idosubaru

You could fill the bearings with new grease by removing the face seal or a needle fitting on a grease gun and prying up the face seal. But very very few people ever do that. The bearings simply loose grease over time. You're other issues are hard to follow but sounds like you're in the right direction.

You need to replace the two pulley bearings for the serpentine belt. They are both standard 6203 bearings. I prefer a quality Japanese bearing. Replace them now before they completely fail and ruin the pulley washer and mounting surfaces. Remove belt. Remove pulley. Tap out bearings and tap in new bearings with s hammr and sockets. Very easy takes just a few minutes.

maybe get another block? severe overhreating like that compromises the oil and bearings. i (and many others) have bought lots of EJ25's with rods seized or thrown through the block or heads - they've almost certainly had prior overheating/headgaskets. one had new headgaskets installed at 30k under warranty and rod bearings seized at 50k. friend bought an engine with melted plastic due to overheating. i told him not to use it because i was helping with the project and didn't want to waste my time. he opted to try it and it was knocking within months of install. of course - you might get lucky and run it another 100,000 miles too, so i get the allure of a cheap repair, been there done that too. good luck!

risks, it's pretty simple: what is happenging: it'll get worse over time - either 3 months or 3 years. too many variables to quantify. headgaskets will get worse risks: bearings get damaged as the oil gets compromised from overheating. this is common and why EJ25's send rods through blocks after headgasket issues. the coolant passages, or the area of the breach will slowly pit away as localized (even if your temp gauge doesn't move) overheating due to the failure cause the metal to wear away cylinder liners may shift may throw a rod you're adding water and continue driving it overheating, leaking, and using water. i'd think i'd pass on repairing that abused and neglected engine too. those engines are super easy to repair in the vehicle, the headbolts are all external and a cake walk to replace.

usually just fine running the heads as-is. clean them out good. if heat/bearing damage to the cam/bearing surfaces are suspected - you could lap in the valves from one head to another. but that's a lot of work. and then can bending valves compromise valve guides in anyway? i'm unsure of that - but before assuming one head is better than another i'd ask someone who knows better than I, that might make valve swapping pointless.

vibration that's directly correlated to acceleration (immediately noticeable in regards to throttle loading input - is classic symptoms of: 1. front inner axle joint is low on grease or failing 2. failing front differential - but these usually give audible noises too and get worse over time - you're not saying there's any noises. you can stuff fresh grease into the inner axle joint and the vibration might go away (it's worked every time i've tried it - which is only a couple). of course if the boot is tight and solid then you gotta cut one clamp to be able to stuff any grease in there - then reclamp it or ziptie it (really good). it's probably low on grease or the grease is so liquidy it's not doing anything.

short answer - is just leave it be, there's no point in swapping. 1998 can't be a SOHC EJ25 - so something is amiss in the details. it originally came with a Phase II EJ22 (1999+) and those aren't the reliability beasts of the earlier EJ22's. your car probably has a Phase II EJ25 in it and there's probably little difference between the two - swapping a Phase II EJ22 in it would be pointless - it's basically the same engine and not that reliabile (in terms of older EJ22's). Phase II EJ22 and EJ25's have the same valves, heads (minus exhaust ports), timing belts, etc - they're basically the same motor.

just make sure you don't "push" the torque converter into place with the flexplate. they should never touch until you draw the together with the torque converter to flexplate bolts. using that concept - you can simpy measure the distance from the flexplate to engine bellhousing and torque converter to trans bellhousing to make sure you have clearance and they won't touch before trying to wiggle the lump into the car.

thanks chux. i didn't see this option anywhere when i was looking a few years ago. copy, i know the CD does that - so with the switch you don't need the CD. clunky - perfect description, i'm surprise how ambiguous they can sometimes make +/- buttons, on-off, AUX-in.... some people prefer a stock look as well. but yeah Bushwick, for most people all the flavors of aftermarket are a great fit.

interference engine so ideally the belt and pulleys are replaced soon. even with a new belt, the pulleys are often never replaced. why it's being sold, is always a premier answer to find out. notice i say answer, not question. because how people answer that to a potentional buyer isn't always clear. both torque bind. good advice to test after warmed up though manuals can bind when cold as well. it'll be obvious - if you can't tell, you don't have it. with steering wheel in full lock on drive pavement drive in circles - it'll either bind or not - binding will make it feel like it's braking.

i run with no covers. no big deal, as said that may differ if you're engaging debris from underneath repeatedly and have no engine under cover.

yes the crank pulley technically speaking only needs removed to take the outer covers off. if the outer timing cover isn't in place then the belt can be removed and installed without removing the crank pulley.

i just remove the fuel line in the engine bay and crank - if fuel comes out the pump is working. pull a plug wire and check for spark. do those two things and you learned a lot in less than 15 minutes diagnosis.

oh yeah - if you want to replace - by all means, like i said, replace it. you're right, it's just a seal, there's nothing different about it mechnically speaking. they have two compelling data points, regardless of guessing, technically pontificating, ruminating, arm chair quarterbacking why: 1. Subaru rear mains have a higher percentage of leaking after replacement. (even from folks with Subaru experience). this has been true for like 3 decades....it's nothing new. 2. they very rarely leak - fairly typical for a Subaru engine to never need one replaced - that's not the case with front crank and cam seals. also true for 3 decades (probably more) for that reason - it doesn't make sense to always recommend replacing them any time an engine is removed and some caution is very beneficial to average DIY folks. but if you want to replace - by all means, replace it.

swap front axles and see if noise changes/moves to the other side. if it's an inner joint knocking then it's probably easier to confuse the side and you replaced the wrong one.

look for identifying tag or ask who is selling - they should know at the very least if they've ever seen an SVX - it's nothing like any other Subaru. SVX is the only 3.54 final drive like John said so if it's anything else it won't work. though technically you could swap your front diff onto an EJ transmission probably but front diff work is no joke. you can alternately pull the drain plug and paint one of the gear teeth through the drain plug. then turn/count rotations and do the math and see if you get 3.54 or not.

they rarely leak and people sometimes don't install this seal well - it's large and awkward. if you can carefully and methodically install a seal and buy a Subaru OEM seal, you shouldn't have a problem. plenty of us have never had a leak. after a quarter million miles and coming up on a quarter century there's certainly good reason to consider it if you want. 10 years and 100,000 i'd say pass. 20 years and 250,000...i'd personally do it, but recommend caution as stated already.

textured doesn't sound normal - i'm confused why you're describing two sides being different but only showing one photograph. either the differences shoudl show on one photo, or don't post a photo - or post multiple photos? i'm sure this would be simple if we're standing there, just trying to clear up communicating when we only have a keyboard. full on side pic's would likely show us more of what's going on. although "textured" doesn't sound immediately normal, that's still ambiguous (to me) so i won't assume to much. sometimes Subaru splits a generation and the colors are different for the same vehicle. (00-01 and 02-04 outbacks have two different "reds"/"burgundy's for instance). you can look up color availability on cars101.com and see what other close colors may have been offered in other years. 05-09 are the same generation - check all those years for changes/offereings. then again it could just be poor paint job. a properly done repsray will cost $2,000 (very roughly) swapping doors/trim/bumpers will be $1,000+ if you do the labor. www.car-part.com which option are you trying to do?

nice hit Chux. was this a stereo, cassette, CD/Cassette, changer version...etc? if it's a CD version - I take it you don't have to run that "blank CD" trick like a lot of people do?

Good job. 180, more than I thought but still great deal for everything. Pretty cheap 100,000 miles you just bought there. Keep oil and coolant in it and they easily make 200,000 without blinking. Will need to replace leaky valve cover gaskets and oil cooler gasket some day but those are easy and cheap. Knock sensors are most common failure but still unlikely. I sometimes replace preventatively as they're cheap on eBay and one easy bolt to replace. And keep an eye on/hope you don't get head gasket leaks.

Bottom looks normal in photo unless its lighting. Look up photos using Google images and I think it'll be clear to you. Unless it's just gunny lighting or flash that ultra sparkly doesn't look like OEM Subaru paint, looks like touch up paint or rattle can matched attempt to look pearl. Easiest and cheapest fix is a paint matched stock part. Look for trim on eBay or someone parting out an outback on here or subaruoutback.org Buying new and painting has its own drawbacks. Or ignore it?

Ive swapped doors to repair or match before as well, it's so easy it makes avoiding body work and paint a nonissue

To add to toms comments, compare to the other side door (thatbyoure not replacing) when lining and finishing things up.

How loud is this? Like a non car person wouldn't motice, obvious, turns heads, or cover your ears? Exhaust heat shields Exhaust leak Cracked fleplate

Stick with Subaru if you don't find another solution. Most subarus people use KYB and love them. If all 4 tires are wearing bad is it alignment or cheap or questionable tires? Alignment driven uneven tire wear is way more common than strut driven.....and that's in a terrible economy state accustomed to high mileage bouncy struts. all 4 sounds uncanny unless they rotated all the tires through one bad strut and left them on the same length of time.