idosubaru

flashlight and mirror will help you check the cable where it plugs into the back of the odometer. reach up in there and have a look at things. might have just pulled out.

no need to replace your oil pump. and if an oil pump made that much difference in driving there was some other issue, this is not typical.

cars are replaceable, urban coyote is not. glad you made out okay, that stuff is nothing to mess with.

i would definitely replace the head gasket and forget about the block. i don't know what this motor has been through, but generally the block should be fine in my oppinion. definitely have the heads checked no matter what by a machine shop. they will need to be machined. i have yet to take a head in (even if it didn't have head gasket problems) that was perfectly flat. they always need some amount of machining (mine have all had relatively high mileage, like yours). should have a valve job and new valve stem seals installed as well. clean every single head bolt and head bolt hole and lightly oil the holes for a good torque reading. do not short cut. clean the mating surfaces (block and head - machine shop will clean the head if you take it to them). do not scratch the block or head mating surface, clean it until it's completely free of anything. do not short cut any of these steps, head gaskets are not something you want to be doing again.

does the clutch need to be pushed in to start the transmission? all manual XT6's (4 of them) i've ever owned don't need the clutch pushed in to start. i just picked up another that must have the clutch pressed in to start? the inhibitor switch prevents the auto from starting in the wrong gear, but that's located on the transmission itself so that shouldn't be the issue. did you disconnect the TCU? double check the starter connections. are the starters the same for the auto and manual? for the XT6 manual and 4EAT auto's the starters are different. that shouldn't prevent it from turning over or getting juice though. the starter isn't getting any juice at all? is the distribotor plugged in properly? i've disconnected that before and had no start problems after major engine/trans work. unless i'm not understanding the cable issue, it should spark when you touch it to the battery terminal. unless every car i've owned had issues, mine have always done that.

i'd check the contacts and the wiring harness that plugs into the sensor. i wouldn't be surprised if the sensor is fine. i just mentioned this in another thread, i've driven 350,000 miles on a couple XT6's and have only had one sensor failure (MAF - broken wire). every other sensor failure was fixable by cleaning contacts, new connector, or fixing the wiring at the plastic connector. i even had a knock sensor code once and the connection at the wiring harness was bad.

wally world also sells adapters really cheap, not sure if they sell one for the newer models. they have one for like "various imports" or something that works on the XT6. but verify the labeling - it doesn't work for the XT6 you have to figure the wires out yourself. if you found one for the newer models i would bet the wiring would be right though. XT6's are strange birds, like that needs to be said.

demand is high because people want new cars and they have a desire to have them dealer maintained. the short answer is dealers can charge this because people will pay it. but really you're asking the wrong question....if you're surprised the real question is why are people paying these prices? if i started a car shop charging 12,345 dollars per hour and stayed in business you woud ask why people are paying that. if i went out of business you'd say i'm a dumb rump roast for charging that high. well dealers arent' going out of business so the question remains, "why are people paying this much?" general public is unskilled and does not know much about cars (or anything else in my oppinion). general population is not capable of doing anything to their car or even know much about it. the american population is being highly swayed towards non technical fields and that mindset of fixing anything yourself. universities in the US graduated 1/6 as many engineers (technical fields are showing this general trend) than china but 3 times as many lawyers last year. lawyers don't work on cars. technically minded people do. quick fix is the american way, why bother being resourceful or learning something when money gets them what they want? they just went in debt 30,000 for a car that's worth 25,000 when they sign the papers, why quibble over small change maintenance fees? i don't know about your area but my area is overrun with new cars. i'm hard pressed to even find anything from the 90's. very interesting phenomenon to me, as growing up in the 80's there were lots of older cars. it's amazing how many new cars there are these days, 20 years ago that was not the case. the economy is much better now and people are leveraging their affluence for driving nicer cars. (possibly a local trend). the desire for new cars is an ever expanding one that is spreading as much as advertising will allow it. with all these new cars, there are people willing to pay for dealer services.

there are also aftermarket lockers. phantom grips and detroit lockers for instance. these would be ideal in theory, though i don't know their reliability. i have an LSD and i like it in the snow and off road. particularly helpful when pulling someone else out of the snow/mud and your rear wants to break loose. i have started slipping in deep snow while pulling someone else and feel the LSD temporarily lock up and regain solid traction. $225 gets you a 3.7 lsd if you PM or email me.

i've welded the exhaust in various spots, including at the y-pipe. look for rust issues, otherwise you'll be fine.

it's not there anymore, no point in asking him for pictures.

same here, i drove an XT5 (XT6 with a dead cylinder) with no problems. once was spark plug wire not connected another time was bad HLA's on that cylinder. drove it awhile on the fault HLA's before i got around to fixing it.

#1- 125 #2- 145 #3- 130 #4- 135 did you prop the throttle body open and remove ALL the spark plugs when doing this compression test? if you don't, this can make your compression results less accurate and cause further variation between cylinders. no matter the method used, these values look fine to me. i would not be concerned about a block showing these numbers unless there is some other issue. unless there are other major problems i would expect this block to be reliable beyond the life of many other parts on the vehicle.

be helpful to know what motor this is. if it's an EA82 you definitely don't need any special tools. the tensioners are up to you, i doubt you need to replace them if they were replaced with new. the tensioners can last the life of the motor, but of course they can fail as well. EA82 tensioners are cheap enough to justify replacing them if you want to feel better about it. cheap enough from thepartsbin or something, maybe not you're dealer! if you're not sure, check them when you pull the belts. spin the pulley, if it's not noisey and there's no play then there's no reason to replace it. if there is any play in the pulley (like it wiggles on the shaft) or they are tight then definitely replace them. i highly doubt you'll experience this though. the bearings can vary in noise levels quite a bit, so that's more subjective. more than likely yours will spin nice and quiet. even if one was a little bit louder than another that doesn't necessarily mean much. when i check older subaru pulleys they typically vary in noise level - one might be a little louder than the next. so don't freak out about that, just post back here and let us know if you're not sure. shaft play and tightness or a lumpy feeling are VERY definitive signs to replace the pulley. noise is not so definitive. these following comments are not recommendations, just options to be complete about the subject, i don't recommend either of these unless you really want to. buying new or leaving the old should do you just fine. you can also by hypodermic needles at tractor supply stores (or probably elsewhere) for greasing tight areas. these can be used to grease the pulley bearings, which are the failure point of the pulleys. i've never done it, but know someone who has. i am getting ready to install a motor and look to try this. you can also source bearings and have new ones pressed in the pulleys, but probably not worth the money or time investment since EA82 pulleys are so cheap and easy to get. but if you had access to a press and the pulleys were expensive this would be an option.

i think you're getting ahead of yourself on sensors and relays. ignition components cause your symptoms more often than sensors. i probably won't see this thread again or i'd ask questions. if the wires, plugs, cap, rotor and coil aren't new or giving good spark then i'd replace them all at the same time. if this hasn't been done recently, i wouldn't touch anything else until i rule out these igntion components. i've put about 350,000 miles on a couple XT6's and have only ever had one failed sensor (MAF) and no failed relays. replaced plenty of plugs, wires, caps, rotors and coils in that time though. i do think it could be a sensor, but i think you're chasing your tail if you don't rule out the ignition first. make sure the harness for the coolant sensor has tight and clean connections. corrosion causes problems that may not go away with a new sensor. check resistance/continuity of the wires in the harness (at the connector) to a suspected sensor as well for a short in the wire.

same as Ford Probe as well according to the box mine came in???? figure that one out.

how bad do you want to save $? do you know what you're doing? do you have another vehicle? have you done it before? this group is a good resource for you if you do try it. i wouldn't plan on rushing it.

right. i'm sure there are plenty of knowledgable folks that work for subaru, i just haven't met one in person yet. XT6 hasn't been on the market for almost 15 years and there aren't many, so it's easy to run across subaru employees that know nothing about it.

cybrid power steering fluid is only used on the XT6, nothing else. i've also called subaru dealers that had no clue about the XT6 power steering pump and had no idea about the special fluid. XT6 owners beware. don't listen to everything you hear...even if it's from a Subaru dealer.

pat, i think he's talking about the ujoint between the two steering shafts. the 8 or 9 inch piece you're talking about should connect to the rack at one end and the other shaft via ujoint at the other end. so if yours still has the ujoint in place he'd be golden. they sell hypodermic needles for greasing bearings at tractor supply stores. works on the timing belt pulley bearings for instance. get one of those, you might get lucky and be able to squeeze some grease in an old ujoint if there's any gaps. might be totally sealed though.

prybar is the way to go. use 2x4's, bolts or whatever to gain leverage and avoid pressure on the timing cover. screwdrivers are two small and not stiff enough to get good leverage behind the pulley. they work, but they aren't very efficient. you'd be amazed how much more leverage a prybar offers you, they are designed for that. i used one two days ago to pull a crank pulley off.

over the past 10 years i've played with a few exhaust set up and put 30 - 45,000 miles per year on my car so i pay attention to mileage. it's not going to make a huge difference. also will depend on your driving style and conditions. you can eek a few more mpg out of an XT6 for sustained long distance (highway driving), just by removing your intake snorkel, installing a K&N and welding on a good straight through muffler. no need to mess with piping size even for that. stock i think an AWD automatic will run about 26 mpg, after those mods you can get 29-30 on all highway miles. but when you make mods and try to *feel* that power and start mashing the gas you'll get worse mileage. for mileage, keep your ignition system in good working order (NEW). for sustained highway driving this matters little, but for typical daily driving be sure not to have excessive dead weight in your car. like tool boxes, enormous jacks....etc. like the last post mentioned, you'll notice a little more power up high and less down low. it's not magic, but you can tell.

delete - my bad.

rockauto is notorious for showing multiple model parts for XT6's, i would not buy anything from them. they have great parts and i haven't heard anything bad from their customer service but i know from looking up XT6 parts, they'll definitely list parts that are not XT6 compatible even after i specifically select XT6 parts. thepartsbin.com is AWESOME. they have yet to get a part wrong yet and i've ordered from them probably a dozen times. i highly recommend these guys for great prices and always the right parts. sometimes parts are cheaper locally, but for the most part almost all of their parts (for XT6 anyway) are cheaper than you'll find locally. rockauto will have some parts cheaper, but be sure you can verify the part number. thepartsbin is always right. i've reused axle nuts and washers without incident. the subaru dealer will definitely have an axle nut for you. of course they may want 10 dollars for it, but they should have it. as you know it is not recommended to reuse axle nuts so i'm not suggesting you should do it. only that i've done it a couple times on my own vehicles for many miles without incident.

can toast wheel bearings on an SVX.