idosubaru

Might depend how you lift the car. It's towards the back so getting the rear of the car off the ground high enough might push most of the fluid up towards the front diff.

Follow Subaru owners manual and maintenance schedule for ***your**** vehicle, the other ones are inconsequential: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/maintenance-2015.html Yes 4 cylinder says synth 6 says either Follow the 6.

Move your spare one by hand - if it's smooth and not lumpy - you know it's in good shape. If it's lumpy - probably still fine for a long time, depends how bad it is. Ask around - any automotive machine shop can do it, just have to find one willing. Any driveline shops around locally? They're pricey from Rockford, like $30 or $40 each. This: Cut from the inside with an angle grinder or cut off wheel - takes 2 minutes. Get the center bits out then bash the remaining caps in (gently bash LOL).

unbolt the exhaust manifold from the engine and run it? someone on here or subaruoutback just had a bad converter - they did exactly that and the car ran fine. might want to find that thread and see what they're symptoms were, i don't recall exactly?

Oh - and do you have or has this car ever had any remote start, alarm type systems on it?

by not cranking - do you mean the engine isn't turning over at all or it's turning but not starting? are you positive the fuel pump can push enough fuel? I've had problems with used EA/ER pumps that were good but have sat for long periods of time.

I'd cover the basics first: 1. do you have spark at all 4 cylinders? 2. do you have sufficient fuel - i simply pull the one hose at the fuel filter and crank the engine - if it pours out, that's a good sign it's fine. no or low flow is usually obvious in my experience. 3. timing belt - is it properly aligned? 4. is the engine turning fast enough to start? (battery weak?) you'd be wise to get a full timing kit for it soon - the pulleys and tensioner are prone to failure and bend valves when they do. Gates kits on Amazon are $130 for everything and can be install in well under 2 hours, particularly if you've got no rust to deal with.

You could rent an ozone generator, run it all night and it will not smell any more.

Ended up being a bad replacement CTS - installed another and good to go. Just in case anyone ever needs to check the gauge, which is unlikely... Instrument cluster dash pins for temp gauge are on the furthest connector to the passengers side - long 13 pin connector. Pins 9 and 10 counting from the center-side of the cluster towards the passengers side - are for the temp guage. Put 12 volts on any of the "+" sign bolts on the back of the connector and ground pin 9 and the gauge will jump. If you do it too quick though the needle will go WAY high and then catch on the gauge face. LOL Just pop the plastic cover/face off and move it back down with your fingers - it just snaps in place real simple. That pin 9 is also the pin you check continuity on between it and the CTS connector itself.

More info for future readers. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/135011-goofy-temp-gauge/

95 EJ22 legacy, dash engine temp gauge never moves. Installed another single wire CTS - no change. Continuity from sensor connector to engine wiring harness is good. I grounded the single wire connector to the battery post - no change. the new (used) sensor could be bad - can I test those? I'm trying to find the long 12 x 2 black I1 or B36 connector to check continuity from engine to wherever that is - under dash probably.

For ultimate reliability - if you can do the work yourself: 1. buy a car with a blown engine - buy a JDM or another engine with original headgaskets - which suggests it was never overheated and replace them yourself...or run them as-is. 2. buy a car with a blown engine and install a CCR engine with 36,000 mile 36 month warranty - although most places don't honor warranty unless it's installed by a shop or ASE certified mechanic. It's nice to get into an engine that hasn't been overheated. I just did this myself on an H6 - but that's a little easier since the timing chain is 34 miles of sealant - it's nearly impossible for that to look OEM once removed and reinstalled. I'm a big proponent of buying from private sale/owners. use your eyes and ears to discern a good seller and good car. a doctor who is moving, two retired professors tired of driving a stick in the city, a guy in over his head shocked by air bag costs, a local business owner with multiple cars for his family who doesn't want to deal with it, meeting a young professional at a home with their kids, a local university worker just wanting to get rid of a car after his wife bought a new car, a highly accomplished engineer who bought a new car, a well regarded research scientist...all folks I've bought from, and many more. they're busy professionals with families, nice homes, and couldn't care less about a car, not the type of people who like to even suggest a hint of indiscretion. they're just ready to move on - and all but one were cheap vehicles. but - the for sale by owner one isn't a nice one - lower end, not outback, not lifted...so probably low on your list. 05+'s have a few very minor issues - LCA's, cat converter recalls (05's), wheel bearings, etc, and would still be due for a thorough timing belt gig. so the 05+'s don't gain you much except newer styling and easier resale in the future (at least around here where rust dates stuff terrible fast). some 00-01's have rear subframe rust issues, but that's unlikely an issue out there unless the car moved?

I've done compression calc's for Ej22's and EJ25's - and 92mm sounds low....i'm used to like 96 and 99 numbers for bore....but that's a vague memory.

Impreza's did have 92mm bore in the EJ18 engines? Impreza's get EJ18 and EJ22 engines - what year FSM are you looking at, maybe that's the distinction?

Good call avoiding someone not answering questions or having an attitude. A baja isn't overall practical anyway. I'd rather have interior space for gear. When I travel west for Elk Hunting and lots of equipment, it's trailer time. OEM installed headgaskets leak externally, once repaired they can then also leak externally. Any headgaskets - check for external leaks at the bottom head to block mating surface. Repalced gaskets - run the car awhile and frequently check the overflow tank for bubbling while idling, after driving, when car is hot. Any bubbles = likely headgasket issue. I'm the weirdo here but auto's can lock the 4WD on demand, can't do that with MT's, AT's are easier to tow with. With clutches, input shaft bearing failures, and synchro issues, and a more expensive/problematic VLSD faliures and replacement, manual advantages are waning.

howdy, I'm in Canton regularly, was just there last weekend. +1 replace viscous center diff. trans doesn't have to come out to do it so, while it's not cheap, it's not an eye sore of a price tag. or if it's completely failed (torque bind all the time) - you can convert the car to FWD or RWD for a free fix if you do the work yourself. LOL

FSM's are available free all over the internet and have good diagrams/procedures as a starting point. Opposedforces website also has some exploded views that help. Sometimes even ebay - the dealers put the exploded view on there and it may help determine if it's simply right under the pan or not. I did an H6 trans and the solenoids were all easily accessible right under the pan.

The H6 engines are crazy too - same thing. I do valve cover gaskets and plugs at the same time and they're easy. That extra inch or two helps a lot. So if you have a 10mm ratcheting wrench for that rear most valve cover bolt and you can remove the valve cover itself for an easy job. And replace the gasket if you have one handy.

If you think there's a chance that the brake button/solenoid/switch was the culprit before - then maybe that switch has finally failed? What's the thing called so he can google it for symptoms, diagnosis, and work arounds? Battery voltage is good? Other possibilities - the first two here are extremely common, I have no idea how many times i've seen these: 1. Battery terminals dirty 2. Battery terminals loose 3. Starter cable is corroded internally - I've cut the sheathing back and found incredible amounts of corrosion running all up the cable even when nothing was visible externally - on vehicles where there was previous build up around the terminals - left too long I guess it also gets up into the cabling? Subaru starter failure is rare but I'm sure it can happen.

great, they really pulled through for you then?

any indication if that's a replacement or Subaru rotor? i've seen countless seized calipers, some had to be torched apart, not reusable, and rotors grooved and calipers that disintegrated the pads such that they just felll out in pieces and nothing was left....and never a rotor separation like that.

what the crack smoker? the inner part of the rotor separated from the outer? i've never seen that before or it's an optical illusion? that's crazy...i keep relooking at that photo. i throw the bushings away - they're pointless and cause failures/issues. they're not needed. you can drive with grooved/torn up rotors all day long - causes no issues at all and mechanically they should perform better - more surface area = larger effective rotor surface = more heat dissipation. you now have performance rotors people buy on ebay. your pads will just last 45,000 miles instead of 49,000 miles. in the rust belt the pins will seize and just wear the pads out early again anyway so who cares?! LOL

work the pin out with a hammer, torch, or pliers - turning turning turning...etc etc...then starting pulling and banging it - it'll usually come out. clean it up really well. use Silglyde or it'll happen again. i've had the regular permatex and other typical brake greases seize again shortly afterwards. Silglyde is much better. probably an artifact of the abrasive winter road treatments we see in the east/midwest. if it has the slide pin busings like that era OB does - remove them and throw them away. They routinely swell and seize in the caliper bore. actually they often swell after being properly regreased - probably different compounds in the caliper grease reacting to the rubber. they aren't needed, solve nothing, and cause no issues being throw away so i've been doing that for years as "preventative maintenance", i severely dislike having a point of failure that is not necessary at all.

When jumping manufacturers - test drive a lot - the steering, braking, and go pedal can feel substantially different. Take note of steering, braking, and throttle effort and response. Do some hard take offs and braking and steering. The differences are neither good nor bad but they can be big differences and personal preference will dictate how you interpret them. I don't like super loose steering, bitey brakes, and immediately jumping off the line when touching the go pedal myself. IT does feel good, and reassuring like it's all right there when you need it - but I don't prefer it.

That's it? LOL cars101.com that should delineate forester and outback differences. if the person is prone to need more space - travel, pets, kids, work, hobbies, gear - i'd aim for the larger vehicle. For safety - weight and size is the most determinate factor so which one is bigger? Check online data for resale, gas mileage, safety ratings. Or call your insurance company for safety data. Test drive to determine comfortable, visibility, performance, those are wildly variable by individual. With the newness of this generation reliability is speculative. Statistically quantitative data that actually means something comes with time, otherwise it's just guess work and making assumptions based on incomplete data like most "car reports" you read on line. They're mildly accurate at best usually...maybe. I don't waste my time reading those reports compiled by people who probably don't have much experience or actually know much about vehicles, reliability, manufacturing, quality control, six sigma, lean.... Mechanical systems are close to 2010-2014 generation stuff, you can check those for comparison and scan that forum for any big discussion items. I haven't seen anything notable there, the oil consumption issue but I think that's resolved.