idosubaru

so you mean a timing belt pulley broke? if it did then there's a good chance of valve damage. leak down test should show that. a friend of mine repaired one with a bent valve, said it wasn't that bad. just your average head job. yes a used engine might be an option. if you're not doing the work you'll probably just want your mechanic to price out the options for you. but at 285,000 might be time for a used engine indeed if the car is in good shape/tune. if it's needing brakes, struts, exhaust..etc, then might be simpler to find another vehicles.

yeah, what he said. the buckle still functions. the belt retracting mechanism locks, the part i posted pictures of. not center console side buckle side. i imagine that small cylinder in the picture carries a charge and a pin/locking device of some sort? i don't know how *unbuckable* it is when it goes off though. the passengers side was stiff as a board it was so tight. the drivers had already been messed with and was just loose, but the mechanism had been tampered with making me wonder if maybe the belt was hard to unbuckle. if they got out, i'm not sure why they would have gone in and messed with the working of the locking mechanism but it was obviously tampered with and it's buried under trim, carpeting, etc. maybe i'll have to test one out! more video coming!! i'll set one off while i'm in the seat and see how it goes. that would be awesome.

roger that! back to hybridizing!

are you going to check this out yourself? are you looking for info to take back to the shop with you? not sure what you're looking for. the transmission should be checked out: check the clutch cable adjustment. often times the clutch cable needs adjusted shortly after trans work. i'm surprised the trans shop hasn't mentioned this, have you talked to them? check fluid level. as for the brakes - you need new pads and rotors. simple as that, everything you described is typical. nothing you mentioned there is out of the ordinary. there are other possibilities.....bad axles, bad ball joints, bad wheel bearings, bad steering rack bushings, bad struts....but the brakes are the most likely.

on a manual can't do that without other major work. unless he can intentionally destroy his viscous coupling center diff. or convert to FWD. i can verify that! i've done it a few times on auto's and manuals (older gen you could do it because the center diff is different) because of bad ujoints or diffs and no parts to fix. no gas mileage difference for my vehicles/driving style. no doubt, i wouldn't want to do it for an extended period with the intention of going back to 4WD. otherwise it would probably be fine. i've done it for extended periods and i'm not convinced it really makes much difference. i never had a problem and don't expect too if everything else is up to par.

welcome columbus! keep in mind you can do anything you want with enough time and money. you can make a Pontiac GTO FWD if you want to. give me $75,000 and i'll make that happen. why would you want to do this, are you doing it yourself, what do you know, and most important what kind of transmission do you currently have - auto or manual? and why? if you're trying to convert your current trans to run in FWD mode, that's pointless for gas mileage. if it's a manual, that's hard. you'll need to buy an older FWD trans and convert. that's going to suck, but it's possible. if it's an automatic, just put the FWD fuse in the fuse holder in the engine bay. or cut the duty C wire and remove all the rear components. or get an older FWD trans and convert....have fun with that. possible, yes. easy, no. i've done it but it would be much harder since your vehicle is a generational change after they did away with FWD transmissions in the mid 90's.

hhmmmm....tell him what he wants to hear and hope for the best or be honest..... yes, it's an interference engine. all suggestions above apply. the good news is you've got a great vehicle that's worth the effort. another 100,000 miles if you maintain it and don't run it hot or out of oil? not too many engines can do that as efficiently as this one. do it right and pat yourself on the back in 7 years!

sticking with the EJ trans sounds the way to go to me as well. a Phase I Ej25 will be an interesting swap into a Phase II EJ22 equipped vehicle. do you know all the intricacies of that? that's not nearly the swap that the 1998 and earlier stuff is. 1999+ is another ball game. a 2000 EJ25 into a 2000 EJ22 is more difficult than earlier years. add to that a cross-phase swap - 1996 Ej25 into a 2000 Phase II, that's not going to be simple. the EJ25's move rather nice, they power the wagons just fine. go drive a wagon and see how it feels, the impreza will feel even better being lighter and smaller. if you think you can get the Phase I EJ25 to work in the Phase II vehicle, then i'd just keep it stock. they have good power. use Subaru head gaskets and call it a day. _______________________________ changing gears a bit...might want to think about this. as a current OBS owner and owner of a 5 month old you might want to consider a legacy. the OBS is really tight with kids. with the car seat i can't put the front seats back as far as i want and i'm only 5'10". i also have a 1996 Legacy sedan which is much nicer than the OBS. the added few inches make all the difference with the safety seat and i can put the seat right where i want it. maybe your child seat will be smaller and not an issue since your wife is driving mostly. we take long trips and i hate sitting all up close and not being able to sit back normal or take a nap. doesn't feel safe either, but that's just in my head. i think the 2000+ legacy's have beefy safety rails that went from like 0.8mm to 2mm thickness, making a significant jump in safety with the redesign. the legacy's are nicer too, more comfortable, smoother, quieter, safer, rear disc brakes, nicely trimmed. all of this made me buy a 2002 OBW just a few weeks ago to get rid of the OBS. as talented as you are, i'd imagine you could pick up a legacy for next to nothing....probably one needing work for less than what you can sell your OBS for.

fairly certain it's there Andy. i know people that have added the heated mirrors to later models. and i know the heated seat wiring is all there in all 97 leg's, so i'd imagine the wiring harness in that 96 is the same. wonder if there's a simple way to check for it and where it would be?

thanks jerry that makes sense. my only experience is those on here, which is limited. i'm thinking of WJM and oddcomp who dove into stuff and now aren't around and moved on as far as i know.

when i was looking into MS a couple years ago the reliability info was lacking. i figure it's mostly because people are just playing with project cars and all. i'm not interested in something that needs constant adjustments and tinkering. i'd be all in if it was an install and leave it be ordeal. "i installed MS 5 years ago and haven't touched it since" would be nice to hear.

Signs like this indicate you need to immediately consider a few things to protect your tran$mi$$ion: Have you checked the fluid level? It could easily be low. Has the fluid ever been changed? It's over due. Do all the tires match in type, size, tread depth and the air pressure is properly set? Your owners manual specifically addresses these tire concerns on your 4WD vehicle. Has the ATF filter ever been changed - this trans has a screw on external filter similar to an oil filter on an engine. Doubtful your problem but easy to have a peak at. If you live in an area where it gets really hot in the summer an aftermarket transmission cooler might be something to ask the experts about. I install one on all my vehicles since have some rough driving and have a hitch/tow things often. Hot fluid...even if it's not hot enough to trigger lights that go FLASH in your car are very bad for transmissions.

sea foam can be added to the gas, oil, or intake....so you did it right. it depends what you're trying to do. what are you trying to do? i see carbon build up mentioned, what makes you think that's a problem? we can probably give you some pointers if you let us know what symptoms or problems you're having. as for carbon build up in the intake, replacing the PCV valve and cleaning whatever valve controls idle is probably the best place to start. those typically get gummed up and the PCV valve is a replacement item that many people neglect. cheap ($7 or so from Subaru) and easy to replace. there's a number of threads already on here about how to suck this stuff into the intake, might want to search for those. good luck!

it "locks" the seat belt so it's unmovable in an accident. so they are no longer useable after that point.

those temps are nuts. and you're car is moving in neutral, can you explain that a bit? that doesn't make sense to me. i'd start with synthetic and check the owners manual....does it go that low!?!?!

oh wow, i completely missed that and i've met Will before!! duh.

if it was worked on, i'd have them fix the trans. i wouldn't do anything but change the oil, no additives. there's detailed info on here about what additives and cocktails do to your trans. as for the brakes, just check them out. only takes a few seconds to cut the wheel and have a look at your rotors, or just peek through the wheels if you can. sounds like they're bad. needs pads and probably rotors by the sounds of it.

i've never seen that i don't think. that's awesome.

that sucks. that much oil, any seal could be leaking. though if it's dead center then it's probably the oil pump. the oil pump set up is different than the EA stuff. not harder, just different. the oil pump gets sealed to the block with anaerobic sealant, there's no gasket for the pump to block mating surface. the crank passes through the middle of the oil pump, so the crank seal is part of the pump. i guess you know the timing belt installing is different too...the EJ's are easier. both timing marks on the cams you line up at the same time, like you'd think! so it's the opposite of EA stuf. *** do not reuse the timing belt. learn from my mistake - brand new timing belts that have contacted fluids like that can break very quickly (a few months in my case). Here's a list of all the parts for this job: 2 cam seals 2 cam orings crank seal (also part of the oil pump) oil pump oring tighten oil pump back plate screws sealant for back of pump i'd order one of those ebay timing belt kits personally (ordered two just a couple weeks ago). for $80 you get the timing belt and all new pulleys and tensioner. would suck to do this job then a year later a timing pulley seizes and ruins the new belt. water pump nice to just do it all but EJ's don't fail very often so if you're penny pinching this is the best thing to skip. although if it's an interference EJ22 the water pump and timing pulleys are a must for just about any older engine, particularly a used, sitting-around-for-who-knows-how-long engine.

do you notice a difference at all while driving normal...like commuting, rather than maxed out tearing it up? just curious, that is crazy that little bar was that noticeable.

check engine light and if so what codes? sounds like the CEL should be on with a speed sensor code at least. check those codes and see if there's any others than just the CEL. maybe some nice person will disconnect their speed sensor and see what happens? sounds a lot like a vacuum leak to me. spray some carb juice under the hood at various hoses.

right on it was intended for the Phase II SOHC EJ25's which were in the 99 Foresters and 2000 legacy/OBW's. could it do any good in the earlier ones, i have no clue? Subaru wouldn't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole since that might elude to them "knowing" about it being a problem in those as well.

no telling. overheating and coolant loss won't help any head gasket, particularly 10 year old head gaskets. and particularly the DOHC EJ25. just comes down to statistics here. there's no black and white "yes it will" "no it won't" answer. if it wasn't overheated much he's got a good chance of being okay though, considering the leak was found. the smell is bound to linger for a while, no big deal. gets all in everything down there.

nipper, i already have the new ones partially installed, here's pictures of the old one though.

okay, thanks folks. so the clock spring is a separate part? i've heard of that, but not sure what or where it is. so i can also look for a body side clock spring connector from an earlier legacy and probably impreza.