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Replaced headgaskets in an XT6 and a couple of the rocker arms fell off after a few minutes of running. No noises or indication it just quit running and starting....What could cause this? Poor HLA's seems a likely guess but i've had a bunch of XT6 engines apart and the HLA's making terrible racket for awhile before they're fully pumped up (suggesting they were seriously far from primed) and this never happened before. Someone else (Woodswagon/91 Loyale) mentioned in another thread that old/bad gas can cause this - creating varnish and sticking the valves open from sitting? Guess I'll try to see if I can tell if they're sticking by rotating it by hand? Trying to avoid going through this all over again with the same end results - it's the drivers side of course which is much more annoying. LOL I have a couple new HLA's on order to go ahead and replace them all while it's apart.

Don't know if this is already listed but, Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement: • 1998-2003 Forester • 1993-2003 Impreza (excluding WRX) • 1990-1999 Legacy http://www.mediafire.com/?0agbl5x3b2v1r19

yep - i just had one like this the other day. it was INSANE. welcome to the northeast. not only that but the ball joint itself needed drilled out of the hub - completely rusted in place - it was crazy train. on a newer Outback in great condition with almost zero rust on the body. i think i would try that predrill along with: there is some kind of rust penetrant that folks mentioned that i've never heard of or used before available at auto parts stores, i can't recall the name but people were talking about it recently. they wet a rag and wrap it around the offending parts to let the fluid continually soak into the rust? the predrill is probably partially effective due to it creating localized heating. propane can actually help in some situations - but you are correct the typical rust seen in the NE - particularly on that pinch bolt the propane is never going to touch. you don't really want the wheel bearings and associated grease soaking that heat anyway if possible. YIELD is also some really good stuff, seems better than PB Blaster...though it's very expensive and hard to get, local places don't typically carry it.

Turbo's use a much better headgasket and don't have the issue. Somewhere around 2010 Subaru started using an updated gasket that should "solve" the issue. Allwheeldrive auto has the years if you want to look them up and see their recent video about it- i forget what year it was but it may be the 2010 Caboob just mentioned i guess that's why he mentioned it? depends which gaskets are used. if you use the same gaskets that were in there or lesser quality aftermarkets - there's no telling. done properly with the following gaskets should last the life of the vehicle: the DOHC EJ25D's 95-98/99- use the updated 610 gaskets from Subaru SOHC EJ25's 99/2000+ - use the turbo EJ25 gasket

EJ18's - none are inteference. EJ25's - all are interference EJ22's - 1996 is the last year though there was a case last year of one that was interference, over on subaruoutback.org i believe. yup - interference isn't a big deal, just maintain them properly and you're golden. i guess if you're super cheap, lazy, and don't maintain vehicles then interference engines are not a good fit if you like driving until something breaks. i travel too much and don't have time to be stranded so breaking down isn't an option. i do all my timing belt stuff, regardless of interference or not, and they don't break. replace all the pulleys and tensioners to keep belts happy. the belt alone is not sufficient with age/mileage.

Highly unlikely - XT6's didn't come with rear LSD. It was an option but not one you'll likely see. It would be as likely as finding it on any other Subaru of that era...which we know how often that happens.

2002 OBW H6 VDC: 194,000 2003 OB Sedan H6: 154,000 1989 XT6: 168,000 frequent oil changes, no running hot or low oil situation and they're good candidates for 300,000 miles.

I've done it before - but with an automatic. why bother swapping trans? once the viscous coupling fails you can simply remove the rear axles, differential and driveshaft and run it. the rear output will be spinning it just won't be connected to anything. you'll have to work on a way to seal the rear output shaft, that's all. and disassemble the rear axles and install the outer CV's into the hubs like mentioned earlier.

I spoke with him and GD does not think this is a good fit for flywheels. due to it being cast iron for one and the "square-ness" of the face of the flywheel is less forgiving.

i'm not sure what you mean dave...you mean the bad bearing - i never torqued it on or reinstalled it since it was bad when I removed it. *** I had to take the axle/hub to a shop across the street and have them separate it - he has a special puller tool - which i am now going to get, it was really sweet. anyway - not sure what they did or if that could have impacted the bearings? i removed it with no weight since i pulled the axle/hub as a unit.

that's weird....is it possible to improperly bolt the engine/trans together like you can with an automatic and thereby hose something up? i've never had a problem but... he's absolutely positive the trans was fine before installing the engine?

it's easy actually just really nasty messy. like you said, just remove the outer boot and then you have access to the inner boot. there are multiple types of clamps so it depends what you got. in my experience with a bunch of Beck Arnley boots i have the inner boot comes with the smooth band clamps and those are easy to do by hand. and the inner boots come with those notched ones that are nearly impossible to install by yourself. but that will vary by brand, etc. the smooth kind i just hold a screwdriver parallel to the axle shaft up against the two "ears" that stick up to keep the band from spinning around the shaft as i pull it snug on the loose end with pliers. pass it through the band then pull so it's tigthening and then pull up to it locks against the tab the band passes through. i have the special tool as well and both ways are about the same in ease. Advanced Auto Parts does not sell band clamps alone, I just checked the other day. Folks have been known to use hose clamps for them. some folks do replace the wheel seal but it's not common to do so. probably a good way to protect your bearings if you feel up to it. i've had parts stores screw up this seal on mid-late 90's EJ axles before...i'm not sure why since like every EJ known to man during this time used the same axle, but tread carefully.

what he said - one can is not enough. nearly every subaru i've ever charged from empty takes 2 cans. somewhere on the radiator support/under hood it says something like 21-23 ounces - just about two cans. i have gauges and i don't even use them. i'm about to do my other H6 tonight, hopefully it holds as we want this car for vacation tomorrow!

replacing the axle solved the problem. so it was one of these two. i noticed a bad wheel bearing when i removed the axle. no prior signs, car ran and drove fine - perfectly quiet and no noises. after removing the axle the wheel bearing was very lumpy and would even stick rather abruptly. my first guess is that it was the axle - though i've never seen one vibrate during deceleration before. i guess the bearing may have caused it and by taking it apart and reinstalling it changed the loading somehow...this seems doubtful though. broken inner boot. i just reboot/regrease Subaru OEM axles, i haven't yet reached any wear or failure issues with Subaru axles...though i recall you replacing yours. these have 150,000. axles are easy actually. 1 bolt and 1 nut to get the axle out (once tire is removed). axle nut and top strut mount bolt - axle comes out. then the messiness of cleaning, grease, booting.

03 Outback Sedan H6 Auto 150k. one of my daily drivers, it's done this since I've been driving it last year. Vibrates on deceleration at 50mph or more. In other words it starts vibrating as soon as I let off the gas. Goes away immediately when I hit the brakes or accelerate. ***Could alignment cause a vibration like this? Inner DOJ CV joint? (i'm used to these vibrating when accelerating, not decelerating?) I just rebuilt and installed an axle on the drivers side at 3am just now...maybe i'll do the passengers side tomorrow?

Subaru ECU's basically never fail unless you hook up battery cables wrong.

my buddy figured it out (his car) - turns out the speedo cable they sold him was not the same - it has a thicker "bushing" at the base, that doesn't quite allow the threads to meet the threads in the trans. it was like 1/16" thicker, making it close enough to look like the threads should engage, but they won't. he grabbed the old sensor and noticed and it screwed right in no problems..... he's going to try to shave down the bushing and see if that works. i guess i should tell him to make sure it's long enough too...

what brand plugs/wires? wires are notoriously problematic on EJ engines - i've seen brand new aftermarket wire cause cylinder misfires. if they're not Subaru then some folks would suggest to start there. that being said it sounds like you've done enough trouble shooting to almost rule that out.... if that's the case then swapping the intake manifold may fix the issue. i say that from experience and my only guess is that maybe fuel injectors can also cause a misfire? so maybe you could also swap out the fuel injectors rather than an entire intake manifold like i did. not sure if it's related but the motor i was working on was driven by someone who just kept driving and driving on low coolant and cooked the motor - so the overheat may have compromised something in the manifold too, i really don't know.

if you air up all the struts then disconnect them - yes you could be fine as long as the leak isn't in the front strut air bag itself. which often it's not - it's usually an oring, solenoid, or compressor/drier related. fronts should have an air line on the top....follow that to a solenoid. simply disconnect the electrical connector of that solenoid and you've essentially deactivated the strut...as long as the solenoid itself or the orings at the air line between the solenoid and strut aren't the cause of the leak. i've done partial conversions to coil over and left some air struts in place and operational. simply required two things: leaving a solenoid connected to the wiring harness connector so it still has that in place and there was a simple process of grounding a pin at each strut or something like that for the height sensor - basically it tells the computer that that strut height sensor is where it's supposed to be and it won't continually try to air it up. i forget how i did it but it wasn't hard at all.

headgaskets. you can verify that we're right by either listening to us or going to the auto parts store and getting a kit that tests for exhaust gases in the coolant. that is not a failure mode of this engine, so you won't see that. not all engines have the same failed headgasket symptoms. as a matter of fact no EJ25 from 1996-2010 will exhibit oil/water mixing or coolant out the exhaust, which are what some people typically look for. they don't fail that way. headgaskets - they are pushing exhaust gases into the coolant - heating it and causing it to hydrolock, not ciculate, overheat, and boil.

any further tips, helping my buddy with his XT6 and the threads simply won't engage.....?

GD - can i use this method to also resurface a flywheel? if it's good enough for a head, seems good enough for a Ford F150 flywheel to me? i ended up getting a huge piece of granite for free from a friend...but after looking into it not all granite is necessarily flat. there are common practices that give that kind of finish but there's no guarantee that a particular piece has that finish.

you'll need to get or make an adapter plate. SJR sells them - same part used in an EA82/EJ swap since the XT6 bellhousiung is the same as all EA82 stuff. or you could get an EJ trans, they're not too terribly hard to come by i don't think.

i'm not sure if this applies to duct tape but a friend told me to remove decals (which are stuck on) after letting the panel sit in direct hot summer sun last year on a fender. it was amazing - the entire OBW sticker trim on the fender just peeled off in no time. i simply followed behind carefully with some kind of blade or scraper to help it along. then cleaned up what was left with stuff like they're suggesting.

the drivers side was 10 times harder for me, i'm right handed. not sure if there are any differences between sedan/wagon/VDC that might change that but the passengers side wasn't even hard for me for some reason. you literally can not see the drivers side bolt head on mine, at all, not even part of it. maybe my engine mount it bad? i used a mirror in the left hand to see and the ratcheting wrench in the right. i used a simple ratcheting wrench, one with no offset actually seemed easier, maybe coincidence. the hard part was getting it: 1. past the point of hand tight *but* 2. tight enough that the ratchet would ratchet JCE - the 20 minutes was sort of a joke with some truth in it - the entire job took a long time - but once the valve covers are removed the spark plugs are much easier and only took a few minutes. i went hand tight, then open end wrench for a bit, then it was tight enough to get the ratcheting wrench on. i couldn't seem to get the rathceting wrench in place and still have room to tighten - and going up would loosen it since it wasn't tight enough to ratchet..>GRRRRR... either mine is different, engine mounts are compressed (less clearance), or my hands are bigger because both of my hands could not fit. i went to remove the engine mount nut and it was conventiently rust welded in place and stripped, not breaking out the torch for a valve cover bolt! this car doesn't even really have any rust....but some of the nuts are hosed - freaking rust belt! WOAH Shawn - that's a crazy freaking tool!!!