idosubaru

the lower cover of the engine bellhousing. it's metal and often gets bent during engine lifting/removing/big jobs. tigthen the 2 bolts holding it to the bellhousing and make sure it's bent far enough away from the torque convreter or flywheel. is it the original engine or might it be another year EJ25?

yes. there are two style valve covers and hence valve cover gaskets, so just get the entire head/cam/valve cover assembly which is easy since those other components have little value anyway.

EJ22's are pointless to replace headgaskets. EJ25 valve cover gaskets won't work on the EJ22, all the timing pulleys and water pump will. 1996-ish and earlier EJ22's have a different style timing tensioner than your EJ25, but they are interchangeable if you want to retain your newer 1997 tensioner. Remove the bracket behind the tensioner (bolts to engine with 2 12mm bolts), swap those and you can use either style tensioner on any EJ engine. The older 1996 and earlier timing tensioners are more reliable, the newer styles fail sometimes - they only have one bolt which shears off seemingly for no reason and the tensioner mechanism itself fails more often than the old style. Best scenario is a brand new Subaru 1996 and earlier EJ22 tensioner set up - but maybe cost prohibitive. I used to keep older style tensioners all the time butnow they are getting aged. They're all rusting away out here and i rarely deal with them any more so not sure what i'd do now. Spend the time and effort finding a good EJ22 - great engines and run forever. 1995 and 1996 are non-interference and you literally can't hurt them unless you seriously neglect and try to. www.car-part.com is another easy option. I will warn you though - it's going to be really really boring having the thing go 100,000 miles on oil changes and air filters. It's not your normal older vehicle type feeling...

i'd want another engine if it's been severly overheated - but then you may never know if that one was ever severly overheated...so it's wise to try to confirm history if possible. JDM repair yours - $1,500. resurface the heads and use EJ25 turbo headgaskets.. you want all new timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, and water pump - just transfer those over to the new engine.

I haven't gotten one yet.

Just let it rev and do it's job. Properly maintained the mechanicals can make 300,000 miles easily. Using the foot instead of cruise can prevent it from downshifting - if i can keep it from downshifting, why can't the computer? I have found 6 cylinders are helpful, but not always or across the board - depends on speed and the grades and vehicle - sometimes they're wanting to downshift too. 01-04 H6's seem to want to downshift - pretty much all the time at highway speeds if i have the cruise on but i can avoid much downshift without using cruise and if i'm not carrying a huge load (family, kids, gear), my EZ30 Tribeca doesn't downshift as much (it's the later version EZ30 with like 250hp instead of 220 or 230 like the 00-04's. So i think the EZ's are nice but the cars are getting bigger/heavier and it'll depend on the grade, curves, speed, etc. My 1988 XT6 automatic with the first version of the 4EAT found in newer gen cars, is the only one that doesn't downshift at all in the mountains - but it's a light and small vehicle i guess.

it brings up a good and confusing point about 1999's for this guy looking for options. 1999 legacy and outback EJ25's are not the same as 1999 Forester and Impreza EJ25's nor are they compatible with 1999 EJ22's. But I think 1999 legacy/outback short blocks have a different main bearing configuration? anyway - 1999 outback long blocks are compatiable with 1995-1998 EJ22's as stated (but 1999 foresters and impreza's and 1999 EJ22's are not). 99 is a weird year.

have someone mail you some used ones -post in the parts wanted section? someone has a few lying around. i'm thinking all EA82, ER, EJ, EZ are the same right? nearly endless supply of axle nuts. i feel like any junkyard would give you one for pocket change?

This is incorrect. A 1999 OBW EJ25 is compatible with 1995-1998 EJ22's.

Paul - I now own your old silver XT6 and I found out two nights ago it has EJ axles with XT6 hubs. The passengers side wheel bearing was shot. The other side looks to be an EJ axle as well. So if you want to risk/replace seals/bearings, EJ axles can work in an XT6 hub. I think he meant stubs from 4WD to FWD - meaning both automatic, are interchangeable. auto's just pop out of the trans, MT's are integrated into the front diff. I have an XT6 MT if you want to make an offer that makes me want to pull it. lol

Didn't sound rude, we can take jabs at neighboring states and laugh a little! You could have inferred from the second comment that you should have bought a different car....but you didn't. mpg is variable and hard to discern if it's a mechanical issue or driving environment. Your numbers don't look far off from what others are reporting here: 21.8-22.9 mpg in 2005-2009 forester: http://www.fuelly.com/car/subaru/forester You don't drive fast - check. Ae you calculating or looking at an oboard read out? Winter blend gas? Companies can legally start brewing that in September i think it is? Check the rear brake slide pins for smooth sliding. Front O2 sensor Tire pressure Alignment - if it was bad enough to cause significant mpg issue you should be seeing excessive tire wear Remove roof rack

If there's any oil/coolant mixing I wouldn't even think about fixing it. Subaru's don't mix oil and coolant unless something odd happened - and suggests it may have been severely overheated multiple times. I would need very compelling evidence to put my time into repairing that engine. If the overheating doesn't seem significant it's worth a chance. Installing a JDM engine is another option. Those engines do 300,000 miles without blinking if they're not overheated/run out of oil. The only thing they need is serepentine pulley bearings ever 60k or so (30 minutes and $20), super easy. They'll need typical maintenance items like plugs, valve cover gaskets, and oil cooler gasket - all easy and I often just do them all at once to be done with it (and the plugs are easy to replace with covers removed) They sometimes loose rod bearings after significant overheats, discerning how badly it was overheated is a good idea. That said - they're otherwise such robust engines it's worth a shot to repair if you're just itching for somethign along these lines. But that engine is twice the work of a normal Subaru headgasket so it's a beastly job. If you do replace the HG: Use Subaru only or other verifiably robust headgasket Resurface the heads Resurfacing the block isn't even a bad idea but few people do that or are set up to do it.

what he said - asking shops how much they charge to swap them out is a great idea - they're set up to do it in no time and don't have to charge much if they don't want too. worth a call. the cheap coil compressors work great....if you've got an electric or air tool impact. by hand - that would be awful, but surely it can be done. get a cheap set of compressors and grease the snot out of the threads - they work fine for the occassional DIY use. or yeah - rent them.

there are decades of posts and DIY tutorials by me on how to avoid the EJ25, i've probably been one of the most prevalent EJ25 coaches on this forum, if you infered i was defending Subaru, okay, it matters not. If you are prone to getting this bent and abrasive over certain issues then it would be best for you to purchase accordingly. Do more research and lean in on high capacity people who know the platform you're considering buying. EJ25 HG's were no secret in 2008, they were 12 years in production. I think a fuller understanding would help move forward with this repair negotation too but it looks like you favor the-squeaky-wheel-gets-the-oil approach, which has a resaonable success rate.

Sure: do the timing belt, tensioner, pulleys, clean/regrease all the brakes, plugs, wires, and carry on. That said - "O2 sensor" usually means P0420 so be prepared for a check engine light, getting lucky, or replacing a catalytic converter. My yes and no answers: When I was young and single and/or close to home with friends and relatives that would let me borrow cars/come get me - yes. Now that I'm older, busier, have less disposable time, and more higher level responsibilities - probably not. Buy a third car for the two of you? I have no desire to have one vehicle per person. buy excellent snow tires and put less miles on them (but flatland Ohio is easy peasy to drive in so not a big deal there) I can run tires longer - I run warn tires in the summer on one car and just drive the other one with newer tires if it rains. If the car is down for any reason - maintenance, parts, accident, shop, etc - no worries. I can do any maintenance and relax, no rush. If I'm in an accident - no worries. Lady hit me and totaled my car a couple years ago - no big deal. I self negotiated with the insurance, and they cut me a check for rental car since I used my own vehicle and pocketed the money and was in no rush to replace or repair the wrecked car. I have no opportunity costs associated with "i need a car right now" - i haven't "had" to get a car in a very long time. I've got more strategic reasons but a magician doesn't tell all his tricks.

Other manufacturers I think have a higher failure rate - Subaru's almost never fail, very, very rare. I've never seen it happen on a Subaru yet. There's a lot more problematic and higher failure rates than brake hoses. Logically speaking it makes no sense to replace them proactively except for just paying for yourself to have warm fuzzies - which is a good thing too sometimes. It's never bad to feel good about your car.

"extended warranty" - that's a Subaru warranty right, not aftermarket? does your issue essentially boil down to wether or not the previous issue was a mis-diagnosed headgasket issue? no pictures I presume right? Gotcha, I wasn't trying to defend Subaru - I said "every" manufacturer has issues. "Every" would include Subaru. I can list most of subaru's issues in detailed fashion. EVO's = synchro, 4th gear, transfer case issues...great cars from the tiny bit I know about them but not without blemishes and mitsubishi balking at people, denying claims. But again - since I think every manufacturer has issues - i don't hold that against them and wouldn't rule them out based on any of those issues, or if one of those issues just happened to happen to me. I'd just buy, repair, maintain and own them accordingly....any car.

sure, buy it. it's just a piece of metal on wheels. look at your needs, finances, and thoroughly inspect the vehicle and have at it. they've gotten much cheaper and more available in the past year or two so it's not a surprise or concern just to find one cheap as much as it would have been not too long ago. it needs a wheel bearing, not a rear end. Subaru rear end failure is nearly unheard of and misdiagnosed all the time.

You likely have a more costly issue at hand - the timing belt is due. The belt, tensioner, and all the pulleys should be replaced. Timing belt labor is about $400 - $500 at a dealer. But that is all labor required during a headgasket job. So if you concurrently replace your timing belt during the headgasket job - you're essentially saving $400-$500. No mention of oil loss, no oil burning, no oil on the ground, and your description sounds liek they're just spotting oil leaks during other maintenance. Sounds like it's a very slow weeping - the results of a year or couple years of very slow pooling of oil on the surface of the metal. Not worth an alarm and not an immediate repair need. It's best to realize that every manufacturer has issues - even Mitsubishi's. If your logic is "one bad experience means you should never buy again from that manufacturer" - there's no manufacturer you can buy because all have had a bad experience by someone. If you assume that reality is only based on your experience, yours is more "weighted" than others - well that's problematic on grounds I won't cover. Threatening and running off anecdotal information (one experience) helps absoultely no one and encourages ill-informed consumers who don't make good decisions...just white knuckled, uninformed, selfish ones. Every manufacturer has issues - it's best to do some research and know what they are before you buy and make an informed decision about choice, maintenance, and cost.

This: They rarely pull apart easily using just the lift. I've had to go back and forth from side to side prying like a dozen times before. Open one side up, go to other side, it opens - but then closes the first side...washrinserepeat

Does the brake hose appear original or like a replacement? (compare it to the other side?) The incidence rate for this failure mode is so tiny it won't matter, but I would replace it with a subaru unit. I would assume an aftermarket hose is similar in quality to some american cars where this failure happens even on newer vehicles. I'd install a used Subaru hose before a generic aftermarket.

You could post in the parts wanted section if anyone has used knuckles with ball joints or ball joints or parts cars - maybe they'd extra a boot for you? There are companies that make replacement tie rod boots if you're into measuring, etc i presume they could do the same for ball joint boots? Google it. But i'd just repalce it. If I bought aftermarket I'd get Beck Arnley ball joints if you're trying to save a buck. I would get an OEM ball joint after doing all this work presumably you want to keep the car a few years and OEM Subaru ball joints are awesome - failure is nearly unheard of. Other manufacturers have ball joints break ocassionally even in newer cars, I'd rather avoid that risk on such an important part.

Cut the bolts and/or bracket off. Dremel, sawzall, angle grinder. The time investment screwing with the bolt isn't worth it. The bracket isn't threaded so you just need to cut the bolt head off to get it to come off. If you drill it - drill it such that the rotation of the drill bit is in the "unthreading" direction of the bolt. So if it's from the bolt head side you use a left-handed drill bit. If it's from the bottom of the bolt and you're "pushing" the bolt out you drill using a right handed drill bit. If the drill bit is a little smaller than the bolt diameter, the drilling motion and subsequent heat of the drilling can turn the bolt/remanants out. Drill it out and helicoil it Or just cut it all off and start over - brackets are easy enough to find. I've got a few dual piston caliper brackets lying around - though there are a few varieties. Plenty of people ahve good ones lying around or buy them from a yard out west/south with no rust: www.car-part.com

sounds like classic piston slap, could be rod knock. piston slap should change a little bit from cold (start up) to warm (after it's been running awhile). it should quiet down some. rod knock will not quiet down. in rare cases the timing belt tensioner hydraulic mechanism is weak and allows the tensioner to slam metal on metal and can sound awfully ominous. i doubt that's the case here, as i said it's rare, but i have heard it before and it sounds more terrible than i'd guess before I ever heard it.

Seriously. All I can remember was it was the middle of the night so getting one then wasn't an option. I'm not sure why I didn't just wait until the next day. Junk yard options around here are limited so I try to avoid them, the one i prefer is out of the way and often doesn't have knuckles for some reason.