idosubaru

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?

yep, i'm with you, i'd rather know they are done right. machining the heads is absolutely critical to the headgasket sealing properly. not just the flatness, but the finish is important as well. as for pulling the engine, that is way overkill on these engines in my oppinion. the EA82 is fairly easy to do in the car...if you have air tools i definitely wouldn't do it in the car. the cam towers and heads come off super quick and with air tools and cleaning the head bolt holes is a breeze as well. clearance looks tight, but once the valve covers are out it's a walk in the park. in the time it takes to pull and install the engine i can remove both heads and be on my way to cleaning up things with air tools. there's one tool that helps a ton - a wratcheting 10mm wrench, makes the valve covers go from annoying to a breeze. the pull or not pull thing has been addressed a billion times, so i'm not trying to start that again, but wanted you to know that the EA82 is actually cake to do in the car.

there's an atlanta area soob guru on the board here, WJM, hopefully he sees this, he should have a good recommendation for you. what does it need, headgaskets and headlights require completely different skill sets and scrutiny.

of the set in the middle - the one on the lower right row. if it has a washer that doesn't really come off, it looks exactly like one of the water pump bolts. make sure they are in place. the two to the left (one has a nut on it) of that resemble distributor hold down bolts. the two larger bolts above it look like timing pulley/tensioner bolts but could be for something else too. the one on the set to the left is an exhaust stud with the nut. they may have removed an a/c or alternator bracket and not replaced all of the bolts, there are a few.

the headgaskets were probably supposed to be retorqued, and may have held had that been done. the Subaru FSM and probably Haynes mentions retorquing the headgaskets. almost every EA82 headgasket is supposed to be retorqued. some notes on the EA82 headgaskets - use Fel-Pro permatorques. most other gaskets (Subaru gasket included) require retorquing the heads. these are designed not to require a retorque and are highly regarded on this board. use them and increase your final torque settings by 5pounds for good measure, though that's not necessary probably if you insist upon "by the book". they are excellent gaskets and save you all the hassle of retorquing. they will be indicated by a fel-pro part number starting with "PT" also make sure to have the heads machined and clean the head bolts and holes to get a proper torque on them. seating of the headgasket is critical and the bolts/holes are usually horribly dirty or corroded on EA82's. all of the smoke and ticking after your original start up is very normal for this job. very common for coolant or oil to get where it shouldn't particularly in the exhaust, while driving, sitting and seaping and during disassembly. takes awhile to burn out. and the HLA's are typicallly noisey too after having the engine part, they usually quiet up after a few minutes of driving. so don't worry about that all happening the first time, it's not a bad sign and don't be surprised if you get some of it again this time around. i'm in morgantown, should be visiting elkins some time this year. good luck with it and have fun!

oil in the coolant is typical for "most" headgasket failures, but not on these EJ25 motors. actually it is very rare on these motors. if oil and coolant is mixing that could be a sign that the motor was significantly overheated or driven for awhile in this condition. none of the ones i've seen have had mixing. so that's why i'm trying to figure this out. maybe it's nothing, but i wouldn't want to continue without knowing for sure whether it's oil or dirt. none of the EJ's i have sitting outside right now (all over 100,000 miles) have dirty overflow tanks. the outsides are dirty, but looking in is not. can you just ask the person you bought it from? i've bought a few EJ25 vehicles and looked at multiple others, people are easy to talk to about it.

in my experience throw out bearings are always in horrible shape. nearly every one i ever pull is noisey and does not feel smooth at all. it seems to me they are one of the worst bearings in the entire vehicle, i have yet pulled an old one that sounded okay. actually it bothers me how poor condition most of them are that i pull. all that to say...wouldn't surprise me if it's the throw out bearing and that would be my guess. maybe even adjusting the clutch cable would help or does this one have a hydraulic clutch like the GT's? even as a last resort, EJ transmissions are a dime a dozen. labor will vary wildly. a nice transmission shop will go $250-$500 depending on your area, they are set up and can do these quick. if you can find a reasonable one they will charge you fairly. a local trans shop in maryland that was high quality, rather expensive for rebuilds (due to their good 30 year reputation), would only charge $200-$250 to swap a transmission. mechanics tend to be a couple hundred higher than that....but just depends who you know and where you live. if you're in DC i'd expect $500-$1,000. out in the sticks, $250.

if you don't replace the timing pulleys then i'd reuse the belt and go back and replace it in another 50,000 miles, that will give you a chance to inspect the pulleys again. pulleys failing with interference engine = you need a new engine or major head work at best. it does happen. i'd probably replace the water pump for the same reasons GD mentioned. heat is bad. i have yet to personally see a 2.5 with a blown headgasket that had oil/coolant mixing. i have a couple in my garage right now. they've all been just overheating. i know it happens and have seen a few post with that symptom but makes me wonder how much it was driven while hot. nipper - how many do you see with mixing?

in general replacing the headgaskets fixes the vehicles, there's really no test you can do. take the heads to a machine ship and have the heads tested and milled. you want them milled for flatness and surface finish to gaurantee a good headgasket seal. i've seen a few loose bottom ends in a matter of months or 50,000 miles after headgasket replacement. there's no way to test for that, but if the car was driven for awhile when overheating or had significant oil/coolant mixing then i'd start to worry. frankly the 96's do not often have oil/coolant mixing, usually they start with overheating and coolant loss, exhaust gases escaping into the coolant. that you have significant oil in the overflow tells me this one was bad. but...are you sure it's just not a dirty overflow tank? you might want to drain the radiator/coolant and oil to see if it was mixing ,maybe the tank was just dirty. if it turns out it was mixed, make sure to clean things out as good as possible, including the radiator. or since it's 10 years old it may need a new one. i'd also change the transmission fluid, it easily could have gotten hot as well if it's still routed through the radiator coolant lines.

definitely get it, sounds like a great vehicle. i'd personally go for an engine swap unless you can verify a decent engine. there is no shortage of "i got this EJ25 and within a year it lost the rod bearings" or something like that. you'll see far more EJ25's with blown bottom ends than EJ22's, and i woudlnt' be surprised if it's somehow related to the headgaskets. all that to say, maybe you can keep it - but i'd make sure it's good or get another one that is. i'm not saying it's bad but hopefully the people you're getting it from can be honest and give you some details about it. thing is, this 96 should be a great car, so i'd do whatever i could to get a great, reliable car out of the deal. they're nice cars and have air bags and should require less maintenance over the next 5 to 10 years than the loyale. but the loyale is a dang reliable machine.

yeah, you definitely don't want to attempt to get at the height sensor, that won't happen. technically you could intercept the height sensor signals and move it up/down and see where the height triggers are, compare it to each side. but yeah that'd be a lot of work. i'd rather swap another used one in and see what happens than do all of that. i believe much of the air suspension stuff is at the front drivers side strut tower. there's a empty female plug there that allows access to various circuits...i know the compressor and all the solenoids, but i can't recall if the height sensor circuits are there, i'd guess not, but you could use that connector to air up/air down to do the test i just mentioned. if problems arise, it is best to get rid of the air suspension, particularly with the legacy since it's so easy to get stuff for. air suspension stuff is real freaky. in a way it seems really simple since i've got billions of extra parts lying around, but it always seems to do bizarre things and can be very tricky. i like it on the XT6 so i keep it, but my suggestion is to not like, it's far easier and those people are much more sane than myself!

close - 2.5 and TZ102Z2AAA - last three are different than you said - AAA instead of ACA. this is for the currrent vehicle, the AWD. don't know anything about the parts trans yet....maybe the wiring diagram would tell me which is a better fit, but i'd imagine they'd make all the FWD auto trans inputs the same.

Can anyone post the TCU inputs for 1995, or 1996 Legacy FWD or AWD Automatic transmissions? I believe it's only two pages in the FSM. (page 146 in the first generation legacy FSM)