idosubaru

There should be no shaking or odd noises from a lift. I've installed 2" lifts with no issue. Gloyale also builds or supplies his own lifts. Shawn from retroroo, Scott in WA, and others are also capable members on here. They're also busy - may have better luck contacting them personally via PM, email, or call/contact their shop.

follow the owners manual. oil type or brand doesn't matter at all. i think the owners manual is every 7,500, that's a long time and i don't go that long. but i drive used cars and the oil gets visually dirtier quicker - it may still perform fine, i've never had it tested. you can get an UOA done from blackstone and others if you're really worried about a precise interval.

i'd lean towards getting the paint done locally. if you mean a complete repaint - that would be 50% or more of a $5k - $8k budget. i'd get a paint quote so you know how much of the budget you want going to that verses mechanicals.

there are two 1.8 liter Subaru engines that are vastly different offered in the early 1990's. yours is the newer of the two - an EJ18 found in early 1990's imprezas. all EJ18's are essentially the same as far as I'm aware so ask specific questions as you have them.

if you can avoid the rare headgasket issue EZ30's run forever easily with little maintenance. the chain should never have to be touched, just ignore it. change front diff and AT fluids, valve cover gaskets are slightly annoying - time them with a spark plug change. spark plugs are easy with the covers off. the struts are surely tired by this age. the squeaking i sprobably the rear suspension. the arms/bolt/bushing that attaches the linkage to the subframe. if you don't get it - pass the information along, i'll buy it.

tensioner is part of the timing kit, so you can remove that from the list rear main seals never leak but you can certainly replace it. add to the list - valve cover gaskets, adjust the valves, Subaru Turbo EJ25 head gaskets, resurface the heads, tigthen rear oil pump backing plate screws and a Subaru OEM water pump gasket. Yes there's an oring for the oil pump. reseal the rear separator plate. some valve cover gasket sets come with the spark plug tube gaskets. OEM head gaskets for that year Ej25 leak externally so you could avoid the headgasket replacement until you see signs of external leakage. they start to just get wet and are years/10's of thousands of miles usually before they even start to drip - they get worse very slowly.

if the transmission has been disassembled and reassembled and we have some he-said-she-said going on - it's going to be very hard to diagnose over the internet. if a transmission hasn't had any 4WD issues for decades and then gets taken apart and won't go into 4WD - then yes - something was done wrong. the SIMPLE test is to simply move the lever on the passengesr side of the transmission by hand and see what happens. if nothing happens then you know something with that lever mechanism wasn't reinstealled properly. you can run indefinitely in 2WD without issue, it will not hurt the transmission.

no. cars101.com has quite a bit of Subaru information if any other questions crop up. 97 EJ22 - get a new timing kit on there and that's one stellar engine.

subaru has a website called opposed forces. it cross references the parts. look up a 99 OBS and see if forester cross references. also to expand parts search: www.car-part.com

Is the 4WD indicator lit on the dash? does it change when you hit the toggle button? as a last resort you can remove the rear half of the driveshaft so it operates in FWD and doesn't bind. until you figure the issue out.

did they remove and disassemble the transmission? what leak was fixed? (so we can get an idea of what was done to the transmission). if they pulled the transmission out then the vacuum lines to the diaphragm need checked - right guys? that they're hooked up properly?

describe precisely (or post pictures) where it's leaking. there are no "crush washers" associated with the oil pump - what do you mean? there is one case (pun) of a guy having a porous area of the block and it leaked through the metal of the engine block. i believe it was close to the oil pump. did you tighten the backing plate screws? not that these should cause a leak though.

6 x 1.00 bolt had a 10mm head right? 10mm bolt heads are 6x1.00 diameter threads. length is somewhat arbitrary - guess and have a few washers to take up space just in case. they're usually like 5 cents each so if you get a couple extras no big deal. don't you have the old bolt shanks to use as a gauge? if you have access - stick a tooth pick down the hole to see how deep it is. there are 10mm bolts all over your car - every bolt that's the same diameter will be the same thread pitch - remove a few of them and see if they'll work regarding length and use those as a gauge. a few of the hundreds of 10mm bolts, 6x1.00 thread bolts on the car: fender hold down various intake bolts radiator fan hold down bolts (if equipped) transmission and oil pan (don't remove those on a good engine!)

if it's knocking/rapping noise that is louder on cold starts and lessens in volume as the car warms, that's usually piston slap. ignore it. anything else probably shouldn't be ignored and is more ominous.

If you can't verify synthetic oil it's entire life - that increases risk significantly. Those engines dont' do well on conventional oil and that's a lot of miles for it to cause issues.

from my XT experience: take a picture or make a careful drawing before you do. on the XT's i remember it wasn't entirely clear/obvious how it goes back together. get good lighting and stand on your head in the drivers side footwell to see what's going on. lol it's simple, but can't see down there.

*** I wouldn't care if the timing belt was replaced. All the timing components need replaced anyway - a new belt is pointless at this age/mileage. A Gates kit on Amazon is $130 or so and comes with belt, tensioner, and 3 pulleys. Have one of those installed. That's non-turbo pricing. if it's a good deal - they usually don't last long - like only a couple days at most. it's winter and tax returns mean people walking around with big old eyes and fat gubmint tax returns making them drooling inside. it's easy selling and dealers know this. and you're in the PNW? a large price drop in the PNW, on a hot novelty item like the Baja, a turbo one, in winter, during tax return season - that has sketchy all over it. i'd be looking that thing over carefully. those turbo engines are enormously problematic - a small issue turns into $5,000+ in the blink of an eye. i'd carefully inspect for turbo/oil/engine issues. the turbo engines don't have head gasket issues so it's unlikely to be those - although the turbo's can make any part of the engine go kaboomy really quick so who knows.

Engine replace or not: I would think the cause of the oil loss would determine if you get another engine or not. If it's repairable - keep your current engine. If it's unknown or part of the short block/too expensive, get another engine. If it's valve stem seals - then simply replace the valve stem seals while the head is off. They have to be replaced if valves are bent/being replaced. If the block is loosing oil through the piston rings - then yes you'd want another engine probably unless you can find a place that will reasonably re-ring or otherwise fix your oil loss issue. $1,000 to freshen the block may be better than $1,000 for an unknown engine? If you don't know the cause of the oil loss - then you might want to consider a used engine. Fairtax mentioned it but: www.car-part.com Head gasket repair: It's a good idea to do this even if you get another motor. Although - if it's not currently leaking externally they are unlikely to leak. The OEM factory installed headgaskets leak externally almost every time. I would resurface the heads and block and no way I'd put JB weld up against a headgasket. That sounds like a terrible idea on an engine known to blow headgaskets, but I can't say I've ever tried. I have milled EJ heads below spec before without issue - actually your exact heads even. Use an Subaru OEM EJ25 Turbo head gasket. Or a Six Star if you don't want to give subaru any more money! Those are superior MLS headgaskets to the original one installed on your vehicle. Dealer/mechanic woes: Dealers and mechanics routinely replace the belt only. Not saying I recommend that or that's what I do, but it is common and not a required maintenance in the owners manual. To that extent I don't think they are culpable - just poor places to get timing belt jobs done. Dealers are the worst place to get a timing belt because they routinely do fewer parts than a well informed independent - and their parts are very costly if you do have them done or ask them to do them. They're timing kits are like $400+ dollars, the Gates kits are $120 - so a $300 premium for parts only.

yes that's the shop associated with Emily.

not careless - probably some risk, but a calculated risk. everything is a calculated risk, even if people don't see or view it that way. walking out your door is risky. driving a car is risky. driving in snow is risky. how risk averse are you? sounds rather benign and you could have gotten cited for "following to closely" or something along those lines for getting pushed into the other vehicle and not maintaining a safe distance. so sounds like a good calculated move on your part. nothing is 100% free of risk.

aftermarket thermostats sometimes cause issues. just look at them and they are notably cheaper looking than subarus. here's a comparison pic: http://subaruvanagon.com/tom/Cooling/Thermostats%204%20sm.jpg if the headgaskets failed again - it's because: 1. a cheap head gasket was used 2. the heads weren't resurfaced 3. the engine was catastrophically overheated when the original headgaskets failed When repairing EJ25 head gaskets - you must use a quality gasket and resurface the heads. studs are not the answer - following those important two steps are - and making sure you're starting with a block that wasn't severely beat and abused. of course check for leaks, fans not coming on, thermostat, and clogged radiator too, but that's all easy stuff.

i like the SUS, very nice. leather is awesome - my favorite feature is that you never have to ride in a wet seat again. yes that's an EJ25D DOHC. interference engine so best to get a complete timing belt kit on them at some point. Gates kits are only $130 or so on Amazon for belt, tensioner, and three pulleys. Can be done in an hour, more for a first timer. be mindful of the headgasket issues of that engine. they randomly overheat without warning or any other symptoms. once they do overheat there's essentially nothing you can do to 'limp' them around.

subaru starter issue is rare. likely the starter was never the issue to begin with. probably the battery posts, terminals, or cables. clean the posts then terminals and make sure they're tight. running a jumper cable with the positive clamp clamped right to the starter will prove it....but you have to get a good clamp and have good cables - they're drawing so many amps that a poor/dirty/weak clamp onto the starter won't help. he mentions it above - and like he said if your battery is good - you can run a jumper cable from the positive battery post to the starter positive terminal. the cables can have corrosion running all up inside the insulation and look fine externally.

cap and rotor are likely. i'd run the stock coil, there's no gains and sometimes problems with aftermarket coils. but that wouldn't cause no spark at just one cylinder.

swap the front axles left to right and see if it still does the same thing? i'd get used Subaru OEM axles. non-Subaru axles suck terribly. a couple years ago, i installed a new set of axles on my lifted XT6 only because they came with a car I bought - noisey junk axle(s). they have no noise on non-lifted XT6 though.