idosubaru

used alts are $25-$50 used ECU's $30-$50 i would get it properly repaired first - then worry about fuel tank, draining, etc later. subarus sit for years all the time and crank right up.

future reference, you probably could have drilled the non-abs hub to match the ABS - they're the same the non-ABS one just isn't drilled out for the sensor. drill the hole to match for the abs sensor and drill and tap the hole for the bolt. it's a pretty simple set up. also could have installed the entire lump as is, reboot the axle and don't bother removing it from the hub. i do what GD says - get a larger impact gun. before i had one i stopped at a local shop and they knocked the nut off for free in a few seconds. heat also helps - heat just the nut then slam it home with some good torque.

no spacers or washers on those bolts. at most just a washer under the bolt head, just typical stuff, nothing that affects alignment. that said - i now recall that i almost never install both of those bottom bracket bolts. they're unnecessary and one is really difficult to get in, lined up, and tightened, so i just skip it. with 3 other bolts on a non-structural part like that it's way overkill to have all 4. alt gets 2 bolts and a/c gets 4? nah

my username here at usmb at yahoo.com is my email address if you want to contact me again without using that visitor message thing. good luck.

the gauges aren't very accurate or meaningful - the original Subaru owners manuals even mention the gauge reading low - often they have plenty of volume regardless of what that gauge says. resealing or replacing the oil pump is still a good idea. cam towers are relatively difficult. i mean, they aren't and they are. for a first timer, if you're asking this question, it is a rather involved job. don't really need much info - once the timing belt is off just unbolt the valve covers and remove all the bolts holding the cam tower to the head and it comes off. the only trick is trying to retain each rocker arm to its original location. as you loosen the cam tower bolts, allow the tower to push out some until theres enough room to pull the rocker arms out by hand and mark their location so you can reinstall them on the same HLA. but really this is way ahead of yourself - reseal or preferrably replace the oil pump first.

that's a straight forward swap - you just take one engine out and put the other in. the issue is not related to difference in years of the engine. swapping coil and igniter sounds like a really good deal. which intake manifold did you use? you could try swapping that if all else fails in case the fuel system, injectors are hosed on the "new" unknown engine.

you opened it, here we go, another thread like all the rest! we can list failure scenarios by the dozens, even ways timing belt covers themselves could cause failures - which i've seen. power steering leaks typically drip and are rather simplistic. not a big deal. insects and rodents if that was a true concern you'll have much bigger problems than belts - when they start chewing on electrical stuff, shorting stuff, and causing fires then you got real troubles. a 15 minute belt change is a drop in the bucket....but either is unlikely to happen. seems you've already seen and read other threads about this, pick what's best for you.

hopefully that cleans them all up, that is unnerving having weak brakes. good luck knocking it out.

there are multiple causes, so one person's experience isn't all that accurate of a diagnosis for your vehicle. due to the nature of the HLA's, frequent oil changes are very helpful. have you changed the oil since you got it? is your ticking from one cylinder/side of the engine or is it from all over the engine? so far I have a 100% success rate (except for one that doesn't count) fixing ticking old gen subaru's by: 1. resealing the oil pump 2. replacing the oil pump if you have time and can do it yourself, try step one first. or skip step one and go straight to step 2. sometimes on unknown cars, buying used cars that maybe the owner knew they were going to sell so they didn't change the oil in forever (if it looks nasty) - i've run a quart or two of ATF in with the engine oil to help clean things out. drive a few miles like that and then change the oil. can't say i recommend that, but i've done it before and know others have as well. sea foam or MMO (marvel mystery oil) are other alternatives to help fight the dirty oil nastiness. clean oil will do a lot to keep the HLA's quiet over the long term, change that oil. there are more possible causes that are more ominous to address. the only one that an oil pump would not have fixed was an engine that was driven thousands of miles with a blown headgasket and two of the HLA's on the passengers side were seized solid - they wouldn't even compress in a vice.

i think this product is more of a time thing. you don't have to remove the tie rod or worry about alignment to install the boot. only one nut to get the tie rod off and install a normal boot, so it's not saving as much benefit but maybe for rust prone areas where that thing is a beast it would be helpful for the home mechanic without a good selection of tools (or a torch!).

can't get the wheels to lock up or ABS to work sounds like more than a brake pad issue? that seems odd. brake pads are a flooded market, i was surprised at all the options and opinions out there when i was trying to learn about better pads. i don't know much more now than i did before trying to find a good set of pads. i went with an expensive set and had no "wow" factor with them at all, i noticed no difference, but they performed fine. i generally avoid the least expensive stuff and lean towards ceramics currently. i haven't seen much difference though. would love to see some real world tests or something.

i'm sure lots of things are possible but i haven't seen any major damage from reversing the battery on a Subaru: blown fusible lines/fuses - they fry if the battery is installed wrong. that yours weren't blown suggests someone already replaced them or it wasn't that bad to begin with. one fried ECU, replace it, they're really easy and never fail so they're cheap used. i've got a bunch and they're worthless. that your alternator is smoking definitely suggests looking there first like everyone else said.

i'd get one for the engine you need, they should be easy to find. i know i've got one somewhere lying around, others would too. that being said - #17 doesn't affect aligment of the compressor to crank pulley does it - i think it's #16 that does that - so maybe it's #16 that you need? i've seen that #17 bracket look different between different engines. can you mount the compressor without using that bottom #17 bracket? install the top two bolts into the compressor and top two holes in the #16 bracket ?

i would try to find a way to repair it even if it is one of those little ears.

walk away. this is all wrong. #1 is a $1,2000 at the dealer - that price is outrageous #3 is *always* done, if done by a proper mechanic "with" #1, because you HAVE to remove the valve covers and gaskets to get to the headgsakets (#1) - you'd have to be an idiot to reinstall the original gaskets. most people on here would never do that and #3 is included in #1. #2 and #4 are not a big deal and probably not accurate diagnoses or the complete story. is your power steering working? have you added fluid ever? if it's working and you've never added fluid it's hard to imagine it's a catastrophic failure requiring almost $1,000 in work. they're charging you twice...maybe even 3 times...what the job actually costs for #1 and reselling you part of that service again in #3. properly maintained your car is good for another 100,000 miles easily. might need a thorough headgasket job but nonetheless, it's still capable of a reliable and rather inexpensive 100,000 miles. how to proceed from here: keep an eye on your oil level and let us know how much it's loosing over the course of an oil change. take pictures of the leak and post them here if you like. same with power steering fluid - keep an eye on it and let us know how much it's leaking. these headgaskets are benign when they leak externally like this and can go another 100,000 miles while leaking externally. it might be leaking a lot by then and i'm not saying i recommend it (though i've seen it), just that it's not that alarming really and doesn't need to happen immediately.

torque bind = 2 things: 1. Duty C replacement or 2. failing clutches. Anything else would be abnormal and require very compelling reasons to travel another direction - i haven't heard any compelling reasons from you yet, sounds like all basic torque bind stuff many of us have fixed and seen many times. how did you replace it and how many miles on the vehicle? if it helped once, i'd try another full fluid change (multiple drains/refills or flush whichever you prefer) again. Unlikely *or* by valve body they meant the rear extension housing which houses the Duty C solenoid valve - but that's a stretch. this should be easy and they should see this all the time - this is *VERY* common and many of us on here have fixed multiple torque binds. i could probably help you diagnose and fix it in a matter of minutes over the phone (and have done that for friends before), without even touching or seeing the car myself. i'm not offering, i don't have the time unfortunately, i'm just saying this issue is so easy to track down, diagnose, and repair properly 100% of the time that they should have no problem nailing this exactly right. this is a strange failure though - torque bind is typically *caused* meaning poor tire care, lack of fluid changes, improperly towed at some point in it's life, etc. so it often happens on older cars, multiple owners, higher miles, etc. that such a young vehicle with presumably low miles has torque bind is strange. are you not the original owner?

that's awesome, mental note.

properly functioning parts that are properly installed won't have any issues - so something is wrong. many of us have done countless timing belt jobs on these with no issues - properly done they hold 100% of the time, it's really a very simple set up. properly working threads and bolts work 100% of the time so my guess is your threads are stripped. if the bolt is backing loose then something is wrong - stripped threads, wrong bolt, wrong part....probably stripped threads. a longer bolt, as mentioned by Tom will reach unused threads deeper in the hole - that is a standard 1.25 metric pitch bolt - probably an M8x1.25 bolt, just get one a bit longer (if it's too long use spacers under the head). chasing the threads with a tap to clean them up is a good idea too.

well i did come home and look for the FSM but can't find my H6 FSM...which i thought for sure i had, scratching my head.

what kind of gas mileage are you getting? how many miles are you getting when you're filling the tank up? what John just posted is the way to do it. keep track of your mileage and multiply that by gallons in the tank (15.9 on your era OBW). every 95-99 generation legacy i've seen has high reading gas gauges, it gets really low and looks like not much left by the gauge, but only takes 10 or 11 gallons to fill - which means there's still 5 gallons in the tank. low fuel light comes on with about 2.7 gallons in the tank.

that's how this one is done, there's so many bolts on a vehicle that you have to learn which ones torque values are important for and which are not - but values are most helpful if you're not comfortable, new to this sort of thing. have to learn somewhere what "that tight" means. hard to communicate those things over interwebs.

very few people would torque this bolt, it's benign. snug so it doesn't come off will do it. i have been checking every H6 i come across and so far every one has needed at least one of the two bearings replaced. i consider these maintenance items, you're definitely doing a wise thing to replace them both. i'd like to know why they're failing so frequently.

don't waste your time - there are few things i'll say with 100% certainty - but that bolt will not come out with a pair of vice grips. that is fact, i would not waste your time. i take that to mean you don't have much rusty/corroded fastener experience in which case i'd lean heavily on the experience of others that do.

i've done this before. i would try the cheater bar like mentioned but i've seen them seized to the point they would not budge at all. engine can be pulled with trans still attached if you want to work on it out of the car. it's an extreme angle but really isn't that hard and doesn't take much more effort than yanking the engine. as already mentioned - you can pull the engine with the torque converter still attached - it just slides right out of the trans - again you need a steep angle but it'll come out. probably best to do it by yanking the entire lump.