's fairly easy to get "close" on these, when actually it's at a slight angle because the socket or extension is too thick and doesn't have clearance in those pass through ports. Such a silly design. But I've done it before - had them rock/wobble/slide off because they're not perfectly seated. I hate them too but haven't had any 05-09 rear caliper bracket bolts not come out yet. A little valve compound in your socket adds grip and can mitigate small clearance issues due to rust/wear between the socket and bolt head. Unlikely to help in this case but if you've already got some laying around....?

Ha! I thought so. That’s great. That was me, though I changed my username since then so it may be less recognizable. Some auto parts stores will rent for free or loan tools out and may have it if you want to DIY. That kit is too awkward and heavy to pack and ship and then ship back for a one time use or Id suggest you borrow mine.

A new cam, new cam seal, and it still leaks from the ID of the seal? Wow. I'd wonder if the cam carrier is allowing the cam to walk or is otherwise distorted? Cam carrier/head may need replaced?

Good job catching that pan/solenoid, I've seen a few of those solenoid connectors broken before for the same reason.