idosubaru

Alternator & fuel pump, timing belts, timing pulleys, distributor, coil, and igniter (just get the entire coil bracket with igniter on it). Those all leave you stranded and are the most likely high mileage/age failiures, and aftermarket options are poor or unavailaible. From there it's just generic stuff - like hose and tire flat repairs. With that you can make an older Subaru pretty good road trip vehicles without too many horror stories.

No need to call, a full on machine shop would never do that by hand - they'll probably squint their eyes and wonder what planet you're from for asking. If you want to be technical what you'd want to know is if they're using a belt sander, blanchard grinder, milling... and if they're changing the procedure based on type of gasket (composite vs. MLS) or materials - aluminum, iron, or aluminum/iron mixing (head vs. block) to get the desired RA of each combination. I would avoid a place that uses a belt sander. You already have a plate glass surface? that's awesome, I'd use that. But i can understand have a competent shop do it, I used to when I lived in Maryland and had acess to better shops. Here's a head/photo I had done a few years ago at a local machine shop: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/117657-rough-headgasket-resurfacing/

best advice is to go test drive a few. CVT's and seats are two highly subjective areas people can hate and complain about and hard to put any words to that are sufficient to cover all the possible opinions and aches.

if by "flat surface" you mean you'll use sufficiently thick (3/8" i think) plate glass, proper granite, or machinist grade granite - yes do it yourself, excellent results and very easy to do. any glass shop in town can get you the plate glass. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122588-diy-head-resurfacing-or-post-apocalyptic-machine-shop-techniques/ i'd rather see the gasket/engine in person than pic's, but yes i do want to jump on the band wagon and say that head gasket looks like flaking junk and a specific failure point. the fire ring there looks the same all the way around? lots of us do it ourselves, it's actually really easy and gives great results: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122588-diy-head-resurfacing-or-post-apocalyptic-machine-shop-techniques/

sometimes a google search gives a lot of hits: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1820027 there's a few DC/Balt area guys on subaruoutback.org that i think have recently answered your question too.

i've done it to EJ18's before, just block it off on the engine side like he said. if you look closely i think it's just the exhaust there so blocking it off makes it just like an EJ22 - no hole. you won't use the intake side because you'll use the EJ22 intake manifold on the EJ18. swap knock sensor from EJ22 to EJ18, the hole should be there and threaded.

all the unimog folks pull the cab/engine, i'm not sure why. maybe dropping the trans is simpler but the same reasons subaru peopel usually pull the engine instead of drop the trans for a clutch too? i drove it last weekend - should have video taped it - it really can drive over some bonkers sized stuff. first gear is so low you just start in 3rd and and 1st and second would be for crawling.

Good job getting it apart! Yes remove the two lower 14mm engine mount nuts and pitch stopper and jack the side of the engine up that you're working on. Subaru or fel pro gaskets and resurface the heads.

there you go, get caboob's seat. any 2000-2004 outback/legacy seat will bolt in and work. if it doesn't have an air bag the SRS system won't come on and the airbag light will light up in the dash. the ABS will work just fine regardless of the seats - you can test my recommendation by simply unplugging your existing seat to mimmick. if you don't want an SRS light - and you want your airbags to work you will have to: 1. get any seat bolted in and install a resistor that matches the seat air bag 2. get a 2000-2004 equipped seat with air bags in it - i think that's only available in H6's and maybe even only the VDC models? in which case you're then limited to 2001-2004 models only, as 2000's didn't have an H6. www.cars101.com will tell you which models in 2000-2004 had side impact air bags www.car-part.com will list a wide variety of seats if you're looking for something different

dude i might call your friend i absolutely hate painting. i told my wife i'd do anything but paint - in 10 years i've painted very little. lol ah - so it's overheating quick and a lot, i wasn't sure from just reading words. that definitely sounds like HG. iif it's that bad and i wanted 100,000 mile reliable daily driver i'd get another engine. otherwise gasket slap it and see what happens, they're often resilient and definitely worth a shot in many situations.

Subaru fuel pressure regulator issues are nearly unheard of but I was just thinking what's next. *** how do you know it's a fueling issue? I bet it's not if you have fuel after the filter? Any check engine lights?

Fuel pressure regulator? Has the engine ever been removed or had major work? Will it start with starting fluid or carb cleaner in the intake?

Yep cars101 will answer all that and when each model gets what engine. Look at 2010's, then 2011's.... 2011 was first year of FB and came in foresters. As said all 2001 H6 are timing chains.

Did you torch due to pinch bolt or ball in knuckle?

Nice dave! You did that on the vehicle with the axle in place? Torch has a fine flame I guess to be precise enough to heat without smoking any rubber parts close by?

I've asked twice I think if you're loosing coolant, are you? After running/ driving is the total amount of coolant less?

every engine fails in various ways due to excessive heat. Head gaskets are one of those ways. At 20 years old and you just got it, it's likely been overheated in the past. Or my guess is that they're lying, miscommunicating, of have a bad or selective memory. It's amazing how memory has the ability to make stories and details change even if not intentional. Happens all the time.

it's hard to say without being there - but if it's pushing coolant into the overflow tank - i'd replace the radiator cap. I'd say it's very likely a HG - but good diagnosis is ideal. is it loosing coolant over a period of time? or you're not driving it so you don't know? if the shop saying "unlikely its a HG" means they won't specifically narrow it down with an exhaust gas analyzer or leak down test - then i wouldn't have them diagnosis it, they'll end up thowing parts (and $) at it. overheating and then loosing cabin heat is ***classic*** Subaru internal headgasket failures. so yes - that's definitely a clue. the only hesitancy is that it's uncommon on that particular engine. there are a few different failure modes of the headgaskets - if your issues are caused by the headgsaket it's from exhaust being pushed into the coolant. this will not result in oil/coolant mixing, external leaks, and intitially doesn't affect compression - so all those "standard" headgasket tests are worthless. they will also be negative tests because you're looking in the wrong place - it's like looking for ice in a fire - of course you didn't find any - it can't be there. same thing here - those tests won't show anything because an internal failure like this doesn't exhibit those symptoms just based on physical laws of nature. an exhaust gas analyzer can detect exhaust gases in the coolant and is the primary test here. a leak down test can also narrow it down. anything else is a waste of time and comes with the warning that it should give you no false sense of security - most HG familiar people on this forum could have told you all those tests would come up negative without even looking at it just based on Subaru HG faliure modes.

is the radiator cap good? don't replace headbolts on Subaru's. they're reusable. looks like that list is missing the thermostat gasket. #6 and #7 aren't necessary but wise, cheap, and easy. i'd install a new timing kit from Gates and reseal the oil pump and cam seals while it's all apart and off anyway and have long term reliabiity - but that's personal preference and not necessary. get the idea of "checking for warp" off the table, that's a non-topic here, it essentially doesn't matter. Those heads don't warp, if they did you'd have some explosive symptoms and melted plastic/rubber parts on the engine which is rare. You want to resurface them because the heads will have high and low spots every time, and you want to have the proper finish on the heads. makes no sense to go through a huge job and skip that. it's really easy to do it yourself, look here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122588-diy-head-resurfacing-or-post-apocalyptic-machine-shop-techniques/ you can order through online subaru dealers and get about %20 off so you'd be looking at saving $50 if you order online. one of the major online supliers is in CT, i forget which one though.

just forget it and keep driving it. Read my post above, it won't fail. If consider a split boot a waste of time. Maybe worth installing to pass inspection but otherwise pointless.

+1 that's why i said read the owners manual. i am also assuming it's like most subaru transmissions regarding the TC seating, from the minimal blips of information i have seen on them, i think it's the same.

agree - i wouldn't call it common or affecting all vehicles/situations. and i've never noticed it on Subarus so i doubt its the case here but if he's buying $6 rockauto close out cheapie (which i've seen before) no name brands i might not be surpised. i haven't seen hundreds of examples so i can't differentiate between trend and anecdotal of cheap pads, but the few examples i've seen it seems vehicle specific and more common on particular vehicles, particularly large vans and SUV's in hilly/mountainous areas, or urban driving (just by default because I worked on far more cars in those types of areas than flatland, i don't know if that's a contributing factor or not). my 260k OBW gets 55,000 miles like clock work on front pads. my rears are all over the place but average 25k. maybe the proportioning valves age? i use a different pad every time - maybe it's that? never thought about it til now? i've never actually seen it on a Subaru but i wouldn't be surprised if he's buying some never heard of before pad off rock auto.

*** is it LOOSING coolant***? basically we're looking for a leak. if it's loosing coolant somewhere it might not be headgaskets. bubbling in the overflow is classic internal headgsket failure (it's pushing exhaust gases into the coolant). testing for exhaust gases in the coolant is the best test but the auto parts store testers aren't consistently accurate and many shops don't have the high end electrical equipment for testing that. but you can call around and ask places if they have one. a typical small generic mom and pop shop isn't likely to have one i don't think. but it does sound like classic headgaskets - the good and bad thing about that engine is that those headgaskets are super easy to replace, easiest subaru headgasket to do. the head bolts are external. unbolt manifolds, remove timing belt and off the heads come. REALLY easy, could easily do it in the vehicle. make sure the heads get resurfaced and you use SUbaru OEM or maybe Fel Pro PT headgaskets. you can resurface yourself - it's super easy as well, just read GD's thread on it here on this forum. the bad part is it's still going to cost a lot at a shop probably - a head gasket job is in general a large job and comes with high price tags. it's rare for a shop to be like, "ah yeah those are really easy, we can do those much cheaper than most".

you're right - when prying against the LCA, the strut and bushings move and have so much give, there's almost no impact going to the specific seized joint and the force transfer is mitigated. prying against the LCA is nearly pointless on really seized stuff...."really" seized, which brings up the very confusing part of this topic: it's highly ambiguous due to the wide scope of how bad it can be. outside the rust belt these jobs are often cake (compared to the rust belt), lots of methods work. many methods suggested online that work for rough rust - would have never worked for yours. and your soaking/impact routine wouldn't work for a few really nasty ones.

Resurface the heads. These never warp but will have high and low spots and not ideal roughness. They're cheap and easy but For all the radiator cap comments seen online it's unlikely.