idosubaru

Hey that’s success though - they figured it out and it’s fixed it. Is it common to not rotate tires over there and replace all 4? Why are you and your friend buying two new tires? They can’t make you change tires... It’s not uncommon for places to not know if you’re not in a highly compelling Subaru or AWD area. The owner is always the best advocate for their own car. If the owner isn’t capable of that: A. Get a good independent Subaru mechanic B. Use the dealer In general average shops are keeping costs low to attract customers from those places. They pay low, train less, and do the best they can but will make oversights particularly platform specific oversights as they try to cater to everyone and cheaper consumers. People are also anecdotal and quick to blame shops and tell them what to do and how to run their business. Theybhear advixe everyday don’t get too offended if they didn’t listen. And as quickly as youre blaming here, the next guy will blame that shop for overcharging them for 4 tires when they only wanted two tires. Then word spreads that they rip people off. Happens all the time. They’re not in the easiest position.

We went from budget to high dollar/skillset turbo swap - this is probably just friendly wishful thinking that won’t go anywhere right? How about a V8, LS1 swap Honestly you’re better off appreciating the car for what it is than making it something it isn’t or will never be and using it as a reliable daily driver while you plan and save for your future goals It is possible to do a turbo build in stages if you’re wise and obedient. Most aren’t. Myxyphylx turboed and tracked an EJ22 reliably for a couple years then removed the turbo bits and engine was in great shape. But he didn’t keep increasing boost and monitored it well. Most people blow it up.

vibration needs diagnosed, can’t assume it’s caused by the mismatch. *** balance the tires *** rotate the tires and see if the vibration “moves” or changes. If installing two new tires with widely different circumference - you can install one new one up front and one new one on the opposite side rear. This isn’t ideal but it’s what you do when you’re going to only buy two tires for whatever reason * At this point you want to do this as a diagnostic tool. A. If the vibration goes away then there’s a good chance it is tire related - either a tire problem (balance, broken belt), or circumference problem B. If the vibration changes then it’s probably a tire balance issue. 1. Brand doesn’t matter. I routinely mismatch brands like I’ve done it 100 times. Zero issues at all in a quarter century 2. Buy four matching tires and rotate them properly. 3. If you have to get two new tires put the two newest ones up front and they’ll wear down to match the rears then start rotating them properly so they stay the same. Or do as I said early about one on the front and back. Tire shops here do it all the time as we have the unfortunate mismatch of one of the poorest economies in the US and terrible mountainous unmaintained snowy roads, lanes and driveways.

same here - they're so commonly missing or broken/dry rotted trash i assumed they weren't necessary. other than a time or two i've never worried about not installing them. i'm not hard core but i've never noticed a difference on our unmaintained gravel mountain roads where i blow a tire or two a year just daily driving.

Best to ask someone well versed in Subaru's too so you get quality parts and service to supplement any work - regardless of dealer or independent. You never want to buy a "60k service" at any shop. They're usually over priced marketing ploys to dive profits. A "60k service package" and doing the actual 60k maintenance from Subaru's list can cost hundreds of dollars difference and be the exact same service. it's pretty silly, but so many people don't know that the shops can get away with it.

1. Are there any lights on the dash - namely Check engine light or transmission light? 2. How many miles have you put on it at this rate? Might just need run in a little bit, get bad gas out of it. 3. What type of driving - any highway, or all stop and go city driving pulling a dump trailer full of rock? 4. Brakes can light drag and cause no issues at first except a few mpg drop in gas mileage. It's just that most people don't notice them until they get really bad, but they're typically starting to get bad before those "catastrophic" failures and symptoms, people just don't know it.

What year/engine was installed? read the check engine codes - what do you get? any other instrument panel lights on? 1. Driving. City driving mountains snow letting car warm up heavy on the gas... 2. Brakes. “Previous owner...engine install” suggests it sat for an unknown period of time. Its had inefficient brake maintenance because almost all have - pull slides and regressed with Sil Glyde or better Knock sensor - I’ve never seen a cheap $6 eBay special cause issues though I can’t imagine they’re awesome for that price lol They usually throw a code but stranger things have happened. They’ll show cracking and rust/putting at their base. air filter, plugs, vacuum leak, improper timing belt alignment

Google rear bearing for any Subaru starting around 2005+ as that’s when all the legacy and outback stuff went to bolt on bearings and are the same removal process. Should find some other rust hole friends that have had this. I haven’t had any stuck bolt on bearings yet.

It’s silly easy to rebuild them yourself. Rebuild kit is a couple bucks. Remove piston, assess any rust, replace seal around piston and piston boot as you reassemble.

Replace timing belt and 3 pulleys with Subaru or AISIN parts at the same time, i replace the tensioner assembly too but they rarely fail if you make sure they're dry (not leaking) and properly compressed. The timing belt and 3 pulleys should always be replaced at every timing belt change. The pulleys are not good 210,000 mile candidates so leaving them and replacing the belt is risky - as you're finding out the hard way. The question then becomes do you want to replace the water pump and tensioner at the same time and/or reseal the oil pump and replace the cam seals. The water pumps never fail oand in the rare event they do they just leak and thereby there's no risk of immediate stranding or engine damage. Same with the tensioner - if the seal is dry it's low risk and will make a knocking noise giving you time to repair it. Technically your question gets a little confusing. There may be more lower cogged idler failures than belt failures simply because some people/shops actually replace timing belts but not pulleys. Even the dealer will commonly only replace a belt. So this "poll" would start to compare unequal mileage components if you look at anecdotal reports. But to answer your question, when it comes to Subaru OEM parts: 1. belt failure if it's never changed 2. lower cogged idler failure - by far the most common failure. (In some ways #2 is 'more common' simply because in some circles people actually replace the belt but not the pulley - so 3. new style tensioner mechanism failure 4. idler pulley failures the water pumps never fail. if they do they just leak and you repair when you get a chance. no big deal.

Very roughly: $300 valve cover gaskets $500 cam seal - should really do a complete timing belt job with new belt and pulleys as that needs removed to replace the seal. If the belt breaks/pulleys fail on that engine they bend valves and you’ll have a scrap car.

Thanks for the follow up. Glad you’re done with it. An EJ22 swap is plug and play, cheap and you get to trade subarus worst engine for one of Subarus best engines.

Thanks, good to know.

Ah wait you’re 96 if original probably has the old style tensioner. New style came in 1997. So you won’t have that bolt. They don’t sell kits with that tensioner I don’t think.

Aisin Others have a higher failure rate including Dayco. Don’t even use the aftermarket tensioner bolt that some come with - I’ve seen those fail. Just use the original tensioner and bolt

Got it guys. hose all the way. much simpler. I’ll make an extra coil and replace my radiator with it. Haha!

sure thing. if it was a "cause" then more than likely EJ18 and EJ22's - which use the exact same part number water pump, thermostat, and cooling system layout would have headgasket issues. but they don't. i realize some of this might seem harsh - that "author" you linked to is one of a hundred rabbit trails and iterations of the same thing that's been happening over the 20+ year history of the EJ25D headgasket - various conjectures, theories, or persons have thought they figured it out, knew it, or anecdotally thought they're awesome at owning/repairing/back seating commenting on EJ25D's, or found the magic bullet that no expert or prevailing wisdom came across. it was interesting when they first came out and people were trying to learn it and figure it out....15 years ago. bottom line - the EJ25D is old news and there's about a 0.000000000000005% chance of a random internet person adding anything meaningful now. so sure, ask, but also keep in mind the reality of the topic being discussed.

headgasket but proper diagnosis is best. it's always amazed me how cool that lower hose can stay on an overheating engine. you're positive the radiator isn't clogged? the block tester kits can give false negatives, but yours sounds bad enough hopefully it'll be accurate either way.

is it bad to drive it out with pressure on it? i hit the bolt with a hammer - drive a screwdriver or punch through it to knock it out - and then wiggle the driver/punch out by hand.

I see the oil sensor/switch and another valve and the rear cam cap. Leak looks a little low and to the bottom of that “valve”? anyone know if that part needs replaced or resealed..?

great choice. how much do those run? if you were worried about the dust shield you could call them and ask they're probably sitting right next to piles of core, junk axles and could get one for you easy. i've got some, i just don't have the time. i've got a few parts to pull for some other people and had surgery a few weeks ago, work , three kids, my own cars...too much going on.

somewhere on this forum peopel have mentioned which aftermarket tool to buy and modify for the retainer plate. you could probably find it by searchign.

there's a shop around here that routinely welds that back together for $45 - $75 all day long. that's where i send everyone who comes to me. but you have to keep calling around until you find someone willing to do it. it's easy for them - size up, cut, and weld they're done in no time. just got to find a place willing. if there's no compelling reason for a new one, it's worth considering. New is nice - then you'll never have to worry about it again. Although like he said the aftermarket stuff can last just 2-5 years sometimes in the rust prone areas. I've had exhuast parts shipped from out west - they're like brand new and OEM so they last longer than aftermarket. but that's a pain too finding someone willing to do that and ship those parts.

What vehicles did you pull and tap in? All Subaru automatic side differential seals prior to 2005 require removing the retainer plate to replace the seal. Those seals do occasionally develop a slow leak.

cam seal leak. pull timing belt, cam sprocket, replace cam seals. it maybe, could be the valve cover. the rear timing cover and front lower valve cover corner are so close to each other and both wet and i don't how that oil got spread around particularly if you sprayed degreaser on it. so it could be valve covers depending how the degrease went down - but otherwise that looks far more like a cam seal than valve cover. clean that front area of the valve cover and timing cover and see where the oil comes from.