idosubaru

Mine are average generic tools and they absolutley suck, i can sort of get it to work on some depending on proximity of adjacent structures and how many iterations i want to try with angles, spacing, degrees, but not all and not without ensuing WWF. I'm pretty sure I started a thread years ago about what versions people use, find that thread. I have a socket bolted to one end of some allthread and a cam sprocket on the other end. Maybe I had to cut a notch out of the socket to extract the retainers i think? I just wedge the cam sprocket under my underarm and put the socket on the spring cap thing and just go to town by hand/body weight/brute force method. makes me feel like a man doing an entire head by hand.

And I sent you a PM, not sure if new users can access PM's?

I'd get one with an FB engine. Keep an eye out and be mindful of oil consumption issue. As said no headgasket issues and there are no ports anywhere near the combustion chamber like on EJ25's, so it just looks like a simpler design at least from the outset, but as he said only time will prove it. Like so: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUBARU-11044AA790-GENUINE-OEM-HEAD-GASKET-/331420482708 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Subaru-OEM-Head-Gasket-Pair-EJ25-EJ253-EJ251-99-11-N-A-Impreza-RS-/230801305801?hash=item35bcd470c9:m:mn1WLqMRoQdEDBZhFMdIv2Q&vxp=mtr

A police report and a citation given are instrumental and ideal. I would presume there are situations where an officer doesn't assign fault, simply because they can't know how/what happened or who is at fault. I think parking lots are common examples and two people backing out at the same time that collide into each other are both deemed at fault/no fault/liability assumed. That's the simplest example, it's obviously usually more complicatd than that.

Also - watch where it's rubbing because that area will rust out quickly in rust prone areas. Good question. Matching doors and fenders are usually $50 - $200 each and can be installed in one hour. Here's a high end estimate: $150 fender, $100 door, $150 labor = $250 to repair yourself or $400 for someone else. As long as your check is more than that - which it will be - you're making money off this deal.

It'll probably be totaled - though I can't tell since I haven't seen it. options: 1. they'll total it - you go find another car with the check they give you. 2. they'll total it and you do a buy back - which means they give you $1,500 for the car, and you can buy it back for $100 (or whatever the amount is - i bought a 2003 back for only $400 last year - though probably with a little more damage than yours). You're left with your vehicle and $1,400. What I would do is go fix it for $250 and I'm $1,000+ to the good on the deal. 3. they'll work with you and try to give you a fair amount and stay just under the limit where they total it - probably best done in person if you can meet with someone. in person, calm, and focused always works well IMO. same as above fix it for chump change and pocket the rest. www.car-part.com is your friend.

This is really easy and simple, there's like 10,000+ accidents a day so this is just routine. Liability only coverage works like this: 1. Call their insurance company and find out how they do things (they can cut you a flat check to settle, have an inspector come to you, take it somewhere, get an estimate - it varies by company/area/situation) 2. If there are complications call a couple of lawyers or ask here for advice on how to proceed. I have always been able to avoid step 2 and it's been smooth and seamless, ask here or someone really good before you go to that step, it's not usually needed in simple situations like this. Go into with a good attitude, know how the system works, and things work out. Even if it's totaled it is entirely possible to keep the vehicle without them totaling it. You can also have it totaled, get a check, do a buy back for $100, and then put the vehicle back on the road again and have some cash left over for your efforts. Sometimes the title doesn't even get branded salvage, though rare and unlikely bu i've seen it happen. But normally you get a salvage certificate and have to have it recertified which isn't a big deal but most people freak out about the unknown and states can vary in requirements. Done all of that before, easy peasy. Why? They're not unhelpful - they're just providing you the services you paid and signed up for. If someone gets free services from an insurance agent, then that's a bonus, not the norm. Stick with me and this should make sense. Three main reasons they don't give advice: 1. Simple economics: You didn't pay for it and it would cost money - a scalable business has to hire staff, managers, and draft acounting and lawyer models and policies for this additional service model - it's abundantly clear that doesn't work. It's the same reason we, ourselves, don't routinely do free work as a rule (not due to family, friends, reciprocation, etc) just because someone asks/expects it. I decline free help/work all the time - simply because I don't have time. If those people started throwing cash at me, I'd be more available. 2. If a customer felt like they got bad advice on an issue with liability associated with it - they could sue the insurance company - there are often lawyers involved so this wouldn't be uncommon. They would be supplying free advice, forking out tons of money, and assuming more litigation. Can't make a business model out of that. *** It is possible to have an excellent relationship with an insurance agent who might help you, or one who may circumvent that from time to time, but that's relationally or circumstantially dependent, not the norm. I'm fairly certain I could get some advice from my agent, but I think that's relationally/circumstantially dependent, not the norm. Insurance companies could create a new product - "Liability only with collision assitance" or something like that - but my guess is it doesn't exist because few people will pay for it or the cost-to-benefit ratio simply doens't exist.

That is crazy train. I've never seen anything even remotely close to that. What causes that? Do you think that engine can last, none of of the thrown bearing/rod engines i've disassembled looked even half that bad. Why do you say you'd expect it in a toyota....etc...because the heads/valves allow oil to sit up there longer/easier?

Only autos have fwd capability. Manual transmissions don't have a fwd fuse. The 4WD is strictly mechanical and varies via a self contained VLSD which is impossible to control electronically. A failed VLSD transmission could be run in 2wd though. Pull driveshaft and drive it. But that only works if it's failed completely.

You could easily look up cv boots and see what years they fit. Check a few and see if you notice anything. Might not be determinate as it can not be listed but still work.

Is the boot direct fit or universal? Universals may require cutting or using the end of the old cv boot as a spacer (seen it before). If that sounds bad.....you're right. Or maybe the axle has been previously swapped with another axle that has different boots than a 1996? all 1995 - 2004 axles, legacy, outback, impreza, forester, can be used in your car. (Maybe even back to 1990?) if the boots differ (I'm not sure they do but I feel like I've seen different boot numbers) you would have fitment issues. Agreed I'd try wrapping it before a boot kit. Probably some great ideas if you google it. A friend of mine did it and it lasted pretty decent. I can swap an axle quicker than the time you'll spend doing this, probably quicker than you've already spent, less than an hour. If you do go that route Get 2000-2004 axle and tap the tone ring off the end, they have better boots and are newer Www.car-part.com

Sorry to hear that - well done with the starting fluid, brilliant. That should point to a fueling issue - very rare in Subaru's. 1. check fuel pressure 2. it would be nice to install a temporary fuel pressure gauge permanently in the vehicle so you can see what it's doing when the symptoms present....again, with the idea that they're not going to be able to diagnose it if it doesn't present after towing it or driving it in. I would pull the fuel line the next time it happens, crank the key and see how much comes out. I do that all the time, easy to diagnose fuel supply. Takes like 3 minutes and nearly zero tools/effort to diagnose fuel supply. But I realize most people can't do that. Yours requires a special tool to do so.

So the car is turning over just fine, that should mean it's not the battery. Need to read the check engine lights. An auto parts store can do a load test on the battery. Advance Auto, Autozone Napa, orielleys, go there and have it tested. They can also read trouble codes for free. Try jump starting the car with another vehicle. One very very common problem is post or terminals are dirty/corroded or loose. That would be odd on a 2013 but so is not starting. I've seen some mention of newer Subaru's around your vintage and newer having dead batteries, I'm not sure the cause or if that's just an artifact of Subaru's growth (selling more cars now, so therefore the same failure rates are more noticeable evne though theres no substantial change in reliability). But might be worth a look.

1993-1995 4EAT's have the same wiring harness: http://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_1995_LegacyL-Wagon/HARNESS-ASSEMBLY-TRANSMISSION/49234043/24029AA131.html with some wiring, these guys have put 4EAT's into EA vehicles and a guy on subaruxt.com did as well into an XT6: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/106406-installing-an-ej-tcu-4eat-into-an-ea-car-4eat/ is the 92 a speedometer cable, while the 96 has a speed sensor?

Forester fork was $20, might you have been able to use that? Seems like they should be interchangeable. How often do these things break?

a 15 year old engine prone to headgasket issues has a really good chance of having been overheated before as well, they frequently loose bearings after overheating. Not long ago I could buy a blown EJ25 nearly any day of the week...probably still true, I just don't try any more.

are you blowing OEM axles or aftermarkets? which joint is blowing, front/rear/inner/outer? OEM > aftermarket. try a used OEM axle if you haven't yet or only blown one OEM axle (maybe it was previously abused) i've installed new aftermarket axles that had no issues on a different subaru in lifted Subaru's and they clicked and clattered. installed them back in a non-lifted Subaru and they worked fine. Marshall of FWE in Denver Colorado builds good axles.

That's what happens in practice on average well maintained daily driven Subarus. That's why tons of people drive 200,000 miles and never have issues without ever changing brake fluid. In theory brake fluid is hygroscopic, but how often that happens is miniscule and not usually in well maintained, average daily driven Subarus. Of course changing it is a good idea - it's not the first place to think/consider for diagnosis of an existing issue - it's not going to fix your current issues.

Are you serious? Never heard of this. Brake fluid is unlikely to be the issue. People routinely drive 200,000 miles without changing fluid and never have issues. I'm not recommending that, I'm just saying the common automotive talk about hygroscopically induced caliper cancer is a far cry from real world situations of robust vehicles like Subarus. The difference between online tech talk and real world is huge. I wouldn't apply that to any other ndnifacturer as I'm not familiar with others, maybe it's more accurate amongst other companies, I wouldn't know. But not Subarus. I've seen two Subarus leak fluid from compromised calipers/drum components. They were both rusted, frame rotting, ill maintained, sat for extended periods of time 3 digit Craigslist specials.

Cars101 is a great resource for research. Check there. The newer Subarus will do absolutely fantastic in the snow. They'll be as good as any other 4WD, tires being equal. Look to VTD and VDC transmissions if they don't all already have that by now. Tires are enormously important for real snow traction. Ground clearance is the only issue but that's really only reached off road or crazy deep unplowed roads or large amounts of heavy wet snow (rare). they don't maintain all the back roads here. they can stay snow covered for weeks, get packed and slick, but what's nasty is the steep switch backs. Flat or hills = easy. Steep is another ball game. My main issue is driving too fast down grade LOL. My Subarus go up mountain grades your trailblazer has zero chance of getting up. Locked rear diff and snow tires FTW. Or VDC/VTD in my other one. Subarus do great here and they're everywhere for a reason. They are as good as the tires you give them. in your case it wasn't the car. Some of us drive in far worse stuff routinely, it was one of these three things: 1. Tires. until we verify brand, model and date of manufacturer nothing is known good or bad. New and price should be good indicators but are ambiguous if tracking an issue, which this is. 2. There was packed snow/ice under that snow. Not all snow is equal. It's common for snow to melt then freeze, get packed then melt then freeze and get snow on top, or first flakes of snow melt and freezes then snow on top. 3. 4WD not working properly. If you're confident 1 & 3 aren't the issue then it was #2.

Soak it. Get it to move first with a 6 Pt socket. Do not use a wrench first. Unless there's a flare wrench or monkey wrench with superb grip. Torch? I'm sure one could bleed the brakes with the banjo bolt instead of the bleeder screw. But it may require setting up the caliper in a way the banjo bolt is higher and would be messy.

$100 for nokian happa's, that's not an average price is it? i feel like they were nowhere near that when i was looking last year. i ended up with Michellin's X Ice. I had a set of cheap snow tires that weren't very good in the snow so i ran them in the summer a couple years ago, they performed just fine in the summer. I'm by no means a performance oriented guy and our roads around here are atrocious, so I wouldn't notice much unless it's obvious.

try to jump start it - maybe it's not turning over fast enough, althogh it sounds like it's turning over fine? if it has the roll over thing John mentioned - I'm guessing it's part of the SRS (air bag) system. If that's the case, maybe you can just pull the SRS fuses and see if it'll start? the SRS/airbag components aren't required for that car to run, remove/disconect, whatever and they'll run fine. 1. read the check engine code with a scanner and tell us the codes. 2. check for spark - can google that, some pretty easy ways to do it on that engine - would take 2 minutes and literally zero tools...though some simple tools might make sense.

Some manufacturers say 10 years. When will the labs start OTA? (Used Tire Analysis) like they do oils? Mail in a chunk of rubber for materials testing? I'd be very surprised if new tires didn't serve you fine - look for something that performs well where you want it - i like to look at snow and rain/hydroplaning preformance. Good point - he obviously sees light usage getting 9 years out of a tire...though he didn't say how many miles? How long they last depends on roads as well. I don't get many miles out here with gravel, dirt, degraded roads. People blow more than one tire at a time, there's so many "potholes" you can't avoid them, you choose to drive really slow or plan on replacing a tire or two every year or two. I think i've replaced 3 in the past 2 years.

I would drive it a bit first and see how it drives/leaks before making any decision. You're pulling an engine to replace a few gaskets/seals, but not the headgaskets? I wouldn't replace headgaskets preemptively on EA82's - they don't leak very often if they've never been overheated - though that fact is probably nearly impossible to prove/disprove on most EA82's with hold old they are now. I'll evendo EA82 headgaskets in the vehicle - they're so small and easy to do, it's not even worth pulling when I can have one EA82 head off quicker than than the engine pulled. Without air tools or with a bad back that's less desirable.