idosubaru

If it's a SOHC (99 or up forester) then more than likely the headgaskets were already replaced with low grade gaskets and/or head not resurfaced If it's a 1998 then it's DOHC and this is typical headgasket symptoms - very common, classic symptoms. This is not an external failure - it's internal. The exhaust gases are pushing past one of the lower fire rings into a lower coolant passage, coolant pushing into overflow, is typical internal headgasket failure. that it happens randomly is also typical of internal failures. they can go a year or more between repeat failures. i guess a brief overview woudl be to say the expansion exposes the gasket breech only at certain specific conditions (long hard drives for example). 98 forester has the DOHC phase I. 99+ has SOHC Phase II. SOHC's dont' generally fail internally unless the headgaskets have already been replaced. you can peak at the head/block interface and likely tell the gaskets have been replaced and are not MLS. so that's why i said at the beginning the heads have likely been removed before. repair: 1. use Subaru Turbo EJ25 (if 99 and up SOHC) head gaskets or Six Star 2. resurface the heads

*** What brand intake manifold gasket did you use last time? if you used aftermarket intake manifold gaskets last time then that could very well be the problem. SUbaru intake manifold gakets are thick and robust, aftermarkts are flimsy paper looking things and prone to leak coolant into the head. if you end up doing the head gaskets. 1. use a Subaru headgasket - or Fel Pro if you're desperate to avoid Subaru 2. resurface the heads - easily done yourself, find the thread on here about it 3. use Subaru intake manifold gaskets - the aftermarkets suck the exhaust studs are 12mm x 1.25 pitch threads. there are two easy methods to repair that don't require machine shops: you can tap them for a larger size standard thread with easily sourced bolt - no drilling required - lots of threads about that on here too. if you have a drill just helicoil or timesert them. if you can find orginal SUbaru exhaust nuts they are superior - or match their grade/material, i'm unsure what they are. someone from a non-rust state might mail you some.

I replied to you on subaruoutback, I suggested you post here in the parts wanted forum if you wanted an engine. these heads don't crack. headgasket job should cost $1,200 plus add ons for timing belt, etc. $2,600 is a lot. I'd do an EJ22 swap - you can easily install one of the most reliable engines Subaru ever made. buy a good one and run it 100,000 miles reliably and inexpensively. a used car is a used car. a 99+ Subaru is interference and would need a complete timing belt kit to be reliable and protected from significant engine damage. it's easy to get hosed buying a used car and it's also not that hard to get a decent deal on a used car - just depends on you and how well you buy used cars, know vehicles, know people, know the market. VW is up to you - what are you wanting this new car for? what your goals/expectations - which car meets those? google 04 Passat reliability and maintenance - what i look for is big ticket items/repairs/maintenance...for example.

google search shows lots of people reusing MLS headgaskets after a torque but no run. i wouldn't now but in college i would have probably given it a whirl.

i've replaced the head gaskets once tightened even if it's never been fired up. make your own move there. you can search, it's been asked before and probably tried before. though so few times that a search is going to be more fruitful than waiting for a reply probably.

i'd use the old bolts - do they look different? post a pic or compare to other online pics to OEM bolts in a google image search. most people don't replace the bolts so probably the originals. subaru heads always have high and low spots - even when they are never overheated, so don't sweat the heads being out somewhat. i've never measured, i've just resurfaced them and watched the high and low spots disappear as i go. the most common issue likely stemming from severe overheats is lower end bearing failure. i've seen lots of lower end bearing failures and no cam failures so i wouldn't worry about cams. they rarely do seize, but not sure what you could due to mitigate that besides just check the bearing surfaces or replace.

Friend has a bizarre randomly occuring issue on a 2002 H6. I'm likely going to replace the headgaskets for them for free this week, H6 fun, so wanted to check first. Another guy on another forum posted the same exact symptoms - VDC then overheat a few minutes later - but never followed through with what he did. Fans are working correctly. 1. VDC light comes on (temp gauge fine) 2. within a minute or 2 of that light coming on the temp gauge starts to go up 3. VDC light is never on otherwise - only when overheating. 4. VDC codes are 71 and 72 - steering sensor and yaw sensor. 5. overheating will go away sometimes when increasing speed and sometimes when exiting interstate and idling or driving around town. Other 2002 H6's with VDC i've seen overheat never had the VDC light come on....why the discrepancy?

1 Resurface heads 2 Subaru headgaskets dry (no sealant or form a gasket needed) (aftermarket headgaskets are known to be problematic, right around 10k i think others have experienced) 3 Reuse the headbolts. 4. no retorque on these I wouldn't use aftermarket head bolts myself - i know of two very quick repeat EJ25 headgasket failures where people used aftermarket head bolts. it probably *wasn't* the headbolts and that's may be an anecdotal two experiences...but...when the OEM headbolts are robust and have a nearly 100% success rate the compelling reason to deviate from what is a problematic headgasket is missing. more than likely cheap gaskets are the cause here. One very miniscule problem you have is an unknown, or maybe it's not? The heads were previously removed/repaired and the question remains - how badly was it overheated? I guess if the block wasn't too far out and the timing covers weren't melted then that suggests it wasn't too badly overheated. With enough overheating other bad things can happen but we are assuming that is an assumption being made here.

^ what he said up there. too much oil and may compromise gasket sealing. if you've only done the heads, i'd probably redo it with new gaskets myself just due to the shear time investment in this job. i'd rather know for certain it's once and done. but time is very valuable to me. if you didn't resurface the heads then take them out and definitely redo it and resurface them while it's out. they should always be resurfaced on these engines. if you've fully assembled it or installed then that's a conundrum. one fortunate prospect is that the fire ring is the issue on these and isn't it always the lower coolant passages below the cylinder on the lower portion of the head? I think it is always the lower half - and only a portion of it - like 90 degrees, not the full 180. The only oil that would compromise that area would be the headbolts above the cylinder bore and physically speaking none of them are above the fire ring if gravity was the only component and everything was square to the ground.. Though with such compressed tolerances I'd imagine the oil doesn't take a directly vertical passage south...it probably spreads and migrates through the path of least resistance as the head/block/gasket come together. So there's still chance of oil getting to that fire ring. Maybe it would just smoke off, no big deal, and that doens't mean it can't cause issues elsewhere, i'm just focusing on the typical symptom of that gasket/engine. You probably have a decent chance of being lucky but i'd rather know for sure for only 60 bucks and a little more effort. Too each his own, you'll know how much time you got to deal with it now or later.

not good for it, but 7 miles is rather light duty. if you had issues i'd expect them years from now, not any time soon. fluid change now and on schedule in the future sounds like a good idea. good thing you asked here, on other Subaru forums responses would include the trans blowing up next week and sending gear teeth into your abdomen.

yes tensioners can go bad and sound like rod knock. remove the covers and start the engine. the tensioner will be visibly bouncing around if it's bad enough to be "knocking". or stethoscope it first and see if it's in that general area. those tensioners are best replaced as maintenance, they fail often enough to warrant it for some people. 96 Ej25D's had HLA's right? so if the engine was ever swapped in it's life...fairly common for EJ25's...it could have a low but reasonble chance of having HLA's? if so - they can take awhile to shut up - how many miles since rebuild? that sound should be notably one side if it's just one though.

1. main fuse is blown 2. battery is dead 3. terminals are loose or corroded 4. battery cables

If it's only happening in one direction then yes it's probably the axle. Usually worse under load - like accelerating or up an incline while giving it gas...and turning. If it's happening both directions you may have torque bind. Nothing sounds immeidatley dangerous to keep driving it short term and plan your repair. I've been able to clean and regrease inner joints and have them work like new. One of my current daily drivers had busted inner boots and was vibrating like crazy, almost undrivable, had to stuff grease in the joints at gas stations...which promptly got thrown out, on way back from Colorado because the vibration was so bad. I cleaned, regreased, and rebooted and the axles have been fine since, that was a few years ago and I drove that car today. If you want to replace it - get a used Subaru axle and reboot it. Aftermarket axles suck. www.car-part.com

Thanks for checking but no, that's 05+ models. That's such a weird one.

should be fine to use her subframe. worst case scenario the struts are bent and lower arms - but those aren't a big deal to replace or reuse on yours. almost no way the subframe itself was damaged. that said - post a picture if you want a much more accurate assessment, without a pic it's impossible to say. "rear ended/totaled" doesn't tell us anything about the damage sustained.

thanks, i'll ignore that. be home tomorrow where i'll have electrical testing supplies and contacted someone about a computer.

Need a press or hub tamer and the hub tamer is a serious work out if doing it by hand - i use hub tamer and air tools. Serious forces to get the bearing and hub out/in, if you can deal with that it's not bad. The lower through bolt will likely PO the wrong person and cause World War III eventually - if rusted they're bad....but in Oregon you're not likely to have issues and that has to be removed either way. I think some hub tamers allow the bearing to be done on the vehicle, but i think that lower bolt has to come out either way. 1. replace the wheel bearing an alternate middle approach that doesn't cost much: 2. remove the knuckle assembly yourself take it to a shop and have them do the bearing pressing, then install it yourself 3. used unit

99 Forester and Impreza RS EJ25's and 2000-2004 EJ25's without valve stuffs are direct swaps. You're only swapping the long blocks, so it's easy, no electrical to deal with or worry about. Here is what you need to know to swap those engines into your 1999 EJ22: 1. EJ22's are single port exhaust, EJ25's are dual port exhaust. You need an EJ25 exhaust manifold if you want to use the EJ25 long block. If you bolt the EJ22 heads onto the EJ25 block then you can use your current EJ22 exhaust manifold. But with 300k and oil issues that might not be a good fit. EJ25 exhaust manifolds re easily found, I dont' even bother holding on them, i scrap them. But yards often won't sell them due to laws. Post in the parts wanted forum here if you can'jt get one locally. 2. Swap the drivers side EJ22 cam sprocket and crank sprocket. Alternately you can just count the trigger marks on the back - there are two different styles, just make sure they match. If you retain the original pulleys to the original vehicle, then no need to count or worry - it'll work every time. 3. Bolt EJ22 intake manifold onto the EJ25. (that does not work with older EJ22's but it does with 1999+). 4. EGR - if you or your state require EGR/emissions/no check engine light - then you'll need to match EGR. A. If yours has EGR you have two options: get one with EGR or get one without EGR and read up on the bypass thread in this forum to prevent the check engine light It is possible to install your EGR intake onto a non-EGR block and do a work around - the thread in this forum describes how to do that. B. If yours doesn't have EGR you can use an engine from either - you'll just have to block off the EGR in the head of the donor engine, very simple to do. ***If the VVT engines can be used, which I have heard others that said it can be done (though the valve stuffs wont' be used), it's the same swap as outlined above. The VVT engines and non-VVT engines are nearly identical minus the valve controller stuffs.

Will do. Oddly - when attempting to read code, clear code and see which one came back first, I noticed the AIRBAG light very lightly fluctuating when both pins were inserted (to presumably clear the codes). So faintly that sometimes you could only tell by looking from the side, yet looknig straight on that affect was indiscernible. I just wrote it off since it only did it with both pins plugged in...

Frequently changed synthetic oil only. Remove/clean/replace banjo bolt screens. Any turbo engine/vehicle is going to be more maintenance than non-turbo's. So it depends what you're after/coming from and your goals. If you're coming from inexpensive 200,000 mile reliability you have a chance of experience high dollar engine repairs you're not accustomed too. if that rattles you....then you're being risky by getting a turbo vehicle. if you're coming from an unreliable POS that brakes down all the time then a Subaru turbo is going to look like a great fit. Statistics: there are more parts - more hoses, more clamps, more actuators, more sensors, more places to leak. There's no way they can be "as" or "more" reliable than a comparable non-turbo engine. High stakes: turbo's generate lots of power and heat - that heat compromises oil, bearings, plastic, etc and results in high dollar failures.

is the check engine light on? tune up items - plugs, wires, air filter +1 what type of driving: 1. what kind of average speed? 2. stop and go/city driving? 3. how far are your average trips? check brake caliper slide pins.

possibility of mimmicking pretensioner noted. indeed, i meant testing body side continuity, with pretensioner unplugged!

ah ha - right 2002 H6, and good call, comparing sides wasn't crossing my mind. *I guess I need to access the computer and test continuity to that connector? *Or can I test continuity to ground via battery terminal/ground point? 2001...maybe 2000...was the first year of pre-tensioner seat belts for Subarus and I think until 04 only came in H6's.

Compare left and right, meaning what difference would I look for? You mean regarding electrical testing or the actual components?

does the fuel pump move any fuel or just not much? if it moves a little bit maybe you can just run the fuel pump for a few seconds (power it directly) through a hose disconnected and into a container?