idosubaru

WHAT? wiggling isn't in the FSM? crazy subaru guys. how bizarre it was loose enough to partially make contact. awesomeness to find an easy solution.

just to let you know if your 95 is an automatic the entire engine will drop right into the forester (either manual or auto). it happens to be the perfect plug and play engine swap. bolts right up, plugs right in.

you can also ask here tons of folks here have fixed A/C stuff. but i agree that a bit of learning is good - try google and you'll find some info, that's what i did just sifted through online material until i got a feel for it and i've repaired lots of A/C. i know this is frowned upon by some but personally i'd try a can of the stop-leak refrigerant first, it's a nearly 20 year old car i wouldn't get too crazy on it. told a buddy of mine to do that a few years ago on his and it's been fine ever since, talked to him yesterday.

yes, i've seen it before. so far it has been due to corossion or build up - basically the clip is dirty and damaged. it needs cleaned or get new ones so the pad can travel over the service otherwise it can hang. i actually like buying the NAPA Adaptive One pads...though i'm sure there's plenty others...because they come complete with new clips/etc. they should be available at parts stores too, or clean yours. since all of my cars have age i consider greasing the slides and cleaning/replacing those clips as part of a brake job.

everything is working against gas mileage. 4WD. Automatic. Outback - wagon, roof racks, higher stance. It's just not meant to be a good gas mileage vehicle. highway mileage could see a little better and you'll do better at 60 instead of 75 mph as well, but that's hard to do!

i'd view it more like a different motor than i would the same motor with differences. the intakes are not interchangeable and the motor was somewhat redesigned as well. this is the one i was thinking of: i believe the folks that have done it have idle issues. if you still want to think about it i'd spend some time searching here, i know there's one or two folks that have done it and mentioned the issues with it.

good call. would it cause it to be "not driveable"? to be stranded by an O2 would be odd i would think. anyone ever find out if you can drive with them unplugged like you can older gen stuff?

pretty much what they've all said - you get what you pay for is true but you really do want an honest person/company as there's plenty of shady people around. high end quotes can be places that are booked and don't have problems getting jobs - they quote high if they don't get it, it's no loss, if they do it's huge profits. truss companies will sell you trusses, contact them with your needs and buy direct from them. setting trusses will require help or crane rental if they're large. if you minimize your truss loading you'll be underdesigned for any storage, some places will space the trusses to reduce costs, but this also reduces capacity and safety. drywall and ceiling is rather easy to do yourself and could save some cash if you wanted to do some sweat on it. good luck, sounds like fun!

if you crank the pulley down tight enough, it's not coming off. i've installed them without any key in place. with a 3 foot pipe and some stank it's not going anywhere. so whatever you want to do with the key, make it work, just make sure you tighten the SNOT out of the bolt when you reinstall. and make sure the crank pulley is still okay.

no, O2 sensors won't cause any drivability issues at all. never tried it on newer stuff but older stuff drives fine with the O2 sensor unplugged.

GD is funny. in 99 EJ22 went to Phase II so everything earlier is not going to be a simple swap. possible options: swap the 99 wiring harness onto the old intake manifold then it's plug and play. phase II may have went from a MAF to MAP style and the idle control may differ - check into those, it's doable though on the EJ25's from Phase I to Phase II so it's doable with the EJ22 as well - just not sure what needs to happen or if possibly you'd be left with a ghost CEL. might want to find a couple older threads from the same Phase I to Phase II EJ25 swap and see what info you can glean there. can he swap 99 heads onto the older blocks?

you know two people. mine is FWD auto and it's underpowered. it's bareable for daily driving, mostly annoying traveling long distance, it can't do inclines at highway speeds without constant down shifting and even with that it won't hold speed with much more than me in the car weight wise.

original post said: "all your base are belong to us." or something like that. it made no sense, it was a legitimate post? sorry to pick, but it was written in haste, might try introducing yourself and having a conversation with a few folks.

it's not the sensor itself, or highly unlikely i should say. although i'm sort of inclined to replace them as GD suggests because i plan on keeping the cars another 100,000 miles or more. if i have these codes at 200,000+ miles i might reconsider. this is covered a lot here and sparks some strong opinions. if you look right now at the bottom left you'll see "similar threads". there's also a search function which shows lots of previously covered info about this issue. rear sensor is doing nothing, it's just a monitor, so this code is benign. the front sensor is the one that affects gas mileage and actual engine characteristics. the rear is just a monitor that has horribly tight thresholds which cause problems if you look at it funny. the issue is that the tolerances are too narrow, so how you go about fixing that is your decision. first make sure you don't have any leaks in the exhaust, a leak alone will cause this, because the tolerances. best bet, and what i and others do, is to fix it for $6 with two anti-fouler trick, lots of information on that posted here. they even sell little adapters on ebay that do it for you. remove rear sensor, install this adapter, reinstall O2 sensor. you're done for $6. this sort of "increases" the tolerances to a more acceptable level. aftermarket might work. replacing with anything other than Subaru leaves certain percent of folks that still have the issue...or it comes back in a year or two. again - tolerances are the issue, minor differences can cause issues. Subaru units are insanely expensive.

in general outback (i'm assuming it's not an "impreza outback"?) and forester stuff is often not interchangeable. outback is a legacy platform, forester is an impreza platform and they usually get different trims and interior bits. is it that hard to just find an outback switch?

the main issue is that pads and rotors won't fix a brake pedal going to the floor. it is also extremely odd to need all new front and rear pads and rotors at one time. he said nothing about vibrating or shaking so his rotors are likely fine, or it would be very odd for all of them to need replacing. they should be turned at most, not replaced. i know you're aware of all that anyway, but i think it's the poor diagnosis, not the cost that is alarming.....well the cost is crazy too!

the check engine light on for the rest of the life of the car is crazy talk, you were right about that. first thing that comes to mind is the timing belt tensioner. they make a rap/rap/rap sound that sounds very mechanical/metallic. they can be variable as well and come and go randomly or under different conditons (loads). if you pull the drivers side timing belt cover (only 3 10mm bolts) you *might* be able to see the tensioner. when they fail and make this noise, they visibly move as the load on the timing belt changes. this could be confused for something major. this noise would be at the front drivers side of the engine if you have a mechanics stethoscope. this is a stretch but i thought i've heard mention once about oil pumps causing noise if the backing plate gets too loose. automatics can have cracked flexplates but i'd suspect that wouldn't come and go as you're describing. definitely want to make sure it's not piston slap, which is totally benign and the car can run indefinitely with it. but that's usually at start up and quiets down as it warms up so that's probably not it.

dealers cut me keys all the time. which means they should be able to tell you the code as well. i never show any proof of anything, i had one cut two weeks ago and had a friend pick it up! i'm sure it's a nationwide subaru database or they have access to it, so any dealer should be able to get it, online or otherwise.

i just had the same thing happen - folks are starting to suggest that rebuilt MC's aren't near 100% so it's likely it's the rebuilt MC. i haven't gotten around to replacing it yet, but it's really annoying trying to figure this out. the dealer was definitely looking for easy money, they only quoted $900 because $1,000 would be grand theft :lol: they deserve a solid kick to the groin for that. volunteers anyone?

oh wow, 2 years old, they should be fine then. maybe a controller swap is in order?

or i don't keep them long enough seems i'm rotating through EJ stuff quicker than i used to older gen stuff. thank you kids. it's smarter to get an alignment when doing work like this than all the alignment jobs being sold with new tires. they're pulling perfectly even old tires and requiring an alignment for new tires, that's just goofy.

pretty much what he said. should be good to go if the job was done right, i probably wouldn't get it if Subaru gaskets weren't used. you can tell by looking at the head gasket, the Subaru's are a multi-layer design. like he said there are a low percentage of bottom end failures of EJ25's, so that's sort of a gamble. $2,500 is a great price if the head gasket job was done right and the engine wasn't abused. car should also have new timing belt and pulleys though, it's an interference engine so if any of that fails you'll have internal engine damage. wheel bearings like candy is about right.

no problem, glad (or hope!?) it was simple.

i was pointing out the other side, not that i recommend it, i dont think everyone has to do and act the same and the side of caution is my recommendation on tie rods, very dangerous item. not alarmist, your recommendation is probably a better fit for most. has nothing to do with cash for me. i don't get alignments unless i forget to mark and reinstall something alignment related (happened once). been doing that 10 or 15 years since a guy in the industry said alignments are overmarketed pocket stuffers. it's easy on subaru's for me, since I rotate tires often and have multiple sets of snow tires, I can get an alignment if/when I see uneven tire wear....which hasn't ever happened in a non-wrecked Subaru. maybe just lucky so far but 400,000+ miles or so without an alignment works for me. and that's with replacing control arm, power steering rack, strut/ball joint/tie rods and hubs - most of which are said to be "must align" replacement items.

no one is down on headgaskets, most of us frequently recommend that. options are good though. i'm not saying this is what *should* be done, only an option. i personally wouldn't do that big of a job on an interference engine without doing the timing belts and pulleys, all of which are likely to be questionable at the distance to the moon kind of mileage. my time is extremely valuable personally and financially, so a head gasket job only isn't a good fit for me. if i spend that much time i want a really good chance at another 100,000 miles out of an engine. personal preference, everyone is different and has different valuation of time and wrenching, so options are good to let folks decide themselves.