idosubaru

trans in 02 is nothing i've ever heard of. 105,000 mile timing belt interval. interference engine so it's a very crucial component. many of us replace at least one if not all the pulleys as well since they're expected to make it to 200,000+ miles. at 100,000 miles i'd also want: fluids changed (trans, diff, coolant) new Subaru thermostat, PCV, air filter, spark plugs and wires The only thing expensive out of all of that is the timing belt - dealer charges $699 for the belt only around my parts. otherwise not many issues except the EJ25 head gasket issue. Subaru has an extended 100,000 mile head gasket warranty on 2000-2002 models, looks like you're right around the tail end of that.

easiest way is to have an entire car. often that's cheaper if you can find a wrecked one too as they really aren't worth anything. i've been offered more free subaru's than i can recall - probably 5 at least. granted you have fewer down there, but worth a shot. as for parts list i'm sure it's been covered before. trans, trans mounts, pedal assembly, shifter and linkage, clutch cable, center console stuff, driveshaft (different length). i'm not familiar with this older stuff but on some models it's nice to have a matching instrument cluster (without the park, drive, neatral, etc), then that might give you rpm's too if you don't already have it...but again i don't know subaru's this old. same goes with any 4WD solenoids/hoses/lines if equipped.

i've yanked engine and trans both as a lump in multiple Subaru's, the largest contraptions being: XT6 AWD's EJ25 AWD Auto's and AWD Manuals i'm guessing the tiny EA81 and FWD will come right out. only suggestion i have is to make it easy to angle/adjust the lump as you may need to increase the angle as you come forward.

all the transmissions from 96-99 (98 for forester) are interchangeable - the only functional differences are in the final drive ratios. Final drive ratios that should match your 97 OBW are: 96-99 OBW, 96-98 Forester, 96-99 Legacy GT & LSi should all work. (my guess is later models work too, but they're likely more expensive and i'm not sure). one reason the 98's are not listed as an interchanging transmission are because they incorporate an external screw on transmission filter that that 96 and 97's don't have. but it doesn't matter since 97 and 98 OBW transmissions are identical in every other way, so it doesn't affect your swap - just install a new trans filter before you install any 98+ trans. also the bell housing changes slightly in 98 - but it's all bolt up and plug and play, not a big deal and doesn't require any additional work or anything.

well if the rest of the car is in decent shape then you can actually get another reliable and inexpensive 100,000 miles out of the car if you do it right. if you're even considering doing trans work then surely you're up to doing a brake job or the easy 30 minutes Subaru alternator work...just because if you put this much into a car you're probably going to keep it long enough to run into a few minor things like that. If you're going to do it - do it right: 1. replace the head gaskets (subaru only on that part) and the timing belt, water pump, and all the timing belt pulleys (ebay sells kits for them all). If yours are decent you can try and keep your pulleys and only replace the ones that are noisy/not smooth, but with that many miles it might be quite a few). 2. get a used transmission. Put the money into doing the motor right - if you want another 100,000 the transmission will be the easy part. Subaru transmissions rarely have issues. The best bet is to just buy a transmission with a warranty or from a wrecked car, then you know what it was junked. Being this new you're going to have to have horrible luck to buy a bad trans. I've gotten quite a few trans, even really old ones, and they've always been good and i always go really cheap. Be careful of warranty though - if yo'ure paying for the install the warranty doesn't cover labor so yo'ure sort of hosed in that regard if it is bad. These guys have two transmissions for only $450, one has 110,000 miles in WA state. 800-551-4489 / 360-262-3550 Another WA place: $550 for 61,000 miles 1-360-423-0370

yeah larry - just completely unplug everything electrical to the transmission. default mechanical configuration is duty C locked (4WD) and 3rd gear only. good thing to check and not assume anything on such a huge job, but it sure sounds rather catastrophic.

wow that is crazy. sometimes more than 2x since the printer pauses a bit to allow the ink to dry before feeding the second side.

it is amazingly simple, much easier than i ever thought it would be. last one i rebuilt while it was still attached to the car, cake, but it was a single piston legacy that time. it's actually easiest to get the piston out while it's still on the car. with the caliper unbolted so the pistons can come out - push the brake pedal until the pistons are almost all the way out or only held in by the rubber boots. then wiggle them out by hand (have a bucket under the caliper as fluid will obviously come pouring out. takes 50 seconds doing it that way rather than fiddling with it off the car. once the piston is out, remove it and work on it on the bench. if yours was frozen though the piston or bore might be in bad shape though, i suppose it depends where/how bad that is how you proceed.

loud thunk - so the CV's haven't busted - like they're rotating internally? no light flashing on start up? did you try the FWD fuse just for kicks? unplug the trans and see if it moves, that will tell you if it's likely mechanical or electrical in nature. sounds like bad mojo though - but these trans should be really easy to find particularly in your neck of the woods.

yeah these motors are notorious for overheating if you don't properly bleed the cooling system (easiest way via the radiator screw mdjc mentions). as for the trans - are you saying transmission fluid is pumping out of the differential fill tube on the passengers side? something sounds terribly wrong with that. it was running perfectly fine before this (i highly doubt it - there's just no way to have a head gasket and trans failure like this simultaneously). i'd drain the fluids and refill - to make sure someone didnt' accidentally fill the wrong one with the wrong fluid.

bolts should be tightened immediately after installation, not later. as for dry time, that's a good question and i've wondered before as well. i think i've always been fortunate enough to let it set overnight, but i wouldnt' be surprised if this stuff is ready to go very quickly. just a guess though. did you google it or search?

i started a thread here and on the subaruxt.com forum, here's a link with pictures: http://subaruxt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4304&p=32269&hilit=clutch+cable#p32269 don't recall it being all that difficult and definitely don't have to remove anything.

I think everyone is right to various degrees, this is kind of a gray area. It is quite annoying that ABS has some glitches in rough weather. But a lot of people are driving terribly in snow and ice. Is there a test for that? Are they reading about that somewhere? The ABS thing is really a drop in the bucket, even though I was fired up about it too at first. Any accident resulting from ABS should be low speed and minor. Accidents resulting from stupidity are far more serious. 4WD, LSD, and snow tires improve traction but there's hardly anything that will improve braking in slick conditions - so all of that stuff just enables people to drive faster than they should. When confronted with snow, tires and speed are orders of magnitude more important than anything else. I'm getting to the point where I wish states would require snow tires or chains just because people are driving like buffoons. I hate regulations but folks just drive way to dangerous in bad conditions. Qman's words ring true around here, i won't even begin to tell stories just from this year. All involving 4WD vehicles so far. Get studs or chains and the car will stop!

a tapping sound at start up that goes away when warm is commonly due to piston slap. EJ engines are very prone to this - mostly EJ25's and sometimes EJ22's. it is completely benign and doesn't effect anything, just turn the radio up and keep your windows closed! if it diminishes after warming up and stays constant i would guess it's piston slap. if it's more variable than that then i'd guess HLA's. subaru has a redesigned piston to alleviate piston slap it but it's hardly worth the time considering the problem doesn't affect anything except maybe sanity if you're not able to withstand the sound.

Did you try Subaru? The online vendors offer substantial discounts to your local guys. Though the locals will often match those prices (mine does). Don't forget to replace the throw out bearing, pilot bearing and throw out bearing clips while you're at it. A good clutch kit will come with all of those, but if it doesn't be sure to source and replace them all. Now is a good time to reseal your separator plate while the trans it out too - search for info on those. As for the actual clutch I don't have any experience worth mentioning. Have your flywheel turned at a machine shop. Won't be any significant difference between that and a new one. They know what they're doing and will check it first to make sure it's in limits and all - but I would wager a good chunk of change it will be. There are quite a few suppliers of clutch kits but only a few manufacturers, so companies are packaging the same parts under different names. They might even have a mixed bag - some are getting OEM supplier parts, some are not and not and some are a mix of both. Probably hard to be quantitative about it. I would assumed that the cheapest ebay kits are not the highest quality. I know that doesn't help much but I haven't seen much good clutch kit info either. Although I've never really heard substantial comments either way - including no bad reviews on any kits. I've only actually used after market kits (though I can't recall which ones because it's been at least 2 years since I've done a clutch) and no problems yet. But that doesn't really mean much because people buying the cheapest stuff typically aren't keeping their cars as long as those buying Subaru parts (like folks owning newer cars, etc). So it's hard to say.

check usps.com for rates given the size and weight. you're now limited to air freight only so rates have gone up substantially since a couple years ago.

The shop is wrong. But not intentionally. Often with interference engines you could sustain severe damage - cylinder walls, pistons, etc. They probably don't want to get into all that and are scared of the price tag. But that's not the case with this engine. Although it's an interference engine it will only sustain valve damage, none of the more catastrophic stuff. That's not really a big deal, basically just a head gasket job which isn't a bad idea to do anyway on this motor. I'd say do this job right, put the money in it and you're good for another 100,000 miles. Dealer charges about $1,200 for a head gasket job - usually you can get an indepedent (preferrably with subaru experience) to do it for about that plus they'll do the timing belt and pulleys for you. *** In the future - realize timing belts need replaced and replacing the pulleys is a good idea too because of this. Even if it's within mileage it's still a 10+ year old vehicle. Notes: Use Subaru only head gaskets for this EJ25 motor. Replace all the timing pulleys, ebay has kits that are far more reasonable than buying them from Subaru. Any seals that are replaced (Cam and crank) should be Subaru only as well. Higher quality and better materials. Online Subaru stores offer substantial discounts.

+ 1 no need for disty. remove both side timing belt covers. it's only 3 10mm bolts and you got a great view of the belts. no need to reinstall, many of us don't even use the timing belt covers anyway and you're not even sure what's happening to the motor, just chunk them in the trunk.

no worries on priming it. any air that goes to the master cylinder will float to the top and reside inside the reservoir, not go into the lines. that's what mine does, i was worried at first but that's how they all work, very simple. you only need about 10 psi. I think i get mine to roughly 7-8 and it works great there.

Very easy swap - plug and play no wiring. No differences in trans, bolts right up. Two minor issues: EJ18's all had EGR so you have two options: 1. Do what I do and get an EJ22 without EGR and save yourself the annoyance. But then you have a check engine light. 2. Get an EJ22 with EGR. The other issue is exhaust - EJ18 is dual port exhaust. 95 EJ22 is dual port exhaust (auto has EGR, manual probably won't). 96+ EJ22's are single port exhaust, but that's easy to deal with, just get the exhaust manifold with it, it bolts right up to the car in place of your old one. Most 96's all have EGR (99%). 97 and up EJ22's are interference engines - if the timing belt breaks you'll sustain valve damage. Be sure to properly maintain the timing belts due to that.

mike - you meant to say a 99 right? frankly Subaru is out of their mind when it comes to brakes. i wouldn't wait for an answer - i'd read through Jamal's brake thread, it's fantastic and necessary when trying to interchange calipers. did you try cross referencing first?

both are solid motors. i'm not aware of much turbo experience on the board here but have never heard anything against them. i'm a fan of the 6 cylinder motors. subaruoutback.org has some good feedback and info as well. probably more what you're looking for, has dedicated forum for 6 cylinder stuff, etc.

rust rings are common - you almost have to have them on the rotors. basically the entire rotor is going to rust except the part in contact with the wheel and pads. if it's contacting the pads it should not be rusty there - it's impossible actually as the pad would wear the rust off immediately as soon as it started to form - the same reason that rotors stay clean and rust free on all the other millions of cars on the road. you said the "bracket is not there" - well that's impossible if by bracket you mean the "caliper bracket". a picture might help here. in general though you're fine, just keep driving it if the brakes work. you'll just eat through rotors fast. i've seen guys running rotors that were rougher than sand paper - just chewed up metal. pads just wear really fast, but they'll work fine.

wow this sounds like fun! if you take enough blocks/jacks/wood you can jack the car off the ground and slide the dolly under it and avoid steering/pulling it. it's a job but i've done it before. pump the tires before you leave and i'll bet they'll be fine getting where you need to go. i've towed tons of cars that have been sitting for years. if they got air, they're not likely to dump it all in an hour. take two cans of fix a flat and dump it in for good measure. as for abandoned and no title - just yank what you want and scrap it. might not need to do paper work. In maryland, PA, or WV, i've scrapped cars in all those states without any title or paper work. You can do it yourself or call one of the local "junk men" in the newspaper - they'll usually know how or have connections to junk yards that will take just about anything.

what's the story of the CV axles? ever been replaced, ever had bad boots, etc? i can't think of why it would "switch" sides though. ever had any trans work done? has the gear oil ever been replaced or even checked?