idosubaru

ive also seen two older subaru's have a very simple problem here. the throttle cables runs through....i don't even know what you call it, but in one case the throttle assembly was basically just sticking "open", like you were pressing the gas, but really you were'nt. so even though it was at idle, stopped, the throttle was sticking open. the other instance was very similar, throttle cable was sticking due to the channel that it fed through being distorted...it sort of wedged in place at a high RPM and stayed there. hit it with your finger and it went back down.

EA82 and EA82T head gaskets are the same. nice to use subaru head gaskets if you can. but aftermarket is probably okay, i know of some Fel-pro and Corteco installs that have held up fine to date on XT6's. that being said, make sure you can determine what brand they are and can find out whether they need retorquing or not. for instance on the XT6 the OEM and Fel-Pro gaskets say no need to retorque but the corteco sets call for a retorque sequence on the head gaskets. it's manufacturer dependent, so i'd want to know that ahead of time. on the EA82 though for some reason they call for a retorque on subaru head gaskets (although they don't for the XT6????), figure that one out?

i feel your pain moosens.....easy outs suck, i never use them anymore. you didn't say it, but i'm guessing that's what snapped? i've had one hanging from a rusted fuel pump bracket bolt for two years, that's right. still hanging there, can't get the @*#$*#$# thing out. those things are so useless. i think maybe they work on the plastic trim piece rivets....on a good day. good luck troubleshooting that.

for less than $4 (1.88 and 1.94 i think) you can also get 2 new timing tensioner springs from www.thepartsbin.com and all the timing related stuff brand new.

ha ha...phil's getting testy....... phil's got lots of projects going on shady, hook him up! i wish he was getting on you about an XT6 LIFT KIT! free bump...

that should be it....i can't remember what all pulley/idlers are on an EA82, but i do recall that cogged sprocket and the two tensioners, can't remember any others off the top of my head. NAPA show the kit online, you could compare?

that does sound really high. you can pick up entire used cars for less than that for parts. are you speaking of the rear quarter panels? they don't necessarily just bolt on. at least one (often both) sides have to be cut,torched, welded. that'll involved smoothing out and painting in that case....check out my post about this issue here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47546

like he said...try neutral, drifting a little, reverse, forward. if all else fails i believe there's a lever on the passengers side of the transmission that you can pull manually to get it unlocked. i've had to remove a bracket that the cable runs through just prior to the trans though....it's like two 10mm bolts, the bracket comes off and then you can push/pull the locking lever by hand. this is on XTT FT4WD and XT6 AWD vehicles, and my push button PT4WD transmission looks the same, so i'm assuming it's similar.

go with NGK's if you can. newer soob wires can be a pain to seat properly. be POSITIVE they are seated. i pull them off and reinstall if i'm not positive i hear the "click" of it engaging with the spark plug terminal. good job noticing the arcing, that is not good and should be fixed ASAP. it won't do your wires any good and will eventually (if it hasn't already) compromise the insulation of the wires. i would bet magnecor wires would not arc, www.magnecor.com. awesome product. thing is...you might fix the issue by seating the wires or getting new plugs...but it still could arc if the wires have been compromised somewhere from the arcing.

do not use JB weld. JB weld will not hold it. have it welded and be done with it. price around, you'll eventually find someone that'll do it for not much$. can you weld it from the inside so the outside paint isn't scored? have a welder look at it, see what they say. they might be able to limit the paint damage somehow...i'm not seeing exactly what's going on here in my head.

i'm not familiar with your car, but you'll need to push the brake caliper piston in to make room for the new and thicker pads. this is accomplished with either a C-clamp or a special tool. the special tool is needed if the piston is on a spindle and needs to rotate to retract. it's like a 4 dollar tool and attaches to your ratchet, allows you to ratchet the piston back instead of just pushing it straight back with a c-clamp. if it won't budge...dont' force it with a c-clamp, probably means you need the tool. someone here will know or ask the dealer or the parts store (they might know if you're lucky, or they can pull a new caliper out of the box and have a look and tell you). and when you push the piston back in, be SURE to open the brake fluid reservoir on the master cylinder. when you push the pistons back in, they also push fluid back too and it has to go somewhere. if you don't remove the master cyilnder cap it can ruin the master cyilnder. i have a extra large eyedropper for sucking fluid out of the master cyilnder if it gets too high from pushing the pistons back in..fluid will fill the reservoir. or just soak it up with some towels/rags.

sounds like your rotors need turning/replaced. machine ship will tell you if they are out of spec (if you feel vibrations/wobbling, they may be). or you can just buy new ones to replace. turnings prices have gone up alot around where i live, i buy rotors instead so i can do the job all at once no need to wait around or leave the car down. definitley don't buy the cheapest pads...they will work *okay* on some vehicles and terrible on others, no need to take the chance. buy better grade pads. i'll leave brands for others to comment on. be sure to have some grease available to grease the caliper slides, or at least inspect them to make sure they are not dry. this will cause pads to drag against the rotor and wear quicker and reduce gas mileage. just don't get grease on your pads/rotors. alignment is likely not the problem. alignments are revenue generating services more than anything else, they are rarely needed. 220,000 miles and how many alignments have i gotten? none. i rotate tires frequently and when i see uneven wear i'll get an alignment, there's no need to pointlessly align tires all the time, except to pad the pockets of corp's or ease your mental anguish. turning the rotors is a similar overdone item...i've put 200,000 miles on rotors, i turn them only if they're out of spec or warped (which they haven't been on my 220,000 mile daily driver, all original rotors). i replace my pads early and they don't get gouged or uneven. braking is smooth and tight.

what is a dent puller or what kind should i use is a better question? i tried searching the usmb, ebay and the internet and there are alot of variations and options out there, not sure which one i need. i got enough to go on for now, i'll probably revisit this thread in a few weeks after i swap the good doors, etc.

CCR drops by the boards on occassion and has been very helpful with some questions i've had, though i've never purchased anything from them (emily is the one that seems to answer questions, frequent the boards). she's most helpful and knowledgeable. what kind of mileage do you do in a year? 5 years could be 60,000 miles or it could mean 200,000 miles. if you want 200,000 more miles, then rebuild wouldn't be a bad idea. but the EJ22 can handle that kind of mileage.... if you go used, get an EJ22 (2.2 liter) motor and put in it. they are awesome motors and very reliable. if you go used, don't bother with a 2.5 unless it's a really new one...like 2001 and up i believe they use the newer style headgaskets on. and at that point they'd probably be really expensive to find one that new and you're better off with a rebuild and CCR warranty. i would personally find a used 2.2 liter motor and have a complete tune up done to it...timing belts, water pump, replace all the timing belt pulleys, reseal the oil pump, cam seals and crank seal. i just did all of that to my wifes car and it's only 200 or so in parts. EJ22's can be found relatively inexpensive....i know of handful in the area that i could snag for $200 or less dollars. i'd find the lowest mileage one i could get, give it a tune up like mentioned and drop it in.....an awesome motor for well under $1,000. i just picked up another 98 OBS (2.2 liter) with 180,000 miles on it and the motor ran perfect with no oil usage. (it was always run with synthetics).

can't imagine all 4 wheels should be spinning, you should have at least one open diff on the front or rear, if not both. agreed, stock tires will SUCK in the mud. and they will suck even worse if they are old. at an angle you're hosed, all your weight is up front so if the angle and mud is bad enough even a 4WD truck won't go anywhere because while the rear might be spinning it doesn't have any weight in the rear to get traction. on my older automatic XT6 i have installed a switch to manually control lockup of the 4WD transfer clutches. i flip the switch and it locks the transfer clutch, essentially like locking the differential in a 4wd vehicle. it binds, hops and bucks like a 4WD truck when i lock it. if that's an option on yours, definitely do it...it's called Duty Solenoid C, that's the solenoid that controls the transfer clutches in the older 4EAT automatics. this is also nice because i can tell it when to lock up...as opposed to letting the computer detect slip...in which case it starts to create ruts, before locking it. i also have an LSD rear end....just these two additions alone help a fair amount with snow/mud. LSD isn't perfect, but better than an open rear end.

the search function is our friend. click on "Advanced Search" and click on "search titles only". that should be the default since if you're looking for something, it's likely more specific info if what you're looking for is in the title. i'm going to suggest that get changed.....i think it would help everyone out. search funtion is great. use a * before or after a word if it doesn't return any results. if you type in "lug" and get nothing, then type in "lug*". as much as you hate reading through forums, knowledgeable folks hate posting over and over again about the same questions. i understand you're new, i'm only encouraging good use of the search funtion, it saves everyone time. some people don't care and that's lack of respect for the time the helpful/knowledge people of usmb put into helping thousands of people free of charge. there you have it....more endless rambling that you don't care about...how about some meat and potato's during this festive holiday then Gary Gross?????.........okay, drum roll please. lucky for you im working so i'm getting paid to do this...... here's the results of searching...exactly what you want in this thread, with pictures: go to Advanced search. click on "search titles only" type in the following: lug* go to the 12th item down....conveniently titled what you want. it has pictures and parts and all....

any idea where/who/what might have one? i know enough people i can usually figure something out. i'll have a look at it sometime this week. thanks for the all the heads up/ideas. sure beats crawling out there in 15 degree weather only to find i can't remove it anyway!

if you have the older gasket material then yes, you are more likely than newer ones. pretty sure you do...like he just said. doesn't mean it'll happen, just higher chance. it's not the end of the world really. they typically give warning signs and rarely just blow up (unless you let them run out of coolant and overheat). don't let them overheat and run out of coolant and they won't leave you sit. if it starts with the symptoms just pay the $1,000 or so (or do it yourself for a couple hundred) to install the new gasket design. the newer gaskets are a better design and alleviate the issues. also - post more details in your title, you'll get better responses. generic titles do nothing for those of us trying to help.

i'll check...heck i might even be able to access the rears easily from the inside, good point! i think the majority oppinion though is that hail damage sucks bad. that's why i'm swapping all the body panels (can do that myself).

tunered, thanks a bunch. i have an air hammer actually, came with my air compressor tools. never used it though, so no attachments for it yet. just found out from my uncle last night what it was for! is it hard getting it all lined up and on straight? this is on my OBS with only 75,000 miles. the car is in great condition, but has hail damage so maybe body work on those portions is easier than replacing panels? i have another OBS with perfect panels so that would be nice, but all that welding and cutting might not be worth it. a friend can likely weld for me, that's all he does is weld.

that sucks. any idea how much that would cost (not including the painting). $200? $2000? i have a torch and welder but i don't do body work. hhhmmm, i have a friend that's a professional welder, he would definitley weld for me. think he could pull it off? anyone here actually done it before? thanks guys! i'll try and change the title of the thread...

well.....looking to replace the rear quarter panels of my 97 OBS, are they removable at all? i know the fenders, doors, hatch should all be straight forward but i'm afraid the rear quarters aren't possible?

the newer headgasket design sounds like a great idea. i'm with you on the coppers, the leakage retorque thing isn't very appetizing. you don't retorque OEM EA82 headgaskets? FSM says to retorque? i'm getting ready to put one together, that's why i ask.

i'm kinda seeing it now. the AWD trans have shift linkages on the side of the trans, but i believe they'd be too long. you can run an AWD trans in FWD. for a manual AWD you'd have to lock the center differential (just pull the lever and leave it). and for an XT6 auto AWD you could keep the FWD circuit and leave that fuse in place. or you can lock the Duty solenoid C at all times and just have the rear output shaft spinning for nothing. not sure the long term effects on the solenoid...say 20,000 miles it might not like a 100% duty cycle, but may be fine. might be a waste of power to, don't know. i've personally done all of the above though with no issues. the advantage i guess would be that the AWD trans and probably the FWD trans that benebob mentioned (from an XT6) have the shifter linkage far up front on the side of the trans, relatively close to the engine. so if the linkage location is a serious issue the AWD or FWD XT6 trans may be an option, though i don't know their lengths. someone has to know this basic info though. but i can't imagine the AWD trans being any shorter than the FWD trans, so if raw length is an issue then it may not be helpful at all. you live in Americus Georgia. do you know chris (cletus) faircloth? i went to school with him in atlanta.

like ben, i'm having trouble picturing the exact set up and problem here. a little more details or sketch or picture would help.