idosubaru

given the same engines (EJ25 in OBS and Forester, assuming you get NA and not the turbo) i don't think the gas mileages will be much different...assuming the Forester you get is well maintained and such. there may be a small difference head to head...but if you lift the Legacy that may make up most of the small difference.

i've delivered pizza back in college. the real issue isn't the vehicle at this point, they are for the most part very reliable. the real issues are what is the prior maintenance history because it doesn't matter how good the car is if the previous owner beat it to crap, didn't maintain it and it still has 20+ year old rubber hoses, belts, water pumps, seals, and gaskets. if all of that is original then it's just a matter of time before you develop ticking HLA's, oil leaks, leaking water pumps, hoses, etc. Not too mention alternators, wheel bearings, axles, and brakes need maintenance usually at some point. When I get a new XT6 i install a new alternator or at the very least put a spare in the trunk. 20 year old alternators with who knows what kind of abuse with dead batteries and such make for a hit and miss kind of thing.

hey you asked here instead of the XT6 forum! do you have our new address?? http://subaruxt.com/forum/ height sensor stuff - those are inside the strut and unreachable (well by conventional methods)....of course anything is possible with enough tools and effort. but i wouldn't start there just yet. if the strut is fully compressed, often times they won't air up right when first installed or if they've been sitting for awhile. one trick is to just jack it up so the strut is extended and then turn the car on - it may then inflate. or manually inflate it (using the connectors i'll detail below) and then it'll work fine after that. make sure your plug is clean and fully seated. you don't think the rear solenoid is leaking - there's an oring between it and the strut, did you replace that? there's also another fitting that the height sensor wires go through - 17mm i think..o rmaybe 14, anyway, make sure this is tight and not leaking as well. it has an oring underneath of it too. run 12 volts directly to the solenoid or ground it at the wiring harness in the engine bay by the front drivers side strut tower, i can't recall the details on which ones are what...though if facing the connector it's mostly the pins to the left that control the compressor and each strut solenoid. if you have the FSM it tells you which is which. this is probably already covered and posted on the xt forum. this is the first thing i'd do (assuming the major things are in order..plugged in), is to verify the solenoid works on the car and try to listen for it clicking while operating. good luck!

here's a tip - just stuff some grease in the broken boot all up into the joint as much as you can. you'll be amazed how much it reduces noise and vibration (at least it always has for me). yeah definitely will make it. i drove to the Gulf coast of GA from Maryland and back with boots that had been broken for a long time. they only clicked turning left....then when i got to driving in the sand in south georgia..WOW did that toast the axles. they were making serious racket and vibrations driving straight. got it home..packed some grease in there by hand and drove it a few hundred more miles until i found a good time to replace the axle.

Gloyale - the 88-91 FWD manual XT's are excellent for gas mileage. 40+ mpg in stock form. i bet you could get 45 with some playing around.....5 lug 16" wheels and XT6 electric power steering, remove the clutch fan...and play with the exhaust..

all stock connie, no aftermarket stuff. laser temp guage is definitely on the list. i think radiator and hoses are getting hot.... i remember checking them to see if i could tell if the radiator wasn't flowing right. but it hasn't overheated since the fall...back when it was hot out last, so i'm relying on memory. was your gauge reflective of what the engine and heat were doing and in the normal XT6 ranges most of the time? mine is predictable as a sunrise. was your quirky and unpredictable or predictable? another observation today....eventhough it's cold out and it never overheats...it did drift up above normal only after start up, warmed up, then dropped back down (remember i've owned 20+ XT6's i know exactly how they go)...went above normal, then drifted back down to normal. drove awhile on the highways, got off to get a bite to eat and it did the same thing when i restarted it...car already warmed up...temps drift up above normal...then back down and never go up again for the next 2 hours at highway speeds and driving around town. it never went above normal after dropping back down from the above normal (1/2 way) mark. drops back down and is rock steady? i have off tuesday i'll dig into this. i'll need to find a laser temp thing between now and then. what temperatures am i looking for, does anyone know? and where do i take them?

sweet momma...i have a vaccuum pump so i could arrange a little pump like that as well? do you have someone pouring in the master cylinder while your pulling the fluid through the caliper? dude, all that takes is some line and a catch can....awesome.

i replaced it with a Paraut pump from rockauto.com. now that we're talking about it the car was running hot before i replaced the pump, it was running hot when i got it. i assumed it was old radiator/fan relay related back then. the fan relay was shot and the fan wouldn't come on. of course i replaced those and the issue never went away. so i'm probably fooling myself into a couple hours of work that won't fix it. i think i have an extra radiator i could try but the radiator in it was new and was used in another XT6 i was driving that ran perfect. baffled, i'm thinking it's got to be a minor leak somewhere/somehow. i just checked and it's full of coolant....but it has to be a leak somewhere to be doing this.

i'm not a fan of my snow tires, but man they are awesome in the nasty stuff. i'd be interested to hear how your non-snow tires work in the spring.

i was thinking that had to be a relief hearing that it did it before - rules out all the engine/intake and your part. good thing he was honest! be interested to know how it's fixed if you ever hear about it again.

that's why i kept asking the same questions....that's very important information. same engine and if it did it before the engine swap, and you swapped the intake as well (which you said you did), there's a high percentage chance you just ruled out most sensors and wiring related fuel injected stuff...anything on the intake. that rules out a ton of stuff (most likely). MAF may be a good starting point. i wasn't sure if the EJ style had the "hot wire anemometer" style wires in them or not. apparently no.

this is out of my realm of expertise...if i have any...but snow tires do suck for most anything else but driving in slick conditions. i haven't "tested" the wife's OBS (the impreza hatch body style), but it seems to handle very well and doesn't roll/sway much at all. i doubt your existing struts are "bad", i think some minor suspension upgrades may help. hopefully others will pipe up and help with the specifics.

i've done this multiple times before and i'm still struggling with one giving me fits right now. this is an EJ trans, but same issue, very annoying.

no they'll still do it too...there are variables involved and the failure modes may be slightly different than what this poster experienced but usually they vibrate under load...while accelerating, a manual or auto will both do that.

VERY interesting the head gasket kit came with the additive. i'd be comfortable with it (i would like to replace both gaskets) though i can understand you are scarred by the ordeal and "sweet" coolant-like smell will forever draw your attention in this car! CCR has never had an EJ25 come back with head gasket issues. i've seen repeat failures on here, but i would guess that's a function of waiting to long to repair (something you didn't do), or the job wasn't done right.

i already asked on your other thread - is the engine an exact replacement...same year and everything? i would look for a vacuum leak....any vacuum lines not hooked up or got a cut in them? if it's a really bad leak (brake booster line not connected), it won't even start without pumping the gas pedal. so yours would be minor. some starter fluid spray may help find a leak. When you say "start it up again and the same process happens"...do you mean when cold or warm or both? it'll go through the same thing even if you stop it and restart when it's already warmed up? did the car do this before the engine swap? have you read the codes, no CEL? if this thing has a hot wire style MAF, pull it and look at the thin wires in the air flow. you're looking for a broken strand.

everything has been replaced except the heater core - radiator cap as well...more than once too. i'm positive it's not the thermostat. What is a good way to verify temps? Install another gauge (not a huge fan of that idea)...laser temp gauge, i've always wanted one of those. how would i use it? when, what part of engine, what temps am i looking for, etc? the temp gauge is very consistent...it shows cool when my cabin air temps are cool and goes up when climbing a mountain...it's very consistent, predictable, in the same range as the other XT6's i've owned (which is a lot), goes up with the A/C on. but i'd like to check. dye and a UV light -there's no coolant loss and i've never done that before. what would i be looking for, what would it show? for the past year and a half i keep thinking the head gaskets will finally show themselves, but that isn't the case. i've put 30,000+ miles on this thing and drive it all over the place. noticed while driving - when coasting down a hill (not under load).....my air temps cool down significantly....then when going up a hill it gets nice and toasty hot. flow or pressure problems...

Subaru only for the PCV - they will have it in stock. as for valve cover gaskets, i'd use those from anywhere (Fel-Pro's are easy to find and everywhere), but i'd get the kits that have the grommets with them. the grommets are very expensive, over $2 each i believe (from auto parts stores, online, or Subaru). Some valve cover sets dont have the grommets, some do.

definitely not. heater core flush is in order though as connie mentioned on the xt forums. that would tell for sure if it's heater core related or poor flow related. with my hot running issues on hot summer days i'm expecting poor flow....or "hoping"???

some update on my mysterious cooling issue. no coolant loss, car runs and drives fine and does not over heat or run hot in the winter. what i've noticed this winter - when idling the "heat" will get rather cool, just warm, not hot at all. if i raise the RPM's while sitting still the heat immediately gets hot coming out of the vents. normally i would just think the heater core is clogged...but since it does run too hot in the summer could something be related here? EVERYTHING cooling related has been replaced except the heater core. new thermostats (multiple times), new radiator, flushed out new radiator, radiator worked fine on another XT6, new Subaru hoses, new water pump. so.....could this be a case of a bad water pump? is that possible for a water pump not to move enough fluid? it's a new Paraut water pump from rock auto.

i forgot about this...Subaru offered an additive "conditioner" for the 2000-2002 EJ25's to "help" with the head gasket issues. i've heard of it helping. that may be something to consider now. best to replace both on an engine like this, very few people familiar with this would only replace one. the good thing is with externally leaking EJ25's (2000+ MY), it's not a failure that will leave you sitting...or shouldn't if you catch the signs (like you did). now the 96-2000's....those suck when they blow. bizarre that they would charge you significantly more to replace both gaskets. everything has to come off anyway...timing components, intake, exhaust, there's not much too it to get the remaining head gasket replaced.

the real issue is how your insurance company will proceed. some will just cut you the check and you do what you want. some will do whatever they can to pay actual costs. and there are other options available to them in between. it all depends how they proceed from here, each is different and even one company may differ according to various other factors - location, policy holder, policy type, vehicle type...etc.

mechanics don't mind telling you the results of compression tests, check engine lights, vacuum tests, leak down test, dye tests...etc. it's just numbers. no more than a doctor telling you your blood pressure. they just aren't used to people knowing what any of that stuff is, but they're usually excited to talk to someone that has some intelligence in those areas. i'm not a gear head. i happen to know a fair amount about subarus...and dozens of other things. cars aren't that complicated, those tests are basic. having a good mechanic is nice, most people do not. for us, when you can't see, hear, taste, or smell a vehicle it's very difficult to guess. that's why we ask questions and details. so why have a bunch of people who can't see or touch it guess without information when you can have a trusted mechanic you love that has the car right in front of him to do whatever he wants. we usually assume people are asking because they don't know how to proceed or if they're getting hosed or not.

might be good to give exactly what the old (which we already know) and new motors are from. year, vehicle, auto/manual.