idosubaru

Right on - this year I've seen a few "AISIN" labeled "kits", I think it was mostly ebay. but they had an AISIN part or three and everything else was other suppliers, it wasn't a typical full AISIN or OEM kit. So yeah, make sure it's an actual AISIN kit and not just carrying the AISIN name, an AISIN part, with other parts thrown in.

Smart - just like you said, you don't really want to cut corners here on an interference engine, they usually bend lots of valves, over 50% of the valves are bent on every one i've seen. 1. Replace the timing belt and lower sprocket (toothed idler) at a bare minimum. Those two parts fail the most by a long shot. 2. Assess the remaining pulleys and replace if noisy or free wheeling too easily (no grease inside). Look for wetness on the tensioner hydraulic seal. 3. Use Subaru parts only - belt is Mitsubishi and you can research the cheap $35 pulley...it's koyo or NTN or NSK I think. 4. Dealer prices on these parts are not bad at all - you can buy them online at discounted prices and there are a number of inexpensive sellers on ebay. Yes they're not as cheap as the cheapest belts - but like you said you don't want those on an interference engine anyway. The best recommendation is to replace the belt, all 3 pulleys, tensioner, and water pump. AISIN sells kits, usually they're OEM but there's becoming some confusing providers now too if you're shopping around and not getting a totally aisin kit. The tensioner isn't prone to fail if properly remove and installed. the cam and crank seals for your year are very robust materials and rarely leak. Your 2003 baja may have the 7mm oil pump though which is known low grade bottom of the barrel, most EJ25's have 9mm except for a few around 2003-2006. If yours has a 7mm pump it's best to install a 9mm, in which case you'll need a crank seal and oil pump oring - get them from Subaru.

Probably obvious but the old plastic clips, fastener, trim can be prone to breaking when removing. Keep any clips, plugs, etc you see while pulling parts from the yard.

The site didn’t renew properly only due to an accident/misinformstion. Assuming it can be renewed, it’ll be back. I guess if a sniper bought and squats on the domain we’re all hosed?

Got it. The belt and vehicle was made and installed in 2009 - the date of manufacture is probably 2009. It doesn't really matter, failure is rare at this stage but it does happen and if one is precise about 105k they may also want to be precise about other factor recommendations. EJ25 water pumps frequently make another 100,000 miles very easily. They do have rare failures, mitigated somewhat by being detectable via dripping coolant through the weep hole. EJ25 water pump failure is rare, but it does happen. I haven't actually ever seen a failed water pump, so it would be low on the list of priorities for me. Some people wait until the second change, I base it on contexts/owner/vehicle, others like GeneralDisorder who owns a Subaru shop replace them every time as a rule. Is there a reason not to replace it? Where I live rust is a large problem, if it's a rusty car with limited life span anyway, I'll skip the water pump. If they're newer/great condition I'd lean towards replacing them. I do all Subaru labor for free - if someone is really tight on finances I recommend the water pump but don't balk if they don't want to pay for the parts.

If the piston seals/rebuild kits are available, just pull the caliper and rebuild it yourself. Or hand it to a machine shop that does automotive work and ask if they'll do it. It's really insanely easy. But you probably have introduced air or a leak somewhere else. The brake bleeder valve being sheared off may not be how you lost your fluid. if it sat that long it should have been corroded well in place, never moved at all, and not been the source of the leak or introduced air or loss of brakes. Check fluid level Check for leaks Flush and bleed it if there's no signs of leaks.

What option did you choose to go with? The newer assemblies for the fronts would be easiest, and only new/assembled option, rears don't have any options like that.

It was up until very recently, hopefully something expired and we don't loose it all. i think there's lagging software/updates and the only ones who can approve/address issues are largely off the grid and don't have the time to put into it.

Use a Subaru or Mitsubishi timing belt. That's 15 months overdue on belt replacement as it's 105,000 or 105 months. Most folks on this forum recommend a complete timing belt kit - belt, pulleys, and tensioner, and water pump. Since the timing belt relies on none of those failing to work properly. The belt and lower cogged pulley (it's only $40 from Subaru) are the bare minimum, that pulley fails often enough that just replacing the belt doesn't make sense for only $40. Get Subaru or AISIN timing kits or piece together the koyo, ntn...etc pulleys and tensioner and pump. eBay is a good resource for this as well.

“Take it for a rough drive” - with cut springs? Can you load a few hundred pounds in the back, maybe with one wheel on blocks, to simulate the travel where you can inspect and measure? I’m trying to do that with my one rear wheel rubbing but it doesn’t rub by just loading it with weight. What is binding? assumed you were familiar with the rear EA82/er27 stuff. since cutting is common for XT6s and you asked about cutting I figured I’d point there But that has nothing to do with travel.

They may have them but that looks like a generic advertisement. Surely we’ve seen these 10,455,193 times on billboards magazines TV and brochures. that’s exactly what that is, not a specific part number, price for a product listing.

Cardoc knows his stuff. About as good as you can get for Subaru care.

if !()*%!! quality struts are okay with you then get later model quick struts for the front and swap them in and hope they ride level and ignore the ABS brake hose attach points. there's no options for the rears. A local sears installed quick struts in a friends 2003 Outback Sedan and I had no idea new struts and springs could perform that badly. It Flooooooaaaaats along down the road and feels like a toy. but that's my only experience driving in a car with them, I'm guessing some people are getting okay results or okay with the bad performance. Also there are numerous examples of new aftermarket strut top failures and weakness. i've seen them fail completely, shearing off leaving the strut floating and banging in the rear well in less than a week and people have posted pictures of them "bulging" online - once installed and the vehicle is put back on the ground the strut mount bushing material balloons up concave into the engine compartment. i'll only use used Subaru or KYB top strut mounts.

In XT6 world, converting a 4WD air suspension to regular struts from a FWD XT6 makes the rear 2" higher than the front. Common comments suggest that cutting the coils ruins the hardening and end fitment of the spring. But in practice it's been done plenty of times and I've never heard of issues.

Really low. If a pulley started to fail the timing belt will glaze over, over heat and eventually start to shred into threads. Maybe if it was doing that the water pump wasn't turning at full speed, leading to overheating. Car pulls over and the start up attempt blew the belt. Seems unlikely to happen in practice....but...maybe?

I'd diagnose the no-start and timing belt first though before putting money into a radiator you won't need. if the valves are bent you can buy used heads for $100-$200 and swap them out and be back on the road relatively inexpensively as well. resurface the heads, new subaru headgaskets, new Subaru timing belt and lower cogged pulley and you're good for another 100k for $200 in new maintenance parts.

I've bought them from advance auto parts for $60. They're $100 and I use $40 off online coupon. $48 with free shipping on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/p/Direct-Fit-Complete-Aluminum-Radiator-100-Leak-Tested-Rad-for-2-5l/2107190739?iid=191597908667&chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=191597908667&targetid=596465947388&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9009439&poi=&campaignid=1689407486&mkgroupid=74365778148&rlsatarget=pla-596465947388&abcId=1140476&merchantid=6319874&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ei91Nzr4wIVBp-fCh1yAQ9QEAQYAyABEgKmE_D_BwE

All the bushings seemed perfectly tight with no play and smooth movement as the arm articulates. The arrow is where it's rubbing. The gap is the same on passengers and drivers side. With the mud flap removed I see there's a small part of the metal edge bent towards the tire. This metal is stout - how do I bend that back without bashing it and turning it into an uneven rust haven? Channel locks will bend the "bent part" back, but then the adjacent edges get distorted that the channel locks aren't touching, if that makes sense.

Easiest is to fabricate adapters to install the 99 intake manifold right on top of the 97 engine. But few people can do that. I haven't done it but I've done enough of similar swaps in those Phases and seen what others have done to know a little bit. But you'll want to hear from others about specifics. People have swapped 97's into 99's but it's not straight forward. I know for certain the idle controller is all different, not interchangeable and needs addressed. people have propped/adjsuted the throttle cable/body to stay open for idling, etc. i'm unsure what other hurdles there are but there are other threads discussing it.

Ideally diagnose and know what decision you're making. Any replacement vehicle in NY will be a current, or future, rust bucket unless you're in the market for a nearly new vehicle. 1. don't turn the engine over any more 2. read the engine codes if you have an OBD scanner - cam/crank codes would suggest timing belt issue 3. pull the one side timing cover - it's only 3 10mm bolts and takes a few minutes. Easy. Once removed - check to see if the belt is completely broken or just loose. If you can figure out the no start condition then replace the radiator and you should be good to go.

What he said - repair the caliper? Or what you said - order a caliper from rockauto, advance auto parts, summit racing...it looks like they're available. They're used all the time, particularly in rust prone areas where newer subaru calipers are rusty and seized and used ones are equally questionable so new is a great option in those areas.

great, sounds like you got it knocked out. You don't do any work from the inside really. Pop some covers to reach fasteners, or maybe they're exposed, but it's all reached from the top of the open sunroof. Remove some bolts and the entire contraption lifts out. Seems to me I've done it in my office parking lot to help someone out before in like 30 minutes, but maybe my memory is poor and it was an hour.

It may not matter, I’m not familiar with AISIN gaskets so my opinion is limited. AISIN is recommended for timing belt kits and water pumps, ive never seen AISIN significantly talked about for head gaskets? Also, AISIN belt kits are typicality recommended for the newer 2000+ engines. General Disorder and others favor OEM headgaskets over anything else and a few others get good results with Fel Pro. Those guys are seeing dozens a year and can see trends we don’t so I favor their recommendations.

Thanks! ive run this SJR lift and tire size before. but now that you say that, it was on a manual trans XT6 so maybe that weight difference is in play too. I’ll check bushing and top hat flip orientation. I was deciding between 200-250 pound rear springs, maybe I should have done the higher rate.

Id get Subaru gaskets and not use those. But I realize that’s easy to say when it’s not mine. Surely it goes block side but I’d wait for someone else to verify as I use OEM and don’t see that. It’s side-specific with no indicator how it’s installed? Nice!