idosubaru

i've found an easy fix to this that might work for you. the parking brake mechanism might be sticking. pull the wheel and the cable for the parking brake mechanism. you'll just need some pliers to pull it out of the groove, very simple. after that work the arm back and forth and make sure it's smooth. i've just worked them back and forth and never had trouble from them agagin. to be more thorough you could check the rubber boot and grease underneath. add grease if necessary and replace the boot if needed.

could any of those cause vibration for only 1 minute and then drive perfectly fine for hours on end?

1997 Impreza OBS AWD Automatic 120k. No vibrations at all normally. None while driving and none while braking. 3 times while driving I've had some vibration start while I was cruising. It's only happened at highway speeds - 60+ mph. It starts vibrating for no reason...cruising down the interstate at 70 mph. Applying the brakes makes it worse. Acclerating doesn't make it worse. First time I came to a stop, checked everything, and continued and there was no more braking when I got back on the road. Second and third time I just kept driving and it went away after a minute while cruising down the highway. But I did test it and it did get worse when I applied the brakes. It can't be rotors right? They can't magically vibrate badly and then go away for no reason can they? I have one new MWE axle. I'm suspecting the other axle?

sounds like your system is cycling on and off. it may do this if it's a bit low on refrigerant. i just fixed my friends jeep two days ago like this. it only needed about 5 seconds of charging and that brought it up enough for the system to work...still needed a bit more to be optimum. anyway, point being he was just low enough on charge for the system to cycle on and off like yours is doing. he was happy with $20 in parts for me to fix it verses the $1,300 quote from the shop!?!?!? they said leaking evap core which is odd considering how much pressure the system was under...hard to imagine there was any leak but i guess some of the charge did go somewhere. i would make sure you're refrigerant level is right where it needs to be. if it is and it's still not working then you need a pro to diagnose it from there. or do some extensive reading/studying and buying of equipment.

yep it won't make a difference. i've done it on manual and automatics before and zero difference. not worth the trouble. but the answer to your question is "no" it won't hurt anything in my opinion. but i would also say you're better off keeping the car running as it was designed verses like that. have it converted to FWD 5 speed if you want better gas mileage.

i've looked into it before and found no easy solution. you can google devises that run....i forget somewhere around $200-$400 to change it, and i don't know how compatible they'd be since they aren't subaru specific devices. i believe i started a thread about it a long time ago.

+1, i wasn't sure if EA81 stuff was different than all the later stuff, but it appears not. proceed carefully. there are a couple of good reads on old threads about this, i'd suggest practicing with the search button to find them. i replied in one of them so you can use my name as an aid using the advanced search feature. will only take you 2 minutes to find it. the basic idea is to install the retaining cap to the exact same position as it is in now when you reinstall it. this involves marking it's position and counting the number of revolutions when removing.

okay it's not in the front of the engine then? could be a fuel injector too. i'd pull the connector on each injector, one at a time. if it's a noisy injector it should go away when you unplug that one. never done this with new generation cars but have no reason to think they wouldn't be any different than the old generation of subaru's. they should run on 3 cylinders.

it's capable of that, depends what kind of driving you do. down there i imagine you need to run the a/c all the time, that won't help. but it's flat too so that's good. on all highway miles at 60 mph you should have no problem getting 28 mpg. read up on all the gas mileage tips. "weight" isn't really that big of a deal, keep your golf clubs in there. for highway mileage i've noticed literally no difference at all between riding solo and having my car packed with 500 pounds more of people or stuff. it'll make a difference for stop and go city driving, the accelerating of all that extra weight uses gas. but maintaining highway speed makes an unnoticeable difference in all of the subaru's i've owned so don't sweat it.

have you tried to isolate it with a "listening" stick or mechanics stethoscope to see where it's coming from or at least what side or front to back of the engine it is on? lifter. piston slap. rod bearing.

I'd go for it, i think that will be a straight forward swap for you. I'd try to retain the intake manifold to the car. Just swap long blocks underneath. Worst case scenario all you'll have to do is swap the cam sprockets.

What are you looking to have done?

i've had to deal with that a number of times. totally annoying no doubt.

not sure what EA82 timing belt pulleys run, but if it's $400 just for new pulleys like it is on some vehicles i wouldn't get those from subaru. i use the ebay timing belt kits all the time for the timing belt pulleys.

great - thanks a lot! that's kind of what i'm thinking about both of these, i've never seen any head gasket consume this much internally either...so i couldn't decide if i was just being optimistic or theirs a hint of possibility.

crack! don't have one or know how to use it. if you buy one do they typically come with instructions? where to hook up, how to use/read? how would it physically make a difference? intake leak wouldn't affect vaccuum, and HG would?

good call on the PCV. nipper, is there any chance the rings are "stuck" or is that impossible/improbable? i've heard that wet tests aren't always conclusive on certain engine layouts since the oil tends to pool at the bottom of the cylinder, is that bogus?

i have two vehicles that leak significant coolant into the combustion chambers, EA82 and ER27. what's a good way to determine whether it's head gaskets or intake manifold gaskets? both seem to leak ALOT, like it's pumping right into the cylinders. where the head gasket leaks i've seen before have all started small and increased over time. i know that probably doesn't make sense, probably just in my head. and of course there's a certain amount of wishful thinking, hoping at least one is only intake manifold! anyway - any hints/tips on verifying either way for sure?

i'm cynical and untrusting of dealers and mechanics in general. but i don't think they're to blame here. they should have warned you that there's a possibility of it not working out to your favor. but in general there are a handful of shops/dealers that won't even replace the headgasket due to the possibility of the block having issues....and then having miffed customers, like in your shoes right now. how many miles has it been driven since the work? how much was it driven when overheated? it would have to be driven while overheating significantly to cause block issues, they usually survive. that being said there are a few things to consider. 1. i would want to drive the car some more, change the oil and run a significant amount of seafoam through it. maybe others here can clarify but i'd wonder if there's a possibility the rings could be "stuck"? maybe they could seat better over time? 2. i would also want to verify where the loss of oil is happening and/or get a second opinion. if it is the rings then it's not their fault...if it's valve stem seals then it could be their responsibility since those were part of the head gasket job. even if you address the bad rings...if it was overheated enough to damage the rings i wouldn't trust the integrity of the rest of the block. for this much money/time i'm thinking you're expecting a good amount of service from this vehicle? dont' think i'd trust that individual motor for that if it was overheated enough to damage cylinders/rings. but again...a second opinion might negate that thought.

that was an interesting read folks. i feel like i should be taking a test soon and paying tuition! you're speaking theoretically which isn't palatable to most people. in academia maybe people are just numbers and worth it for the greater good of a perfect free market. yes, a free market corrects china, lead paint, asbestos..... when 10 years from now everyone realizes products are tainted and killing or disfiguring their children, buying habits change. but few people support that kind of "efficient" market correction. a few have said "free markets don't work"...it may be more accurate to say they are not tolerable (to most people)? and bulkwnkl has said he understands the idea of "a free country with a few rules".... i do like this discussion and wish/hope there's better things in store for the future. but for most people, is this really anything other than financial? most of this hype about oil prices is because it's hitting people in their pockets right? pointing fingers, expecting gov. handouts, and talking isn't going to solve anything. learning to live within your means helps tremendously. for those that live close to 100% of their income this is killer i'm sure. if it's not gas prices, it's medical, living, rent, family, health...something else. it just so happens that gas prices effect all of these people at the same time so it's easy to get a group think mentality going where everyone thinks it's someone elses fault. set a goal to live at %75, %80, %90.......or something not close to 100% and gas prices are much more tolerable.

OBW - Outback Wagon HG - Headgaskets four-fleet-feet is mentioning 4 cylinder EJ25 characteristics, not H6 6 cylinder characteristics. the H6 doesn't have a timing belt, though you could inspect the H6 timing chain. and the H6 doesn't have head gasket issues like the EJ25's. not that you can't check them, but it's highly unlikely you'll find anything. i would be very suspicious of the car being flipped. dealers are actually "flippers" as well. and you'll nearly always get hosed by a dealer, but if the couple thousand doesn't matter than buy away. all they are doing is picking up used cars from an auction and flipping them or selling trade ins. you really get less value...a car with zero previous history usually. though in rare cases it is a trade in and they will provide you a computer print out of the history. single owner cars (with service records particularly) are awesome, period. they're generally worth a premium.

edit - for ujoints - EA81 does not equal EA82. thanks!

did you check RAM and see what they use? that might be a start. there are loads of people that would say the complete opposite. a swap is way overkill for something you have a solution to but to stay factual, it's in your best interest to think about what caused that to see if those instances are really indicative of EJ/EFI or possibly something else.

sounds awesome, snag it for sure. cool cars and this one needs some things un-done to it, you sound like the rightful next owner!

just make sure the engine is good. i'm not sure how roll overs work but the oil pans/pick up tube does not get oil if the engine is upside down.