idosubaru

First conversation while nearly humorous has good signs. He and his worker were notably surprised. Id guess he doesn't have disagreements with many calm, well versed, resolute and prepared customers. He asked what we would pay, but we didn't respind with a number. That was the plan from the beginning, just ask and let it sit. Let him worry about it some more, maybe a week. And we would rather make an offer without his staff around, that way he can tell them whatever he wants to pad and smooth it over with them. If they're around, his pride will work against us. I bet he would settle for $3k-$4k, but my friend is fine with $5k. So should end well.

If start another thread on maintenance issues. Stalling is often the idle control valve. Clean or swap in a used one. Did the cam and crank sensor codes go away? Is it still arcing? What brand wires? Replace plugs. Those engines aren't very forgiving with plugs and wires. OEM NGK is best or high quality.

If the pulleys and tensioner were replaced eith the belt then great, sure leave those. There's no correlation between belt and trans, it's financial. There's concern over cash and mileage, id want to take care of the riskiest part of the car, the timing *components*,not just the belt. Timing kit, The pulleys and tensoners fail too. If they do the valves usually bend and will cost more to repair than your transmission. Also call around to some transmission shops. They can swap a transmission really fast. a thirty year old respected trans rebuilder typically known as pricey but really good would install subaru transmissions for $150 (not including fluids or any gaskets or hoses) if you supplied the used trans. Most won't do that but it's worth 5 phone calls to the trans shops in town.

Swap cluster or speed sensor. good chance it's the 1999 speedo issue. Previously swapped with one from a 99 or a bleed over part from 99 production. Google the solder joint wire repair. Swap the instrument cluster with one that has the same mileage. theyre super easy to replace. Www.car-part.com

New timing kit and used transmission. $400 used transmission. $400 install. Done for half the price. Www.car-part.com Any 1996-1999 outback, or legacy with a 2.5 engine will work - Legacy GT, legacy Lsi, SUS, 1998 forester and Impreza RS will work too. I wouldn't put anything into it unless you can also do a complete timing kit. Amazon has gates kits for reasonable price. Interference engine so if it breaks the engine often incurs valve damage.

Read the owners manual just in case Was the window left down? Is the window sealing properly? How long has it done it? If water gets in and gets the switch wet I've seen them act uncanny for a few days. Otherwise take it to s dealer for warranty work

So right now it has no codes? i would google search "check engine light flashing but no codes" - but you'll have to sift through miles of them because of the "check engine light flashing" part will bring up a bunch that happen while driving. or creatively filter. EJ18's don't have a knock sensor - so the body side may not have a knock sensor wire - but since it did respond to the new sensor you added it or i'm wrong and it does have the wire? How about check for continuity from every sensor to the ECU....although that should give codes if that was the issue

CEL flashing with engine off is pretty interesting. in the end: what wiring is there: all EJ25 intake, body side, and ECU wiring?

Your battery terminals did not cause this. There is no average - those codes will trip again in a day or a year or 3 years. The two codes you had often can go weeks/months before tripping again but will typically get progressively worse over time and then stay on most of the time or indefinitey.

i've seen that video before, it's actually the same vehicle i think, it's a gas swedish 404.

most people don't. like i said a very few of them (i think it's suspected it's MT engines that have a different pattern) have different trigger marks. most are the same style so it's not an issue. but the possibility exists so yeah you can either: A. chance it like you did and deal with it if it's a problem (not often) B. investigate first - check both crank or cam sprockets and if they're the same no need to swap C. swap as a rule. since most people are also installing new timing components it's really no extra work to swap them.

i don't even see a question here: replace the tensioner. i'd recommend a new belt while you're at it and personally i'd just install another kit unless the pulleys feel superb, tight with grease. what prompted the frequent tensioner removal/compressing?

yes, easy. what he said - swap those two sprockets and use the intake manifold in the vehicle. there are two different style trigger marks on cam/crank sprockets - the car needs the style original to it. more than likely the "new" engine is the same - but just in case it's not swapping those sprockets gives you 100% success rate.

first step wolud be to confirm diagnosis. misdiagnosis is so common i would confirm - but it sounds like you may have pretty much done that with the spark plug damage? pull the timing belt covers and see what happened. new valves and a valve job should be all you need. keep an eye on that cylinder and make sure there's not bits or cylinder wall damage but i've never seen it happen from just a timing belt issue. resurface the heads and block surface while you're at it if you can pull it off.

Thanks. Got a plan at least, see what happens. Haha thanks for believing even a crazy question nip! I think its a 1968. It's in good shape but not a magazine cover photo.

Georgia. Thanks.

Yep replace/repair speedometer or instrument cluster. Odometer moving suggests trans driven gear and cable are good.

Great suggestion! I'll take one apart and see how generic (or not) the blank is.

At what point does a shop call the customer to ask to move forward? Or inquire about excessive costs? If someone took a car in making a noise and showed up to a new engine and $4,000 bill....that's not normal, no one does that without some agreement. I'll go and hear them out first with no objective or goal. I want to see their face, clarity, and story. Then let it sit a bit and maybe make an offer to settle it and be done with it BBB? I can't see that helping.

My best friend took his Unimog to an automotive shop (who said they could do it) to change the clutch. Unimog sites and DIY folks say it's an 8-15 hour job. He supplied all the parts, that's $8,000 in labor alone, like 100 hours. With parts and stuff it's pribably pushing $10,000 total. It's just a basic gas Mercedes engine, not a diesel. They never called with an estimate or got in so far and gave any indications it would be that high. They also scrambled for weeks to give an invoice of time spent, they didn't have one. He is by no means averse to paying for work or even close to cheap. He is the opposite of that. What recourse does he have? He is probably flying me out to help meet with the mechanics.

that is slowly changing. granted in part because americans are tending towards automatics. but there are some practical indicators too - easy maintenance - no expensive clutch work needed, manuals have enough main and input shaft bearing and synchro and slave cylinder issues that i'm not sure they can be considered "more reliable" any more. better track times and MPG but that's not always a huge difference on average daily drivers so the cost to beneift ratio isn't as clear cut as it used to be.

I like auto's for towing, they're great to tow with and many people prefer them. manuals are nice in some situations/driving/shifting/grades/loads. but auto's shine for being smoother, and better control with fine movements like lining up, off road, getting/backing into/pulling out of tight spaces and areas, like pulling boats out of challenging boat ramps - an auto is nice on slick, steep, wonky, falling apart, boat ramps for all that same reasons listed earlier- which get exaccerbated on a boat ramp.

Systems often disable with a check engine light, so the P0420 caused the VDC and cruise to disable. Once that code disappeared those systems resumed nominal ops. why the P0420 code was set might be the main question. That's weird.

***** The first thing we need to know is the current check engine light code. Have it read and post it here. Don't post the diagnosis or what someone says the code means - give us the exact code. P0420 is the catalyst inefficiency code that usually starts debacles like this. I'll assume that's the issue, but definitely post the code here. 1. the rattle - i'm uncertain about that. seems like the shop should fix it but "fix it" might mean a whole new muffler/system $$$$ if you annoy them and they're not wanting to diagnose/address. 2. for the Check Engine light - you only need one converter. the system doesn't check catalyst efficiency until the car is up to operating temps. second converter functions when warm. the first converter is a pre-converter and intended to mitigate emissions during the warm up period - when the O2 sensors are not even in use yet. so it depends how you look at it. A. the system was designed with two converters - a preconverter for warm up period, one for nominal ops. but both are not "needed" at all. the car was "designed" with perfect clear coat - it probably doesn't have that either. B. the computer/check engine light/emissions only require one converter to work properly - the rear one. on stock systems installing a $5 spacer between the rear O2 sensor and the exhaust often gets rid of the check engine light. easy, cheap, and it sometimes works. i dont' know what's going on here with all the noise, custom exhaust, etc - but for $5 and a few minutes it would take on a new exhaust (no rust), i'd install one of those immediately. this issue is so common i've got a pile of those extenders in my garage. a simple way to test if exhaust is causing issues or not is to disconnect the exhaust manifold from the engine and take a drive. if the issue goes away - it's the exhaust if the issues don't go away - it's not the exhaust. exhaust should not cause any issues at all unless it's clogged. vibration in drive at stop is usually due to aftermarket front CV shafts. replace the offending axle. always use Subaru axles (green inner cups). reboot and they always last the life of the vehicle. replacement is a waste and problematic. get a used one from www.car-part.com and reboot it with Subaru boots.

there's a lot of variability to your question - it's too convoluted to answer your question. you can use ebay and www.car-part.com to determine some interchangeability - though they generally interchange far more than listed. find out what years/models are listed for the same part. you can often google front suspension, rear suspension, brakes, engines, and sometimes transmissions and find some very specific threads about those interchanges. roughly speaking for a 1996 impreza: front struts (height will vary), axles, knuckles, control arms - 1995-2004 legacy, outback, impreza rear suspension - 1999 and earlier outback/legacy/impreza. 2000-??? impreza/forester. brakes - almost any subaru brakes interchange if you swap the caliper bracket and rotor too - but if they're bigger you need larger wheels to clear them. jamal has an excellent brake interchange thread on mulitple subaru forums. google it. transmissions and rear differentials interchange if you either match the final drive ratio of the current vehicle or swap both (matching trans and rear diff): manuals are 3.9 or 4.11 final drive - your impreza would be a 3.9 automatics are 4.11 or 4.44 final drive - impreza would be 4.11 it gets complicated because nearly every thing can interchange. Say you want "Part A" interchange info. certain year impreza's interchange with A different year legacy's interchange with A sometimes which engine or auto/manual changes if A interchanges and what years for each of those.... other year impreza's interchnge with A if you also interchange another part - we'll call it "B" A interchanges if you also swap part B. But - only certain year B's. so you need all those "A's" listed above - with another completely different list of years, models, engine, trans for part B. and then sometimes you might be able to interchange A - but it changes some things which may or may not be an issue (say you install taller front struts and then the car sits at a rake - you might be fine with that, or you might want to swap in rears to match or not do it at all). it's usually simpe if you just ask a question or three. but to write a complete interchange list like you're saying is nearly impossible. for the HG repair: pull heads resurface heads (there's a DIY thread here, easy and cheap) use Subaru (or high quality) headgaskets replace radiator. ideally you install a complete timing belt kit - pulleys and belt and a new water pump with Subaru OEM water pump gasket. those are great engines, as long as it was't overheated significantly it should run until rust kills it.