idosubaru

spark plugs were gapped properly before you installed them? how are the plug wires? they can be difficult to seat and these motors are picky about their ignition wires. don't replace with a cheap set of wires either. i personally would replace the ignition wires first (with magnecor wires www.magencor.com). then move on from there, like with the grounding mod. with the age, the wires are a good replacement item anyway. come to think of it, i replaced my spark plugs this summer and was waiting on delivery of a set of wires so i did the plugs alone first. this is on my 97 OBS as well with 65,000 miles. car ran like crap, bought a cheap wire to replace the suspect wire and it ran better for about 10 miles then ran crappy again. replaced with the new wires when i got them in and all was well. air pocket in oil filter, no way.

FWD/AWD or Auto/Manual make a difference? just a shot in the dark, i don't believe the issue would reside here.

2.2 has noticeably less power than the 2.5. but it's not a big deal in my oppinion, the 2.2 in my 97 OBS does just fine, drives great. the mid-90's 2.2 is a rock solid engine. you are putting the percentages in your favor with a 2.2 more than with a 2.5. not that the 2.5 sucks or is a horrible motor, but there are head gasket issues with it. type in "head gasket" in a search here or on the internet and you'll see plenty of info on the 2.5 liter motor, but rarely do you ever see head gasket issues on a 2.2 liter. look for a good deal, 6 G's sounds like a average at best deal on this vehicle. but if your current vehicle is on it's way out then your ability to be picky diminishes. even a good mechanic won't be able to tell the beginnings of the typical head gasket issue, so i wouldn't let even a thorough inspection matter much in your decision.

i've done this before, never needed to do anymore than pull the hoses to the heater core and hold the outdoor garden hose up to the pipes, blowing it out. done it a number of times, works great, easy to do and never had any problems. i wouldn't use high pressure. you could also try shop air if you'd like. best advice i can give is do it before it gets any colder. you won't like doing this when it's 10 degrees outside...oh wait you guys do celsius...you know, really really cold.

what he said - the front diff is basically part of the transmission. it can be seperated, but noone does it. and depending on the failure mode another diff might fail in short order. if the trans caused the front diff to fail, the new one will as well. if the diff failed and....i'm not exactly sure of the terminoloy here, but if it failed and the resultant vibrations/damage to the diff also damaged where it mates to the trans internally....then the new diff will eventually (less than a year) be ruined by the damaged trans (that sustained damage from the previously damaged front diff). so installing a new front diff isn't necessarly the best option unless yo'ure positive you won't be doing this again in one year. the only person i know that tried to replace his front diff had this exact thing happen. i actually gave him a front diff and it was toast in short order for the exactd reasons i stated above. that being said - you'll likely have to buy a transmission anyway, just buy and install the whole thing. much simpler and less labor for your mechanic. and you'll have a hard time finding just a front diff. good luck and have fun,

sealing the rear cover of a diff is way easier than doing an axle change in my oppinion. drain fluid, remove cover, seal and reinstall cover. super easy...you will likely have to drop the diff down though but that isn't all that difficult, should just be three bolts to unbolt the diff and you might have to unbolt the driveshaft to let the diff come free, but it might just have enough play to come down on it's own. have somethign on the ground under the diff so it doesn't fall all the way to the ground when you remove it...like a jack maybe (but dont' let the jack get in the way of the diff cover. it could just be *wet* from either previous leaks up front (while driving leaks from up front fly back and attach to things, like the bottom of the rear diff. and sometimes it could just be a very minor leak. i'd clean it off, change the fluid with fresh fluid and see how it does. or just reseal, can't imagine it's that hard but i've never done it. post on the off-road forum of this site, those guys rebuild rear diffs all day long, they'll definitely know exactly what to do.

i just did this - not a bad job at all. the crank pulley was annoying (very hard to slide off)....but that's not necessary unless you want to do the oil pump seals which is a good idea. and the cam bolts are a serious PITA. i used strap wrenches and they did no good, just slipped and slipped. i will order the special tool now to loosen the cam bolts.

get a used one or visit ccr's homepage, they have a link to a place in colorado that rebuilds distributors for decent prices. if you plan to keep it awhile then a rebuilt distributor isn't a bad deal if you're planning for high mileage.

1 a few years ago, techwood avenue a block from the Georgia Tech football Stadium. a friend (ben webb) comes in and says "gross, they're towing your car". with a handful of friends watching and the frat boys across the street i ran outside and the truck was just pulling away, i ran after it, passed him in the center of the road, jumped on his windshield and beat it until he pulled over (he didn't have much choice). the police came and i explained he was towing my car from somewhere that i was allowed to park in. police made him give me my XT6 back with no fees/fines. 2 severe wobbling driving to georgia a couple years ago on I77 through charlotte, NC at 2am in the morning. Pulled over and the wheel was barely seated on the hub at an angle with one remaining lug nut. tightened up my one lug and limped to the next exit (less than a mile). pulled under a gas station awning and got to work, 4 lug studs had sheared off????? after looking and looking over the whole car, i found that the brake caliper bolts are the exact same thread as the lug studs. so i removed one brake caliper bolt from each front caliper and tightened up the one bolt holding the caliper on. the bolt is really really short and doesn't really want to go through the hub and wheel enough to grab the nut so you have to make sure the wheel is seated tight and reach behind the access hole and hold the bolt in there while grabbing it with the nut in the other hand. then tighten as best you can. finished the drive to atlanta with one stud and 2 brake caliper bolts as temporary studs. i think i just had sockets and such...no hammer to borrow studs from other hubs, i recall trying to get one out. continued on to atlanta and picked up new studs at the subaru dealer. had my friend call around atlanta for me and found a dealer right on my way. 3 a friend told me he knew a guy who had an XT6 i could take it away for free if i came and got it (blown head gaskets). nowhere to put it in georgia so i borrowed a truck, borrowed a tow dolly (from friends) and drove 750 miles to maryland (where i'm from), turned around and drove back to class. still got that one, it's a nice car. and swapping tags....don't tell anyone but i do that all the time. i have 5 running XT6's and one set of tags.

i'd make sure you get the same kind of tire installed. tires can differ some even if they are the same "size".

throw one in the trunk. i bought a brand new one and had it in the trunk until my old one failed. i was most excited that i had the new one on hand. it was night, far from home and raining and i don't have a cell. installed the new one in no time and was on my way....after a jump.

for an 86 it is "Starter circuit OFF".

i don't think the XT6 has an idle adjust screw like the EA82's, but i could be wrong. i think the Idle Air Control Valve controls idle....or it's supposed to. maybe there is a manual screw somewhere though.

the air struts can last awhile if you keep the rust from the metal base from gouging them and rubbing holes in the rubber. i have a thread posted on cleaning them up and painting them to get the rust out of their way. this is XT6 specific info, but the system lay out should be very similar: give the air compressor 12 volts to make sure it comes on. in the XT6 compressor there is a valve located inside the compressor that has wires to it, check that solenoid valve, give it 12 volts and make sure it clicks. while yo'ure in messing with the compressor - replace all 5 o-rings at each air line fitting. (best bet is to make a tool to remove the airpipes without breaking the plastic tabs). any thin tubed object...think like a straw but a little thicker, the air line goes through it and it will push the tabs out of the way. replace those o-rings. the o-rings will leak (they are old you know!). there is also an oring between the drier and the compressor on the compressor assembly. i believe it's just one screw, one bolt and a clip that slides out and the drier comes off to replace that o-ring. (the drier is the part of the compressor assembly that the air line fittings are attached too. there is one solenoid at each strut, the fronts are mounted in the engine bay and the rear solenoids are bolted directly to the strut. give them 12 volts and you should hear them click. at each air line fitting at the solenoids there is an o-ring as well. (same size as the ones at the compressor air line fittings). the rear solenoid bolts to the air strut and has orings as well. the one at the air line fitting is the same as the front orings, the one "inside" the strut is different i believe. just take them in any store that has o-rings and match them up. grease any new oring and install it. there are specific test procedures in the FSM that are most helpful, i would get familiar with those as well. the computer should be under the drivers seat (it is in the XT6 anyway). good luck,

a code 23 for an XT6 is the air flow meter. check the connector and swap in a new one.

it's a good idea to leave the throttle open and all the spark plugs removed when compression testing. not necessary, but not a bad thing either. having the throttle open allows the engine easier access to air supply (not the old 80's band) and removing all the plugs frees the engine up to turn easier. if it's both cylinders then i would look for something that affects both like the cam or t-belts. particularly since yo'ure getting the same compression ratio in both...it therefore the cause must be somethign that affects both equally....like belts or cam. i don't know but random thoughts: i'd be checking the timing belt as well. i'd check the belt, the tensioner, the cam sprocket and make sure nothing is out of whack. make sure the cam sprocket is seated where it's supposed to be, can't imagine it would be off but doesn't take long to check on the passengers side either. pull a valve cover and turn the motor over by hand and see if everything appears to be opening and closing properly. with the plug hole open you can see the top of the piston and make sure both valves are closing at the right times...maybe compare to the other side and see if things look the same.

the R180 diffs you speak of are essentially the same thing nissan/subaru, that's why they swap. get a 3.7 LSD and swap the internals into a 3.9, that's the easiest way to get a 3.9 LSD. operose just started a thread about using a locking rear diff from an...audi or something...i forget but it's a 3.89 gear ratio, he's not sure if it would hurt anything being 0.01 off. i did see one ebay listing for a 3.9 rear LSD and it even included the picture of the shiny plate that said 3.9 LSD on it. i'm not saying it was legit or wasn't photo-shopped but i did see the pictures...was about 2 years ago.

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=45009 that's the other cylinder misfire thread.

swap wires between cylinders 2 and 4 and see if the code moves to that cylinder...that would tell you the wire is causing the problem. cylinders 2 and 4 are on the drivers side of the motor, 2 is in the front, 4 is in the back like so looking from above the engine back of car 3 4 1 2 front of car

i just posted a long rump roast post about plug wires. they just tore the motor down and could have had a bad seating on one of the plug wires. they had to pull all the wires and plugs out of place, i'd still guess you have a cylinder mis-fire it just hasn't shown up on you CEL yet. i posted minutes ago on a much longer post i wrote and am not going to repeat all of it, but your best bet is to get good ignition wires (magnecor wires are awesome http://www.magnecor.com). take it into the shop you just had work done at, they could likely pick it up quicker if you don't/can't yourself. should not be a timing issue since the car is DIS (no distributor), so they shouldn't have bumped the timing accidently while pulling the cam. i would check the basic tune up stuff first...plug wires, plugs and get back to us. if you get a cylinder misfire...say cyilnder 1 misfire, you can always swap the cylinder 1 and 3 wires, clear the codes and see if the misfire moves with the spark plug. this would verify a bad wire....wires cause exactly the symptoms you are describing.

which engines are you talking about? i'm confused what two engines it could have. 2.5 liter and what else? the 2.5 is a great motor that subaru has had (and made better) for a decade now. get the motor that's been around longer, do not get a newer motor. ask all the people that bought 2.5's when they first came out....or Ford Focus's when they first came out....new versions are typically a gamble. hello...you're right close to me too. if it's sweet deal and it's YOUR car then i don't see what the issue is. you tell your dad you understand his oppinion but it's your car, thanks for the advice. tell him i know more than he does about subarus to, PM and i'll give you my phone number (that's a joke). i just did timing belts, water pump, oil pump and seals on a 2.5 liter subaru motor this past weekend, i think i'm a little familiar with these motors. if you don't care about reliability and a getting a good deal, then listen to him.

i think that can be a sign of ring wear or blow by past the valve stem seals. but i doubt that on this car unless it's been abused. a full tune up may help - i'd start at a minimum with spark plugs and a new Subaru OEM PCV valve. i'd personally get all new wires, plugs, cap, rotor, air filter....just get a complete tune up and go from there.

and what motor is this in? i talked to magnecor (www.magnecor.com) about the EJ22 (2.2 liter motor) and asked why they only sell their highest performance race wires for this engine. he said the the spark plug set up on these motors sucks and makes it very difficult to make a good aftermarket plug for. it is more likely to have a bad install and have faulty connections and arcing/grouding of the wire because....forget exactly why, the depth and tightness of the plug ports maybe. in any event, he said they decided to only off their competition series wires for this reason, to prevent less install problems. if you bought a cheap set of wires off the shelf at a generic auto parts store i would suspect that maybe this is the problem. to test....try to switch two ignition wires and see if the problem moves around or stays with that cylinder. if you swap #2 and #4 wires, clear the code and now the code is for a cyilnder 2 misfire then you can be sure it's the wire/boot causing issue. i had a heck of a time after removing my stock wires, i was waiting for my magnecor wires so when i changed spark plugs i just reinstalled the original wires. well one was seized to the plug (#1 cylinder) and required major surgery to remove piece by piece. tried taping it up just to get to the store, gave me the cyilnder misfire obviosly. so i bought a cheapo wire (single wire) they sold at the auto parts store just until i got the magnecors in the mail. had the right ends and all but it ran poorly and gave me a code as well. got the magnecor wires and it runs great now.

i'd double check that the wire is seated properly at the plug and the coil pack. look at the connections and inspect them. make sure it clicks into place when you install it. make sure the boot isn't cracked or anything.

1.25 is a common thread pitch, they should have the tooling available to make that. maybe it's not common for head studs, i don't know, but in terms of maching and tooling practices the 1.25 pitch shouldn't be the hold up. most threads on the EA82 and other motors are 1.25 pitch. i think will was saying the length was the issue, no existing studs that long. do these motors have the longest head bolts of any motor ever made? i can't imagine they're that strange.