idosubaru

loosen fuel rail and pop them in and out, pretty easy really. they rarely have issues/fail so i doubt you'll see a statistically meaningful sample size on various options. witchhunter and RC Engineering can pre and post test and rebuild injectors (the former being the cheaper) used is a good option with how rarely they have issues. unsure about aftermarket, given how easy they are to swap and if there's a compelling reason i'd probably try them.

looking into getting a press for Subaru wheel bearings, timing bearings, and bushings. Will the HF 12 ton variety work fine for that? http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-a-frame-industrial-heavy-duty-floor-shop-press-1667.html

they can generally take 2" of lift easily. use the tire size calculator, the miata one you'll find with a google search for instance and compare that tire size to the 205/55/16 tires routinely run on WRX rims and other tire sizes you see people running on 95-2001 impreza's.

so you did lower end bearings and all that jazz - were there issues or mileage that prompted that? that's good your HLA's all moved and you took note. the noisy HLA's that i've seen were entirely seized, I couldn't compress them even with a C Clamp and they were previously overheated/driven with oil/coolant mixing. i don't think there's a way to check the front shaft seal. i've had a 100% sucess rate fixing TOD by replacing pumps, i've even sent pumps to people struggling with TOD and not being able to figure it out....and it worked. i don't know why and it doesn't make sense sometimes, but it works. i wish i knew why one pump was problematic and another wasn't. but none of these engines were disassembled and rebuilt, so who knows on yours, i think that opens up higher probability of other causes.

cars101.com will tell which vehicles get the EJ25 (timing belt) or FB engines (timing chain). it was around 2011 the legacy/outback went to FB engine and timing belts. Unsure when impreza/forester did but as i said cars101.com is a great resources for all of that.

the P0420 code is a debacle. there's no good way to diagnose it - technically speaking you should do a thorough analysis - but no one really does this unfortunately, cardoc is the rare person who can thoroughly diagnosis it, but this would be ideal to find someone who can do this: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/49537-p0420-diagnosis.html If an underlying issue caused the converter to fail then it's going to cause the new converter to fail, because converters generally can, and are designed too, last the life of the vehicle. Like this: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/24353-catalytic-converter.html generally converters are a process of elimination - address other things first and end up there as a last resort. what I would do: 1. repair any exhaust leaks 2. what's your gas mileage - the car should be running well/tuned up - bad gas mileage indicates a performance issue maybe eroding the converter efficacy over time 3. replace O2 sensors first - fronts then rears I plan on owning a car 250,000 miles or more and don't expect the O2 sensors to perform 100% for that long - so I generally preemptively replace them around 150k or so anyway so i can get another 100,000 miles out of them. rather than limp along slow and lazy sensors or wait for issues or replace them when i'm unlikely to own the car much longer. that's my excuse in my head for replacing O2 sensors that makes me feel better abuot it anyway. gonna have to do it sometime - might as well do it all now.

1. replacing the oil pump has solved TOD multiple times for people. i have no idea why and i've never seen the oil pumps be "bad" or have any notable issues - but replacing them fixes TOD often. 2. were any of the HLA's stuck or problematic or did you check them? 3. is the noise located to one area or multiple? if it's just one area then it could just be one bad HLA i'd try another oil pump.

install another head, new headgasket, timing kit, and drive it another few years. you can also bolt EJ22 heads, intake manifold to it - plug and play and maybe cheaper/easier to find.

sure, go for it. i bolted an EJ22 intake onto EJ18 heads, same bolt pattern, opposite components.

good point. my EJ18 swapped EJ25 legacy sedan is weak sauce in the mountains. it can't keep interstate speeds up steep grades with 16" stock Subaru sized tires and a full car load of people.

"never lasts very long" - what happens to them?

look up the power numbers, entirely personal preference. if you're uber-practical and just want the car to go from A to B then you won't care. if you like to have a lot of weight in the car, drive like a demon on the twisties, have lots of mountains to encounter, like that STOMP it feeling when merging on the interstate - you might not like the lower power. where do you lie in that spectrum?

this thread is 6 years old. crush washers don't matter - i routinely put hundreds of thousands of miles without ever replacing crush washers and they never leak. i'll replace one when i see one start dripping.

The near-zero reading can be normal - i think the owners manual or Subaru TSB even references that it's normal. EA/ER ticking: 1. reseal the oil pump 2. replace the oil pump 3. investigate more invasive causes http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/136547-ea82-er27-ticking-tod-hydraulic-valve-lash-hla-noise-diagnose-and-repair/

$500 plus or minus $200. more likely on the higher end in the DC area. all timing components should be replaced, not just the belt. Gates kits on Amazon are like $120 for everything. pulleys and tensioner. those are just as likely, if not more, to fail as the belt itself.

just install hose, check ATF level, and drive. make sure the hose isn't mobile enough to touch something it shouldn't - fan, engine belt, etc.

that's good advice. most peopele wanting funding i've worked with just want money to do their thing (like an 8 year old). they hardly think of it as a team effort hoping others will benefit and there's greater horizons available - guess who usually goes nowhere?

the head is stripped or the threads are stripped? if the bolt heads are stripped, us rust prone northeasters deal with this stuff like all the time: 1. use 6 point sockets - 12 points round stuff off 2. use a metric or standard size socket that's a hair size smaller and WAIL it onto the bolt with a hammer - then remove them. 3. use a chisel: a. knock a "V" shape into the edge of the bolt head oriented such that step B is aided b. knock the side of the V that will "unloosen" the bolt with a chisel 4. grind, cut, drill the head off, remove carb, then deal with the studs 5. weld a nut to the top of the bolt heads and then use a 6 point socket on the nut

what he said - where is the crunch coming from? parrticularly on cars that sat awhile - i've seen a few top strut mount bearings being rusty - check them, some you can pop a cap and look at them visually. there's some kind of spray grease - you spray it as a liquid and then it coagulates into grease or something like that....others have recommended it, i've never used it. or just use a needle attachment ($2) to your grease gun and squirt some down there before, eventually it'll wiggle down in there some, i've done that before. then compact it with some suitable object to force it in the bearings. again - if those bearings have access. it could be the steering rack ujoint as well - doe sit look rusty/corroded? subaru racks rarely have internal issues.

i'm not suggesting use this link but for instance i found this in about 15 seconds on google: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Legacy%20Outback/2011/ easy stuff like where to get an FSM and cylinder locations can be found on google in seconds. a little proficiency there will improve your diagnosis/mechanical abilities orders of magnitudes.

Cylinder lay out: Back of car 56 34 12 Front of car Those H6 plugs generally are robust and last a long time with little wear, it would be odd for it to be them. I'd pull the most egregious plug and check it for oil - if the spark plug tube seal leaks it can get oil down in the spark plug well and cause misfires. And yes - install new plugs, an easy first step. The service manuals are often found online for free, i've got dozens of them, none as new as yours but i haven't looked for any that new. the H6 engines are largely the same, i would guess any 3.6 manual is going to help you tremendously unless maybe you're getting into wiring diagrams - but procedurally they're very similar. plugs, maintenance, the engines are probably swappable to the first EZ36 ever made...etc. code readers - i like the cheap ebay ones so i can use, abuse, throw it around the garage, and let people borrow it and not care about it. you can buy bluetooth adapters that are sweet you can get laptop cables that plug into OBDII ports and use FREESSM and/or ROMRAIDER for excellent diagnosis...and it's all free minus a cheap cable or buy an expensive scanner or get the Subaru scanners for $5,000 whatever floats your boat and works best for you.

timing belt seems unlikey, i would think you'd have other issues but the cam and crank sensors do share the timing belt to keep them in time. that said - i have a previous thread from earlier this year about a 1999 2.2 liter with a bizarre cam sensor issue i couldn't ever track down. i still don't know exactly what the deal was with that engine. that engine ended up blowing up and i installed a new engine for him, that took care of the problem. lol you might want to see that thread and see if anyone makes any suggestions there. and i'll just own up and say i've done this before - you're absolutely positive that when you remove the cam and crank sensor you actually installed the new one and didn't accidentally install the same one back in place?

an EJ timing belt can be installed in 45 minutes, rip the covers off if you have too in the rust belt. the timing covers, accesory belt and crank pulley don't even need reinstalled to start the engine. hang the belt in 20 minutes and start it. now that's a good idea. someone on here woudl probably have an old belt they'd send you for $5 if needed. i have one...though i'm traveling through like 8 states in the next week starting tomorrow...

welcome aboard, this forum is probably one of the most technically astute and practical boards I've seen. if you're into that kind of stuff you'll like it here. i'll be in atlanta next week, looking forward to that!

1. All manufacturers have different feel brakes. I can't stand american cars and that instant biting feeling - the second you tough the brakes you get whiplash, that's terrible, no feel at all. I'd rather go easy if I want and then slam them if i need too. But i can understand someone liking that bitey feeeling, they certainly give you confidence that thign will throw you through the windshield if you sneeze too hard. Things that may help firm them up: Change the fluid Clean and regrease the caliper slide pins A master cylinder brace if you want a performance part to stiffen them up. 2. that's call piston slap, common and benign. nothing you can do about it but it won't cause any problems. make sure it's not the timing belt tensioner slapping - but sounds like it's probably not. 3. 2.2 has no headgasket issues. don't overheat it and they should last hte life of the vehicle. 4. what he said - a complete timing belt kit needs installed. Gates kits on Amazon are only like $120 for everything. it's not hard to do yourself at all if you're comfortable trying. 3 hours or less for just the belt components and no special tools.