idosubaru

Don’t do it. Just kidding. Under car rinse after every drive in the snow/wet roads with salt on them. Get it off quick, dilute it, and prevent it from propagating into hard to reach places. Put it on a digital calendar to rinse more frequently in the late winter when salt has recently been on the road but daytime temps and sun exposure are above 30 (?) and on the rise. Chemical reactions escalate based on temps. There’s more particle mobility so things are colliding and happening more often. For example some reactions can double their rate with an ambient temp increase from 32-50 degrees. This is how I keep my southern/western Subarus lasting for 4 years instead of 2, Hahahaha! Just kidding. I asked about undercar oil spraying and was told it’s terribly messy and can stink. So maybe someone could find someone else that does it and mitigate exposure to exhaust.

Great job, well done!

As to timing belts - you're sure you used the proper marks for alignment? For installing/timing belts - use the marks, there's no need to reference the distributor or TDC. Free/easy checks: no check engine lights? check for spark from each spark plug wire sounds like it's missing a cylinder. disconnect O2 sensor and see what happens? Additional checks: MAF sensor - swap another one CTS I think an 88 GL may not have one but knock sensor.

That bolt is the reason I bought a ratcheting wrench set years ago. haven’t done an 08 Forster, would they work on it?

genuinely wondering too - Subarus are pretty easy to drive around with broken sway bar links in the snow. Seen multiple this winter and I said “I’ll fix it when it warms up” or ignored it. Id never do that if I thought it was possibly dangerous. Never noticed a difference or heard anyone say they did locally either.

I’ve seen that and never seen associated issues.

Glad you got it. Excessive heat can also cause the weak spots to leak/fail. There’s plenty of forum posts like that. A hose leaks. Then a radiator bursts. Then a tstat fails. After all that it ends up being something else.

If you want but there’s not much reason. Since it doesn’t matter then so whatever you want. The platinum plugs used in H6 engines are awesome. I pull them at 100k and they still look awesome and I’ve never seen the h6 EZ plugs have issues. Nice on an engine where plugs are much more time to replace. But there’s not much need for them in an EJ18

Yes EJ and newer engines aren’t forgiving with plugs. With modern cars it’s usually best to install OEM which is usually, and preferably, NGK for Subarus.

What brand headgasket? “Lost coolant” - overflow or radiator or both were checked or was coolant simply noted in the engine bay? After the pressure test: Fans coming on? Burp it. Test thermostat in boiling water and replace with OEM. Radiator clogged - any signs or indication this thing was filled with “a fix in a bottle” by the previous owner? I prefer resurfacing, they always have high and low spots and the fire ring is rarely worth ignoring at this age. GD - why do they test flat but have obvious undulations if resurfaced? Did you look for bubbles in the overflow while it was overheating or later when it wasn’t?

EJ18s = easy (if gutless) 250,000 miles. Dont overheat or ignore oil and the car will go to the scrap yard for something other than the engine. New timing kit and tune up and VCGs and it’ll be very reliable.

copy thanks - other than auto/manual what other transmission length difference exists...i feel like there's another difference. maybe it's just EA/EJ swaps?

Clutch life varies wildly they dont really fail at “XYZ” mileage’s. Depends on use and driver habits.

I didn’t know any next door I’m Carroll County. I know one Subaru owner in Baltimore I could ask.

96 2.2 is an awesome engine. Easy and cheap 10 years and 100,000 reliable miles. Extremely reliable and inexpensive if you plan accordingly, never overheat it or run it low on oil. If it’s a manual try to see how good the clutch is. Nothing like buying yourself a clutch job, a frequent time to donate or trade one in. Install a New Aisin timing belt kit, plugs and wires and maintain fluids and drive it 100k. Replacing electronics like alternators and starters preventatively is crazy unless you’re installing OEM. Aftermarket electronic parts are junk, I see as many or more of them failing than old original OEM parts. Subaru sells alterntoatrs for that car for $80. Buy one. Starter - replace the contacts. Fuel pumps leave it or buy a Subaru unit or follow GDs lead. Extra used OEM parts in the spare tire area works for some people/situations

Companies make one piece driveshafts - look up what years/models they fit and see if it includes the ones you’re asking about. If you did mean a “1998 one piece forester” driveshaft I think Phase II transmissions have different length transmissions and driveshafts.

GD yeah man I totally agreee. if it’s not using/leaking there’s no reason not too, the time savings, benefits, cost make it no contest. not everyone is going to so maybe quantified/qualified approaches with archaic fluids have a place for discussion even if it is learned helplessness or ignorance. Haha

I’m not saying for sure the blends are pointless and my comment may not be accurate, I’m sure you can search or ask and find data on it. but personally I wouldn’t ride the fence, either use actually great oil (synthetic) or lower cost conventional with great change intervals/checking oil level. In general I’d run synthetic unless the car is using/leaking oil and cost to top it off is annoying. Beyond that synthetic gets you longer change intervals so it doesn’t really cost more and saves time - fewer changes, fewer trips and purchases to manage and less oil to store/manage/recycle and a better end product. Conventional can be fine just don’t go over mileage, overheat, or let the level get low. But never use it in a Subaru turbo.

Cut your oil filter open and look for debris or better yet send a sample to an oil analysis company to look for traces of bearing material in your oil. Otherwise just run it and see what happens. Granted it’s high miles but its possible to overheat and carry on without a hiccup or have issues in one week. Have you owned it since new, maybe the head gaskets were previously replaced? Doesn’t much matter either way though. Yes the 2.2’s that swap into your vehicle are excellent engines. Low cost, easy to maintain, reliable, high mileage engines. But they’re so old they’re hard to find in well known/good condition. That your car was totaled is meaningless in terms of value. That matters with top dollar collectors or new cars but that’s not even in the same country as this topic. For older vehicles You’ll maybe loose one out of ten buyers of cars in that age/price range so it’s no big deal. JDM engines are frequent options.

Change it frequently and you’re golden. If I was driving that low miles I’d change it spring and fall so I’m not changing it in the filthy nasty undercar winter. Haha. I choose every 5,000 miles on the odometer on the even 5k and 10k so 200k, 205k, 210k, 215k...etc. just because it’s easy. Pick what’s easy for you - calendar, mileage, etc. You’re better off using full synthetic, or conventional, but I get it and it really doesn’t matter. The blends are probably market driven products and enough synthetic to sell and line pockets. Either way - Might as well get real synthetic for best product available or conventional and save the cash change it frequently. If you’re worried about it - have an oil analysis done and they’ll tell you how often to change it for each vehicle. GD sees lots of subarus daily no doubt some that get low or overheated have unknown history so he knows what happens when they fail. I’ve got 200, 200, 226, and 285k on my current Subaru H6s with the cheapest on sale conventional oil as well just like numbchux. If it’s not abused overheated or run low on oil then in my experience they do great as average daily drivers.

Yeah they pop out. You risk damaging the seal the stub shaft rises against or loosing the circlip, none of those happen much in practice but the roll pins are so easy Id rather leave the trans side alone. My guess is it would be many an axle change before you ever encountered an issue. So statistics are in your favor. But Gloyale or GD May know better if these have any substantial failure modes since they see this stuff weekly if not daily.

Guys run welded diffs all the time in lifted subarus. In general Subaru rear diffs are stout and never fail normally. Granted they will when subjected to hard use but they’re not junk from the start.

You didn't say but you must have a manual transmission. "put rear end in" - you sat in the car? what does that mean? Manual trans - you can't do this without modifying the center diff as stated above. The easy way to do it is to find a *failed* center diff since they fail from time to time and they fail to "locked" and they'll do exactly what you want - send power all the time to the front and rear, but since you don't have the front axle installed it'll just spin openly.

oil pump, decals, and at least one timing pulley was unavailable outside the few $700+ kits that show up on ebay. air suspension, axle boots/axles are frequently needed and can be problematic to find parts for. stereo, fuel pump, fuel filler, fenders, steering surround, dash bezel frequently break and are hard to find/unavailable. other parts have issues but can be worked around with minor effort like the stereo and fuel pump.

totally agree - cleaning dirty bores and rusty pins isn't easy or effective half the time anyway. what I actually meant is i still think he should diagnose this. a pin check is at least free and easy, though still not diagnosis. seems odd to remove shims and take it all apart and not notice any physical symptoms anywhere, so seems a little foggy. a collapsed brake hose or wheel bearing could still be the culprit, although there should be some noise and Subaru hoses rarely do that. doubtful this is an issue now, but the "replaced CV" is a general red flag if it's aftermarket.