idosubaru

Subaru's, particularly newer generations, are not forgiving with ignition components, sticking to stock or getting Subaru/engine specific advice for any upgrades is ideal. I would use the Subaru OEM platinum plugs- they are amazing. I have two of the exact same engines/vehicles as yours in my fleet. the ones i've changed even with high miles have always been in excellent condition. and yes - removing the valve covers makes the job much easier - you are wise to do both at the same time. unless there's a compelling reason not to, i generally do valve cover gasket and spark plugs at the same time on those H6 engines.

replace the valve cover gaskets first and see if that cures the leaks. valve cover gaskets leak *all the time*, very common. i would start there, then assess where you're at later. the statistical difference between valve cover gaskets leaking and timing chain sealant leaking can not be exaggerated. replacing timing chain sealant seems way overkill and highly unlikely. the timing chain cover has sealant, not a "gasket" in the traditional sense, and generally lasts the life of the car. they almost never need resealed. i've seen some have oil drops on them, but they are very, very slowly seeping, to call them "leaking" is overkill. leave them for now and do the valve covers first, that's likely to clear up all the leaking. in the end - there is zero cost and zero risk to leak them for later. the oil cooler gaskets are very, very common and at 10 years old yours is likely to need it at some point. they are very easy to replace, it requires removing only one fastener: 1. remove oil filter 2. remove two coolant hoses 3. remove the bolt holding cooler to engine block 4. replace, reassemble oil changing likely did not cause the leaks and the mechanic will have access to proper torque data...you have acess to ALLDATA apparently, he does as well (or should).

what he said - take the timing covers off and look, check the timing. doesn't take long at all. bent valves won't be known until it's tested. the couple of broken belt interference Subaru's i've come across all bent valves. but it's possible you're fine. the squeaking seems to suggest pulley noise - maybe timing pulleys, the bearings loosing grease.

someone on subaruxt.com documented with gobs of pictures a full 2WD to 4WD swap. mr.radon is his user name. it's quite labor intensive..like they all said it makes more sense usually just to get what you want. sell what you have and get what you want. if you can contemplate a swap of this magnitude then you can easily sell this car and fine what you want that needs some mechanical repair for cheaper than you sell the other one for.

cool, getting closer! *** have you tried jacking the front suspension up off the ground? this sometimes gets air struts to air up that otherwise won't. how did you pressurize the struts from that line? that's awesome! like what attachment or otherwise did you use? air isn't getting to or staying in the strut - i'd find that leak and i don't think the depressurization points to anything to help diagnose that. that could just be some fail safe, limp home mode it does when it sees height sensors not adding up. if you have air struts that won't air up and bubbles indicating leaking fittings - why do you not suspect that's the issue? we can't see the car so we're limited in scope but seems like a good place to start - there's a symptom and there's a leak... if it's of the 5 connections at the drier assembly, they each have an oring. replace the orings. or if that plastic fitting is cracked i've thought in the past some kind of epoxy or high quality marine grade sealant/adhesive might hold. the orings are removed with careful use of screw drivers pliers or build a tool. think of a straw that's cut down it's length with a slot so the straw can "open up", like the letter C as a cross section. snap it over the air line - then press down into the 4 fingers of the tabs holding the air line in place. i have one made out of plastic, very handy to have for those tabs which can easily break off. i suppose to test you could swap the air lines if you suspect the fittings - swap two and two, the two "good ones" with the two "bad ones". if the fronts then pump up and the rears do not, then that may indicate the fittings as the issue....seems like you'll find the leak another way though.

specifically for compressor - verify first if it's the compressor or drier fittings cracking. you won't be able to distinguish between the two until you remove it and look. but yes, just replace it. get a used one, new would be insanely expensive. someone on here may have one, i've got a few XT6 units that are probably identical. or www.car-part.com

any EA82 struts swap right in. but the air struts do perform great when working properly. * easy solution is to install an adapter on the top of the front air struts and inline with the rear strut air lines so that you can simply air them up with a compressor. sometimes jacking the car up off the ground so the air bags can extend will get the system working properly. though yours seems like it probably has issues from sitting. front struts can leak - they typically leak where the lowest part of the air bag rolls over on itself and up against the strut body. if there's any corrosion or rust on that part of the strut it'll wear through the air bag and leak. jack the car up and get the struts extended to look for rust, corssion, debris, warn air bags, leaks. it's a good idea to clean, sand, and paint that area if necessary to prevent it from happening. only have to do it once really. the compressor is prone to: 1. wearing out 2. the plastic fittings on the drier (built into the compressor) crack at the base, bleeding off any air pressure #2 is the most common problem i've seen on subaru air suspensions. i find it hard to get good condition driers with those plastic fittings not cracked. there are also 5 identical orings on one side - all air lines and one larger oring connecting the integrated drier into the compressor. they can leak as well. in general you get a used compressor and replace yours if it's bad (John got one from me for instance). if it's not the compressor an oring or solenoid may be leaking (or another air line you haven't traced down yet). 6 orings on the compressor, one on front struts, 2 at each front solenoid, 1 on each rear solenoid air line, and the air tank has air line and pressure sensor orings on it.

i don't think those bolts are much in the way of ft-lbs, sounds like you're headed in the right direction. if you're retaining stock thread pitch & size then measure to see if you can use a longer bolt than the original too. i've done that countless times on other Subaru parts and there's almost always more unused threads in the hole - the hole/threads are deeper than the original bolt. this will give you more meat to grab onto.

i've done the same thing on ER timing belt pulleys - pry the lib seal up and inject them with grease. works great. the only reason they fail really is due to lack of grease...get some fresh grease in there and they're good to go, feel like new. i'd expect the same with a driveshaft needle bearings but i've never done it...though now i'm tempted to! if there's enough room on the driveshaft you could get a zerk fitting and thread it in place instead of silicone. test it on your old shaft first.

hard to tell from pic's but they don't look like they have gobs of tread left. mount, balance, disposal and you're at $200+ for used tires. i spent 14 seconds looking but here's a new set for $180 + $40 shipping = $220: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Fuzion&tireModel=Touring+%28H-+or+V-Speed+Rated%29&partnum=86HR4FZTOUR i know it's tight but if a new set is worth 2+ used sets the $100 is cheaper. that being said - you can talk a private seller down, can't do that with a company! i'd shoot for $80 mark...which they're probably planning on and then looking at $100 even. but not being to tell tread depth makes this all guessing...

do you have anything custom or currently not working properly? that would be a good place to look for drains. it's pretty easy to diagnose and narrow down a drain - the final step may be cumbersome but this much is easy: remove positive battery cable. put a multimeter between positive battery terminal and battery terminal cable. set it to milliamps. tell us how many milliamps it's drawing. more than 50 and it's got a drain. start disconnecting fuses until the drain drops to much lower - that will isolate your drain. try disconntecting alternator too and see if draw decreases. you don't want anything to turn on (lights, door opening, seat belts retracting, etc) while testing as it'll draw a bunch of current and blow the fuse in the multimeter once you find the fuse then it gets a little trickier - look up everything run off that fuse and start unplugging each item one at a time until the drain drops. i just did this a couple weeks ago and it was the power seat belt controller on a friends XT6. i may have a set of XT6 manuals available.

no you can't do what you said. 1. use the FWD fuse or 2. milesfox has another option which shops around here use for installing two new tires on a subaru. if it has a rear locking VLSD differential then you can't have mismatched tires on the rear though so option #2 won't work without frying your rear diff.

shops around here do this, mentioned in my last reply. why can't the tires be on the same side? the only thing connecting the front and rear is the driveshaft, i can't see how it would "know" either way and thought maybe it was just better for traction..having a new tire on each side of the car. maybe it matters which side - like due to the ring gear or something? which side is generally the "driven wheel", if there is one? i don't know but i've always wondered that.

as-is - it's nearly impossible to do or to do properly. but remove 3 fasteners - the lower two 14mm engine mount nuts and the bolt for the top pitch rod. once that's done jack the engine up a few inches and it's rather easy.

awesome, glad you tracked it down. you are dead on - start with the definitive known issues first, which in this case is the alternator. subaru has new remanned alternators for like 1996 Legacys for like $70 due to a recall. probably a different plug which would need swapped to match, but a low cost alternative to aftermarket gambling. i don't know that new aftermarkets are any more high percentage than used OEM units. www.car-parts.com is a used parts database for north america.

it sounds like an EJ18 is perfectly fine for you, you don't seem to care too much. how much does lack of power annoy you? if it does, you like to play and drive hard, or it's a work car, carries lots of gear, towing, pulling mountain grades...the EJ22 will be worth thinking about. otherwise go for the EJ18, great motors, i installed one in my heavy legacy and it's fine for me. it's gutless and the mountains kill it but it was cheap, easy to find, and it's been 70,000 miles of zero maintenance. if i had to do it again i might go EJ22 if it was easy only because of the mountains and often carrying 4+ people. i can't run 16" rims with stock subaru tires, if i'm fully loaded with 4 or 5 people on those tall tires i can't maintain highway speeds up steep mountain grades. this car has been on multiple 2,000+ road trips with like 4 or 5 people and gear in it. but that's all in a heavier legacy too - about 500+ pounds heavier than yours....with all those people and gear - so nearly 1,000 pounds difference. in flat land it doesn't matter at all.

i've seen it for other applications and it works...but i've not seen it done for a Subaru exhaust.

You did, thought one should be told if they are in a competition! I replied to add diagnosis. Subaru's almost always start by jiggling/wiggling the button/shifter. I've never seen or heard of a Subaru that will not start because of the inhibitor switch. Surely it's possible but it would be rare on a Subaru. It seems like it but there have a few comments not typical of a drained battery: that doesn't sound like a dead battery, which has also been tested....implying the battery is good. of course i've seen batteries act odd, be weak and new...and even test fine when they weren't... i think some good diagnosis is still in order to determine if this is a battery issue, starting issue, or charging issue...

read reviews at tirerack and other online tire joints. there's nothing special about them, compare, price, and buy some tires. in general newer cars are going with larger and thinner side walls...and tire expenses are increasing.

what he said - replace the VC. or install a FWD transmission.

this doesn't matter but that is incorrect. based on the way an open differential works - left and right does not matter. a 97 legacy brighton has no locking differentials or traction control. only one wheel on each axle is driven so the other is free to spin however it pleases. if you get an AWD/4WD vehicle stuck - only 2 wheels spin - one front and one rear due to the nature of open differentials. i have never done this nor do i recommend it, but shops around here install 2 new tires on a Subaru. they install one up front and one on the opposite side rear. technically that may work - with an open differential up front and in the rear - the two "driven" tires could be the same. so shops around here would do the opposite of what you said - two new tires - one up front, one in the rear. again - i haven't done it nor recommend it, just an example of how the mechanical systems actually work, which is often completely disregarded by online comments. that won't work on vehicles with limited slip rear differentials, but a 97 brighton doesn't have that.

This is really simple. The fact is you can mix and match brands all day long, it doesn't matter. It is *only* the size, the physical dimensions that matter. Buy 4 tires the same size and close to the same tread. Put the two with the most tread up front. Biggest issue with used tires is degradation of the rubber - it looses traction and if they have any age to them or were not well cared for they won't do well in snow which i imagine is an issue there. There is a way to decode the numbers/letters on the side to determine their age - google it so you can try to get something that isn't more than 2 or 3 years old. craigslist, ebay, local ads, etc you can find used tires. even subaru boards often have people with used tire sets sitting around, i often do. post a wanted add on USMB right here or subaruoutback.org. If the "replace all 4 with matching brands" people start to scare you...take note. If the transmissions were so sensitive to "rubber compound" or "tread design" or "internal construction" then this means that "balance" and "resistance" would affect the transmission. which also means every rock that gets stuck in the tire tread, people that drive on gravel roads, snow getting packed behind wheels, different weights of grease after a CV axle job, aftermarket CV boots and clamps which have different weights, and wheel bearings starting to fail - would all be BLOWING UP subaru transmissions left and right. it's completely erroneous. of course the old addage "don't be dumb" applies - like installing a wrong size tire or one that's blatantly off. but just use you're head and you'll be fine. I know a lady selling a set of 14" tires locally....want me to ask, LOL? i may be in NY City in a couple weeks, you can come get them. LOL

that's how i've seen it done on other manufacturers with these "non-round" cups. use the original as a bushing, slide the new boot over top.

$1,500 - $2,000. Make sure the heads are resurfaced, Subaru doesn't typically do that. But I would hold off for the moment and see how bad it is. Can you post a picture of the leak - it's underneath the vehicle? If the tech said it's "not critical" then you can hold off for the moment as there's no immediate concern with this particular engine. This particular engine starts very slowly seeping oil or coolant (or both) externally. It could be a very small amount of wetness and not really a "leak" at all. I wouldn't go in for heart surgery on such a benign symptom. They can run for years with seeping gaskets, not a big deal. That you haven't mentioned any other symptoms...no loss of fluids for instance, suggests this is very minor. If it's coolant, have the coolant changed and install Subaru's required Coolant Conditioner. That will stop initial seeping. If it's oil there's nothing you can do but I'd gauge how bad it is.

this does not sound like a battery/alternator issue. 1) it's probably the range sensor for the gear selector. next time it does it - simply move this selector back and forth through the gears a few times, trying in neutral again. it'll probably start. that sensor is going bad.