idosubaru

if all is normal - healthy slamming to pry that opening open will work just fine. hammer and a chisel. if it's corroded and seized in there at all - you need heat. heat the outer perimter, not the actual ball joint itself. a good torch is best, but a propane may work if it's not too bad and they're cheap and more readily available.

wires should only be Subaru on this engine.

timing marks are dead on? how about the timing tensioner? it may seem fine at rest but have too much give under load. i've seen this happen on an XT6. on older soobs i've seen numbers read high due to headgaskets leaking, but you should notice coolant loss if that were the case. i suppose liquid in the combustion chamber may cause a high reading in some cases, just a guess.

do not add RTV or any sealant to that o-ring. you need to get the new orings. Subaru charges nearly the exact same amount as thepartsbin, so if you have a local dealer just buy form them or call and have them mail them to you. wait this one out, listen to me on this one. and they often have them in stock since every EA82 and ER27 engine has them. your HLA's sound fine to me and are probably not the problem. until you replace those metal reinforced orings at the cam carriers it's just guess work, but there's no way those should be reused. and definitely do not use RTV, if someone says they did or tells you to, ignore the suggestion. as for the rocker arms, use grease. if they won't stay, lower the opposite side of the car and jack up the other so the engine is tilted some, this angle will help as well. grease should work by itself, but the tilting will help.

STOP! i'm replying...this is a very bad idea.

the biggest difference will be driving, drive safe. the second biggest improvement, if you can get trailer brakes for that trailer, do it. even on trucks that's a huge safety improvement. get an ATF cooler if you have an auto and will be running during any spring, summer or fall. if it's winter/cold only you could check the temps and see where you're running before you decide. if it doesn't get hot, don't get a cooler. you should check the temps before installing and see if you actually need one, but most people don't have the time or equipment to do it. good excuse for one of those laser thermometer gadget things. i would upgrade the brakes on the car, and actually i am right now. not a bad idea anyway, particularly if you're towing. bigger brakes are not only safer but should handle the additional heat better. you could get a larger size front caliper and rotor rather easily. if you're towing up down mountains like where i live, i'd want them even more. your brakes are fairly decent though so while i would still upgrade you wouldn't be hurting that bad without it.

is the tapping on the driver or passengers side or is it more random and all over the engine? and did it tap before you replaced the head gaskets? also - it's common for the HLA's to be noisey for a few miles after the engine is apart, takes them a bit to prime. have you driven it enough yet? i assume you have since you've added some additives and such. all that stuff about priming and what not is bogus. just put them back in and run the vehicle. FSM states to replace them in the same spot like GD said, but i've mixed and matched many, many times and never had an issue. i doubt that's your problem either. this is important. did you replace these orings and did you use the correct metal reinforced o-rings? they would be subaru specific and you would have HAD to have bought them from Subaru or thepartsbin.com as no other place carries them. well there's probably one other place, but not that i know of and no normal store has them. if you did not replace them or just used a regular oring then this is very likely your problem. he said they moved freely when he pulled them out of the head, that's common if they're not in oil. if you were able to get all of them to move up and down freely while it was apart i bet they were fine. But..you said you disassembled them, do you mean you actually took the lifters (technically they are hydraulic valve lash adjusters) apart? how confident are you that you got them back together properly?

good catch, the engine to trans bolts will pull it together, not the TC to flexplate bolts. when the TC and flexplate meet, the engine and trans mating surfaces should be flush. don't draw anything together with bolts. often the people that try to keep it seated are able to keep it seated so i hate to tell you to pull it out if it's okay. but i'd hate worse to say it's probably okay, take a measurement and not work out so well. with the measurements and keeping in mind not to draw anything together you should be fine. measure multiple times for sure. i always pull it out and seat it...and if i start second guessing i just pull it out again and do it over. doesn't take long, so there's really no loss in reseating it to me.

the FSM gives some meausurement, but even that is unnerving when you have it all in front of you, so over the internet i don't think there's a solid way to tell you, because it is such a small difference. it will look really, really close, like it's "probably" okay, but it is not. my suggestion is to keep trying to seat it until you know for sure you feel it go that last 1/4". you'll get used to it not quite being there, not quite being there...then it goes and you breath a sigh of relief knowing it's perfect. not getting it right will destroy your transmission...well technically you could disassemble it and rebuild the internal transmission pump but most people don't do that nor do they want to. oh, and i'll also say that if it appears the torque converter to flexplate bolts are going to pull the two together...then it's definitely not right. they should mesh nearly perfectly.

good suggestion, which reminds me that in some states insurance is required by law to fix glass, i've only heard of it being windshields but that may be only because that's what typically gets broken. i think Florida is one state like that. 85 RX in maryland, old school soobs are rather rare in MD. and two brats too! nice. we should have been neighbors, i had about 7 XT6's, an XT Turbo, RX and three impreza's.

you do not need to do anything but tell them you do not want it, and there's no reason to feel bad. i vote for being honest and up front. even if it feels awkward, things end better that way and you did the right thing. in the end that $140 part isn't going to make or break them. by calling you keep them from wasting their time calling you, holding on to the part and they can decide to keep or send it back, maybe even write it off some how, either way you're letting them make the best decision for them. here is what they do, when it becomes too big of a problem for businesses they just begin charging for any special order parts when you order them. obviously they have not gotten to that point yet, but you may have helped them get a little closer! some NAPA's do require payment before hand. i'd scarf that $10 heater core up too...that's a lie, i'd buy 2, but a i'm a soob part hoarder. it appears auction frontier is involved in that website in some way, they've caused me to part hoard quite a few times in the past. they've done great with XT6 parts, always been the right ones for me. can't say that about NAPA who's handed me a 4 point distributor for an XT6 before and their prices suck anyway?

DING DONG. to the second page before someone asked a very important question...good call. until we know what kind of legacy it could be one of two different motors.

i think they have medication for these types of obsessions, if you find out what's it called let me know!

it says "a division of Auction Frontier". I've made a number of purchases from an Auction Frontier...believe it was located in the south - Georgia maybe. Anyway, all of my purchases from that Auction Frontier were excellent. Right part, rediculous prices. Never heard of ufixit place before, nice hit!

do some searching here or on the internet for Subaru's extended 100,000 mile headgasket warranty and if that's transferable or not. and call the local dealer, i wouldn't necessarily trust everything they tell you, but maybe you could get something in writing, it's a fairly common and well known extended warranty available to only select 00-02 models.

gah - excellent point, i'd ask specifically how long the headgaskets are warranted for. if it's not at a dealer, ask the owner/seller and also call subaru and ask their policy towards 02 HG leaks in case you get one down the road. they are replacing 00-02 under extended plans. i'm not sure if the 02's have the same gasket from the factory as the pre 2000's, but if the headgasket has been replaced you can typically tell on the pre2000's just by looking under the hood. the tabs sticking out on top the engine will either be solid pieces or multi-layer pieces. the multi-layer design is the "new" updated headgaskets by Subaru to counteract this issue. i've bought two Legacy's that had new Subaru headgaskets already installed when i bought them, so they were replaced at some point.

there are 02's with HG problems. the headgaskets can go at any mileage....i've seen them at 30,000 - 50,000 - 80,000 and obviously more. the 02 model year should have external leaks though, not the same symptoms your 96 model had with internal failures. the 02's are required by Subaru to have a concoction added to the coolant in order to alleviate HG issues...sounds comforting doesn't it???? air bubbles in an 02 model aren't the norm so i would not expect those air bubbles to be an indication of HG problems. they typically leak externally, so look over the head/block mating surfaces carefully under the hood. if it's for sale at a dealer and you notice a leak they may replace it if you indicate you want to buy it. i know of a person that bought a Legacy this way. Noticed a headgasket leak and they replaced the headgaskets before he bought it at no additional charge, this was a Subaru dealer. Now that's a good score - new headgaskets are the way to go.

i'd narrow down that coolant leak. if it's leaking it should be obvious where it's coming from. i'd want to know the details on that first because you'd hate to put $ into it only to find the headgaskets are leaking...that's a rather expensive job for a 275,000 vehicle. you can buy another one with far fewer miles for less than the cost of a headgasket job ($1,000-$1,500). clean the engine off and run it until it starts leaking, find the leak. as for the running poorly - do you have or have you had a check engine light? if so, get that code is the first step. secondly what kind of plugs and wires did you use? unfortunately EJ engines are picky with them. the wires are the biggest culprit and should always be Subaru only. i've seen multiple aftermarkets cause hesitation and bucking problems right out of the box, and that's why you'll see many Subaru people recommending subaru only on plug wires and NGK (stock) plugs. i wouldn't do anything for the hesitation until you have the codes checked and get Subaru wires. i can't garauntee anything, but that's common enough that I would want to rule it out. might want to update your location too - says california but you're asking about Atlanta.

well that sucks it's an aftermarket because they do suck. if you have someone do it, take note of the subaru part and the aftermarket, it will surprise you the difference, you would never guess they were for the same vehicle. i'm still betting it's HG though, but like i said it's certainly pointless not to address simple $7 parts first.

Connie - all 2.5's are interchangeable from 96-02, with varying intricacies. the bellhousing change was in/around 98/99, but even those are interchangeable with a minor amount of coping. if you want the exact same engine the answer is different, if you're just wanting to swap motors, your options are far greater.

T-stat should be Subaru. Make sure all the air is out of the system, particularly if the system has recently been worked on which it sounds like it has. Water pump could have issues. My first guess as to the real issue is headgaskets. But, you certainly wouldn't rule out much cheaper and easier issues first.

you just did yourself a big favor their.

let it get low and make them write on the paperwork that it is not the correct level. it could differ but i've never had one go down in 10k of driving. question is....does it ever get low enough to empty the overflow tank? i would let it go to that point, then take it in, rather than taking it in when it's just low in the tank and temps/expansion put it to normal. if it were mine i'd run it til it blows and tell them they can deal with me and fix it or deal with a lawyer...and i've yet to actually have to get a lawyer for anything.

welcome maryland guy. this needs to be dealt with at the dealer if it's this tricky. keep going back until they fix or replace it. don't wait it out until the warranty expires - that's what they want you to do. should be some lemon law or something that protects you. remember how much you paid for this car? should you have to deal with problems under a contractually stated warranty that obligates them to resolve the solution? you don't want to be stuck with a vehicle after the warranty expires that eventually looses a gasket or overheats and needs significant motor work. did you buy from the annapolis dealer? a bought a car from a couple who bought all their cars from them. they took their soob in and the annapolis dealer quoted them $1,200 to fix the power steering. i told her i'd fix it for $100 but i bought the car for $250 instead...all it needed was a $15 part and about 30 minutes..and they wanted $1,200? that was a few years ago though, but i wouldn't expect it to turn around into the golden child either. of course i am not shy about my distaste and distrust of dealerships either. either way, i would make them fix...emphasis on the word 'make'.

are you guys talking about the same thing? the pilot bearing and throw out bearing is replaced with the clutch, which is what REX is talking about - the pilot bearing. the input shaft bearing i believe is an internal trans bearing.....right? or are the input shaft bearing and pilot bearing the same thing?