idosubaru

Yes H6s have headgakset issues too. I’ve repaired them and swapped them as well. EJ25 is always random mileage (can be 20k or 200k or anything in between). H6s are usually higher mileage at failure. The H6 initial headgasket symptom is random overheating. Zero other signs or hints or symptoms. It can overheat once then not do it again for months. They slowly get worse over time. Eventually overheating more often and/or under specific conditions. Sometimes only overheating when the coolant gets low so you won’t have symptoms until it gets low on coolant. This makes them terrible to buy at used car dealers. People trade them at the first sign of overheating, a Subaru mechanic tells them it’s headgaskets and they trade it in and the used dealer buying it doesn’t know. I prefer to buy cars from private sellers and heavily favor private sales on H6s. ive seen multiple H6 Subaru’s have headgaskets issues on the lot, shortly after someone bought them personally, and a bunch on online forums too. guarantee I can find numerous “I just bought an H6 and it’s now overheating” type thread. be careful at dealers or vet private sellers or get a warranty.

It won’t catastrophically destruct, fail, or strand you. The binding strains the the drivetrain so it’s not advisable to drive it long that way. The ujoints in the driveshaft are usually the weak link that fails and can take out the rear extension of the trans in epic fashion if it happens while driving and flails around. Not rebuildable, it’s a sealed viscous unit and not a clutch pack or other accessible mechanical unit. Used is a gamble as it could do the same. New Subaru is the way to go. The only frugal option is to convert to 2WD - FWD or RWD. once it’s locked up completely, remove the driveshaft, configure a plug so fluid doesn’t leak out the back of the trans and you have a FWD vehicle. Or remove the front axles. Disassemble the axles and bolt the outer Cv joint in the hub to keep the bearings together, and use the inner joint in the trans as a place holder to seal the diff fluid in place. Then you have RWD. Those are “free” repair options. The FWD is the better option, it’s easier, simpler to return to 4WD, and my recollection of what style inner joint the front 09 Forster axle has is foggy at the moment.

They have oil consumption issues - particularly the early models like very roughly 2013-2016. Some also have valve train issues. I like to recommend 2017+ for FB engines, but those end up driving up the cost to closer to new vehicles and not in the "10 year old" range. The H6's are awesome, get the EAT transmission which is a total beast, and are great. If you can tolerate the bad gas mileage, get that one until the FB's are a little older and priced lower. If you buy well they're fabulous. I prefer buying from owners than yards. Easier to get a feel for condition and why someone is selling.

H6's do not have "code issues". The H6 has no common code issues at all. Oxygen sensor/catalyst inefficiency and evaporative emissions stuff is common across all Subaru engines since the late 1990's, particularly those models (H4 and H6) with emissions equipment in the back. Ej25 spun bearings are oil related. Change the oil frequently and never let it get low on a daily driver and that won't be an issue. EJ25's commonly loose oil at the headgaskets and oil control rings (due to poor oil change history and wear). If the oil gets low, which is easily the case in an older EJ25, the rod bearings will pay the price first almost every time. if you can find one that's never been low you won't have an issue - but that's hard to verify. Interview your seller as much as possible and see if you can get a feel for prior maintenance/issues. So - if you're buying an Ej25 - try to verify maintenance and oil change history. If it's dirty, a mess, cobbled together, and cheap - I wouldn't expect it had great oil change history.

woah that is surprising.

Awesome. Hoses could be bad or those clamps or the hoses could be low quality aftermarket. sounds like you got it. If you have more issues you might consider new Subaru hoses and clamps as they’re higher quality and checking to make sure the radiator isn’t cracked. The part the hose slides onto can sometimes crack or break. I’ve seen some where the hose only fits over a couple millitmeters of the radiator, less than the width of the clamps and that’s with stretching the hose a little. Not an ideal long term situation.

Those are all the interchangeable. Look up the parts numbers at a subaru website and you'll find them listed as superceded under one part number and/or applicable to the same vehicles.

You need to replace the viscous coupler in the transmission. The first two words I responded were right, torque bind. You need a new viscous coupler. make sure your tire sizes all match.

That's a good point - Gloyale (previous user name) works on subaru's every week and says he regreases all aftermarket axles as a rule of thumb. That's not their only issue, but he said they're lacking and/or the grease is low grade.

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Have a bunch of zip ties handy. You can zip tie the top of the rad to the upper radiator support and zip tie fan mounts/fans/overflow tank in place easily. They’re cheap, easy to have on hand and work great for something like this. The rad has two legs that sit down into holes in the lower rad support. And only two bolts hold it up top into the flimsy rad support which can be twisted by hand. It’s not rigidly attached and structural, and the weight is held by lower rubber mounts/holes but has play in it naturally. Zip ties are perfect for this, inexpensive, and handy for other things if you don’t use them. if you have one fastener issue it won’t even matter, you don’t need all the fasteners. I’ve seen numerous Subaru’s with broken fan tabs, bolts sheared off and not holding anything, missing fan bolts from past work where they weren’t reinstalled. All that to say - you have easy options so you can get a fastener or something later if needed, and it won’t interrupt the job or cause any down time for the car. But you’re also unlikely to need it! If you buy one from advance or Napa you’re not (highly unlikely) going to have an issue. I use Subaru or generic aftermarket radiators from auto parts store and never have issues. I have seen issues: 1. due to rust. Bolts shear off, broken fan mounts. 2. Years ago on older Subaru’s like 95 and earlier when fitment and interchanges were less consistent. I’d imagine you would see fastener problems on rusty Subaru’s, people reflecting on issues from long ago, postal or right hand drive or JDM vehicles, or custom aluminum ones. In general (not specifically radiators as I haven’t installed any aluminum ones), Custom, lower volume parts can have more issues with fitment

I mostly avoid them so I have no idea, have others used coolant conditioner on Turbos?

Good eye. Excellent.

Any chance the cap was leaking?

Fusible link is blown. There's like 4 of them, one is bad. if they all look good, they have an outer sheathing that hides the internal wiring. test them or gently massage them from one spade to the other and see if they're brittle and crumble internally. That sentence could mean "you think you shorted something", "you did short something". I'm assuming the radio custom wiring caused a short - if that's not the case - then an overcharging alternator could blow out the fusible link and the next one (or 4) you install.

Ideally you can get it to make the noise while adjusting the throttle by hand to vary RPM's and have a stethoscope to narrow down timing area (front), valve train (sides), or something else. Timing bearings can make noise. Idler bearings can make noise. Alternator bearings can make noise. Power steering and A/C too but less common and you have steering and A/C which should see commensurate levels of issues you're not describing. I'd probably be thinking about ruling out or testing those bearings first. Test them by spinning them by hand or while engine is running and carefully touching the stethoscope to the mountain bolts or closest surfaces that aren't rotating. ***But if it's not currently making any noise it might not exhibit definitive symptoms. There's a small shield under the bottom access cover of the bellhousing. It's flimsy and can be bent or installed loose and strike the teeth on the flexplate/flywheel. I'd also take note if it's getting worse or staying the same as you continue to drive it. If it stays the same....but then starts getting worse in a month...that's an indicator to test it again if all your first tests struck out.

welcome board hammer wielder! if i could go back in time i would have thrown away all of my screw extractors. throw all of yours away and invest in some high grade left handed machinist grade drill bits and use oil in them to keep them cool. Extractors absolutely suck for DIY car work. They're an excellent resource in the relatively controlled environment of a machine shop or in a home enviornment with light, relatively easy usage by home owners who wont' really work on anything difficult. but they suck just about anywhere else. they have almost no place in DIY car work, particularly if you're in a rust prone environment. if a screw extractor can get it out, it can come out in some other less risky way.

In my small rod knock/bottom end experience, random' isn't what i'm familiar with when it comes to rod knock. i'd be suspicious of the area around the previously dislodged rocker arm, or of another one experiencing a similar issue to the first.

+1. The typical band clamps found in stores aren't good for longevity or distribution of clamping force. Most well known shops have an affinity for german clamps, etc. I stick with OEM, reuse what I can, prefer the old style Subaru clamps, or carefully open and close the newer style squeeze clamps. Down south you shouldn't have much, if any, clamp degradation due to corrosion.

awesome, if there's a good aluminum option i'd seriously look into that as well.

It's fairly common for radiators to leak, usually the plastic cracks. This wouldn't be surprising at all. I hate to guess without seeing it in person, but this is by far the most likely scenario. Radiator shops, if available, can test them for leakage. You could try pulling the radiator, closing off the top radiator hose inlet/outlets, turning it upside down and filling it with water to see if you can find the leak. But it may not leak without heat/pressure. Or try the UV light kits/technique, but I've never done that. I've installed probably 10-15 $100 new radiators from various sources and never had issues. If another 15 years of ownership is likely a new Subaru OEM radiator probably makes sense. I'd prefer Subaru hoses.

Once you install OB struts then you can also install larger wheels/tires for more lift. You can gain another 1" from tires.

Yes. New 05-09 outback struts and springs and install them using your legacy hardware. Some people prefer 00-04 outback struts as they’re better and last longer. If you go that route you’d install 00-04 struts with 05-09 outback springs using your original legacy top hat and hardware. for used you can Bolt on complete 00-04 or 05-09 outback strut assemblies and you’re done. This will net you roughly 2-3”. you can also retain your legacy springs, top hats and hardware and install just 00-04 or 05-09 outback struts. That would be the minimalist cost with new struts instead of used ones. This will net you roughly 1”-1.5” 05-09 struts are so weak and consistently fail at lower mileages than other outbacks/legacy’s that id definitely want new struts if I’m swapping 05-09s at all. Forester, I’m unsure. you can use 2008 and earlier front strut assemblies but I don’t think you can use the rears.

Got it, you mean waaaaaay shorter, functionally shorter, not just a little shorter visually.

That’s the norm and expected with OEM axles. “reputable reman” HAHHAAAAa LMAO. I’d call it scrap, it’s not OEM Why do you think it’s too short? The inner joint slides in and out so axles have length forgiveness. Are you saying it won’t install for a physically determinant reason or just that they’re different visually in extension? Even OEM EA82 axles have quite a few differences - two different style joints and different shaft thicknesses and band demarcations, even if they’re interchangeable. I wouldnt make too much of visibly different stock OEM EA axles. aftermarket always look different from stock as well. Determining what differences are OEM and what are aftermarket may not prove very useful. theres a thread (or many) with pictures of different EA axles if you want to try to track it down