idosubaru

was the noise the same before balancing, after balancing, and after new tires? same side/tire every time? if it never changed through all of that - then that pretty much rules out tire related stuff. they usually suggest an alignment with new tires, did they do one? they should have noticed a bad tie rod then. describe the noise/issue a little better: Is it always there? Worse at certain speeds? Changes around turns, changes up hill verses down hill or in gear verses out of gear? All of these will help us diagnose with only words to go by.

hey alleyboy. you had some XT6's once right, i think we've talked before years ago. the rear bearings can't be done on the car...well sort-of. the special tool is called a hub tamer and will allow you to "sort of" do the job on the car. but the problem is you still have to remove that lower enormously long and problematic lower lateral link bolt. besides that bolt everything else is really simple anyway. also - pressing tends to do damage on these. unless it's done perfect you'll be doing the job again, hence the special tool. soak that bolt for a long time in good penetrant like Liquid Wrench, YIELD, PB Blaster, etc. favor YIELD if you can find it if you have much rust to deal with. you'll be able to see it run through the bottom of the housing assembly if you look at it from behind, it runs through the entire length with a good portion of the bolt exposed if you look at it from back there. soak it all a few times over a couple days. having a torch handy might be nice or some cutting/drilling tools. or just remove the entire lateral link from the vehicle if you're swapping in an entire used hub - sometimes that's simplest depending on parts sourcing and if that bolt is corrossion-welded into place. good luck!

Crack, was hoping I could help since i'm headed to john's town today - but google shows wrong side of pburgh.

+1 sway bar bushings are a great call to check into.

Yes it's definitely interference. Good job getting it all done! As for aftermarket parts - you wouldn't want to use aftermarket seals for the cams/cranks. What you'll find is that some parts aftermarkets are good, others should be Subaru only. If you're not informed of the particulars then Subaru is probably best. You tested the pulleys by spinning them? Have you ever felt what a brand new pulley feels like? They're very tight and do not spin at all when you try to free wheel them. They're packed with lots of grease. As pulleys age they start free wheeling...spin them and whiiirrrrrr they spin really nice - that's not good as it means they've lost all the grease in the bearings.

1-3-2-4 pilot bearings are really easy to knock in and out, super simple. resurface the fly wheel, you or the machine shop can mic it to make sure it's in spec. i have what i thought was an input shaft bearing noise - there's a thread on here about it from last year or a few months ago. GD, and others I believe, said it's the input shaft bearing. same thing, always got a noise unless i press the clutch in then it's quiet as can be. fluid looked good but i got some new fluid in there and it's amazingly quiet right now. probably going to do another change with full synthetic and cross my fingers...or maybe i should just call myself lucky and leave it be. this is on an XT6 though - the earlier FT4WD trans that typically don't have input shaft bearing issues like the EJ's, so maybe it means nothing, or i was totally lucky, or it's going to come back next week or blow up next month...i don't know but a few dollars in fluid might be worth a shot? a friend (board member too) had input shaft bearing noise a year or so ago. he also changed his fluid and it's been quiet for like a year now. i think he's also got a thread here. 1997 Legacy EJ22.

sounds like a very predictable noise with not much variation to it? my guess is strut related - mounts, strut, spring. when parked does it make any noises when you turn the wheel to full lock back and forth? are the ball joint boots ripped? can you hear what side it's coming from?

not every time a timing belt breaks does an interference engine sustain damage. but more than likely i wouldn't be surprised to see some bleeding over in one direction or the other of MY's.

that's the norm now. the newer outer boots have more convolutions than older boots and therefore last longer. the inner boots are closest to the exhaust and therefore break often due to heat. usually the passengers side. no doubt that one sucks. they make really long 3/16" punches for those -so you can just stand up above it, wiggle it through and drive it out from a long distance. i'm still behind the times and haven't done that yet. the ghetto alternative is to put the punch on it and use socket extensions with or without a socket as "extensions" to go over the end of the punch. yeah i have no idea about that but you can go first!

The EJ22 interference topic is a good one that lacks a lot of clarity and it would be nice to have a solid answer on this, I think I even started a thread about it a year or two ago and it was never clarified. This is a Phase I EJ22, I think the Phase II and "valve cover" comments are confusing the entire discussion since this topic has nothing at all to do with Phase II stuff. Might as well talk about Honda engines, they have different valve covers and are interference engines that also have nothing to do with this conversation or topic. We're talking about Phase I EJ22's which can be interference engines. To keep this on topic - if you think Phase I EJ22's are not interference you're wrong or need to post up where you're getting your information from because it contradicts most other sources.

they're cheap - used should be $20-$50 tops. 1996 (or 1997) Subaru Outbacks (EJ25's) I think have the recall and therefore you can buy them new from Subaru for only $60-$75. that's so cheap i just bought one as a spare. many alt's interchange, maybe that will work for you.

those things can be TIGHT! i've seen some that didn't seem like they'd come out without breaking something, i've just left them in place mostly. and i've always seen the oring at the top as well.

nothing wrong with it but not worth the trouble, nothing to gain by installing one. my H6 has one and im' not removing it, but i just wouldn't go through the trouble to add one. it's not like foresters make it to 300k and Legacy's don't. i have a blown motor 2000 forester in my garage right now. there's higher risk - more points of failure for something to leak.

i don't think that matters. i posted one link above. another: 1997 EJ22 Subaru Technical Reference booklet from NASIOC: "Compression has been increased to 9.7/1 by reshaping the crown of the piston. This eliminates the clearance that was available between the piston at TDC and a fully open valve " another thread with a guy with a 1997 EJ22 and broken belt with *bent valves* (who was told it was non-interference): http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/66-problems-maintenance/9193-1997-legacy-wagon-interference.html there's a lot more. common knowledge is that EJ22's are interference starting in 1997, as quoted in the reference i provided. I don't think it has anything to do with models as all outbacks, GT's, and LSi's got the EJ25 which we aren't talking about at all.

yes - seals replaced with valve cover will fix that leak. the valve cover itself is not causing the oil in the spark plug hole, that's the spark plug gasket sealing the hole there. do the valve adjustment when you do the valve cover gasket, with the cover off it's only like 10 minutes, it's really easy and i doubt you have to remove anything to do it. tensioners can cause a slapping/knocking noise when they start to fail and idler pulleys don't give any warning at all. they run low on grease, seize, and shred the belt as it slides over them and overheats. that's why i say if you skip this step then go back in and recheck them at 50,000 miles. water pump is not resealable, you throw it away and install a new one.

in my area, and i'm assuming this may be a larger trend, two great times to sell a subaru are ending. i sell a couple cars a year and leave adds up for many months even after the car sells to gauge timing. when the snow starts flying and february/march are prime time (my guess is due to tax refunds). i get like 5 calls a week...sometimes a bunch pounded in one day...and before that like in the fall and right now i'll go weeks without getting calls. i've gotten zero or one call in the past 3 or 4 weeks probably.

it's really easy, tear it up! be sure to get the feeler gauge to go in straight and perpendicular. the angle lends itself to sort of insert it not straight and giving you larger gaps than you want. get it in there by pressing good to get it nice and level with the clearance you're measuring.

timing belt yes. get the Subaru coolant conditioner - required with your motor - since you're opening up the system anyway. drain the radiator, fill with coolant, and add the bottle per the instructions (shake!). the pulleys are a toss up but they are more likely to fail in my opinion/experience before 200,000 miles than the water pump. EJ water pumps rarely fail. ebay timing belt kits run about $200-ish and include all the pulleys. the import experts is fairly common for many of us here to use. you can call them and ask about including the tensioner, they will custom build whatever you want for a kit if what you want isn't listed on ebay. another option is to leave the old pulleys but remove the timing belt at 150,000 miles to inspect them again. Since you are doing it yourself you'll realize it's not really that difficult. the seals you could consider leaving if they're bone dry, but it sure is nice to have them on hand if you need them. use Subaru seals only on the cam and crank. if you decide to reseal the oil pump then tighten the rear backing plate screws and you need one oring, the crank seal, and a tube of sealant to seal it. valve cover gaskets - when you replace the gaskets there are also spark plug cover gaskets which seal between the spark plug holes and valve cover. you'll replace them when you replace the valve cover gaskets too. adjust your valves now, it's really easy on this motor, only takes a few minutes with the covers already removed.

if you continue to get low feedback i'd call a dealer and ask or better yet stop in, if you have a good relationship with any. or PM some of the folks here that work in or used to work at a dealer.

1997 and up all EJ engines are interference. since 96 was non-interference maybe there are crossovers of some sort and it's worth a check, but 97 EJ's are generally interference motors. there is some misleading information out there, i've seen other folks say the same that you are and cars-101 has an outdated blanket comment referring to EJ22's as well that isn't correct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_EJ_engine "All DOHC and 1997-up SOHC EJ engines are interference engines, if the timing belt fails the engine will likely be destroyed or the valves & piston will be heavily damaged."

good call, those bearings aren't likely to last.

the justy is kind of a strange bird for subaru, you should probably test drive it first for sure before getting set on it. you'll notice very little discourse about it here. it's completely different in nearly every way than any other subaru from the 80's up....or even the 70's up for that matter for the most part. it doesn't really share any parts at all and i'm not sure what subaru was thinking when they made it. maybe you can google or find a justy board referring to the common issues the justy has if someone here doesn't list them for you?

and there is something protruding up through the hole too - like a slot that resides inside the cable head? i ask because - i assume it's obvious you can't just drill it out somehow? what a mess. i like your comment "and when it doesn't work...." :lol: i feel your pain on these, this stuff makes you hate what you like sometimes.

piston slap doesn't hurt anything, typically benign and you just keep driving the car. why yours is lasting so long i have no idea. i think you should look into it a little bit more. sometimes it's suprising what else might be making that noise. what year is your EJ22? the timing tensioners can make a slap sound that's been mistaken for rod knock before. they're on the drivers side and can physically be seen to move if you have the cover off. yours only doing it under acceleration (under load) might make it harder to visually see or detect. the newer style tensioner (started around 1997) are known to fail and they make a slapping/knocking noise. was the oil pump removed and the rear backing plates tightened? GD may have done it with the Tbelt?

mileage doesn't mean much because with that much and age there's hardly any way to tell what kind of mileage it is. but in general i'd prefer a 250k to a 350k any day. that's 100,000 miles. if they truly were "equal" the one has 100k less life in it. some caveats: i would favor one with more maintenance records/completed on it - here are common high mileage items for this car that can be expensive: struts, valves adjusted, exhaust, brake calipers, alternators, front O2 sensor, water pump, knock sensor, starters, clutch (if manual trans), timing pulleys and front seals. add headgasket for EJ25 engines. i would rather have a 300k mile car with half that list replaced than 250k with none. personally i wouldn't buy any EJ25 with that high mileage on it. much simpler to just buy a blown one cheap and fix it. they blow too many head gaskets and lower ends.