idosubaru

They don't fail very often if you want to have someone send you a used one. get two and keep one in the trunk if you're worried about it failing again, but they're not common issues.

those are the crank triggers for the crank sensor. you're cam and crank sensor readings were not lining up, giving you a code. in terms of how many triggers there are per crank sprocket - there are two different styles.

I've compressed them with c-clamps/vices to get them moving and seen some that wouldn't compress, replace those.

I'd like to see that too. I still haven't bought anything or constructed anything but I have two cars with no blower fan and reverse lights not working so I'll be doing some digging soon.

It's an 8mm head right? I think those are M5x0.80 threads. 10mm head subaru bolts are M6x1.00.

not common, but they break sometimes, most likely due to prior fatigue - being dropped, removed, pried, held in place to tighten the cam bolt, etc. a perfectly running, nominal pulley failure with no prior compromising incident is probably rare.

As soon as they say they're testing the heads that shows their hand, preferring expediancy over the best available economical repair. the heads should always be resurface, they don't test Ra in that shop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_roughness Not too mention high/low spots and fire rings too.... Six Star gaskets are common gaskets as well. Factory head gaskets are very low failure rates so not a big deal, take the free gaskets, but worth asking since it's almost funny to install the same gaskets that are already failing from the factory. 'Hey this gasket is failing on factory vehicles, would you like to have one?" Most dealers aren't familiar with parts interchangeability, so it's no surprise they don't know. A few will install non-stock gaskets, but those are rare.

if the transmissions are interchangeable i'd be very surprised if the pans were not. pretty sure all 95-99 Phase I trans are the same pans. you could just look them up online - 98 outback at one of the online subaru parts retailers and click the tab for "fitment/other years/models" and it'll list them all. just takes a minute to verify, i do it all the time. or look them up on ebay and find a listing that has all the years/models it fits.

a free test might be to swap axles side to side - put the left on the right and the right on the left. this would reverse the internal loading and change what's happening internally - maybe eliminating or changing the noise if that's the cause.

yeah - now that you say "clacking" that's CV territory. are these OEM Subaru axles or replacements? how long was the boot torn?

could it be a bushing or suspension - tie rod, ball joint, control arm, strut bearing? does the steering wheel wobble left/right at all while decelerating? 1. what if you do the exact same things that make noise (let off accelerator) while: A. going straight B. steering wheel turned C. downhill/uphill does that change anything? 2. if you stand outside the car or sit in passengers/drivers seat - can you tell if it's left/right/center? 3. you're positive it's the front of the vehicle, not center or rear? i doubt this is it but check your front differential oil level and has it ever been changed? might change it and check for bits/chunks or oil color/contamination. noises under load (accelerating/decelerating) can be front differential or inner CV joint related. i've cleaned/regreased problematic inner CV joints and they're silent as new, so I wouldn't expect them.

Replace both headgaskets. You'd be hard pressed to find a consensus of highly qualified subaru people to say replace one. Then again if they just offer one side for free - I don't know, maybe you take it? The best repair that the top Subaru people are doing is to resurface the heads and use Turbo EJ25 headgaskets. Some dealers will do that, but a lot of them don't. If you don't do that - you're installing the same failure prone headgasket in the same way it was from the factory but under worse conditions (used block face and heads in a less controlled shop environment instead of assembly environment). Let's take an engine that already blows headgaskets, one that already failed, and install the same gasket under worse conditions....that's not my ideal recipe. Sometimes you need some skin in the game to work with the machine shop who will resurface. Often they'll tell the dealer "We can only warranty a head if it's full valve job, pressure tested, resurfaced" = $500+. And the dealer might balk and say they're not installing a non-warrantied part. Silly but so it goes with big one-size-fits-all systems and protocols. Best to talk to the machien shop yourself and tell them you don't need the heads tested or valve job or warranty on the head - just resurfaced. You don't resurface the heads for "flatness" or "warping" - indeed it's pointless to even check them, these heads "never" warp or crack or have issues. they simply need flatened, remove all high and low spots which they all have (even if they're in spec), and get the proper surface finish. You're in a really new car with presumably very tiny leak and good maintenance - so to that end you could probably get away with the lesser repair if it comes to it. But there are dealers that have resurfaced and installed the better turbo headgaskets. Can probably search and find out who they are.

If you think the pulleys are good, I'd guess the first new belt was unlucky/cheap part, and the used belt was just used and deteriorated. Rubber materials degrading over time is common depending on storate, age, type, etc. easily seen with tires if you're around them enough in the right condition. The only causative thing I can think of not mentioned is distributor/cam - if they're creating additional load. But i'd expect those to fail/lock up (the cam/bearing surfaces) if they were the cause. Pretty normal for drivers side to fail more often - more load/pulleys/bends. What were the brand new belts - what brand, where were they bought? The pulleys are absolutely not an issue?

source of the belt that broke? it was a brand new belt from the store? pulley conditions?

good job on all counts. maintenance and being a good customer are helpful indeed. i'm very pracitcal and maintenance/statistics/reliability focused - don't take what i say too personally, like i'm the average car person jabbering. i just try to inform genearl philosophies and helpful approaches that are statistically (not anecdotally) robust, i don't care about individual choices or arguing. "in general" - (big boxes not being very accurate) - the current model for vehicles is constant change and upgrades to satisfy consumers incessant demand for new, bigger, better, gadgets, novelty...for cheap. that isn't the ideal manufacturing approach for reliability. i put a large part of the blame on consumers. i wish companies would change mechanical platforms less often and put more money into robust mechanical systems rather than novelties, trinkets, aesthetics, and stylilng changes. every company would then produce better products. as it is - consumers want that stuff - but they want novelty, styling, new, shiny more, so that's what sells and what gets the attention from internal resources - it has to to survive, compete and build brands. For me, since the market is like that, it's better for me to specialize on Subaru's and know them well so i can make good purchase/maintenance decisions because I know how to get 300,000 reliable inexpensive miles out of them - that's what i care most about. If the market were different or i had uncanny time reserves to learn other manufacturers as well (which is nearly impossible considering how well i know subarus), i might buy differently. but jumping brands ever 4 years or buying one manufacturer just based on public opinion/CR reports wouldn't be nearly as effective for me. it's wise to investigate *any manufacturer*. so many people are ignorant consumers and say "i'm never buying brand XYZ again because of ....." which is a bad philosophy that puts a consumer at a disadvantage. being good at research of any manufacturer - even toyota's and honda's have some scars - is very helpful in the current climate. the interweb makes it easy - if you can rule out the back seat regurgitating anecdotal people you can learn some simple things about which mechanical platforms are better than others. and then again your story reminds us that - doing good maintenance and having relationships with good local shops/people pays off no matter what you choose!

squeaking does not equal cv joint. particularly if it's an OEM axle. aftermarket axles do weird things and i woudln't rule out anything on those cheap things but i still wouldn't expect squeaking or even consider it the starting point for tracknig this down. look at wheel bearings and brakes. more than likely you shifted some things to mitigate the noise rather than fixed it - but you saved the axle, good job!

Thanks. I guess we'll see what it does from here on out. The shifter is sloppy but everything works smooth and well otherwise.

bleed it some more and make sure there are no leaks. rear drum cylinders can leak. rusty brake lines above the gas tank, but i'd imagine you don't have much in the way of rust to worry about out there?

it's always the carb. lol spark plug wires are hooked up correctly, to the right disty connection? it's running rich so maybe there's a weak spark/no spark somewhere?

Pushing on it from the back, by hand, got it to come out of gear. Could bad shifter busing cause that?

yep, take care of the cv grease first.

other symptoms of steering rack bushings are when you turn there's an ever so slight delay in turning. you turn right but it feels like it takes a split second for the wheels to catch up or start going so to speak.

probably steering rack bushings. shake the rack by hand or watch it while someon is turning the steering wheel. if you can see the rack shifting back and forth - it's the steering rack bushings.

Doubtful it's a black/white or yes/no answer. In some situations it would would mitigate issues for some time. Egregious failures would have no chance of remedy. Put that money towards an EJ22: $500 EJ22 (here's one in Phoenix: 602-276-8043) sell your old EJ25 for $250 $250 repair and you end up with one of the best engines subaru ever built. reliable, robust, cheap, easy to maintain and work on. spark plugs, valve covers, timing all cheaper and easier. add $150 for timing kit and seals for excellent 100,000 mile reliability.

Car ran fine before this, no symptoms. Thanks.