idosubaru

chux knows that well, so he'll set you straight but you can get bluetooth/wifi devices that plug into your OBD port and then get an app on your phone (or get a cheap old android for dedicated car use) to monitor the temps. i think in some ways droids are easier for some apps and you have to decide between getting a bluetooth or wifi interface which has pro's and cons depending whether you're wanting iOS or android....but in reality i'm not well versed in all that - it's confusing and i haven't sat and looked/tried all the options.

You're golden, that's like kindergarten towing. you're nowhere near 90 degrees. and what you're describing sounds like average rolling hills which are benign. i'm talking mountain passes where there are truck pull offs, runaway truck ramps, mandatory truck pull off/brake checks, signage and lights indicating steep grades, etc.

Yes, I wouldn't hesitate, no big deal if you just pay a little attention (like chux said above - and ATF cooler is wise if you're going to be doing this in high temps/steep grades). This is also assuming you're proactive, not easily annoyed, etc. To the most picky, emotional types of owners I'd suggest playing it safer just so they dont stress themselves out, but that doesn't sound like you. I've never weighed the total package - but my boat is 1,000 by itself....add 130 hp motor, trailer, gas, gear, and I'm carrying 5 people it's 2,000....if not 3,000. No issues unless it's upper 80's+, high humidity, and 6-7% grades. which is basically the maximum grade allowed by law on the interstate, not just an average "hill" on the interstate. What temps are you going to tow in? What are the grades of the "hills"? Sounds like you might be 500 pounds or so under what I'm usually trying to do as well.

I tow a 17 footer and have been in quite a few different environments. 1. They handle it just fine for moving purposes. They're not a dedicated tow vehicle but you're not towing it all the time no big deal IMO. I have a full sized truck and dislike driving it unless necessary. Truck gets 15mpg while towing, Subaru's get around 12 mpg. 2. Cooling system is the main limitation for Subaru's. I haven't towed with a 2017 but this has been true across multiple subaru plaforms for decades and the 2017 isn't enormously different in terms of cooling layout, design, size, and capacity. Seen it on many models of Subaru's - high temps + steep grades + heavy enough load - the car will run hot.

most of us on here are not surprised that happened. when i read your first post i was thinking it wouldn't work. autoparts counter people are often convinced that whatever their computers say has to be true. and you can't blame them - 99% of the time they end up being right and can look up seemingly infinite parts compared with ease and accuracy. But a 1980s subaru - best not to trust the parts store numbers on those. this is an EA81 right? there were EA82's in 1986 and GL wagons had EA82's, but if you mean a GL hatch those are EA81's. are there any online places that will rebuild your existing compressor? or get a used one? parts wanted forum?

how did you check it? they really need to be removed to test, particularly if we're looking into them for something with such limited symptoms as you're describing. are you sure it's not normal AWD feeling? that your outback is different might mean you're comparing two different transmissions - if your legacy is MPT and your outback is VTD they are not the same and could feel different. i would try all manners of small movements, turns, circles/forward/back in succession, while idling try steering at various angles, etc and see if you can tell if you can isolate it as steering related or moving related? a ujoint o steering issue would have a good chance of being symptomatic without rolling. could you describe it better? *** can you tell if it's more of a "steering" related symptom or "rolling" symptom. any noises? do you feel a resistance like it's lightly holding the vehicle back? any feelings of thump, thunk, vibration, clunk? is it momentary or will it do it for a couple seconds? does it only do it at full lock or will it do it at half way, 3/4, or just shy of full lock?

there's a bunch of EJ22's in california. expand your search options. search further look at all 1996-1998 legacy's and impreza's, not just impreza. all of those are plug and play, you may need to work around EGR issues depending if yours has EGR or not. 1995 legacy and impreza EJ22's will also work if you also swap the exhaust manifold as well - it is then plug and play and bolts right in (address EGR accordingly) any 1990-1998 EJ22 block will work - bolt your heads to it. same thing with EJ18 - get the EJ18 exhaust manifold with the engine and bolt your EJ22 intake manifold to it. plug and play. you can bolt your EJ22 heads to an EJ25 block - so you can look for EJ25's (i would avoid 1996-1998 EJ25's though personally). this probably means there are JDM engines you can use as well....

great, maybe you sniffed it out. you've never said it overheats, no bubbles, and it's passing the pressurized coolant test which is the best one for this engine and your scenario. so there's no immediate headgasket indicators, it's just not something to forget either. it's common for initial EJ25D headgasket issues to pass nearly any test. cooling system pressure test is the best and the electronic $$$$$ hydrocarbon sniffers (not the chemical test styles) are great but not widely available. compression test and milk and oil mixing or coming out the tail pipe are essentially pointless and a waste of time on that engine. they never really do that or if they do it's already so obvious the test isn't needed.

1. Silly questions - is it possible 1998's didn't require airbags and your country didn't have them back then? They all basically look the same, here's an example: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SUBARU-WRX-98-00-AIRBAG-CONTROL-MODULE-ECU-GC8-GF8-IMPREZA-STI-99-RX-152300-2391-/202137601226 you can get some location information and help tracing wires by looking at Subaru diagrams on parts websites: https://parts.subaru.com/Subaru_1998_Impreza.html The SRS computer is under the center consoler - like under/around/just behind the ebrake. I think later models like 00+ are located a little more forward of the ebrake and under the stereo area. they're all incorporated with bright yellow connectors for easy identification - look for those bright yellow connectors/wiring harness. that's SRS airbag wiring. if you dont' see a computer - look for dangling, disconnected wires. or look for yellow wires and trace them. your steering wheel and passengers side behind the dash should both have wiring coming out of the air bags - you could attempt to trace that back to the computer.

i get that and am similarly annoyed! but the data suggests decade+ old Subaru's are acceptable enough for you to start with. so very very roughly it would take 10-12 years for a rust-free subaru to receive the same conditions and get to the same condition as the 10+ old local market vehicles you're currently sourcing from. while we're talking - thanks for the mastercraft recommendations, i tried my first set a couple weeks ago, a very good local shop loves them.

Pretty sure you gotta lift the motor but I don’t have every model and year memorized. Some day fly out or ship and buy a rust free Subaru. Glorious

alright. Doesn’t matter you’ll find out soon enough what is causing this or it’ll get bad enough it’ll be obvious. every DOHC EJ Head I’ve done you can see significant high and low spots and ring grooves clearly seen during resurfacing, so I’d suggest always doing them for those and to get a better surface roughness but who cares that doesn’t even matter at this point if it’s not overheating just drive it until the symptoms get worse?

yeah it might be working but just kind of delayed. 1. make sure the driveshaft and axles are all in place. i'm sure they are but hey i've converted subaru's to FWD before and it's confused shops until they figure that out. 2. check/change ATF +1 to what GD said. no clutch maintenance, no synchro's wearing out, no input shaft bearings failing, and much easier to work around if there are 4WD control issues verses the MT's "instantly" locked failed viscous couplers. they go 200,000+ miles all day long on nothing but fluid changes. and you can add a "locked 4WD" switch easily, takes like 5 minutes. as a matter of fact you could "test" the 4WD that way - cut power to the Duty C solenoid. if it is then "locked", then you know it's operational, if a little delayed/lagging. then just install a switch and you've got "delayed AWD" and "locked 4WD" at the press of a button (flick of a switch). i do this to mine even when they're perfectly operational for better offroad/snow use. I don't "wheel" my subaru but rather use my subaru for pulling out my tractor, dragging trees i've dropped, accessing my property, driving to my pond, hunting, daily driving, etc.

it may be that a previous owner disconnected some airbag components - verify the SRS computer is plugged in and the fuse for the SRS system is good. If any other components in the SRS system was compromised you should get some kind of code and functionality from the SRS computer. 1. has this car ever been in an accident? 2. what's the general history of this thing? did it sit in a field for 20 years with mice chewing on it before you bought it or you've daily driven it since day 1 without any issues until last night? 3. is the check engine, or any other lights on? 4. are any other systems inoperable - wipers, lights, stereo, etc...? in the US you can just buy another SRS computer for dirt cheap and swap it out if yours is bad. they rarely fail so i wouldnt' do this unless used parts are easily found there or you have a reason too.

1. did you resurface the heads? yep, verify cap, overflow hose, and no coolant leaks, and the fans are both coming on and there's no debris in front of the radiator/a/c condenser, and burp all the air out of the system. it may be unlikely due to no overheating but it's not completely ruled out that it's not a headgasket. replaced gaskets have varying failure modes over the OEM factory installed ones which pretty much all did the exact same thing. previously overheated EJ25D's are ominous. the first symptom of factory installed EJ25D headagasket failure is almost always instantaneous, inconsolable, and intermittent overheating. this lends itself to people not seeing it, limping them around, hoping that driving slow/turning heat on helps them get home (it doesn't), filling it helps them get home (it doesn't), then it goes away and they think it was the topping off or new cap or new hose or new radiator or new tstat that caused it because it went away right after...but really it was just because they're always intermittent. then people drive them a few more weeks and it happens again. wash-rinse-repeat and you've got an engine that is more prone than any other, even other EJ25's, to multiple overheats and limping home. hopefully this one is fine, but it won't be ruled out until you confirm causation elsewhere.

they rust out all the time, very common part to fail on those. they're like $50.

This is tough because bleeding is relatively simple but has some very particular details sometimes and you're working on an unknown vehicle...!!??!?? More than likely there's still air in the system. Take note - everyone was saying bleed the brakes - and you were guessing master cylinder multiple times. You reassessed your bleeding and got more air out - so those suggestions were spot on. I'm not sure where the line is drawn between "you need to bleed more" and "it's probably something else" - that's a very gray area - but it's often the case more bleeding or proper bleeding or a better bleeding set up (don't run out of fluid in MC, screws not leaking, hose/pump/whatever make shift system is being used working well)....

your pictures don't have to be that close or good - you can try pictures from up above through the engine bay - though it's really tight in the Tribeca, or just stand behind each front wheel and look up under the car like that. maybe have a good source of light too. the rear axles you can take pictures of i think just leaning under the rear of the car.

Ah - that's a good description - there are two items that frequently result in symptoms that present during hills and under a load: a. inner joint of a front axle b. front differential a front differential is more likely to result in a "loud clunk" but a front axle is more likely to exhibit symptoms going around turns. here's your new take home tasks I need you to do: 1. look at the front axles and see if any have: A. new boots or clamps (indicating they've been previously worked on) B. are any of the axles aftermarket? *** Take a picture of each *inner joint* of the axles and we can answer those questions for you - so you can do this step yourself. I attached a picture - that's what you're looking for - that long shaft going from left-to-right in the pictures and attached to that black ribbed boot - which is attached to the green cup (yours may not be green). get pictures of both front and both rear axles on the "inner" side, where they attach to the trans and diff and post them here. 2. check the front differential fluid. ideally it is drained and the oil, and the drain plug, are checked for metal debris. If it's already been changed then contaminated oil may be limited *** What you can do is pull the dipstick and wipe the oil on a white paper towel. Again - take pictures and post it here or just look closely for any signs of particles (metallic) in the diff oil. Check your owners manual but the differential oil dipstick is in the passengers side rear of the engine bay and has a yellow handle.

Unfortunately you've got a strange issue - and outlier issues are hard to track down and fix properly. I wish you could get it with someone familiar with Subauru's just to make sure it's not something obvious - a driveshaft or axle or....i dont think it is those things but it's hard to tell what's going on with word descriptions. But good job keeping your head in the game, maybe it is something simple and you can get it figured out. Oh - does it have *identical* symptoms from before and after the "clutch" work that was done? Unfortunately you can't swap the TCU (the transmission controller) without it needing reprogrammed by Subaru. on 04 and earlier SUbaru's you can just buy a $30 TCU from a yard (they rarely fail so they're not really worth anything) and swap it out to see if the TCU is problematic. Does it have a new alternator or had it had any electrical issues in the past?

wow, you've been through the ringer with this thing. this is not a typical subaru issue so you really don't want anyone working on this unless they're good at diagnosis and preferrably diagnosis of subaru's. it really needs some fine attention to detail so you're not just guessing with your credit card. I'd try to put the thing in FWD mode and see if that changes it when the load is removed off the rear, but tribeca's don't have a FWD option. call a JDM company and see what they have for 6 cylinder vehicles, they're not expensive but you'll have to pay roughly $300-$700 to install it. the lower end prices are more likely in less urban areas, but not so remote there are few options, that are familiar with Subarus. https://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Subaru-Legacy-Outback-05-12-2-5L-Automatic-Transmission-EJ253-EJ25/153111026914?epid=570730528&hash=item23a620dce2%3Ag%3AlI4AAOSw63FaPDE5&_sacat=0&_nkw=JDM+subaru+automatic+transmission&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_TitleDesc=0 that's just an example, there are other JDM suppliers out there. i've never been married to one over another, i just order who has what i need and a decent price. i'm doubtful given the logistics involved that any one company has an edge over sourcing over any of the others. if they did i'd think they'd advertise that fact. keeping up pretty good when you caught "clutch", better to clarify than assume when we only have interweb forum words!

that master cylinder has bleeder screws on it and i've never seen that on any 1980's EA82, ER27, or 1990-present EJ, EG, EZ subaru's so you might want to make sure you're bleeding it right or otherwise understanding what part those MC bleeder screws may, or may not, play in it. LT has a good point - do the brake lines go above the gas tank and is there any rust under the vehicle? like LT said two posts ago - an initial leak will be just enough for the pedal to do what you're describing but you won't notice a leak until it springs huge and gushes out from over the gas tank if they're routed above it. so if it's got some rust back there and the lines go above the gas tank this is possible. the fluid will just pool up on top and get absorbed by years of dirt and dust and takes a good bit before it finally will start running down the sides or it blows a larger hole through the rust and starts spraying further and larger quantities.

That needs clarified because Tribeca's never came with a manual. If it is a manual then the diff ratios are probably wrong. I'm guessing they meant something with the 4WD components - the old 4EAT's were called clutches and clutch baskets so I'm just assuming that terminology is being used here? I highly doubt someone converted a tribeca with all the integrated CANBUS bits.

yeah swap in another transmission is what most people do. car-part.com or swap a used front diff from another trans. transfer everything from the donor trans and you'll "retain" the backlash and preload. one person on this forum did that a few years ago. or replace the parts necessary inside the diff: Bearings - at least one bearing in the front diff is like $80-$100. Front diff gear set is like $800 in parts. figure $500 - $1,000 in labor to split the cash and do the work if you're paying someone to do it.

they'll give plenty whining noises before they fail so I would just drive it and if you don't have noises within a year you likely got it fine. i was in the same position, having counted but forgot - didn't right it down - and went to install and couldn't remember if it was 6,7, or 8 turns, i guessed wrong and started making noise within a month and deteriorated after 16,000 miles of driving.