idosubaru

this is normal, they can be a bear to remove. use a hammer and wail on the socket wrench handle. the impact will knock it loose before the clutch starts to move the car by the force. keep doing it a couple of time...wail on that joker hard with a heavy hammer....that will usually work. if this fails, the starter trick works every time. it sounds scarry but when you do it, it's like....dang that took 11 second and i'm done, sweet. make sure the socket is on LOOSEN (lefty) and seated on the crank pulley bolt straight and flush. then make sure the socket has something to rest against...either the motor mount or fabricate something very sturdy. lay it close and bump the starter, it'll back right off. just bump it quickly, just enough to break it loose. often the socket falls off, but the bolt will be loose, that's normal. i just wouldn't let anyone stand near there. not really much chance to hurt anything if you're careful. i've done this a number of times on tricky bolts and never had a problem on multiple cars...dodge, ford, subaru...

how about pic's of his work in your car?

i don't know jack about gear ratios so check this link out: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/USRM2/Transmission/gear85fsm.jpg

the XT6 AWD manual trans is 3.9. not sure about first gear, but it's only a single range trans.

HA HA HA HA HAA!!!!! late night laugh at work, thanks!

apparently they don't prefer PM. call or email them as they requested and you will get the help you're looking for. drag your cursor over their member name and click on it, you'll see the email option. it was also posted in their original thread, but the forum administrators changed the site and this thread was "restarted" without the email address actually posted in the thread. but just click on the name of any user and it will show an email option if they've chosen to make that available.

depends how much power you want. if you want alot of power then a turbo is the way to go. upgraded turbos', intercoolers, exhaust allows huge increases in horsepower. if you're happy with good power from the 2.5 liter then go with that. they have quite a bit of power and drive very nice in the large newer soobs. but NA engines are very difficult (read custom work, lots of money and time) to get large horsepower increases from. turbo's are very easy to upgrade. so if moderate power gains are okay, stick with the 2.5 they pull nice and you know something about the motor...from a friend, 50k miles on it. if you want gobs of power, go for the turbo.

received a box of goodies, all went well.

oh on your original post...not sure on timing belt interval. the 97 2.2's have a 60,000 interval. the 2.5's have some confusion down here in the states. at one point there were *two belts* offered, one for california spec cars (105,000 miles intervals) and everything else was a 60,000 recommended replacement belt. all the 2.5 belts you buy now (at least for the newer soobs) are the 105,000 mile belt. even if you order a belt for a previously 60,000 mile replacement interval equipped vehicle you will get the upgraded part number belt that is a 105,000 mile replacement interval. i'm not sure exactly what year motors this applies to though. it will be either 60,000 or 100,000 miles. if it's 60,000 miles then i'd look to have it done soon unless you can verify when it was done last. if it's the 100,000 mile variety then it's likely already been done relatively recently on this car you speak of. personally i'd like to have a look at it at least, timing belts are straight forward and simple enough (im' assuming you're in my boat since you consider head gaskets no problem), that you can go ahead and replace the belt. i'd want to replace the timing belt pulleys as well since they were likely not replaced even if the timing belt was. i actually repack the timing pulley bearings....i'm getting ready to post how to do that shortly.

copy that. AWD soobs are easy to find around here, that's why i'd be picky. if you don't have that luxury and can swing the head gasket yourself then tear it up. fortunately the headgaskets don't seem to *blow* in the traditional sense, more like they start a very slow leak that gets progressively worse. obviously they will blow in short order if you ignore your temp gauge and run it out of coolant. keep coolant in it and it won't blow.

i have an EA82 with 80,000 miles i could be convinced to sell, but you're too far. but the point is that i'm sure there are some around you available. buy the long block...unbolt your intake assembly (leaving everything attached) and swap long blocks and drop your intake assembly back on top without every disconnecting it. that works great, easiest way to do the swap.

very high for around here, CA might be a different market. doesn't sound like something to jump on. if it has the 2.5 liter motor i personally wouldn't get it unless it was a a really great deal (like thousands less than others). the only way i'd pay close to full price is if the head gasket can be verified to have been replaced. that mileage is no big deal for a subaru, but it is on the early 2.5 motors.

if everything seems to be working fine now then i'd say go for it. drain all your fluid (trans, diff, ATF, rear diff) and inspect the fluid as it comes out, inspect the drain plug and see if you find anything out of the ordinary coming out. at this mileage though i'd expect wheel bearings, diff, u-joints...something to eventually become an issue. i replaced my wheel bearings at 200,000 as preventative maintenance. i look at preventative maintenance as much cheaper than a new car payment and i get a reliable car out of the deal. depends on overall condition, how reliable you need this thing to be and how much you're willing to put into it after the rebuild. might be better to find a low mileage EA82 for a hundred or two instead of going through an entire rebuild (very expensive). have your good head rebuilt and install them on a low mileage block. i would personally rather do that and spend the money saved on a full out rebuild on wheel bearings, ujoints, tie rod ends...other leave-you-sit or safety items.

pretty sure the FSM for the XT6 details changes that occur based on driving conditions/speed. surely very minor, but it does something. certainly not performance enhancing.

sounds like your HG's are fine. you would definitely have experienced some kind of coolant loss by now if you had a leak. if you're not adding coolant weekly you're fine. headgaskets don't leak and then stop.

i've reversed cables in the past on an older late 80's/early 90's soob. no serious damage done. burnt fusible link is the only damage i've incurred. done it once or twice. i definitely don't recommend it. suppose i was lucky. if you're big on reliability then i'd look into another battery as well. it's fine now and will likely test fine, but like they said you likely shortended it's life and i for one wouldn't want to find out by how much!

interval is a generic number, there's really no "one-size-fits-all" mileage. person, car, age, mileage, condition of motor, usage of vehicle all make a difference. if the vehicle has any mileage on it then the only way to know is the have the oil analyzed professionally. also depends how long you plan on keeping the car or how honest you want to be on the resale of it. the easy way is to pick a conservative number between 3,000-5,000 that you can live with and do that. the less i know about a motor the more i change the oil, that's my philosophy. i wouldn't go over 5,000 miles...can you do it, yes. is it worth it... i have friends that have gone 10,000 on regular oil with no issues..yet. (oh, how nice not to have hydraulic valve lash adjusters..but i'm the one laughing when they need an adjustment). but that's a terrible idea. it does the engine no favors in terms of bearing, rings, valve train, cams...etc.

good maintenance would be to replace all the o-rings at each strut and the compressor. the orings are nearly 20 years old and they basically crack when you remove them because they are old and brittle...doesn't make for a good seal. good luck finding a mechanic that knows what they are doing, these air suspensions are not very common and most people swap if they can to coil overs. i also posted a thread about conditioning your struts so they last. on the XT6 new air struts run $400 from subaru...a little cheaper with some on line searching and are hard to come by at times. here's a write up i did on keeping your struts from wearing out: http://xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4173&highlight=air+strut i have found that letting an air suspension vehicle sit without running for a week or more does not do it any favors...i think the valve in the compressor builds corrosion or already existing corrosion gets worse. i've had a number of XT6's that had perfectly working air suspensions turn flaky after taking them off the road for a week to a couple months for timing belts or engine replacement. if it's lowering at all then yes it's loosing air somewhere. i parked an XT Turbo a month or two ago and it's still riding high and i haven't turned it on...actually it doesn't even have a battery yet.

it will be sold at some point...preferrably as is, but if it's a big loss i'll fix it and sell it. there is some interest as it is and i hope to work something out.

so i can have a three tone OBS. just kidding....hail damage - dimples all over it. found a wrecked OBS 8 miles from me, same color and bought it. easiest way as i know nothing about body work and don't have the time to learn.

Got a 97 and 98 OBS, i'll be swapping front and rear doors. Any special tools or tricks for this? Didn't know if there's an alignment issue here or just a basic bolt on project. how about the rear hatch as well?

will this work for an XT6 (or EA82)? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92900

you didn't stick anything in the flywheel to keep it from moving at some point prior? very strange indeed. if you try the soak method definitely use liquid wrench or pb blaster, that shnit is AWESOME. way better than WD40.

your sure it's coming from the engine, front of the car? does it do anything while sitting in neutral but reving the motor up to 3,100 rpms'? get a helper and try it with the hood open and listen/look around. or just open the throttle by hand if you know how to do that, then you can do it yourself.

im going to repeat what was just said basically. check cv boots, if they are broke grease gets on the exhaust. no big deal, they won't fail anytime soon. i've gone 50,000+ miles on broken front boots. keep your eye on the temp gauge and coolant level. easiest way to notice coolant loss is by frequently checking the level. if it's going down, it's loosing coolant. do not let the car overheat if you want to keep that motor running. exhaust leaks can definitely create smell in the cabin, so that could be the culprit as well. since you have a known leak, i'd address that first and move on from there.