idosubaru

nice. what vehicle is this? are you using it as a daily driver, highway commuter, etc?

I'm an AWD fan but truthfully snow tires and even studded snow tires are excellent upgrades for snow traction if necessary. Given the dinky mileages you're talking about it hardly sounds like it matters what vehicle you get. It's a dynamic discussion. There's too many variables in cars and people for everyone to view things the same, different people, vehicles, and fits. For some people Subaru's really aren't worth it, so it's easy to get turned off. Yep, there are headgasket problems. Though I would suspect that comparing 50,000 Subaru's you'd see more of them making high miles. (Beyond just the fact that they're more expensive, higher resale makes them more likely to have money put into repairs.) But not many people want that kind of mileage. And the high price of a Subaru isn't worth it to some folks...particularly if they're suspect of things like HG's, that's understandable. Researching online is helpful. You may have avoided the HG drama with some research. To me forums like this and others are more than a handful of anecdotal statistically insignificant opinions or weak consumer reviews. I wouldn't buy an EJ25 vehicle unless it's dirt cheap. Buy one with a blown motor then pay (or DIY) to fix it - and you got a "new" car for a good price. My current family wagon is an H6, great motors. I would have taken an EJ25 maybe if it was really nice and a great price - knowing I'd replace the motor or it had great service records/ they were already replaced with Subaru gaskets, etc. I knew how to end up with what I wanted. And reliability is high on my list. I drive a lot of long distance. Last year I drove 18 hours to northern Maine and 20 hours to New Orleans.

key in run position.....then 12 volts to the starter spade terminal - those two things should start it? (car in neutral, yes!) GD - this XT6 doesn't have a clutch defeat, though i'm pretty sure some do, maybe the later ones? somehow i forget.

i had an old XT6 which used to pool oil on the top of the block too, not sure where it came from but i never though it was the headgaskets, seemed more central but it's been over 5 years ago. it was previously overheated really bad by the previous owner and i replaced the headgaskets when i got it. not that it helps you any, just interesting reading this thread since i had never seen or heard of it before.

thanks. replaced starter/solenoid with a new one and same exact symptoms so i don't think that's it. i would think the switches would test fine since they work every time? just an uneducated guess, i've never messed with ignition stuff....so that makes it a little more intimidating to test the plugs since i'm not sure what i'm looking for. though i have multimeter and know how to use it. so there's usually one relay involved in this starting gig? i guess no one knows where it's located in XT's? is it a relay for the starter, solenoid, or both? i can find it in the FSM later. i'll see what i can find out tomorrow. probably start with relay, try to test ignition and maybe jumper cables. thanks folks.

thanks for checking NW. i can release it and try to start it again right away and it turns right over again...a few times, then stops. seems strange. doesn't seem to matter how long i wait. i was thinking it was hydrolocking but it turns over fine by hand and turns over immediately and easily if i release/try again too. maybe the starter has a bad ground or power supply? can i run jumper cables from the positive terminal battery to the positive terminal of the starter (or negative to negative) to bypass the wiring? i did that once like 10 years ago and it ended up being a bad ground wire, but in that case i think the thing wouldn't start at all.

to test can I put the key in the run position and give the starter 12 volts - will that cause it to start? then pull it off as soon as it fires so the starter doesn't keep turning? it cranks fine, sounds like it's going to start or close....then slows/stops quickly even if i hold the key all the way turned. have to turn off the key, then try again - and it'll turn over again, repeatable every time. i figured spark/fuel shouldn't matter since regardless of those it should keep turning and not just stop flat on it's face. that's strange to me. it had been doing this for about a month - but it would usually fire, so it's been a downward trend so to speak, whatever it is, is getting worse.

Daily driver XT6 was running fine now it won't fire. Engine cranks over a few times then just stops. New starter/solenoid and battery/jumper cables made no difference. Engine turns over fine by hand, timing belts are good. Once it stops I can let the key go, then try to start again and it does the exact same thing....crank, crank, crank....stop. Is there a relay or the ignition switch that could cause the starter to quit turning over?

wheel bearings are known to fail, so it's not that uncommon. but more commonly the *installation* is a weak point. if someone didn't use a hub-tamer to install the bearings and just pressed them in (which is common) then it could have damaged the hub which will cause new bearings to fail. that's why subaru came up with a very specific tool and procedure to install new bearings without damaging anything. best bet at this point in my opinion is to just swap in another completely knuckle assembly and not even mess with the bearings if they're failing again in this hub. an entire knuckle assembly will have the hub, bearings, etc all in it and ready to bolt right on. easier and cquicker job and probably cheaper too - just $50-$75 for a used hub.

great, thanks 360. friend of mine is running OBW strut assemblies on his 97 Legacy L sedan which raised it a few inches. he's put quite a few miles on it like that, should he be considering that mount swap?

i would just swap the trans, the front diff swap isn't exactly simple. the main concern i'd have, and maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment on this. can the current failing diff can cause some kind of issues or wear that will in turn fail the "new" diff bits? reason i ask is that the only guy i know that tried to fix a bad front diff ended up junking the car because the replacement diff failed very shortly after. he could have messed up but i was wondering if the failing front diff caused wear or something that could have failed the new parts too? this was an automatic 4EAT XT6.

if the engine is out of the car then a machine shop will remove it for $40-$75, sometimes that's just simpler when it comes down to time and tooling. call around and it's not hard to find one that'll do it. one of our down under members listened to that advice just a week or two ago and a local shop did it for $25 or $35. well worth it. if you have any material to work with soak it first in penetrant and then weld a nut on top of it so you can use a wrench. left handed drill bits are your friend here. start with a tiny one to center it then bump up a size. left handed quality drill bits are hard to find though locally. you'll want something other than cheap junk to last. keep the drill running slow and lubricated with is more difficult since if you're working from underneath it'll tend to drip off and away from what you're dong. if you're on an engine stand you might avoid that issue some. another option, though not as ideal, is to drill and tap a smaller hole within the stud that's left in the block. it is not ideal nor do i recommend it, but i've done it before in a pinch and it works. and if you have a tap and die set and drill bits you have everything on hand to do it or that stuff is easier to get at any local store. do not use bolt extractors or EZOUTs they are not made for this - or if they work then the bolt is really easy to get out anyway. wedge and shear off one of those in there then you're really in for a nightmare.

2.2's rarely (never ) blow headgaskets unless they are overheated or abused, so since that's all the info we have to go off of i would assume the other one is the better of two risky options. they're as useful as the needs you have or create. if you don't have time sounds like you won't be creating any needs any time soon like projects. so use as needed?

trying to picture this, which mounts are you referring too - the strut top mounts that are longer?

print this thread out (or the hundreds of others about torque bind and show it to them). Tell them hundreds of subaru hobbyists know how to fix this and have had other dealers repair it for $500 and you get hosed? Why the discrepancy? Why not a correct diagnosis? Clutches are really easy to diagnose, no need to guess or get it wrong. wow do you know any lawyers? if this is true and a few assumptions are correct then it's one of the worst rip off's i've heard. - if this is torque bind you got really hosed....and it sounds like it's torque bind if it's "getting better" with fluid changes (see below). i would document all of what we say here and google stuff, find out some part prices and go talk to them, that's robbery. this should have cost you about $500 (see below). First - they completely hosed the diagnosis. I'm not sure why, this is fairly common, I've fixed a bunch of these myself and I'm not even a mechanic. When you have torque bind (the common diagnosis of what you're describing - you can google that), there are two causes of torque bind and 3 possible solutions. 1. Often times fluid changes alone will fix it. You ALWAYS start there. If a fluid change fixes it, why do any invasive surgery? 2. Duty C failure - it's just a solenoid - about $150 from Subaru 3. Transfer clutches get notched/stick - replace those, $100 or something in parts. It's REALLY easy to determine what the problem is. If the FWD fuse works, then the Duty C solenoid is fine. If the FWD fuse does not get rid of the torque bind then the clutches are bad. You could go verify that right now in about 5 minutes. In the engine bay on the passengers side by the strut tower is a FWD fuse holder - if a fuse is inserted in there it forces the transmission into FWD mode. If the issue doesn't go away with the fuse (as I'm suspecting) then your Duty C is failing (assuming this is torque bind). Some folks, since the parts aren't that expensive, just replace the clutches and duty C solenoid at the same time - there's no extra work they're all in there next to each other, so just replace it all and be done with it. Sounds to me like they just guessed - not completely flushing the fluid (you'd get a partial fluid change doing the work they did), but not all of it out. So they guessed wrong (I am assuming, maybe they did some diagnostics - but doesn't sound like it since we on here fix this stuff all the time and they didnt' get it right). So they didn't change the fluid first for $100 like many of us have fixed these, then they guessed wrong on your $2,100 repair.....that's just horribly deficient. I mean, if it was like your neighbor and some unexperienced bunghead, that's one thing - but you woudl think a dealer should be able to do this properly. There's no way to mis-diagnose rear transfer clutches, it's very simple. They might as well just replace your brake caliper because your tire was bad? Labor for Duty C solenoid and transfer clutches is essentially equivalent as they're all in the same housing. I just posted on here what Subaru dealer in Atlanta GA charged my friend to fix his torque bind this past summer. The labor was only like $250 or something, I have a thread posted here about the price you could find it. At $250 labor and $120 for the part that's $370 for the same job you paid $2,100 for. Absolutely insane just from a price perspective, regardless of the fact that they didn't even fix it right - so they charged you $2,100 for nothing! *** I hope those are some really nice $1,500 tires? He followed my diagnosis suggestions above and his is fixed. side note - all of the components we're talking about don't even require removing the transmission, this is not a hard job to do at all - a bunch of us on here have done it before, posted pictures, etc.

i, and man others, use subaru wires on EJ engines. aftermarkets don't have quite the success rate and are hardly a money saver. should be easy enough to just google the part number on the box and see what your wires are for?

maybe, just crawl under and look. if it's the correct part and installed correctly i can't imagine that being the issue. you know how many oil crush washers i've replaced - none. i have never replaced one. occasionally i'll notice one wet, but i've never had one all out leaking any significant amount. point is - if i've put a hundred thousand miles on a few subaru's and many 10's of thousands on various others over the decades and never replaced the washers i think one oil change is probably a drop in the bucket.

wow, that's awesome willingness to try. since you're willing to experiment there's also a $4 radiator cap you could use to alleviate the issues and keep the car driveable without overheating. it has a special valve to release the exhaust gases in the coolant and allows coolant to flow normally and not overheat. still a band aid but probably the best bet if this is a DOHC EJ25. - you don't mention what vehicle or engine this is? brake fluid is rather corrosive but you know that. i would think it's going to degrade something. i just replaced a master cylinder that's been leaking for like a year or two - and everything under it was eaten up pretty good. i have spilled brake fluid all over stuff before and never saw it do anything, but this prolonged contact definitely showed it's corosiveness.

I'd diagnose it first before yanking the engine. Leaks tend to start on the outer edges (valve covers, cams) and work their way in - so a valve cover or cam carrier seal of some sort slowly runs inward and gets blown around - making it hard to tell what's leaking. Maybe it's jsut the valve covers which are 30 minutes and $15 worth of work? I'd start simple and move your way up as you put some miles on the car and see how it does. If you still want to get the headgaskets done: I would not pull the engine on these to do a headgasket job, way overkill. It's easier if you pull it but by far the quickest way is to do it in the car. They're actually really easy to do in the car if you don't have a bad back. Have a 10mm ratcheting wrench handy for the valve cover gasket bolt in the rear. In the hours it takes to pull and install an engine you can have much of the work done. Folks will claim how quick they can pull the engine, but I wouldn't consider those norms for the average first timer or infrequent engine puller, set up time, etc. And even still a 45 minute pull and 45 minute install is still an hour and a half, enough time to already have both heads off. I'd rather have both heads off in an hour and a half than just getting started. Use Fel-Pro permatorque headgaskets - they don't require a retorque and are the preferred gasket by folks who do a lot of these (for this motor only, not all Subaru motors FYI). If you still want to pull the engine - unbolt and swing the a/c comrpessor to the side, engine comes out without disconnecting the lines. Remove everything that needs to come off - power steering pump lines, a/c compressor, disconnect wiring harness, two 14mm nuts underneaht for the engine mounts, 14mm bolts around the bellhousing, disconnect allt he radiator hoses, heater core hoses, ground wires, etc. use screw drivers and chisels to start separating the engine from the trans. fairly straight forward, disconnect anything connecting the engine to the vehicle/chassis then pull it. if it's an automatic be sure you know how to seat the torque converter properly.

Damon - sounds to me like the car might have torque bind. That's a problem but would actually give you excellent snow traction as it causes the rear transfer clutches to be "locked" together giving you full-time locked 4WD front to rear. You'll want to figure this out quick as torque bind can cause damage to the drivetrain and cause the clutch hub inside the rear extension housing to shear off. Torque bind would experience issues on pavement, mostly a binding around sharp turns on dry pavement (steering wheel turned to full lock), and possibly even wheel chirping if the binding causes one tire to slip......and probably poor performance - like pushing. There are two failure modes for torque bind - the duty C solenoid or the transfer clutches. The good news is they are repairable without removing the transmission. you can install the FWD fuse in the FWD fuse holder on the passengers side of the engine bay. if the car doesn't go into FWD then your Duty C solenoid is shot. If it goes into FWD then your clutches are sticking. The C10 chassis means next to nothing functionally speaking, certainly won't help here. I've driven XT6's for 18 years now and they really are excellent in the snow if you throw good tires on them. It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe it's just because I've owned so many, but they seem better than any other model in the snow (all things being equal, like tires).

As they're suggesting - did you adjust the TPS prior to installing? On older Subaru's you can do it without a gauge, I'd be tempted to try the same on newer gen if i ever have too. Just turn the TPS until it wants to stall, then back it off a hair from there for it to idle, then it's golden. If it worked fine before and now it won't it's doubtful the TPS is bad. If the wire was exposed prior to this work then is it possible there's corrossion a few inches down the wiring? I've seen this before - where an exposed wire has a good 4 - 6 inches of green corroded nastiness as you peel back the wire sheathing beyond just the exposed portion.

yeah it's easy. just run it in FWD or "locked" in 4WD. with only the front axles attached the 4WD is FWD. like they said you just have to have something in the rear of the trans to hold against the seal. install the shaft, hardly any extra work.

they are different bumpers so maybe it's different or my memory is that bad. if you follow the wire and get nothing or there's no access then i guess it is what it is. i've replaced the front fogs on my mine and it's as you say - some 10mm bolts holding the bracket in place.

Yep - what josh said. I just did the exact same thing - replaced that part on a 2000 Forester.

i replaced a 2003 legacy GT bulb a couple months ago and it was accessible from behind the bumper. I would assume the OBW is the same. Funny thing is I've replaced them on my O2 H6 OBW but can't remember since I just swapped the entire assembly, not just the bulb. *Got your PM, I did look but didn't find that amp yet, though I'm positive I have it as I just bought it a couple months ago.