idosubaru

oh, coolant.

they wear the hoses quicker and don't have as consistent pressure around the hose. or maybe i should say they are less forgiving. minor i know, but over the years i've seen it. not a big deal, just thought maybe i was missing something here. i'll use them if the OEM style isn't available (for less than $6 each from Subaru!). wow you must have really thought some funny things if you thought i meant regular hose clamps! oh to peak into nip's mind for a few seconds earlier today...!!!!!

yep all rear EA82, EA82T, and ER27 rear axles are the same.

means something, most likely in the transmission, is not allowing the rear wheels to be driven. there's a number of different ways this could happen so i'm not going to guess.

autozone, advanced and other places check your charging system for free. your alternator plug is probably fried - most of them are by now. look at the plastic plug...be careful pulling it out, most of them crumble or break. you can buy these new but they can be a bit of a pain to find. make sure your battery connections are spotless clean and nice and tight. i would fix this as soon as possible, easy simple fixes like bad connections, dirty, loose or bad connector - these will all lessen the life of the alternator and battery. as a matter of fact i wouldn't be surprised if one or both of yours fail in the next year. the better condition your charging system is in, the longer your alt's and batt's will last.

your oil pump most likely needs resealed like Miles said. if you're doing the work yourself, consider doing the timing belt, water pump, oil pump seals, and any crank or cam seals/orings that are leaking. all of that stuff resides behind the timing belt so best to do it at the same time. how long since the oil was last changed? is the oil level low?

i like the OEM style hose clamps, anyone found an aftermarket source for those or are they dealer only items? anyone have the part numbers?

the tank being black isn't necessarily very meaningful since they get dirty and even vehicles with perfectly fine head gaskets have dirty, nasty overflow tanks. but like you said when multiple things start pointing one way.... if you get an independent to do this job we can help you put together a list of things that might be specific to subaru's that he may not know. like what parts to only use Subaru parts on and what other items may need addressed. when you're ready, ask for some info on that and we'll help you get a top notch job out of it.

what? the dealer couldn't find them? there's a few online subaru dealers that probably have better pricing anyway and might do better for you. that's goofy they couldn't come up with the head bolts. just to make sure for you and others that will read this in the future - you do know that these head bolts do not need to be replaced? all the subaru enthusiast and shops around reuse the bolts (like Subaru and the FSM suggests) without issue. they are not the kind of head bolt that needs replaced. google "torque to yield" if you're not familiar with the different kinds of head bolts.

take a deep breath - i don't think you need to pay to have your rear main replaced...but there's a lot to this story so pardon the length. smell - look at your axle boots where they meet the transmission and make sure they aren't leaking or busted? my guess is the oil leak is not a rear main seal at all. if there's any oil coming from the front or sides of the engine...that's not a rear main seal - unless you drive backwards down the freeway!! take a peak and let us know where it's oily (or post a picture of the underside of engine). my bet is it's on the sides of the engine or the front. then pop the hood and look at the backside of the engine, there's a cap on the passengers side with two bolts in it. is that leaking? you could crawl under and wipe everything down really good. get a box of those shop towels..they're like really strong paper towels. cheap and throw away. if you clean this thing off and wiped it down good it may quit smelling if it is the oil causing the smell. it's probably got 5 years of leakage under there that's dripping and hitting the exhaust. 114k on a 95 Ej22 - definitely a keeper. if you don't over heat it or run it out of oil that motor will last as long as you care to keep doing maintenance on it. that's regarded as one of subaru's best motors in terms of reliability. you're nearly do for a timing belt - if it's ever been replaced at all, it should have been replaced once by now - 60,000 mile intervals. most likely one of the seals behind it is leaking - a cam seal/oring or crank seal. when you go to have your next timing belt done either have them replace them all or replace the ones that are leaking. i can almost promise that one of them is causing your leak. if you're not even loosing one quart between changes then that's a very minor leak. check your valve cover gaskets and replace if they're leaking. if you post pictures we can tell you if they're leaking or not. they are very cheap and very easy to replace. keep an eye on it and plan to replace some seals with your next timing belt change.

autozone and advanced both pull them for free. if you want us to help you make sure you get the actual code and not what the person tells you. get the 4 digit number. first - make SURE it's the rear main seal. post pictures and maybe we can help and preferrably clean it first and drive for a bit otherwise it may be too dirty to tell. rear mains very rarely leak in subaru's. as for the rear main seal. that's a huge job because it requires pulling the engine (or tranmission) to do. you'll be in the $400-$600 range to replace an $8 seal. you'll want to replace the rear separator plate too - there's an updated metal one for it. that's why i say make sure it's the rear main.

yeah J since you went hogsballsout and bought those new head bolts you can use the old ones as cleaners. air tools are sooo nice here, hope you have them. any way run an old bolt in and out a bunch of times and keep cleaning/oiling the threads. that job sucks without air tools and is a breeze with them. tear it up! glad to here that was only the sawzall escapade!

do you mean only a "slight" turn to the right or anything past that? in other words, does it do it with a slight turn and full lock or just the slight turn? you're positive it's from the rear? my guess is a rear wheel bearing. with the wheel off i'd check all the hardware too - brakes, calipers, bracket and ABS sensor. make sure nothing is obviously loose.

probably a head gasket with good timing on the road trips home. but time will tell. the bubbling in the overflow tank is a sure sign - that's the gases in the coolant getting pushed out the expansion tank. you can often hear them bubbling once the car is shut off.

i'd have a look at those lines - they are probably very easily replaceable with rubber hoses. remove all the metal and install rubber lines in their place. there usually isn't all that much stuff and it should be easy to find if it's in the fender area.

yeah those things can be next to impossible to get off. i'd just take the entire lump in, even though that's a pain too.

dial up to the rescure - that subaru endwrench article suggests some relation between the PCV valve and this 0440 code in 1998+ vehicles. not sure if that would apply to your 97 or not.

you can type any of these codes in your fav search engine like i did and 6 seconds of work give you this: P0440: Evaporative Emission Control System Malfunction Subaru's own website has some explanation...i'd tell you if it's useful or not but it's not loading too well on my SUPER FLY DIAL UP right now, so check this out: http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/fuel/FtEmissionServiceS01.pdf

i've done 2.5's before with straight sockets. maybe some years are different or with enough pushing it'll work?

who is "Hobby Gary's"? i did something similar to the old gen's where the sensor itself threads into the block. on an XT6 (same set up as EA82) i wrapped the threads of a knock sensor with plumbing tape. which brings up the interesting point that EJ knock sensors seem less reliable then older gen stuff.

glad everything worked out, that's great. USMB is super nice. see the "donor" icon under my user name - you can even donate to show your appreciation. i in no way benefit from that, i just donate because i feel the same way you do. my OBS rear washer isn't working either, we can start a club. i haven't looked at it yet. that cogged idler, you mean when you were trying to install the new timing belt? that thing can be a total pain to get in properly! i wonder if anyone has come up with a simple solution. it seems like Subaru always designs timing belts just a bit too tight. why not make them simple to install...just an extra bit of room and design the tensioner to take up that slack? bizarre that they design just on the threshold favoring the side of PITA!?!? yeah, i like the looks of that tool. i always drill a tiny pilot hole and use a self tapping sheet metal screw in it then a hammer/pliers on the screw head to pull them out. that works well and if you're careful lining up and holding that drill bit it works every time.

subarupartsforyou is showing different part numbers for these vehicles. 1990 Legacy part number: 22060AA031 22060AA061 is the 1996/1997 EJ25 and EJ22 part number 1990-1995 shows the older part number (...031) and 1996+ (EJ22 & EJ25) has the newer part number (...061) they are very simple in nature and usage so i wouldn't be too surprised if they're interchangeable.

that's a really good one to mention. get your charging system up to date now. make sure your alternator and battery cable connections are excellent. clean them and install new terminal connectors if needed. they should be spotless and tight. this will extend the life of your battery and alternator. alternators are very questionable items. they are at the whims of the previous owners maintenance, which on a 20 year old car leaves much to chance. carrying a spare used one is a great idea and luckily with subaru's they are SUPER easy to change. i do this on all my older subaru's as soon as i get them.

some things like ignition coil, MAF, Crank and Cam sensors are so small and easy to replace you can throw extra's somewhere in the car. as far as leaving you stranded i would rate an ignition coil as top priority if you wanted to keep one of those on hand. the cam and crank sensors do fail but i'm not sure how often they cause an all out no-start issue. other things usually give you a fair warning before causing a no start condition and they don't fail very often. if you really wanted to be well adept at this - it would be good to know which ones you can unplug and keep the car driveable, that allows you to disconnect one that might be giving you fits.

it's not that big of a deal, but in general an EJ22 is a better fit. the EJ25 should treat you fine.