idosubaru

new, not dry-rotted or old tires, is a good thing. still no comparison to dedicated snow tires so drive safe. test your ABS, braking and traction in a snow covered safe area to get a good feel for it. slow and safe is important, maybe take chains along just in case.

look like you're getting subaru OEM wires, that's good don't use anything else for the plug wires. any check engine light? are the stock diagnostics/ECU still in place (i'm not familiar with alternate fuel stuff)? does it have a stock or aftermarket filter on it? test the coil pack and also verify spark at each cylinder. i would also have a look at the MAF - i forget exactly what kind this has but make sure the wires in the MAF are not broken. having one broken wire in a hot wire style annemometer MAF will cause similar problems in some vehicles (not sure about yours). can you contact whoever you bought this from and ask some questions?

do a search on here, others have had non-functioning AWD before as well. it's not common but clutches do wear out on EJ vehicles, i imagine the SVX isn't much different. so if he cut power to Duty C solenoid to "full engage" the clutches, what would happen? nothing i guess if the clutches are bad or that shearing occurred.

correction - the SOHC from 2000 - 2002/3 (explain later) definitely has head gasket issues. so much so that Subaru even acknowledges this one - they offer an extended 100,000 mile warranty on certain vehicles and adding the coolant conditioner is standard at the dealer. DOHC has internal head gasket failures the SOHC Phase I, which is what is in this veihcle, has external head gasket issues. so - unfortunately yes that car you're looking at has some chance of experiencing head gasket issues. by subaru insiders it is supposed to be through "mid-2002" manufacture date vehicles. your 2003MY was manufactured in 2002 some point, you can check the stamp on the inner door jamb. some people suggest seeing later models with head gasket issues, i have not seen that or heard that outside of commentary on this board. my first step would be checking to see if this vehicle has already had them replaced and see if it qualifies for the extended 100,000 mile head gasket warranty from Subaru.

never done an EJ turbo but often times you can mix and match - buy a cheap head gasket set for everything else but use Subaru head gaskets. if you're not getting a valve job/machining done you could get away with just buying the minimum parts to fix it rather than the entire head set. i don't recommend it, but people do it. head gaskets and intake gakets you would need for sure. exhaust gaskets can actually be reused quite successfully.

i activated/approved your account, so you're all ready to rock and roll there. ah! i hope that temp gauge is accurate and the car/air isn't colder. i washed mine once in the winter and the doors froze shut so bad i could not get in. squirted all sorts of de-icer and other stuff all in the locks, around the doors, etc and the handle/door would not budge. i had to let the car sit overnight and luckily the next day was a bright sunny day. it never got above freezing but the sun being out warmed the interior up enough to free whatever was suck. so yeah, careful washing cars in freezing weather...or maybe only older cars are prone to that?

awesome, look forward to seeing you...and the other guy on the XT forum, it's a great place.

that's a good car, i approve. have you joined us here yet: http://subaruxt.com/forum/index.php all the XT specific information you could want, hope you join us! it is in your best interest to go over as much of the cooling system as you can. at 20 years old it doesn't matter how well they seem, they need replaced. at the vert least check the water pump bypass, turbo hoses (including the oil lines), heater core hoses and all the related clamps. if the radiator was replaced, then it was probably run hot which does not do good things to gaskets, seals, and hoses. most people don't just randomly replace radiators on 20 year old cars.

what outbacks have the 50/50 thing, legacy's only? i don't think the impreza outbacks do, or mine doesn't at least. certain years/models? XT6 low? the FWD sits low with coil overs, but the air suspension AWD jokers sit rather high..for a 2 door coupe!

what body style - sedan, wagon, or impreza Outback Sport (sort of like a hatch, not a full wagon but not a hatch either)? i dig XT6's, but that's not what i would recommend, an impreza outback sport would be my pic (and i have one) as newer reliability and newer parts is a good thing. i'm not a full size wagon fan though they are functional, with lots of room. the impreza is functional yet not a full size wagon. i prefer 1995+ legacy's (the earlier ones are nice but ugly and in your price range there's no reason to get a really old one anyway). but legacy wagons are a dime a dozen and easy to find cheap if that's what you want - i'd get a 1995+ legacy with an EJ22. you can find these mid 90's legacy's and impreza's for $1,000 - $3,500 no problem...depending if you want to put any work in one or have it in near perfect driving condition. for imp's and leg's, get an EJ22 (2.2 liter) engine in them. that's the best in terms of reliability and you won't have any trouble finding one. starting in 1996 legacy's have both the EJ22 and EJ25 so you'll have to check. EJ25 is prone to head gasket and piston slap issues - type in either of those terms on google, yahoo, or here to read more info on that. as for the transmission you have to decide between auto and manual. for better traction in snow, mud, and ice i'd go with an automatic and install a Duty C switch. the viscous centers of the manuals are nice pieces of machinery, but they do not shine in nasty muddy, snowy slop. having an ability to "lock" rather than slip is huge in snow and ice, at least in my experience. then make sure you get a rear clutch type LSD (limited slip differential). two important things for driving through deep snow - tires and ground clearance. those are more or at least as important than drivetrain really. a nice set of skinny snow tires and ground clearance is optimal. the hatch probably had the first and not the second. get the wrong kind of snow or conditions..how far you're driving, what kind of snow, how much speed you can maintain....etc and you will high center a subaru in deep snow. ground clearance does matter. while i totally dig subaru's and like the way they perform, for every "my subaru out-did a truck" experience and comment i see, there are certainly plenty of examples of toyota's and others tearing up a subaru and that's why it's important not to think the subaru drivetrain is the "holy grail" of off roading. so..you could get a lift as well.

for $5,000 i would definitely be driving like an RS, or Legacy SUS, or Legacy LSi or a 2000 Impreza Wagon. there's just no comparison between the newer stuff and that old 80's stuff in many ways. the EA81 is a good motor but there's no way to compete with wheel bearings, struts, alternators, brake lines, fuel lines, electronics and every other part of the vehicle that's 15 years newer. better brakes, air bags, much more comfortable..etc. if someone put a gun to my head and said i must own an EA81 then i'd get both. if you have $4,000 it would be very easy to get both...a newer car and an old EA81 to play with. if "locking" style 4WD is necessary then just get an auto and install the switch and get a lift kit too. as far as 4EAT's - not all of them "lock 50-50" when in 1st or 2nd, at least the XT6's do not. if they do it's not a full "lock" like you get with the duty C modification at all, it's not even close in an XT6 in terms of functionality/capability.

if you don't like being limited in vehicle selection another option is to consider the fact that snow tires have come a long way in recent years, they are amazing in the snow. often times a FWD with good snow tires are better than 4WD. not that i'm saying you want 4WD, but maybe dual range isn't as necessary for you in those terms... many later model EA82 and EA82T subaru's avaible up to 1994 have PT4WD transmissions and some have the FT4WD transmissions that have a center differential lock on them. those are true "locking" style 4WD center differentials. i personally recommend a FT4WD XT6 manual. locking center differential and the 6 cylinder offers much nicer driveability for towing, mountains and general around town driving. a quirky freaking car, but if you're interested at all check us out on the subaruXT forums. lots of options out there really...there is a dual range FT4WD transmission in Subaru RX and others up until 1988 or so. really there's too many to talk about...i'm starting to confuse myself. i guess you need to decide if dual range is a must or if it's sacrificable so long as you retain true 4WD with a locking center differential. or you could pick any EA82 or ER27(XT6) vehicle you want and swap a dual range transmission into. loyale, GL-10 wagons, GL hatches, XT, XT6, RX, Brats....then put the transmission in it that you want. the transmissions bolt right up, fairly easy swap. of course EA82's have timing belts, they are a bit different from EA81's. as far as newer subaru's they really have downgraded and backtracked in terms of off road, snow and mud driving with the newer EJ stuff. the closest thing you can get now is to...find a puke bag now...an automatic transmission. the manuals are nice, but for anything more than daily driving they aren't ideal, but the automatics at least have a duty solenoid that you can install a switch to manually control and "lock" the rear transfer clutches, giving you similar 4WD funcionality of the old school transmissions. with the duty C switch installed the automatics are better than the manuals for nasty stuff driving.

after this little escapade that's what i've come to realize, you could leave the harness unplugged and hook up whatever comibination of switches equals 1st or whatever combination of switches equals 2nd..etc. if i am going to drive it for awhile it would be a good idea to power duty solenoid C if i can figure out what kind of voltage it's supposed to be at. anyone think the FWD switch is entirely negated with the trans harness unplugged, that would be the easy way to "disable" the 4WD. i don't have my FSM with me.

that's what i figured but i thought maybe i was missing something. that would make all the difference in the world then, as swapping an axle without a lift is a rather annoying process to be doing every other week. how much lift does it take and would the XT6 be any different than an EA82? sounds like a goal i should keep in mind!

it's 3rd on an XT6.

that sucks, and good point that's not really that cold even. guess you could ask them to torque them properly.

mine does too, i totally dig it and it suites my purposes perfectly. "offroad" means different things to everyone. for myself (and i suppose phil) it's light enough duty offroading that our LSD's are all we need. i don't do trail rides or rock crawling. when i need to drive through snow or up a mountain for hunting i have no problems, but i'm just doing it for purely functional reasons, not as a hobby...so im not pushing the limits like i would imagine the off road guys are. i've always wondered how they pop the rear pins of the axles out of those welded diffs as i have not removed an XT6 rear axle without dropping the rear diff. not sure if that is rust related or geometry related? anyone know?

don't forget to join us at the XT specific forums, you'll love the place...i think: http://subaruxt.com/forum/index.php 2.5" is too big for a non-turbo EA82 for daily driving, as a matter of fact 2.5" is a little big for an XT6 (6 cylinder - but essentially the same engine). i thikn 2.25" is a better bet on the XT6. depends what kind of driving you're doing but using too big of diameter on a non-turbo EA82 (your XT) makes it a slow poke off the line. it's a very slow car to begin with so i wouldn't worry about speed too much, you'll always be unsatisfied with a non-turbo EA82 if you're worried about "high performance", they are so slow. on my XT6 i've run straight pipe, removed the cat, used high performance cats..etc. my favorite set up for all around driving was leaving the stock converter in place and replace the cat-back with new slightly larger pipe and a dynomax mufflers. the dynomax have a perfect sound for me and a few over at the subaruXT forums have used them and liked them as well, they are not loud but are deep. with that setup i had a couple MPG increase in highway gas mileage too with an automatic. those are great sounding and performing mufflers but not for hte cheapskate in you unless you find a used/cheap one.

you shouldn't have any problem swapping the trans and keeping the existing ECU. there are a couple things to address but it's not a big deal. cruise should work fine, that operates off the speed sensor in the instrument cluster. i forget what cruise does when you push in the clutch...but yours might do something funny if you go from auto to manual, like rev up? but that's not a big deal. check engine light issues won't be anything to worry about and the car will drive fine with that ECU with very minor work.

you can interchange ECU's though. you can install an ECU from an automatic into a manual. that's what i was getting at, but i wasn't sure why/what exactly he's asking. so i guess it depends what he's doing?

yep, sure can. leave two (opposite sides) still tightened...loosen and tighten 3 properly, then do the other two. or something like that. i wouldn't loosen them all at the same time, then do it.....although technically it *should* work (i know from experience), i wouldn't recommend it. if it's any consolation i don't think overly tight lug nuts really affects subaru's much at all , at least not most EJ stuff i'm familiar with, i think SVX is a bad one to overtighten though.

i'd fix this as soon as you can and not put it off like i did last year....read on... the plastic speedometer gear might even be more vulnerable. i have a feeling that vibration can lead to destroying the *plastic!!!* speedometer gear in the front diff. that essentially requires transmission replacement..unless you're into rebuilding transmissions. if you've ever read my posts you know i'm known to drive with clicking axles for 50,000 miles. that works fine for the outer joints, but i tried it with a bad inner joint last year and it was vibrating horribly. my speedometer started to fail and then not work at all. ended up being that inner speedo gear in the front diff which luckily enough requires replacing the entire transmission to fix. i am fairly certain that all of that vibration caused that plastic gear to fail.

i was, and could not get them to come up on the online search engines. i searched under "drive axle front" or whatever and they didn't come up? if you end up ordering or looking them up again, post the part number here.

mysterious in what way? with Subaru only axles or MWE you won't have any problems. guess it's lower quality parts or assembly process, they probably try to reuse as many parts as they can rather than replace.

does it matter if he's starting with a 3AT or a 4EAT? probably not since the 3AT is a non-computer operated POS!! i have been speaking of the 4EAT - the ECU's across those are interchangeable from auto to manual. helps to know specifics - what you're doing and year, make, model.