idosubaru

post in the marketplace for the trans you want (auto or manual swap) - be sure to include FWD or AWD and Turbo/Non Turbo.

i'd install an auto or find a manual trans vehicle that's wrecked/rusted to swap parts with. you could probably find a manual trans vehicle for 500 that would have all the parts you need. swapping is annoying, i've pulled all the parts for it before. the pedal cluster swap is no fun, the shifter is different, the driveshafts are usually different, the clutch linkage, the rear diff is probably a different gear ratio and needs changed out. i'd buy a manual trans vehicle before trying the swap myself. if your friend is willing to do the manual trans work, why can't he swap the auto trans in for you? swapping an auto trans is much easier than converting auto to manual. have you checked around on that $500 install price, that could come down a little.

this sounds like a timing belt issue. if you here a faint "slapping", it's a broken belt and the pieces are flying around inside the covers. not a good idea though as the belt could wrap around and possibly damage something. quick - pull distributor cap. the timing belt drives the distributor so if it's broke the rotor won't spin. this is the most likely belt to break, but if the other (passengers side) belt is broke this one will still be fine and you won't know it by using this check. a more thorough check is to take a 10mm socket wrench and pull the left and right timing belt cover. they come off very easily, have a screw driver handy in case you need to "pry" them off at a rusted screw/bolt. couple 10 mm bolts and it's magic, there your timing belts are. this will allow you to check both belts and also their alignment (in case one jumped a tooth). this definitely sounds like a timing belt failure. non-interference engine though, so slap another on there and be on your way.

i'd stop in and ask a few more places. i already mentioned it, but a local shop said $150-$200 to install a new filter and install a trans that i supplied. 800 is insane. try some more rural shops if you're now checking prices in a large city. i think it would be hard to find that good of a price in DC where i work unless i got really lucky.

have you checked the pressure sender wiring/connector yet? i haven't seen anything saying you've checked that. complete loss of oil doesn't make the lifters noisey (at least in the instance that i experienced), so i would imagine low pressure could easily slide through with little to no indication either. i hit some firewood in the interstate a couple weeks ago. ripped all my exhaust off the car and dented my trans pan pretty good. everything else looked good and i didn't see anything leaking, so i continued to work. no noise, no nothing, car ran fine. next day or two the motor locked up. again, no noise right up til it locked up. no oil....i'm guessing there was a small leak (as i had put a couple hundred miles on it in that day or two)...in the oil filter or pan or the pan is dented enough to restrict the sump. the oil pump is brand new and the engine was compeltely resealed this summer. now it's locked up, havent even looked at it yet. i towed it home and am putting another motor together, heads were just finished at the shop. so..like i said, complete loss of oil doesn't have to cause lifter noise, i wish it would have in my case.

they're full of (insert bad word here). they definitly didn't pull the heads to check. this usually points to headgaskets, but anyway, replace the thermostat and radiator cap and follow what these dudes mentioned for testing/checking. i wouldn't necessarily rely on the "oily" residue in the overflow tank, those things aren't a very good indicator of much of anything unless you see bubbles coming out of them (headgasket). head gasket jobs run $1,200 at the dealer and can be done cheaper. the new headgaskets solve the phase I 2.5 liter head gasket issues. don't run this thing hot! it'll run much longer the less you overheat this thing.

it's not bad, i did a 2.2 and 2.5 for the first time this summer. search on this site, you'll find more info than you need and some awesome links to details/tips, pictures. i searched, printed, went home and did it. no problems.

can this stuff make much difference in a perfectly running manual trans that doesnt' have any problems and has new synthetic gear oil in it...comments? is this more a function of replacing old oil or a help for poorly shifting transmissions or something that even a perfectly running/shifting trans can gain benefit from? i always drain/fill with synthetics on my manual trans and have never noticed a lick of difference in anything.

i'm with miles. non-interference motors so no worry. if you've done timing belts enough, have the needed tools and a spare set in the trunk and do it in a couple minutes if they break. EA82's are easy to work on so i'd reuse as well if they looked decent.

i know people have done "home alignments" with string before, apparently if done right you can get it "pretty close" or see a problem area at least. i'd look up "DIY alignment", "home alignment"...or use some other creative words on Yahoo and google and i imagine you'll come up with something. i've also seen laser attachments for sale for this purpose (kind of like the laser leveling tools for construction purposes). alignments are rarely needed....i've driven mine from 105,000 miles to 220,000 miles, swapped in rebuilt hubs, pulled the struts off more than once, done cv axles, replaced all the suspension bushings and ball joints and have never had an alignment, i dont even get alignments when i get new tires. my tires wear perfectly evenly and i drive off-road, through fields and the car gets a good exercise. alignments are rarely needed in my oppinion. i used to get them all the time until talking to a guy on a car group that has worked in tire stores for awhile. he told me alignments are rarely needed.....obviously something is needed in your case though..... if you have a bad problem on one tire i'd try to find a trouble spot - tie rod, wheel bearing, ball joint all come to mind and can all be fixed relatively cheap. maybe a bad bearing in the strut top or a bad strut? you can get a used hub, control arm or strut for 15-30 bucks and be done with any of these issues....just need to find out what it is. has this happened to more than one tire? could be a bad tire...or wheel (though the wheel isn't likely).

also....get some of that airline fish hose from walmart or the pet store that will fit over the bleeder screw. put it over the bleeder screw and wrap a big loop in it, big enough that fluid sits inside the hose and never allows air bubbles to get back in the caliper. run the hose into a bucket to catch the fluid. make sure the brake master cylinder is full and never run it below the LOW line where it gets close to the bottom of the reservoir. i usually keep pumping the brake until the reservoir is about empty...if all bubbles are gone, move to the next caliper. if not, fill brake master cylinder reservoir and do it again. screw and unscrew the bleeder screw with the hose always attached so air bubbles don't flow back through the screw. try to make a loop in the air line and trap fluid in there, if done right, no air bubbles can make it back into the system and it's very easy to do yourself. be careful of the hose though...when you pump the brakes the fluid rushes out with enough force for the hose to flop around and brake fluid can get everywhere if it's not held in place.....and you may (will) loose your loop to keep the air out.

have you replaced your headgasket today?

you could try buying a used shaft from someone as well, or a used oil pump if you want to run the motor a bit and see how it responds before dumping $ into it. but even if you didn't like the motor, you could get another motor and swap the new oil pump into any new/used motor you get. i bought a new oil pump this summer and the motor i just finished...grrr...was toasted, locked up after hitting some firewood left in the road. i'm putting together another motor now and will swap the new oil pump off the bad motor before installing the new one.

i would not suspect foul play of any kind. the axle failed most likely because it was improperly rebuilt or assembled. i pulled over to help a guy earlier this summer in a nissan (i think, i don't remember exactly) stuck in the median. his axle did the same thing (but at 60ish mph). i have subaru's with 200,000+ miles and have never had old, clicking, greasless cv joints break. the only one that ever broke, broke the same day i installed it, blew in pieces just like you mentioned. it was a remanufactured unit. there's a company mentioned on here quite a bit....MWE or something that rebuilds axles and has a good reputation. probably better going with them than random off the shelf cheap parts. some companies actually replace all the internals, other companies only replace something that's broke...there are different standards on rebuilding. i've found the original axles (nearly 20 years old) to be nearly indestructible. haven't had one fail yet, and driven them 50,000 miles + on broken boots (just talked about that in another thread). my rears have broken boots and they've been on the car the 115,000 miles that i've been driving it (220,000 total).

friend of mine's dad used to be a mechanic and he said his dad would drain the oil, fill with kerosene and run it for a few minutes, then drain and refill with oil. i never believed him....but after reading this maybe he really did, and maybe that's why he "used" to be a mechanic? lots of seafoam info on the boards...use the search button to get as much info about it as you care to read.

here's a picture of the piece of sealant caught in the cam housing....

i recall a guy pulling his cam towers for some reason and the car running terribly, but he had mad lifter noise. turned out a piece of sealant got caught in the oil supply line at the bottom corner of the cam carrier where it meets the head. it got sucked into the port and restricted oil flow. anaerobic sealant avoids that issue. he even posted pictures of it that i think are still on the Yahoo! XT6 group.... you're not having lifter noise though right?

very subjective topic, here's stricktly my oppinion and experiences... there really isn't any replacement interval on these. in my experience approaching 200,000 miles is a good time to consider replacing on NA cars. maybe a little sooner for turbo. the clearances and pump performance have always remained excellent on mine with no wearing/pumping issues. but i have had two fail in other manners (still have those pumps)...the ball/spring combo internal to the pump broke on one...not sure what causes this, but that's the only failure mode i've experienced. it's like the ball busted past the casing of the pump....hard to explain, but look closely and maybe you'll see this ball/spring that i speak of. if you do a rebuild, i'd definitely replace. no point in having a perfectly good block and put a questionable oil supply on it. if you're planning on keeping the car for another 100,000 miles or more then i'd install a new one as well. i figure using an old one for 100,000 miles is a risk. but a new one should have no problems going 100,000+ miles, so replace it now as it's highly unlikely you'll ever have to replace it again, but likely that you should at some point if you're planning on lots of miles. i drive 30,000 or more miles a year so i can rack them up quick. someone who drives much less might not care too much about total miles. with low mileage....maybe around 100,000 roughly on the motor/pump (again these are just random numbers that everyone will have different oppinions on).....i think you would likely be fine to wait until the next timing belt change at 160,000 to do it. then again....you could likely install the old one and have it last a long time, there's just no way to tell. if it's really low miles or you don't plan on having the car long or putting many miles on it, or don't have the money that's the only way i wouldn't replace it if you've got it apart at this point.

do not spray anything anywhere near that joint. that is not a good idea at all. i've said this over and over on this board, i've driven 50,000 miles on broken front boots before. i do it all the time on broken, clicking boots. it is highly unlikely that it will fail...possible yes but not likely. your tie rod ends can fail and leave you spinning out of control and rolling but i doubt you'll replace them soon. clicking is really no indication that the joint is "ready to blow" so to speak. the only axle i've ever had fail was brand new, out of the box and never made a noise, just blew up after a few miles....poor assembly i'm sure. here's how i do it.....when one starts clicking i make a mental note of it and forget about it, i don't have time for pointless repairs there are plenty of other things i'd rather do and im' sure you as well! if another job comes up...brakes or something else where i have to get in there anyway, then i replace the axle. if not, i just keep driving it. if it starts clicking while driving straight...that's when i make it a priority to replace it soon. rear joints are an entirely different animal......I NEVER replace these. they're all broke on my XT6's i think....might have one good boot on all 4 or 5 XT6's i have. do i care? nope. my 220,000 mile daily driver has the original rear shafts that have had broken boots for 100,000 miles.....i don't plan on replacing them any time soon because i know they won't fail. if the noise got substantially worse quickly, sounds different than "normal" cv clicking or for some other reason sounds like it's not an ordinary CV issue then i'd look to replace soon.....this is highly unlikely in my oppinion. but i've only owned like 15 subarus. the reason i say all this is because when i was in college and didn't know jack about cars i thought CV clicking was a terriblly dangerous thing and put money i didn't have at the time into replacing them immediately because no mechanic would be straight with me about it....then the more i learned the more i realized it is not. the only issue really is in your head (the noise - pun intended). relax and plan this out, you have plenty of time to locate parts, find space and information to get this job done. and you can make it EASILY through 2005 without worrying about this and keep your streak alive....i would make it through 2006 or 2007 as well!

i'd consider doing a complete reseal of the motor. replace every seal and gasket without touching the block if it's running okay now and the cylinder walls look good when the heads are pulled. otherwise pull the block, plasti-gauge the bearing clearances, replace the bearings and put it back together.

i asked awhile back if turbo and non-turbo cams were different and don't recall getting a solid answer either. might be tricky. try calling the dealer and seeing if it's a different part number? or looking it up on one of hte online OEM suppliers and seeing if the part numbers differ?

the two non-starts i couldnt' figure out both ended up being distributors that tested fine (the crank angle sensor resides inside of the disty). both times was immediately following an engine install as well....i don't know for sure, but assume that corrosion builds in the disty's crank angle sensor while not in use during the down time for the engine install. happened twice in 3 years. i would try anothe disty...but i've had bad luck with them.

num

no kidding, just the notched design is called "hall effect" (nipper, PM me if you got that Duty Solenoid C modification to work on a newer subaru, i want to install it on my impreza OBS) free bump i guess....

interesting, there are hall effect sensors on the satellite i work with.