idosubaru

need another engine. 1999-2001 2.2 liter from a legacy or impreza will work 1999 forester or impreza RS & 2000-2004 2.5 liters will work as well. make sure the drivers side cam/crank triggers are the same or just install the ones from your current engine on the next one and you won't have to check. there's two different style, need to keep the correct ones to the vehicle.

what's the end goal - mechanical experience - or customization - or both? that's a great suggestion - teach them to brainstorm ideas and meet end goals. mechanical: use subaru water pump gaskets, they can be installed dry, the aftermarkets are super thin and flimsy. resurface the heads. clean HLA's new bearings in the timing components or get a timing kit reseal the oil pump clutch custom: weld the rear diff and plan to pull a rear axle to run it on the road. convert A/C to onboard air gut the rear of carpeting/insulation so it's easy to hose out

I have a 1999 Phase II with the "bolt-less" cam plug leaking on the passengers side - you're saying you can pull them out externally and tap a new one in place? Do you use sealant or install clean? I see everyone says pop it out and press it back in - is it basically as simple as a regular cam seal? Someone else said they just cleaned it with brake cleaner and pressed a bead of sealant down the groove all the way around the circumference. http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/85897-cam-plug-leaking.html

diff = noises when failing - usually loud whining like wheel bearings or grinding/geared tooth mechanical noises. gets worse over time and can fail in catastrophic fashion. trans = slippnig, hesitating, only usually has noises if it's really wonked up or nearly empty on fluid (loud squealing type noises)

adding engine oil and hearing a noise would be coincidental only, it wolud be impossible for that to causes issues unless you dropped tools in the engine bay or something other htan oil went down the oil fill spout. 1. check fluid level - google pictures of dipstick location if you can't find it. it's down below the starter, drivers side, under the brake fluid reservoir/master cylinder. 2. change fluid 3. check for ATF leaks

A. you can ignore the P0420 code - it's benign and you can drive the car 100,000 miles - it is impossible for it to cause any issues. B. make sure the car is running properly first - what kind of gas mileage are you getting? C. as said shops charge about $100 - $150 to weld in a converter or muffler - add costs of aftermarket part and it should come out to half of that $750 quote or less. i think you can get converters for like $150 and weld them in for another $150 - that's only $300. D. find a used take off exhaust to start afresh with usable flanges and maybe a converter.

if you have trouble with the notion, then do it your way, it's just a brake rotor, no big deal, everyone is right and happy, we don't have to agree. i *would not* apply any of this to other manufacturers, I don't know them well enough and they tend to differ. is resurfacing good SOP's? yes. but you have to ask why? largely because most mechanics are working on unknown vehicles being used in unknown environments by mechanically inexperienced, terrible at self diagnosis, owners. i see a lot of cars - you never know what's true, what's not, what happened, what interpretations are correct... also most mechanics are one-size-fits-all in their approaches - not very manafacturer, must less model, specific in experience, knowledge, and approach. which makes a difference - some manufacturers have frequent brake issues - but not subarus. dealers only do things the FSM shows - not always the best approach mechanics typically work on various vehicles and can't keep track of which manufacturers have robust brake systems, which don't, which have robust power steering, which don't, which have...et.al. they usually have generic approaches which are overkill and have large safety margins in them. Manufacturer recommendations/processes are again one-size-fits-all apporach - which are generic and generic can't ever grab the complexities of a dynamic system with 100% accuracy, so there's huge safety margins in there, a few of which are entirely irrelevant and unnecessary. Can you run mismatched tires on a subaru - YES, easily - if you know the mechanics, but it's complicated, dynamic, and a better one-size-fits-all approach makes sense for Subaru, tire shops, mechanics, adn the general public is to simply say never run mismatched tires or give a tread depth to go by. so if you want one-size-fits all generic approaches - by all means do that. they're usually a good starting point for most people. with some effort you can specialize but that's not for everyone. The permatex green sucks terribly for pins with bushings - it swells the bushings. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/2m3opx/grease_on_caliper_slider_pin/ http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-201303.html http://www.odyclub.com/forums/52-2005-2010-odyssey/156506-brakes-lubricant-choice-caliper-slides-print.html Otherwise I'm not sure what causes issues - i just routinely find the pins dry/sticky/goopy. You don't do dozens of brake jobs and 5+ years later find most green permatex in superb condition. That's all I know. Why, I'm not sure. Over time I've just found the pins with very little grease left. I just pulled a 99 legacy apart this week that was done a couple years ago and the pins were stuck, new pads were warn down on one side to nothing and the pin needed removed with massive effort and a huge plumbers monkey wrench - no amount of pounding with ahmmer/chisel would get it out. that doesn't happen with better greases. and this is far from anecdotal, i've worked on a lot of subaru's (not just the 40 or so I've owned). Why - i don't know - i just know how to "not" make it happen. 260,000 miles, 190,000 miles on two of my daily drives and i've only replaced one front rotor, the rest are all original. and like i said - that's all day long i can do that for me, friends, and family for decades. no big deal and physically it all makes sense too. They only need resurfaced if the rotors are pulsating - there's no reason to resurface them otherwise. they get some undulations on the surface (not perfectly flat). One could argue that improves braking - it increases effective surface area for greater pad contact and improved cooling. you effectily have "larger rotors". there is no down side, only upside to braking performance. so resurfacing for "performance" reasons is entirely bunk except maybe in the most argumentative sense - the first few braking episodes. The only downside is the pads may last 4,000 miles less due to it, hardly worth resurfacing rotors for. I also have never replaced/resurfaced rotors in pairs - another completely and entirely unfounded one-size-fits-all approach. Smart for mechanics and general public, but easily avoided without issue. There's no engineering/physical reason to do it - mostly driven by scaleability and uncertainty.

wow, "let's list this low mileage outlier that will garner attention, for a premium price while it's running like !$&)$!"

gotta find the leak - it's either a small/slow external leak you're missing during driving. or it's loosing it internally which is usually an internal headgasket breach. some idle controllers have intake/coolant passages separated by a gasket - conceivably they could leak internaly tha way - but it's not common, i've never seen or even heard of it happening, but at 20 years old and 285,000 a lot of things are more probably than they used to be. those EJ22's headgaskets aren't too bad - remove timing belt, intake, exhaust then unbolt, resurface, and reinstall heads.

yep, just regular ATF like all Subarus. i'd get an owners manual so you can look up fluid types and amounts/capacity and fuse locations and practical things like that, very handy to have when you need it. i think there are digital copies now too, though i prefer old school having one in my car too.

that's high, but most dealers are and ultra-low mileage cars can command a premium and you can't go find another one to comparison shop. dealers know this, you either want a 14,000 mile car or you don't care. 2006 listed at a dealer here for $11k with 70,000 miles - so another $2k premium for 14,000 miles sounds about right. until you know engine/trim the price point could be up in the air? why is it low, from sitting for 5 years or just light use? autotrader, KBB, craigslists (dealers post a lot on there in most areas) give general trends in pricing. that's high, but most dealers are and they generally know that ultra-low mileage cars can command a premium

Yes, and not just about definition of "life". a one-size-fits all statement might be "OEM Subaru rotors on daily drivers with properly operating brakes routinely last the life of the vehicle". That picture is indicative of a vehicle that sat for extended period of time in the rust belt or in/over grass. That's more about prior history and maintenance than rotors as it's physically impossible for the contact areas to rust like that with a properly operating pad consistently removing the surface rust which propagates over night in humid/wet areas. interestingly, daily driver average subaru's have almost non-existent failure modes - so a high level of focus on rotors is usually not warranted in average daily driver situations.

*on that engine* OEM headgaskets should never strand you. make no mistake - there are Subaru headgaskets that can strand you - but not that engine. Replaced headgaskets have more varied failure modes, even if they're the same OEM gasket. So if it's ever been replaced - chances go up a bit. Water pump - It's probably still a good idea to replace, but not if you're using unverified aftermarket pumps - the original OEM pump is probably more reliable to 200k than an aftermarket pump would be for 100k. Japanese quality tends to be really good so that's part of the equation, but it's also just simple geometry - the newer Subaru's pumps have a short shaft which limits perpendicular fatigue over time. older Subaru's had longer shafts and were issues wearing out. Those I'd say replace with every timing belt change (60k back then) or 100k.

Yes - coagulated brake dust or rust on the retaining clips, poorly performing pins (cheap/no grease/corrosion) will hang pads. Remember - newer Subaru's are going 100,000 miles without issue and have been for many decades - so if you're having issues, something should be causing it. On older cars I'll just buy new pad clips and pins/bushings to get everything operating smoothly for the long haul. Rockauto or onlinle are usually best, they tend to be pricey locally. If yours are immediately pulsating that's nowhere near normal. 1997's don't have the slide pin bushings that swell due to the cheap grease - so they're a little more forgiving and you should be able to get away with it. That said - In my experience it's so low performing I'm surprised it's marketed as brake grease. I've seen lots of examples where it's notably not performing well in less than a year - noticed while rotating tires in under a year, working on a friends car that recently had brake work, etc. It is not very good. I only accidentally stumbled on this when someone left a tube of Sil Glyde in a car I bought, i never knew "brake grease" would suck so bad until i accidentally used something ese. I've gotten aftermarket rotors to last, but i think they are less forgiving. Maybe try grease/cleaning/replacing slides first and see if that helps. 1997 is probably near impossible to find but a set of used OEM rotors would work too.

Okay, updated recomendations - but bear with me since this is a new topic for you and an odd situation for a Subaru - let's talk about brake fluid. And specifically Subaru specific braking, I'm very familiar with Subaru's but nothing else. You are right to be skeptical as Subaru's generally can go 100,000+ miles without noticing any issues for most people/vehicles, so the same reason you're skeptical is the same reason we're hesitant - there's a lot of question marks here. Subarus rarely experience what you're experiencing, it's so rare I usually ignore people's self-diagnosis on Subaru brakes, though you obviously know what you're talking about. So we have a big question mark. bigger brakes are usually pointless (except they're fun) unless you're aggressively racing or towing high loads and grades. I would check the slide pins - make sure they're properly moving and greased with high quality grease - the stuff they come with from Subaru is excellent and there should be no reason to need anything at this young of an age. But again something doesn't seem to add up. I would also check the slide pin bushings - they can swell and cause the pads to make too much contact with the rotor - which would equal heat. I actually throw the bushings away because they're unnecessary and were never used for decades by Subaru and they cause issues. Usually this happens after a brake job - exposure or mixing of greases, or using cheap greases, etc swells the bushings. Seen it multiple times and it can vary enough in symptoms that it's not really problematic or you don't even notice until you go to do a brake job. Usually braking improvement from larger brakes (particuarly with newer Subaru's) is actually zero improvement or negligible It's a mistaken correlation. The new calipers required new fluid and got new/cleaned pad clips and greased pins and the braking system is back to OEM new. had they simple bought new pad clips, cleaned/greased pins with high quality grease, and flushed with new fluid they'd have the same "improvements". modern cars only have to lock up the brakes - the weight, ABS, and tire compounds then determine braking distance/performance. (again, outside of racing/towing) you can even test for water in it, which might be worth it if you're noticing issues. http://pagid.com/news/why-test-brake-fluid/ I'm surprised you had brake issues but not pulsating while braking from highway speeds due to overheating compromising the rotors, a common symptom of compromised Subaru brakes. I would change your fluid first - 30k is much sooner than usually necessary but Subaru says every 30,000 miles and we dont' know any history or details about your vehicle: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/subaru_maintenance1.html Generally speaking for average daily drivers - Subaru's make 100,000+ miles without issues on brake fluid. So it wouldn't be normal to "need" the fluid changed but there's a lot of unknowns here: 1. are you the original owner? 2. what happened in it's first 6 years of life? 3. miles? 4. how "spirited" of driving are we talking? 5. how humid is the environment this car has been in? 6. has the brake fluid cap ever been accidentally removed for an extended period of time during brake work/replacement? 7. are the pin bushings swelling? 8. who changed the brakes last and what grease was used? and on and on and on... So it might be simple to start with two simple questions: a. is it a good idea to just change the fluid to be sure? b. check the slide pin operation?

how positive are they it's actually leaking? that's not very common to have happen. as an illustration, picture scaled rust where it's not exactly a hole, the fluid finds and seeps through slowly and can vary quite a bit in how it does it.

They're very generic parts and apply to a zillion various cars.

That's a good idea.bi didn't think about auto but I did search for Subaru and got only one hit of the guy with a manual trans and wrong length. I ordered one so I'll try it out in a few days.

Looks like you can guess and probably get it right and most ebay listings right now are for manual trans and most amazon listings are for automatics - looks like two different length plungers between them. Anyway - i'm surprised that after a quarter century+ of production this isn't simpler.

You are correct - pulsating at high speeds is a common problem. But it's a *caused* problem, from poor condition parts, not routine or something that has to happen. For example - that doesn't happen on newer average daily drivers. it's not like brand new subaru's are routinely vibrating and pulsating - new cars owners would be livid. none of the new subaru owners I personally know have brake rotor issues - i've never replaced them. So get your older Subaru closer to like-new component function and you won't have rotor issues either - this is hard in the rust prone areas as there are frequent issues: 1. Caliper slides routinely stick and need cleaned and regreased with high quality (Sil Glyde - the cheap permatex green can stuff sucks) *** #1 is by far the biggest issue I've taken apart sticking slides that had "new grease" in the past 1-3 years, that cheap grease is terrible, I'm surprised it's even for sale and used, mabye it's just not good in the rust belt or older cars have less sealed systems (boots, rusty mating surfaces), but i see it over and over again. 2. the slide pin boots can be cracked or not seal 3. the brake caliper retaining clips can get rusty or significant black build up which hands pads or prevents them from easily sliding and staying off the rotors. i've seen this a few times, causes 1 or 2 of the pads to wear down quicker than the rest - and isn't healthy to ride ont he caliper either. If you want rotors to last a long time: Clean the pins and bores if needed, use Sil Glyde (or other high quality grease), replace any dirty, bent, rusty pad clips, replace any cracked/deformed boots And get a set of OEM rotors - they're less prone to issues than OEM. Hard to find older ones, but you can get like 2000 take off rotors from people who routinely replace rotors as a matter of habit. But with decently operating caliper pins/clips I've had good luck with aftermarket rotors too - i just thin they're less forgiving.

+1 get new fluid in there immediately and make sure the transmission pan isn't dented at all - there's very little clearance between the pan and suction entrance of the pick up tube inside the pan.

2002 OBW - all the ebay kits are for manual transmission vehicles and the amazon kits are too ambiguous to trust for fitment or say "doesn't work" on my vehicle. Mine is an H6 but it appears the starter is the same across H4 and H6 says subaru parts.

You can do the timing belt yourself - Subaru timing belts are cake walk, I can do one in an hour just the belt. Add another 3 hours for other parts and being a first timer. Timing pulleys and tensioner fail far more often than water pumps - which never fail in newer generation Subarus, so you need to switch your thinking and talking around - you're focused on a water pump which never fails and ignoring the components that actually fail and cause interference - bent valve$$$$. Do the timing belt now yourself. Headgaskets later.

Yes - headgaskets *by themselves* are $1,500. $1,500 headgaskets $1,000 timing belt and components/parts Your goal is to find a place that will do this: A. make sure all the timing components are replaced - pulleys and tensioner B. follow my headgasket guidelines above. That's more important than anything else. Water pump replacement is unnecessary, they routinely last 200,000 miles, but if you're replacing everything else anyway it's not a bad idea.

Here's what I recommend: 1. Replace the timing components now 2. Don't replace the headgaskets now - wait for symptoms - if you do have to replace them, then at that time, install a new timing belt. There's no guarantee they'll fail, I wouldn't open it all up for something that's a non-issue. Also - there's nearly zero risk - these engines have a very specific failure mode - they start leaking slowly and gradually get worse over 10's of thousands of miles. You'll have years from initial onset to needing replacement - plenty of time to plan. Normally you'll notice some wet spots under the car on the driveway or while changing the oil. It starts very slowly, just weeping, making the dust and grime wet, not even flowing, moving, or dripping. Then slowly gets worse. Your year is usually oil - which if you never let it get low - can drive 50,000 miles with it leaking. no symptoms or issues. You can check them now before purchase - they always leak in the same way/areas. Keep the electrical system in sharp condition, no corrossion around the battery - it is speculated this encourages headgasket issues. You don't want to just relace the timing belt - but the entire timing components - belt, pulleys, tensioner, and with quality japanese parts. A complete timing component and headgasket job price is $2k - $3k dependent on parts pricing and local rates. When you go to repair it: 1. resurface the heads no matter what. a complete head valve job, pressure test is unecessary but often sold or "required", and drives price up significntly for somethign entirely unecessary. 2. use Subaru turbo headgaskets 3. resurface the block for a stellar job - but this is rarely done and very rarely necessary. 4. add coolant conditioner if required.