idosubaru

i'm totally lost here - what happened with these items i asked about: spark at each cylinder. fuel at each cylinder compression test. need this information to see where the problem is originating. struggling through TDC and the last two pages of information i doubt will solve your problem. on the older series engines it doesn't matter the orientation of the crank, somehow the ECU adjusts or can sense it so to speak. you can install a timing belt...engine runs perfect, then remove the timing belt, rotate crank 360 like yo'ure suggesting and reinstall and it will still run perfect. wouldn't surprise me if the EJ stuff is the same way. hope i'm wrong, but if not we really need that info above to keep from guessing.

need more information. sounds simple to me - the emergency flashers are on and the battery/cable/connections are bad. all of which makes perfect sense for a car that blew a rod and sat on the side of the road.

bingo, thanks.

don't forget to replace the clutch throw out bearing clips too, get news one. i've seen them break and be completely missing even on newer 90's subaru's. they do get brittle and age.

you can probably snag stuff off the opposite belt configuration and just swap pulleys as well. and like john said, any EA82 rack will work. not much too them really, i've swapped a rack before it's quite simple.

they are easy to find, not easy to find CHEAP.

they are easy to find, for the right price! i'll ship someone a set. unfortunately they are a PITA to deal with, either huge and heavy to box or disassembly. so i'm not dealing with them for chump change, i would but i don't have the time. i have one set ready to go to australia, that's the last "cheap" set i sell.

i would have said yes before this year. i used a Fel-Pro front crank seal on an EA82 earlier this year and the seal would not seat. it definitely was not me, it just would not seat in place at all. i worked at it for awhile and finally got it in place but it ended up leaking badly. got a Subaru seal next time and it fit perfect, went right in like they always do with no nonsense like the Fel-Pro gasket. that's the only time i've ever seen that happen though, if a seal doesn't seem like it wants to fit probably best to just get another, don't keep working at it like i did. be very careful with the rear main seal. on this board and another that i moderate i've seen a few instances of experienced soob people installing a rear main and having it leak shortly after starting to drive the vehicle. very bizarre how many i've seen leak. also - you asked about the rear, you do realize that EA82's are very easy to work on without pulling the motor. for a strictly head gasket job, its far quicker to leave the engine in on an EA82. particularly with air tools.

best bet is to get a valve cover gasket set. the ones that come with new grommets are nice. the grommets can leak as well, best to replace them while you're in there. they are $2.00+ EACH from Subaru, best to get a kit that has the gaskets and grommets (i think Fel-Pro usually has it all). i would not use sealant on the valve cover gaskets, it might work, but if it doesn't it's annoying to clean up out of the grooves...oh i'm speaking from EA82 experience the EA81 may differ with the groove? another problem with old valve cover gaskets is they easily break, i would not consider a used one a very good base to cover with sealant.

work something out with this guy!! sounds like a killer deal if you can make it work. the insurance company WILL SELL you the entire vehicle probably for a couple hundred tops on something this old. i've seen people buy-back late 90's vehicles for a couple hundred. it will then have a salvage title, but who cares? buy it back from them and sell it to this guy. the insurance company will only sell the entire vehicle though.

the other gaskets (besides headgaskets and intake manifolds) are benign in nature, they very rarely cause problems so it doesn't really matter. the thermostat and water pump gaskets tend to be thinner and cheesier than the Subaru OEM gaskets looking, but they never leak if they're installed properly. just be sure to take note of how/where everything goes together once you get into it, it's not that complicated really. try to keep the rocker arms and HLA's oriented in the same bores/spots when reassembling. also, be sure to precisely note the distributor orientation relative to the cam pulley on the front of the drivers side cam carrier (cam tower). everything else is basically remove stuff and put it back together where you found it!

there's plenty of good low mileage transmissions out there for your car, the 4EAT is a solid automatic, even the older generation (first generation) 4EAT's are excellent. you sure the transmission is bad?

what do you need done? manual or automatic? in general the best option is a used transmission. subaru transmissions (except the 3AT) are durable enough that a rebuild generally is not the way to go. used transmissions can be found for $200 (or less), which is a far easier route to go than a rebuild. i just picked up a 1996 EJ automatic transmission for $150 a couple weeks ago with only 101,000 miles and warranty. no way i'd pay thousands for a rebuild when i can get that on a very reliable transmission.

what do you need done? manual or automatic? in general the best option is a used transmission. subaru transmissions (except the 3AT) are durable enough that a rebuild generally is not the way to go. used transmissions can be found for $200 (or less), which is a far easier route to go than a rebuild. i just picked up a 1996 EJ automatic transmission for $150 a couple weeks ago with only 101,000 miles and warranty. no way i'd pay thousands for a rebuild when i can get that on a very reliable transmission.

i'm assuming you got the timing belt lined up perfectly? no check engine light? you didn't accidentally cross up the spark plug wires did you? a little harder to do on subaru's (particularly EJ's) but not impossible, this is a very common goof up. sounds like you have fuel, though you could test that too with a noid light if need be. you need fuel, compression and spark to run. assuming you do indeed have fuel i would want to verify compression and spark at each cylinder. since you checked the plugs already and they are fine, i would pull each wire, attach your old plug to it and make sure they all 4 get good spark. once you verify good spark at all 4 i would check compression.

eee

yes, they are available if you want to pay the $$$$$.

Fel Pro perma torques for the headgaskets and no need to retorque the heads (PITA so you want to avoid that). Try and source a Fel Pro valve cover gasket set that includes the grommets, cheapest way to go. What you need from Subaru is: Thermostat, PCV valve, intake manifold gaskets Subaru exhaust manifold gaskets are much nicer than most after markets i've seen as well but they do not leak very easily either so make your choice accordingly, either seem to work fine, but i get Subaru. Everything else is fine to get aftermarket. Get one of the ebay timing belt kits that has all the timing pulley tensioners as well. Make sure you get a cam seal kit, not just cam seals, the kit has the oring that resides behind the cam cap as well which you will want to replace. You will also need two cam carrier o-rings that go in the bottom corner of the cam between the cam and the head. they are a metal reinforced oring only available from subaru or http://www.thepartsbin.com. there are very few companies that carry that part, thepartsbin is one of them. should be fine to just reseal the oil pump, not buy a new one.

also forgot to mention that burping is a common issue in EJ engines, make sure all your air is out of the system. there are rather detailed instructions on here for methods on doing it properly.

I'd replace the PCV valve and thermostat as well. Subaru ONLY on both of these, do not use aftermarket here. i would go ahead and replace the battery as well. it is personal preference really, but here is how i view it and i think you'll feel similar. it is unlikely that this current battery will make it to 200,000 miles and another 6 years. it might, but would not be surprised to see it fail anytime between now and then either. as a battery ages or fails it can take the alternator with it. as the battery weakens it can over work the alternator and could do that for a awhile before the battery finally expires to the point you realize it needs replacing. batteries and alternators work hand in hand. what i find is that often times when i'm replacing a friend/family members alt or battery, it's often only 6 months to a year before i'm replacing the other. they cheap enough it's not that big of a deal to me. also - check the battery terminals while you're at it, make sure they are tight and clean. same thing applies, loose connections and corrosion can shorten the life of your alternator and battery. i'd check into the water pump as well. asking a water pump to make it 200,000 miles is a bit of a stretch....again it's just a percentage, risk management thing. for instance on the subarus with timing belts and 105,000 mile intervals, i always replace the water pump with the timing belt, i wouldn't expect a water pump to make it two timing belt intervals (210,000). on the 60,000 mile change interval timing belts i change the water pump every two (120,000) timing belt changes. they can make it to 200,000, but they can also fail before then. i'd price it out or see what kind of a job it is for you and see if it's worth the money. check your radiator hoses and clamps. in maryland/rust belt areas they tend to rust and eat into the rubber hoses quicker. yours are new enough they should be near new though.

clarify for those that missed it - his front transmission side axle stub popped out of the FRONT differential. there are two differentials on an automatic, one up front, one in the rear. this is in regards to the front. sometimes they are not all that difficult to get the axle stubs to pull out of the transmission, it is kind of bizarre how they are put together here. it's only held in by a circlip, that's it. it's a rather large circlip, but it is there. even IF someone pried on it, i would not expect that side to side force would be enough to pop the clip out. i've seen transmissions dangling by the axles before, with the axles at maximum deflection and supporting the entire weight of the transmission and i've never seen an axle pop out in this situation. it usually requires direct force pulling out, or away from, the transmission. a force parallel to the cv axle so to speak to get them to pop out. it's not a big fix, they just pop back in. hopefully the axle popped out and you didn't try to drive it much, right? the 4EAT drives funny like that anyway, so hopefully you didn't go far. attempting to drive it with a loss of diff fluid would be a very, very bad thing.

probably, just follow it to the trans, if it screws into the top of the trans it is.

well josh be sure to let us know how it goes if anything does happen. i would bet it takes 10,000 miles or so to show up.

important information - have you noticed any loss of coolant or needing to add it? keep an eye on the level. next - make sure your cooling fans are coming on. when it gets to 1/2 way or above, pop the hood and make sure they are turning on. i'd plan on replacing the radiator and any hoses/clamps you can replace as well. you could attempt cleaning it out and stuff but radiators are a bit important, i like to go new on these if possible. definitely flush it out very well if you plan on keeping it, it's hard to guage the inside. and yes, make absolutely certain you have a Subaru thermostat, the aftermarkets suck. and make sure you have a good coolant/distilled water ratio in the system.

bad idea, generally a band-aid and a bad one at that. if you want a cheap daily driver, don't really care how long it lasts or problems it may have, then tear it up.