idosubaru

if the cam marks are lined up properly - and that's the same crank picture as when the cam marks are noted - then it's wrong. can you post a picture of the cams too and everything in one shot? i'm very hesitant to recommend changing the timing belt on a perfectly running engine, that doesn't make any sense. how badly did the water pump fail? is the water pump pulley compromised, thereby throwing off the timing artificially, like when bearings go out and the outer pulley isn't properly centered anymore. normally with this question, someone is simply looking at the wrong marks. that belt has more cracks and grooves than the moon, looks like it brushed up against the exxon valdez, it was used to paint white trim in a house, and the belt is improperly installed or noted. we need an auto-sherlock holmes section of the website. i'd be replacing that belt while you got it apart or looking for a good used one, i've got some lying around. ebay or Gates amazon kits are like $80 for all new pulleys and the belt - good for another reliable 60k.

since this issue is so rare and very difficult to DIY - here's another person with the same issue: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/146646-98-outback-front-differential-retainer-didnt-mark-before-removal/

follow up after one year. after a few thousand miles it started groaning, then got louder. made it about 10,000 miles before it got demoted to me driving it (instead of my wife). i drove it about a month before the transmission locked up in the driveway - how convenient, i didn't have to get the truck and trailer! it's on the floor of my garage and i've got a replacement trans i'm cobbling together to repair it. hopefully back and driving soon. replacing all the H6 timing guides, tensioners, water pump while it's all apart too.

you don't need to remove the transmission. one year ago this month i was in the same place as you. when replacing that seal, i marked and counted. then installed the wrong seal (they are directional, one for each side with arrows on them?) and in the process of recognizing that, removing and reinstalling the correct seal...i forgot the number of turns. i think it was 7? maybe it was 6? 8? as an engineering student i never forgot numbers, now i forget numbers all the time. lol drove it about 10,000 miles before it had noise, got worse, then had issue for a couple weeks, it got demoted to me driving it instead of my wife, then it locked up in my driveway. i now have two transmissions on the floor repairing the damage. if i had it to do over again i would at least call some local transmission/rebuild shops and see what they charge to slap some dial gauges on there and do it right - or get dial gauges and do it yourself. the FSM has the proper procedure in it. i tried to contact a Subaru guy from a forum that does trans/front diff stuff but he never got back to me, should have contacted a few others. they can do it on the vehicle with not much really in the way of labor except set up, so to that end it shouldn't be that costly. Subaru probably just replaces the diff but they'd be worth a call, they have the resources to do it right at least and the proper technical avenues. front ring and pinions sets are $700 from Subaru minimum, plus more if you replace the seal tube, bearings, seals while you're in there. and the labor is 3 times worse than the cost. here's my thread from last year, maybe with some helpful information: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/138286-front-diff-seal-retaining-ring-lost-count-of-turnswhat-sounds-right/?hl=%2Bfront+%2Bdiff

Check simple things first: 1. replace the radiator cap - i'd want a new Subaru cap on there anyway, so replace it now. I think a failed gasket at the base can also cause pressure/bubbling/fluid movement issues. 2. make sure there are no coolant leaks. 3. may simply be loosing coolant slowly over time and the level isn't staying within range in the overflow tank? I have seen EJ25's with bad headgaskets fail the hydrocarbon test, though it should fail it and it should fail it if it's been doing it for a few months. If it ends up being the headgasket, you can almost bet your bank account you bought it with bad headgaskets, since EJ22's never fail unless they've been overheated. Wouldn't surprise me if the overheating prompted the water pump/timing belt job before you bought it.

none of that sound necessarily catastrophic. fixing the EA82 might be as simple as a tune up, engine mount for the shaking, and slapping timing belts due to a loose tensioner. cheap and not much work sounds a lot better than swap most of the time.

are you buying actual subaru parts or aftermarket with cross referenced part numbers? aftermarkets will "fit" and "work" but may not look the same. that is just the glass only, not the complete housing/assembly. usually easiest to get a color-matched mirror on www.car-part.com, and it's usually cheaper too.

***How positive are you the problem wasn't existing before you worked on it? Could they have been non-operational before hand and you simply didn't notice until you did the work/became more perceptive? if the hazard lights share anything with the clock wiring - maybe the rear blinkers/assemblies/brake lights were affected? fuses, switch, and the wiring in the hatch are usually the culprit. but obviously if you worked on it and they quit working immediately aftewards - the work had to be the cause.

swap fuel injectors and see if the misfire moves with the injector. valves are easily adjusted on this engine. 0.010 exhaust and 0.008 intake. the plugs and wires can be suspect, but i think you swapped those around already? these engines ***will*** produce misfires with non-OEM plugs, best to use NGK stock plugs, and with brand new wires. I've seen Subaru..including that exact same engine in a 1997 Impreza OBS have misfires with brand new plug wires. They were brand new, no issues, these EJ engines tend to be less forgiving than older Subaru engines in terms of plugs and wires. I'm not saying it is the plugs or wires, but don't disregard that concept too quickly on such an unforgiving engine.

Doesn't matter. The ***pulleys*** need replaced, not the belts. timing components - the three pulleys are the most important part: http://www.ebay.com/itm/86-94-Subaru-1-8-GL-DL-Loyale-Master-Timing-Belt-Kit-/370597039599?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item56494e0def they are prone to failure due to age and lack of grease. the bearings overheat, compromise the belt (or just break it), and they can simpy fail too, bearings coming to pieces, throw a timing belt, etc. it doesn't really matter that the belt is new, the pulleys are old. there's lots of failure threads like this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/102811-timing-belt-busted-99-outback/ an EA82 belt with all it's teeth ripped off due to a seized timing belt: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/64738-1990-loyale-timing-belt-broke-low-on-oil/ i don't consider any older subaru reliable until those pulleys are replaced.

i was just guessing on price, i was probably off and CA is higher no doubt. for me, zero work & 100% success is worth the meager price difference between that and $10+ in chemicals, rags, etc.

i just replaced a gas filler tube. wasn't that bad. the trickiest part someone just mentioned is the tube doesn't want to come out of the rubber hose. and "pushing" on the hose means simply pushing the hose back into the vehicle cavity rather than off the neck. i had a friend hold the neck while i broke the seal of the hose, that helped.

that's what i would do, monitor oil and you're golden. they never fail catastrophically - like bleeding profusely. when they get really bad - you'll know it as the oil hits the exhaust and burns off, you'll have james bond smoke screen action. on that engine, it takes a few years to get that bad though.

1. if the fluid is 20 years old you'd be surprised what changing it might do. 2. used every time on these. looks like you already got an offer on the table in the first post. a few reasons to avoid new: a. expensive b. they don't fail very often, so used is a great option c. new aftermarkets aren't as robust as the original Subaru units so in some ways a used one and a new one may not be that far off in reliability.

i'd want it reliable first - the timing belt components definitely need replaced - all the pulleys. kits on ebay are only $60-$100 and provide everything. the pulleys are all and devoid of grease by now. road noise - it's not simply the snow tires is it? snow tires are loud. a rear LSD is a nice upgrade. it'll need assembled and built - have the mechanic do it or buy one ready to go.

I wouldn't worry about putting it off a year or so. I'd put it off and source the parts for a proper head gasket and timing component job in the future. As I mentioned earlier - this particular year/engine gets worse over 10's of thousands of miles. It's probably only loosing a few teaspoons per oil change, barely seeping out. That being said - repaired heads tend to vary a little bit more in failure modes, so having been replaced before it may exhibit different symptoms. But so far it's looking like a normally installed original headgasket. The dealers unfortunately don't resurface the heads, which is good enough for their 1 year/12,000 mile warranty, but otherwise poor practice.

yep - as i said, they get worse very, very slowly and can be ignored for a long time. do exactly what you're doing, just monitor how much it's loosing and they can go many years/miles. the later ones 05+ can get worse much quicker.

*** disclaimer - don't do this because you'll die, but here's what I do with smoke smells: get an Ozone generator. there is no other method that comes remotely close to actually removing smoke odors like that. everything else just covers it up and doesn't work. the Ozone generator removes it from everywhere since it's a gas. tool and heavy equipment rental places have them as well as hotels. i always rent them from a tool place. $20 or something. 1. I expose everything- carpeting, glove box open, open cigarette tray, rear compartment, have carpeting under mats exposed by removing or propping up mats 2. place generator inside vehicle and run it for a few hours - i've left them run overnight before. 3. Afterward, the car i presume is filled with high levels/toxic gas and is terribly deadly...so i unplug/turn it off, open doors, let it air out then marvel in the absence of any organic smells or smoke.

woah - pushing out of the canister?! that is terrible. PCV location on an EA82: http://home.comcast.net/~lawsonmh15/Top-Hoses.jpg the seal that got pushed out - was that a Subaru seal or aftermarket? i've had aftermarkets not be properly sized and leak on EA engines. i'd use Subaru or very carefully make sure it's seating properly/measure anything else. this sounds like way too much pressure though. if you can get those pressures down you might want to peak at the cam/crank seals.

good job getting it done even though it was a debacle! the right tools, stuff, and experience help a lot. rust belt folks have seized fasteners to deal with all the time, i'd hope to never go at those driveshaft bolts with just one normal wrench in the rust belt. 1. must use 6 point wrenches/sockets 2. interlock two wrenches for leverage: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/BasicsofBasics/How%20too%20Basics/DSCF9471.jpg i'd never anticipate getting those nuts off with just one wrench unless it's REALLY long. 3. use a penetrant. ideally you spray it on the fasteners days or hours ahead of time, not just right before to allow it to soak. on really bad ones you can soak rags in penetrant and then wrap them around the rusty parts. have a soaked rag wrapped around those driveshaft bolt/areas for instance. 4. if you get the driveshaft positioned just right you can get 3 bolts out at one time without rotating anything, but that probably only comes with experience since there's some "give" between when you turn the wrench and the driveshaft stops and begins to loosen the nut/bolt. lots of little things/experience make it go much quicker.

What year/vehicle/engine? It's an EJ25 right? I'm not sure why folks think it's an Ej22, am I missing something? should make sure it's not valve covers or oil cooler (though that's only on passengers side if it even has one), cam seals, crank seal, etc. we can't see what's going on underneath/up front. separator plate is on passengers side and doesn't usually migrate "forward" in the engine compartment, and the head looks wetter than the flywheel area/mating surface, so I'm hesitant to call that a separator leak. Of course hard to tell without more info/pic's/not knowing more, like if it was wiped off/cleaned. assuming headgasket: 1. The external oil leaks get worse very slowly, although 05+ models get worse quicker. if it's an 00-04 SOHC EJ25, with original gaskets, that hasn't been overheated before, and this is the start of a leak with no appreciable loss between oil changes - you can drive it probably 50,000 miles with leaking headgaskets as long as you keep oil in it. all that to say - you've got lots of time on those engines. the 05+ models get worse quicker. 2. Probably best to just replace them while the car is down, be nice to be once and done for good. 3. They are easily done in the car. Just jack the engine up a few inches in place and they're easily done in the vehicle if you want. Nicer to work out of the car. 4. Resurface the heads (no point in checking them for pressure or cracks or warapge - they never do that so don't waste time/money). there's a thread on here how to resurface yourself, very easy to do. 5. Use Six Star, Cometic, or Subaru headgaskets 6. install a Gates timing belt kit from Amazon for $120 and you're done for 100,000 miles. you can even bolt the engine and trans together and install them as a lump all at one time if you have an engine lift. got to get the angle right and all of course.

the generic packs of orings at any auto parts stores will have two orings that fit the lines at the compressor. or just measure and match them up or call subaru or look the parts up online via opposed forces. lots of options. 1. replace those two orings (one bolt - it's super easy). 2. add two cans (20-24 ounces) of refrigerant yourself and you're done. the radiator cross support, or somewhere under the hood will tell how much refrigerant yours takes - legacy's/outbacks and i think impreza's as well - i've always just used two cans and it's perfect. i have gauges and didn't even used them on my 3 daily drivers i did this exact repair to many years/miles ago. very easy and costs $15. but of course you're just getting your feet wet and have them, so best to use them.

that style tensioner failing isn't odd - 3 months though is odd. this style tensioner though is not all that robust. it would be weird/rare on *any other* Subaru tensioner ever made, but not this one. ask the seller, good chance they'll send you a new one. sometimes, warranty requires installation by a certified mechanic (ASE or whatever). that's the best they can do without paying someone to fly out, watch you properly install, install it themselves and thereby raise the prices hundreds of dollars to accommodate that verification process. so it's not perfect, but a company has to do something or it will get taken advantage of or replace improperly installed product, or replace product that wasn't even the original bought product anyway (think wal-mart return policy). as a general rule - they may not replace it. but often times companies will replace. i've had lots of parts sent to me for free via the goodwill of the company when technically they owed me nothing. and i've been denied.

yah, cheap welders aren't well known for laying a clean, nice bead. though i don't have any experience with the arc welders from HF, the wire feed migs are hard to dial in just right.

i've never really bothered bleeding. i tried the first couple times and it didn't seem very efficient since you're always exposing the ports prior to installing it to the lines in the chassis anyway. since then i've done little more than just fill the thing with some fluid and bolt it in. never had a problem. i work almost exclusively on Subarus and have only ever replaced one non-Subaru MC so my experience is almost entirely Subarus. they're really easy all the ones i've done.