idosubaru

mic the crank and see if it needs machined and oversized bearings. cylinders needs honed. if you want to skip the mic'ing of parts and additional tools a machine shop can inspect the crank, rods, install the rings on the pistons and hone the block for you and you assemble it all. they have access to all the limits and specifications. if the engine was known good and running before hand you could wing it and just install regular sized bearings...i'd do it depending on what i knew about the motor but guessing like that is not a good recommendation.

Shop said his 2003 Xterra (V6) automatic needs: Steering gear box is leaking. Replacement was like $2,500 or $3,000 or something crazy - $1,800 just for the part. Timing belt replaced. Anyone have any experience or information on this? I'd like to help him do the timing belt if i can this summer.

rear driveshaft is two pieces, so you remove the rear half (the longest) part of the driveshaft and leave the front in place to hold the fluid.

like shawn if you can pull some of the cover(s) off you can hear better or even put a mechanics stethoscope to the bolt holding the pulleys in place. someone on here just had this exact same issue. Fairtax4me I believe is his username...or somethign close tot hat, like a week ago. Timing belt job and ended up being his brand new belt was too tight and/or the bearings in the idlers were shot. If it was too tight - be sure to inspect and possibly replace the pulleys, that force could have damaged the bearings, I think it did to his, but you can check his post to be sure.

the possibility exists that a front CV destructed but guy has a good chance of being right too. the front diff and trans are essentially one unit so that's why you're seeing trans replacement. if you want to entertain opening up the trans and rebuilding the diff then there's a couple good threads about that. most folks replace the trans. a $50 trans also sounds like a pull it yourself price, so be prepared to yank a motor out of yard which is a bit of a skill itself. you'll want to know which transmissions are compatible before you go find one. there are gear ratio and axle stub differences...and auto/manual.

here's a guy that just got done repairing this same issue: http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11816&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=spark+plug

i don't know why but they sell specific cleaner for MAF's. they very rarely fail so I would just install one of the other ones and see what happens. imp/legacy share tons of parts, so probably the same.

no damage. by driveshaft he means the driven shaft between the transmission and rear diff. no way for that to impact the bearings, nearly unrelated. if you're referring to axles, that's not the case either. you can't drive a 4WD without the axles as the bearings are completely exposed. but you can disassemble the axle and install the outer joint into the hub thereby retaining the seal, bearing, etc. i have a car like that, did it a couple years and 50,000 miles ago.

Yep, interference. You can hope you got lucky and slap another belt on just in case. The bad news is usually you have a bent valve. The good news is that it's not really that big of a deal to repair, cylinder damage, piston damage and catastrophic stuff like that is highly unlikely. It's basically just a head gasket job. Use Subaru only headgaskets and replace the bent valves.

excellent, easy fix! THANX for the follow up and letting us know you figured it out!! i would recommend used on these since they don't fail very often and are really easy to replace and the cost is exorbitant new. if peace of mind is important to you (it is for me because i travel a lot), then just buy two used ones and stuff one in with the spare tire.

if it's doing that because it's too long, then trimming a bit off one end will/may fix it. hoses +1 to chux - get them anywhere, it's just a rubber hose. i've never had a problem getting them. rockauto.com and thepartsbin.com are great online vendors. just double and quadruple check part numbers with rockauto, their listings are terribly inaccurate.

Wow - I just remembered that I have a brand new rear FWD hub with ABS. PM or email me if you're interested in it...or give me your email address. The short version is remove the brake components, axle nut, and hub. Not much to it really. Long version is: From the Subaru Factory Service Manual: 3) Pry hub cap off with a screwdriver placed between it and hub. 4) Unlock axle nut. 5) Remove axle nut using a socket wrench. Remove washer. Temporarily tighten axle nut to hold hub in place. 6) Return parking brake lever and loosen adjusting nut. (1) Disc brake: Perform steps 7) through 9). (2) Drum brake: Perform steps 10) through 13). 7) Remove disc brake assembly from back plate. Suspend disc brake assembly from strut using a wire. 8) Remove disc rotor from hub. If disc rotor seizes up within hub, drive it out by installing an 8-mm bolt in bolt hole on disc rotor. 9) Disconnect end of parking brake cable. 10) Remove brake drum from hub. 11) If it is difficult to remove brake drum, remove adjusting hole cover from back plate, and then turn adjusting screw using a slot-type screwdriver until brake shoe separates from the drum. NOTE: If brake drum seizes up within hub, drive it out by installing an 8-mm bolt in bolt hole on brake drum. 12) Disconnect end of parking brake cable. 13) Using a flare-nut wrench, disconnect brake pipe from wheel cylinder. CAUTION: Cover brake pipe connection to prevent entry of foreign particles. 14) Remove bolts which secure trailing link assembly to rear spindle. 15) Remove bolts which secure lateral link assembly to rear spindle. 16) Remove bolts which secure strut assembly to rear spindle. Remove rear spindle, back plate and hub as a unit. 1) Remove hub from rear spindle.

Sold. I saw that in your add like a year ago or something. Not that it's much to ship but are you going to the dragon or the farm? I'll be by the farm easter weekend and at least once a month this summer.

no gains when i've done it. i've run 2wd with auto's and manuals, no difference. never hurt the auto trans when i've done it either. not worth the risk for the average person though. you're still carrying all the additional weight of 4WD as well as the driveshaft, rear differential, 2 rear axles, larger and different hubs/bearings are all spinning too.

are you replacing the hub or the hub assembly/knuckle/spindle? if you have rust then spray all the bolts/nuts down with penetrant days before, multiple times preferrably. particuarly the lower lateral link bolt, the really long one that's on the bottom of the housing/hub assembly. that lower bolt tends to want to shear off and be stuck in the bushings, not fun. you can remove the lateral link from the car instead of that lateral link bolt from the "hub" if it doesn't look good.

you got a new H6 alt - did you just get it from Subaru or parts store...or?? at 175,000 miles i doubt mine will last to 300k so i'm thinking about getting one sometime in the next year or so. you can run fewer ribs no problem, that's done all the time, i've done it. also - the H6 is a one belt set up where as the EJ22's are a dual belt set up. so the belt in this configuration isn't driving as much as the H6 does. also - he's not running A/C. also - it doesn't matter!

GD is a member here and I thought he was in portland. he works on folks cars and knows Subaru's inside and out. have him do it.

i was in ME last year and would like to go back to Katahdin, I'll look you up if we do but doubt it'll be this summer. i'm a wine person too so sounds like a great offer. $1,600 for a good condtion 96 EJ22 with only 131k is awesome deal. don't run it out of oil or overheat it and that motor will go a lot of miles. have your check engine light read. you can buy the scanners for $50 or so off ebay, well worth the investment to have it handy. look all around the exhaust for the O2 sensor wiring/plug. Did you already look around for it? Memory tells me it comes through the heat shield somewhere, so maybe it's just stuffed up behind it? the rear O2 doesn't affect mileage at all, only the front does. there's no way to tell what will improve mileage but an O2 sensor could certainly help if it's the original. not sure if adjusting the valves affects mileage but that should be done too for the sake of the engine. you'll have to check on the 96 EJ22, some aren't adjustable, one style is really easy and the other style with the shim and buckets is all but a magic trick pain to do. air filter, check tire pressures, and regrease your brake slides and clean or replace the clips. brighton and L 96 Legacy's should be rear drums, all other legacy's will be rear disc.

the few times i've looked into the things never work right. if there's rust/corrosion the aiming screws have been all but pointless on the ones i've seen or stuff starts breaking/cracking. it's a rather weak set up for longevity from what i've seen so far. sorry i can't help more than that but maybe soak them in some penetrant to help free or lubricate them before getting in there.

this should have been diagnosed a little better. *when* exactly does it make this noise? all the time? thousands of clunks every time the car is running? only certain times....describe it for us. it's hard to know just with words, so give us some more details. i'd verify *where* the noise is coming from. is it definitely coming from the trans? and if so, the rear, middle, or front? is there still water contaminating the fluid, that sounds bizarre.

bracket is easy, nice to see they're inexpensive. like mentioned the threads fail, not the bolts. if you chase the threads on the bolt and the bracket with a tap they may be fine. i didn't hear any talk of metal shavings or bits coming out with the bolt, so sounds to me like it's fine. might be worth saving as a back up for next time. i would check that torque value 15-20 pounds sounds too little?

the pipe i'm thinking of is easily replaceable, just a 10mm bolt or two and the hoses on each end. it runs from the water pump to the cooler, right? i would replace it quick if it's that bad. i'd avoid any hose repair as that will retain any contaminants in the oil supply if it does eventually rust through or starts to fragment for some other reason inside the hose. One other person I recall had a headgasket issue on the H6 and had it repaired. He detailed that here I think, or possibly another forum. Might be worth a shot to find that and see what symptoms he had prior to? Fingers crossed it's an optical illusion, corrosion....

you can check via some online parts stores. advanced auto parts, thepartsbin.com, or possible Subaru sites if they list them. they didn't change them for a long time....but i don't know.

I guess you should check to make sure you have power and all but the elements fail frequently. I find it hard to find any good ones once they get any age to them at all. Apparently the in and out sitting on them damages the elements quickly. The process for replacing them requires upholstery kind of work/tool, so it's not something many folks dig into. Scott (i forget his username) has a nice write up on dismantling older generation seats which is a similar process, though those aren't heated but the cloth disassembling portion is similar. That thread thoroughly convinced me never to reupholster something.

ebay has EA82 timing belt kits for really cheap - you get all new pulleys and belts for like $60-$80. well worth it over replacing parts one at a time and leaving other 20+ year old pulleys in there with no grease in them. i imagine you're resealing the entire oil pump, that mickey mouse gasket is too warn to reuse. i don't see the other EA82 oil pump oring, was it there? EA82's have the mickey mouse gasket, front oil pump shaft seal (under the sprocket and 12mm bolt on the front nose), and an oring. i mean my dial up (no high speed available here) would only load a small portion of the picture so maybe I missed it?