idosubaru

wow - melted boot lost brakes, almost caught on fire - that's intense! i would definitely be scrapping that entire assembly and just starting over with another unit like you're doing and he said, good call.

doesn't it matter if it's rear disc or drum brakes - swapping hubs you'll want to keep it the same right? i saw your parts thread.

that is a strange one. it sounds more "inward" than that, but who knows. i need a brake friend to sit over there while i'm driving and contort around to see if that can help narrow down where it's coming from. or i'll let them drive and do it. the axle swap is probably a good recommendation. i think i saw a little grease coming out of one axle, but it's nowhere near ripped all the way or anything...

no change - it's still there. never does it in neutral...sort of suggests CV's but those don't appear bad in any other way and seem like OEM? it was missing two bolts in the trans mount due to stripped out holes...i chased the threads and installed all the bolts - no change.

sounds high but might not be surprising either. urban environment might be pricey. i lived in Georgia for 9 years - the southeast is not a Subaru mecca - it's not hard to find a machine shop that's cussing every second they have to look at these things. Subaru prices can be higher in Subaru rich areas but shops can also be more familiar and knowledgable about Subaru's too - they're more familiar, accepting, and that can probably make a difference in pricing in some ways....parts on hand, know the market, Subaru sources better, less time invested, etc. call the local Subaru dealer and ask them who does their machine shop work. ask up front, don't assume all machine shops are the same. take the time, you'll need them again for pressing, turning rotors or a clutch, your EJ25 heads again (LOL). around here machine shops may specialize in mining equipment or industrial - i don't use those places. i have no doubt they could do a fine job. but if i can - find the shops that do all automotive stuff and even ask how much aluminum, import, or Subaru stuff they get. back in Maryland the machine shop i used did almost exclusively aluminum head and block work. if they don't like that conversation....that suggests move on to the next guy.

the problem with the EJ25 is that it has a high probability of having been overheated at some point in the past. if it has the original headgaskets on it - that's a good sign it wasn't overheated though because you really can't drive the DOHC's when they start overheating (like you can the SOHC's). but yours was already overheated so .......???

EJ22 - excellent motor, pretty much will last as long as you care to maintain it if you don't run it hot or low on oil. excellent motors. your 95 is particularly awesome in that if the timing belt breaks there's no valve damage like later year EJ22's. install a new timing belt every 60,000 miles and a timing belt kit every 120,000 miles and run it for many hundreds of thousands of miles. EJ25's have headgasket issues - actually all years DOHC and SOHC up to like 2010. an EJ25 DOHC with the MLS 610 (last three digits of part number) headgasket installed is a great motor. an EJ25 SOHC engine with the EJ25 turbo headgasket installed is a great motor as well. you could get any EJ25 block (SOHC or DOHC) and bolt your EJ22 heads to it. the DOHC EJ25 is the only plug and play engine swap option, the SOHC EJ25's are not. the key is getting a known good EJ25 block that's never been overheated - those are worth good money. they tend to be pricey due to high demand because of headgasket issues. it's not a large power jump, 165hp is nice but not really that big of a deal.

size is arbitrary - it's the set up and time that matters most. doubtful cost will vary, as said it's per heard usually. that being said, just do it yourself. GD just posted a fantastic write up on how to easily accomplish great results yourself. he even documents and EA82 head in the write up i think. it's easy and takes a matter of minutes once you get the simple materials. just look at the thread, no point in me re-explaining it.

that's not the headgasket. that's the cam carrier mating surface. if it's coolant then it is not coming from that gasket/seal there because the cam carrier only has oil in it. if it's coolant it's probably the intake manifold gasket, a fairly common leakage point. i would simply clean it and see if and where it returns. not likely to be any big deal or cause immediate concern or issues. those gaskets can get worse though and leak into the intake manifold and get into the cylinders so you may want to think about replacing those gaskets at some point in the next year or three. the subaru intake manifold gaskets are far higher quality than aftermarket cardboard.

i've seen bondo falling apart (have one right now) with mesh/screen behind it that was obviously there to hold it in place. putting in new metal is ideal for big holes, but obviously that's not a good fit for everyone.

pawn shops usually have some stolen sets for sale really cheap.

ignore the torque and just crank that joker on there. i use a 3 foot pipe over the socket handle, they never come off and no bothering with a torque wrench.

the places that do it around here seem to do it diagonally - one front and the opposite side rear. i've never seen two on one side before? does it matter?

too many variables for a one-size fits all statement. if you're terrified - shift on the higher end, you won't hurt anything, just don't lug it. if you want to quantify it you'll need a differential equation that includes all the interrelated variables and more outlined above. there are probably 132 things that are going to cause you to part with the vehicle before shifting RPM does, it's way low on the list.

this isn't rocket science. shift however is appropriate for your needs and don't lug the engine. if you need to know what lugging the engine is, ask your friend or someone else. there is no precise RPM because it's going to vary based on weight of car, weight of driver and contents, tire rubber compounds, tire pressure, wheel bearing grease, grade of the road, ambient temperature, octane of gas, altitude, running condition of motor, when you're accelerating, shifting....etc... - just don't lug the engine. someone could probably say something like don't let rpm's get below 2,000 rpm in gear or something like that...i'm just making up that number though it may be relatively close.

here is how the xt6 system works: you could try replacing first just the orings up front. should be one on the strut itself where the air line fitting threads in then two at each front solenoid. the drier has 5 airlines in it - one for each strut and one for the air tank. the base of each air line fitting is plastic and can crack, if those crack then the drier needs replaced (get a good used one). used are not hard to find and cheap - folks swap and there's no demand...as long as you can find them, they aren't very common. when one of those fittings cracks the leaks can do strange things. the solenoids can leak too - the springs in them can get weak, not fully closing when they are supposed to be closed and allowing air to bleed back through the system. and of course the struts can leak - usually at the bottom where rust has warn through the rubber over time. i'm not trying to sway you - swapping to coil overs is honestly the best fit for most people and great solution.

turbo engines also come with better headgaskets. is that true of the entire line of OEM EJ25T's?

The first suggestion about the 98 is incorrect, very few folks that do significant amounts of Subaru work would suggest that. Most would say to *avoid* the 97 and 98. The main reason is that the engine in that car randomly overheats when the headgasket fails so it's very common for those to have been overheated and even signfificantly overheated at some point in there life. The overheating causes thrown rods or locking up, turning the lower end into scrap metal - i've bought quite a few like that - as have anyone else that buys lots of Subaru's. Mileage is meaningless - they were locking up at 30,000 miles, 50,000 miles and 100,000 miles, etc i've bought them with those mileages. And there's no way to verify the condition of the lower end bearings or block, it's impossible, so it's an inherent risk that can not be avoided. The later model EJ25's never overheat unless they run low on coolant, so there are signs of headgasket failure long before they overheat, so they are much less likely to overheat. I've seen them with lower end failures too, but it's less of an issue than the earlier styles as mentioned above. If you're still leaning towards the 97/98, ask if the valves were properly adjusted - they are unbelievably complex to do, it's unlikely you'll ever have them done because of it, so make sure it's done now. The 2000+ ones are easy - basic tools and a matter of minutes. That being said - I would get the 2000 for $6,100 with 150,000 miles. Honestly that extra 50,000 miles is probably meaningless truth be told. If they've all had this extensive maintenance done then they all have about the same chance of making another 100,000 miles until the next timing belt change. Those prices are high, but you're getting a great deal with new headgaskets and timing belts, tensioner, pulleys. That's fabulous and what I do to mine as well. If you bought a used one of these you'd want all of that stuff done anyway.

here are some files about Subaru air ride systems with pictures: http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5688 here's the strut reconditioning, there's a version on here too and this process was first done by Wayne who's a member at subaruxt and here: http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4173 i don't know of an extensive write up or anything about dealing with the orings, you just have to get in there, match up the orings and replace them all. i've never really sized them, just match up and get what i need. the one really common size for all the air line fittings i have a bunch of at home - good chance they might be the same as legacys so i could post the size, but then again there's a small chance they're different too? on an XT/XT6 it's like this, or really close, from the top of my head: all of these are the same size: 2 orings at front strut solenoid air lines 5 orings at the drier air lines 2 orings for rear strut solenoid air lines 1 oring for the air tank air line these are all different sizes (a bit larger): 2 oring on front struts 1 oring between drier and compressor 1 oring on pressure valve of air tank 1 oring on pressure sensor in air tank 2 orings between rear strut solenoids and strut body legacy rear struts are significantly different than older style and i haven't seen many of those so i'm not sure how those are set up, but it's not going to be all that different - it's just orings. the height sensor on the rear has an oring but as far as i can tell it's assembled with the strut and the oring is not replaceable. luckily i've never really seen them leak, but some dabs of sealant would possibly sure up a problematic oring there.

they're not supposed to air down every time you shut the car off. a properly working air suspension that's all sealed up, the compressor very rarely turns on. unless the GL's and legacy's are different than 4 and 6 cylinder XT's - but i highly doubt they are different. other vehicles i've seen don't operate that way either, it doesn't really make much sense. there might be a thread here but i have one posted on subaruxt.com about reconditioning the struts, wayne is a member here and there that pointed some of us to the process and issue - and your set up would be very similar. it's basically a simple two step process: 1. replace all the orings. there's quite a few - maybe 20 and while most are 1 size for the hoses, there are a few larger ones for other parts - pressure sensor, solenoids, etc. maybe 3-5 of those. 20 year old orings are a large part of the problem. they leak...the compressor runs more than it's designed for and burns up. 2. fully extend the struts and get the rust of the metal bottom of the strut where the rubber "rolls over" on itself so to speak. any corrossion there constantly rubs on the rubber bladder and eventually wears through the strut. sand that metal down and paint it and that will keep the struts lasting. aside from those two things these systems will actually last a really long time with few problems, i generally consider them lasteing the life of the vehicle which is nice as you'll never have to replace struts (hopefully). of course - at this point you're inheriting a decade of possible abuse and neglect so depends how bad all the parts all, etc. i've owned like 20+ of those and have had 1 (or 3) as a daily driver since 1993, so i know them quite well.

weird. have you tried disconnecting all the ABS sensors? can't imagine that would do it but it's easy to try. i'd be looking into a wiring diagram to see all the components and such and start disconnecting everything.

the fuse blows when? when you install it? when you turn the car on? when you use the brakes? something else??? unplug ABS controller and see if it blows? unplug all the ABS sensors and see if it blows?

fortunately you have like a zillion EJ struts that will fit your car for like a decade+. of course there's some that won't work, but you've got lots of options. by a set of legacy struts and swap away. anything like 1990-1999. impreza, forester, outbacks, GT's, etc, all swap in. probably best to match something of a similar style/weight -i'd probably get a low mileage set from a legacy GT- they handle well. the air struts can have some redeeming qualities, but it takes some work to get them there. if you go through the entire system and replace ALL the orings, that takes care of the leaking and the system can actually be cheap and last the life of the vehicle without ever needing to replace the struts like conventional struts. so they can even be inexpensive, all XT6's have air suspension and i have extensive experience with those, with a resealed (all new orings) system, they actually work well and ride great.

i've always thought what you've said - no EA82's in brats. like they all said: #1 with EA81 (and other subaru's) you have to be very careful in certain years as it gets really confusing. even Subaru gets confused and that's partially why they require VIN numbers to verify, or they won't take responsibility for any mistakes. i've also seen plenty of rockauto listings that were incorrect - for instance they used to list all sorts of 4 cylinder parts under XT6 stuff, etc. if i'm not positive i check it against other places.

try any other older subaru keys you have lying around. pretty easy to use one key in multiple cars, particularly the older ones that are warn out. the Subaru dealer can usually cut a key just off the VIN. you could at least call and ask them if they can find the key code from that. if it was originally recorded with the sale of the vehicle they'll have that information. which is usually the case. if you can simply get them to tell you the code, then any locksmith can cut the key for you with the code as well. or simply have a dealer cut you one and go get it. i don't even know how many times i've done this, it's been a bunch.