idosubaru

how old and many miles are on the tires? based on the wear i would bet the rubber is bad, not the tires themselves. rubber can degrade due to various things. i've had lots of tires with plenty of tread that absolutely sucked. it's age or sitting/weather/sun...other stuff, that degrades the rubber quality. i would be any non-sucky set of new tires will ride much better. i wouldn't concern yourself too much. basically any new tire you get (even the exact same brand) is going to be worlds better.

your time would be better spent replacing 15 year old hoses and clamps, cleaning/replacing the radiator, etc... to make sure it doesn't overheat and blow the gasket.

definitely not. actually when i see crush washer questions i got at first, having never done it and never knowing anything about it. let's see....30+ Subaru's i've owned, driven 45,000 miles in one year before - and i've always reused the old ones.

EJ22 - highly unlikely the head gasket will fail unless the cooling system is improperly treated. the fluid isn't changed, properly burped, something leaks, radiator clogs and causes an overheat - along with t-stat, radiator cap, water pump, etc. i usually replace all that stuff to avoid leaks/overheats, except the radiators i usually just wait until they start leaking unless they're really bad shape. dont' overheat it and you won't have head gasket issues. i guess you're talking about the external protrusion of the headgasket rusting? not sure what that means.

nice work, you owe me some advil after looking at all those!

i'm not sure why but EJ engines (like yours) are not very forgiving with ignition parts. the stock OEM's are best. is there any reason you're trying something other than the factory recommended plugs? it's all odd to me considering the older EA series engines will run fine with just about anything you throw at them.

most problems produce a CEL - but there are rare ocassions where for some reason you don't get a CEL. they are very annoying, but i've seen it happen to MAF sensors, crank sensors, O2 sensors, and TPS sensors...so i'm fairly confident just about any sensor can havea problem without actually triggering the CEL. rare, but it's definitely possible. the TPS actually has moving parts inside of it, so it's a good guess.

Air filiter, PCV valve, fuel filter? Those ever been replaced?

yep - part number look up shows Oxygen sensor, front oxygen sensor. and while looking it up these guys had one for $65, that's cheap for a Subaru O2 sensor: http://store.ncrally.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=191_133_140

not an EA82 - but similar engine in many ways - i had an XT6 that ran and drove perfectly fine, never overheated, and had a very slow seap at the rear of the engine. very much like the newer Phase II EJ25 head gasket leaks. i replaced those and it was good to go.

if you're needing head gaskets, buy Fel Pro permatorque gaskets. if you don't, they need to be retorqued. that is a total pain, do the headgaskets, run the motor, then tear the engine down and do it all over again = totally annoying. with the Fel Pro's, you just torque them a few pounds over final torque spec's and you're done. they're great, most of us on here use them.

awesome, i have a kubota to and wondered if i could get rid of my engine lift!!! dont' forget to make sure you know how to install the TC without damaging the transmission. easily overlooked and hard to judge that 1/8".

if the plug wires weren't Subaru that could be the problem. EJ engines (yours) are kind of annoying with wires, they don't do well with any aftermarkets. if they weren't Subaru you might want to replace them. i've seen brand new aftermarket wires cause hesitation. and for the future, OEM NGK plugs too are best on these engines.

i edited one of my previos posts.

can you update your location, that might help to know it's international. this car is OBDII. and you don't need to worry about this person using a scope. not sure what it's like over there but using one of those is extremely rare over here.

that's unrealistic to think everyone is going to do the exact same thing. but the funny thing is rebuilding your cylinder heads (which typically survive this gig - seen it) could be cheaper if you're doing your own labor! it would be around my neck of the woods.

Susie - yes you indeed did the right thing. It's supposed to be replaced at 105,000 miles. This is an interference engine so if the timing belt breaks it could sustain significant internal damage. So good going getting that done.

:confused:he didn't use an oscilliscope and of course it's OBDII.

hmm, my 02 OBW has a slight noise on the P/S, i'll give this a check.

once all the bellhousing, starter, and torque converter bolts are off i just wedge a chisel in between the engine/trans and work my way around. sometimes have to start with a screw driver. make sure you know how to seat the torque converter properly when reinstalling. it's quite common to ruin your trans by missing the 1/8" critical seating part. read up on here if you don't know what i'm talking about.

you're right, it's unlikely to be plugs anyway. these engines more often than not have ignition wire problems. well over 100K - the ignition wires may need changed. normally they give you a "cylinder misfire code" and a check engine light, but it's possible they're still causing it. by timing belt - you mean the actual timing belt, not the other drive belts right?

any maintenance history at all?

there's a number of online vendors of svx EG33 turbo/supercharger products too, or there used to be anyway.

he doesn't need to verify anything - you didn't understand what i wrote. i never said there wasn't "cylinder misfire" code. you can probably research how cam and crank sensors work and how a cylinder misfire is detected using google. you don't need to understand it - the bottom line is the belt jumping teeth can cause a cyl 1 & 3 misfire.

doubt the computer reset will help. how old/many miles are on the ignition wires? new wires (Subaru only for this engine) and NGK plugs may help. normally you'd get a check engine light (cylinder misfire) for those but not necessarily. (miles again?) has the transmission fluid ever been changed? (miles again?) has the timing belt ever been changed? when doing this, will it drive better if you manually shift it into gears - like 1st, 2nd, etc? rough idle - sounds more like an engine issue than a trans/shifting issue?