idosubaru

in their defense they aren't doing it to "make more business" in the sense you may mean. if they start "doing it right" - then they also need to charge more to make up for more time, more supplies, and fewer jobs getting done. so they might be pad slapping to keep things moving and their prices in line with everyone else and what the locals want to pay...but not just to hose them and "bring them back".

if you have a newer-ish like 2003 model with the rubber bushings in the front brake slide pins, those swell and hang/seize all the time. i'm i the habit now of just throwing them away every single brake job i do, they're pointless and they seize all the time. fairly certain that brake jobs "encourage" them to seize. like making contact with new grease or something makes them swell. at least in the rust belt, the caliper slide pins need cleaned and greased far more often than the pads need changes - so that's the problem in the rust belt, no one is doing that. i check them every time i'm in there with the wheel off for something else....and i'm often thoroughly surprised at how dried up and non-lubed the slide pins are after I had done them not long prior. usually they can use a clean up and regrease even though the pads are nowhere near needing replaced. add to that mechanics/shops that don't clean/regrease or buying used calipers that are likely contaminated and it compounds the issue. *** I have seen it mentioned on other forums that the grease used from the factory is very high quality stuff that lasts a long time, but it's hard to get - I don't recall anyone knowing where to get the stuff. But the stuff you get in the store is not nearly as good. I've seen folks trying to nail down where and how to get that factory stuff because it lasts so long.

ball joints are easy 8 out of 10 times (making those numbers up and it's probably 9.9 out of 10 in the non-rust belt). if you want to assume you're one of the 8 out of 10, then just go at it with normal tools, fairly straight forward. if you want to be prepared for what rust can throw at you: 1. what he just said in the prior post. spray both sides of the pinch bolt on the knuckle with PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, or YIELD (doubtful you'll find that though but it is the best - $20 a can). make sure you use something really good - WD40 does not count. 2. do not attempt this without a pickle fork. they rust/seize inside the control arm and with the *play* afforded by the strut/spring it's hard to get the full work out of digging bar, pry bar, impact, etc. 3. in the worst case scenarios the ball joint is rust-welded up inside the knuckle once you get it out of the control arm. this is the hardest problem to encounter but at least it's rare. i've had to drill them out before...un....be....lievable pain in the but. *** if there's a special tool to yank the ball joint out of the knuckle then get it - hopefully someone else will chime in on that?*** maybe a ball joint separator does that? (i've never used one before). i'll be looking into it since the last one i did was one of the worst ever...and it was on a 2003 of all things. not doing that again, the one week 8 hour ball joint job. LOL

newer Subarus have the fuel filter inside the fuel tank/fuel pump - under/inside a metal cap.

might be able to make up for it at the wheel? get a bit smaller or bigger tire/wheel combo to make up the difference?

normally: one hose to and from the cooler = 2 hoses and 4 clamps. with Both in place it's now: 1 hose from trans to rad 1 hose from rad to cooler 1 hose from cooler to trans so we are both a bit off - it's now 3 hoses and 6 clamps instead of 2 hoses and 4 clamps. 50% increase in risk and failure modes.

oh really, sideways is okay? it does not move up and down at all. i'll check endlinks and compare it to my wagon. never seen a bad endlink or replaced one before so not familiar with those very much.

Headgaskets are an issue. Make sure they aren't leaking externally, have someone (or yourself) visually inspect all headgasket mating surfaces underneath the vehicle, the leaks are visible. Price seems a bit high but your area is probably going to be that and I guess you're wanting less miles rather than newer.

I install one separate, dedicated cooler rather than both. I don't like the extra failure points of having both - I want as few hoses and clamps as possible, it gets sloppy with all those extra hoses and clamps and is twice as likely to fail (though the risk is miniscule). That being said, i totally understand and hear the issue with temps and too much cooling and heating. So far i've never had an issue so I'm not worried about it.

Ding Ding, this was it. It got worse and I was just under it the other day. I can easily, without much effort at all slide the sway bar from side to side inside it's bushings with one hand. I suspect that's probably the issue? Will try some new bushings and see what happens.

too late but for future reference, if everything is normal - just swap in another fuse and drive it. if it's a regular fuse or fusible link, just swap it in, don't do anything crazy and it'll be fine.

okay - ignore my PM, i see that you have an RX now. http://www.car-parts.com is a great resource for finding parts. nearly every yard ships now, well except hoods and fenders LOL. problem is they don't have great listings for older subarus but you might get lucky.

Thought I'd share these results for anyone else that might search later on. I'm grinding in some new valves on a 99 EJ22 and I wanted to verify before I put it all together that the intake and exhaust valve springs and retainers were all the same. I checked on opposed forces and they are all the same. Basically only the stem seal is different between intake and exhaust for most (maybe all?) EJ engines. I check earlier EJ engines, later one, EJ25's....all the ones I checked were this way.

Good luck moving forward with it all Scott, that's great. Focus, focus, and get a great thing going!

i've installed two different grinds (forget the names) into XT6's - which are essentially EA82's with two more cylinders (same valves, springs, pistons, etc). not noisier and no drivability issues. one grind was the typical lumpy cam-ed thing - and was lacking in low end - but that was like (forget names and such), a step up from what most people get...probably supposed to be for racing or something, not daily driving. it wasn't the basic grind and i'm sure not what you got. Doug just posted and knows his stuff about clearances and tolerances so follow his lead for tracking down your issue.

are they at full height as they would be when running and under oil pressure? when running the HLA's will pump up and remain in contact with the followers? when off the car they can bleed down and not be fully extended/pumped up. just speculating....if the HLA's came out of a non-reground/stock cam head and now you're putting them in a non-stock cam equipped head - then the HLA's are likely stuck at a "stock" level so to speak and need to pump up more to take out that additional clearance? i've installed a few sets of delta grinds and never had an issue, but never thought to check clearance as you're doing. i just put them in and start it up and let the HLA's pump up, they're usually crazy noisy after head jobs, cam job, rebuilds, etc. clear up in a few minutes.

As I said before, "What GD said". so read his last post, it's right. the engines you were told about are the ones listed in the autoparts interchanges, like at a junk yard - so whoever told you that only knows how to read, that's it. they don't know Subaru's. listen to GD, myself, and others here - we've actually done this stuff many times. http://www.car-parts.com for lots of available engines...as I said before the Phase II EJ22 you need is generally a much rarer engine than it's predecessors and the EJ25's are generally expensive and I'm timid to buy a cheap one due to some of the issues they have. a 1998 EJ22 is easy to replace cheaply, not so with the 99's.

what GD said. those later EJ22's are just plain hard to find, their weren't many of those vehicles sold/made so the parts are hard to come by. the EJ25's are expensive because of the high number of headgasket and rod bearing issues. just a tough motor. if you end up with another engine - let me know if you want to sell the heads off the blown one.

I think the PCV valve is the same. LOL if you did a 5 lug conversion you could use the front hubs, brakes, and struts. but that's all the easy stuff for a 5 lug conversion that can basically come off almost anything.

Common issue is the wiring, where it goes into the trunk and "hinges" can, over time, wear through and crack the insulation and wiring. Have to pull the covering and yank on the wires - sometimes they "appear" fine visually but a light tug will separate the compromised wires. that's the most common issue besides bulbs, fuses, simple stuff like that.

east coast folks need exhaust parts due to rust. both daily drivers i've had to weld back together and my buddies we just did last month and another forester needs more welding....all 2000+ model Subaru's. but, all older subaru's have rusted away so the market around here for old stuff is almost non existent. my last 2 1980's Subaru's I bought came from Texas and California.

gas cap broken tab and the oring pushed out. easily verified by checking fuel flow in the engine. just pop the hood, unscrew the clamp, pull the hose and turn the key on. if gas shoots out the fuel pump/cap are good. if it doesn't come out or is really weak - it's bad. or the timing belt let loose. interference engine so there will be bent valves. best repair in that case is to just buy two used heads and bolt them on. you can lap in new valves too, not that bad but finding a shop to do it may be tough. get an entire ebay timing belt kit if he's saving the engine. new tensioner, pulleys, and belt. the pulleys and tensioner generally cause belt failure on these rather than the belt letting loose for no reason.

it's probably just low on refrigerant due to a leak, most common in my experience. i have yet to see an actual component failure on an EJ vehicle. i have a write up here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?p=1102617

Valve cover gaskets - very common and easy job on this motor too. Best to start there anyways since it's common and easy, but it sounds like you did a good job diagnosing it so far. Doubtful the oil is "causing it", except that you're using very thin oil, that may leak more. But either way the problem is a leaking gasket or seal and was likely to start leaking at some point anyway. A properly installed gasket is not going to leak. The next time a timing belt job is done you will want to replace (or be ready to if they're wet at all) the cam seals, cam cap orings, crank seal and reseal the oil pump. Ebay timing kits are $100 for all the pulleys and timing belt, can't beat that.

like JCE said - if the options were originally there on that vehicle in that year and trim - the plugs usually exist. So i would expect a 99 OBW to have them... i have one of the heated seat wiring harnesses Larry...O MY WORD that thing is a mess!!!!