idosubaru

1. Timing belt job: timing belt, timing tensioner, and pulleys. Gates kits are only $125 on Amazon. 2. Ideally you also reseal the oil pump (oring, seal, and tighten backing plate screws), replace cam seals, and water pump and use a Subaru OEM water pump gasket. But water pumps rarely fail on these and if all the seals are dry it's not a big deal to skip it. But you are asking all of those components to go to 220,000 miles for the next timing change which is quite a bit. Definitely do #1, #2 is preference/opinion. Change the transmission fluid. The engine oil has been changed roughly 2 dozen times and the transmission....never??!?! that's funny. Technically you need a used oil analysis to determine how far you can go on oil changes - it's just guess work otherwise. No way to know prior history, maintenance, or internal condition of the engine. The better condition it is and if it gets impeccable gas mileage then extended oil changes are probably fine - the manual calls for 7,500 i think so even 5k or 6k is less than the manual. I find 7,500 a lot personally for higher mileage vehicles.

but you don't want two mismatched tires on the rear if it's a VLSD rear diff, which i don't think a 1997 would have.

you can run two new tires. tire places around here routinely run one new tire up front and one new tire in the back - they put the two new ones on opposite sides for some reason. depending on the situation i wouldn't worry much to run one new tire and rotate the other 3 more frequently on my own personal daily driver. eventually those 3 are going to wear down quicker. you can also have one new tire shaved down to match.

yes 3 feet is plenty - the pipe i routinely use on my socket is 2 or 2.5 feet. i've never had one back off and never use a torque wrench on those.

can you post a link to a thread where someone says they have torque bind issues after using the FWD fuse?

belt and tensioner can be done in an hour. not hard at all. crank pulley bolt is massive and needs to be TIGHT and tricky to remove for first timers. other than that it's easy.

generally it's better to tell us exactly what is happening - what symptoms do you have - what lead to inspecting the tone ring to begin with, etc. tell us what year/model you're talking about. if the tone ring is mounted to the CV then I suspect this is 2000+ something? someone working on it in the past may have damaged it. a bad wheel bearing can damage the former hub fixed tone rings.

get the codes. flashing means multiple cylinder misfire so some of the check engine lights are probably cylinder misfires, which are often caused by: 1. oil in the spark plug wells - replace valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals 2. plugs are old 3. coil packs failing

General Disorder owns a shop in Portland and would likely sell you the gaskets and maybe do the head resurfacing for you. don't know the name of his shop but he and one employee are members here and know these engines well.

an outback XT - as in the turbo model? that sucks. that's bad. 1. resurface the heads 2. use the original Subaru turbo EJ25 headgaskets.

aftermarket axles suck - new, used, lifetime warranty, etc are all but meaningless marketing jargon. aftermarket axles have high rates of failures. that said - if the symptom did not change at all after swapping axles then it's likely not the axle causing it. if you swapped it and you went from a clicking to a vibration...i'd say you got another bad axle, but to have identical symptoms would be odd. axles are the same left to right so you can also swap axle left to right and see if the symptom/issue moves with it. but it sounds like your mechanic knows what he's doing and swapping only to have the same symptoms suggests (though doesn't verify) the axles are not the issue. yes a 98 4.11 will install into yours. i think some 98's are 8 bolt bell housing instead of 4 like yours - not an issue as they'll still bolt up but something to be aware of during install.

there's is no "how long". mileage varies. generally speaking if done right you shouldnt' have to worry about it again. i wouldnt' call them "bullet proof" but here is what i think you're after - repeat failures are low percentage. start with a KNOWN GOOD BLOCK and do the job right and you shouldnt' have to worry about it again. EJ25's...I'm not sure of their ability to routinely go 150,000 miles without issues, i'd be suspect of them but don't have a large enough experience base to really comment, though i've never personally seen a repeat failure. CCR - are you still out there emily...shawn...i wonder if EJ25D's have more long term issues than later EJ25's? are you starting with an impeccable block that's never been overheated and was well maintained....most people can't verify that on a car/engine driven previously by someone else. depends on the job. cheap ebay gaskets and no resurface on an EJ25D - that will fail for sure, mileage will vary. resurface the heads and the block, use EJ25 turbo gasket or Six Star on an EJ251 - and you'll never have to do them again. 1. resurface the heads 2. use 610 Subaru gasket on EJ25D and Subaru EJ25 turbo or Six Star on later EJ25's should be good to go. the EJ25D is the most likely of the various Ej25's to have repeat failures.

yes, just cut and install, it's fairly simple system really. as to the ABS light - just read the code - ground the appropriate pin in the connector under the dash and the ABS light will flash the code to you right there on the dash. takes 3 minutes once you find that connector. google shows the pins - i think it's one of the lower corner pins ("lower" if yo'ure looking at it the same way as i am, LOL). but yes there's a sensor at each wheel. if they're rusted i wouldnt' want to be messing with them until you can get that code, save some effort. but yes i've had them covered with debris and cleaned it off once, relieving the code. if you live in the rust belt ABS sensor bolts can shear off easily. spray some penetrating oil and get a torch, chisel it....those whimpy things will still break off unless you're lucky. just stuff it back on with sealant - it's going to shortly rust back into place anyway. i've drilled small holes in the old sheared off bolt and tapped them with really tiny threads/bolts before. it's not very structural - just needs to sit there, not going anywhere once it's snugged up. as said - it's going to rust in place again.

wow, nice job cranking that out.

good job indeed, first time, nice hit!

generally best to use SUbaru axles - but it would be really odd to install multiple axles without a chance in symptoms so if you already have that's probably not the issue. for used Subaru axles (green inner cups): www.car-part.com buy an OEM used Subaru axle and reboot it - they'll last 100,000 miles and 10 years every time, aftermarkets no way.

Yep - happens all the time. What he said - i use a 2.5 foot pipe over my ratchet and get it nearly as tight as I can. Steel crank and bolt with enormous threads you're not going to strip it unless you go above and beyond the call of duty. New bolt would be pointless. If you have a manual trans those are particularly tricky since there's a lot of give in the drive train and it's harder to "lock" it in place than the auto's via the flexplate hole.

aftermarket axles have gobs of issues. given i'm not even a mechanic and i've seen countless issues i don't know how these mechanics waste all this time on aftermarket axles. weird. sounds like you replaced them quite a few times and he tried to make sure those aren't the issue though. does the car have torque bind? if it's just torque bind then it can be repaired much simpler/cheaper via the rear extension housing Duty C solenoid and/or clutch pack. any 1995-1998 transmission (and 99 OBW/Legacy i think) will work if the gear ratio matches. if you swap the rear diff to match you can use any gear ratio. if the noise is just a bearing you could try and replace the front diff bearings only if you're up for disassembling a front differential.

there's a very detailed 2WD to 4WD thread on subaruxt.com from mr.radon, including info on those carrier bearing bolt holes.

Could the mechanic that fixed your exhaust do the headgaskets? We colud give him the pertainent information. The key to that engine is: 1. resurface the heads 2. use the Subaru Turbo EJ25 headgasket i think the part number ends with 642, (crawlerdan and others are having good luck with Fel Pro), Six Star is a good option too. Do not vary from that if you want good 100,000 mile success. That's always true for EJ25's and particularly true if you've been driving it with issues for a while - needing a cap and all. CNY_Dave he's from up that way....he might have a suggestion

here are some part numbers: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/52939-want-legacy-headlight-washers/

yes - i would attempt to swap wiring harnesses - that can be done on 1995+ vehicles in the US. you're dealing with something else though so i'm uncertain how much is the same. another option would be to just find an actual EJ22 intake manifold from 1995 - 1998 (or whatever years in your market are the same as 1995-1998 US market EJ22's). that manifold would bolt to your current EJ22 and plug and play into the EJ25 harness on the vehicle...or that's how it would work here again i sholuld say. you can check the plugs/pin outs before purchasing. don't the down under guys complain all the time about safety inspections and engineering certifications and how hard it is to swap or modify vehicles there?

same kit - only the tensioner *might* be different. in my experience 1997's are always the new style, though i've heard folks say sometimes they are old style...and who knows, often people say 97 and it's really a 96 or 98... so - if it's the same, swap away. if it's different - you can use the old style tensioner if you swap the bracket it bolts too - it's only like 3 12mm bolts and very easy. remove pulley and tensioner and bam - you 'll see the bracket sitting there. swap that bracket. if it is a new style though you might want a new tensioner - the old tensioners are more reliable but at 2 decades and a quarter million miles i don't know that i'd want it on an interference engine? the old style kits only come with the pulley - not the actual tensioning mechanism. when you buy the new style kits the tensioner is brand new - the pulley and hydraulic tensioning unit. they're like $120 on amazon for a gates kit

Ya, good job walking. probably had heagaskets - they do what you're describing. and for all the thermostat suggestions i rarely see failed thermostats - i see far more bad headgaskets - even in H6's. i've seen 4 H6's with bad headgaskets...none with bad thermostats yet. again - i'm sure it happens but i'd be cautious assuming something simple.

I've got a Subaru with headlight washers, all XT6's had them. Get one of those systems, minus the pump - the XT6 pumps are like $200 - $300 and hard to find. The pumps are high pressure and quite a bit different from the regular windshield washer pumps. If you replaced the bumper in an XT6, a new bumper doesn't have the holes, you add them after the fact.