idosubaru

excellent choice. the doors are super easy to swap. it's REALLY nice to have someone help though so you can work the first few bolts while holding it steady. it's easy to loose it and ding a corner up or mess up some paint, so either rig something very sturdy or have a helper, it only takes a few minutes, doors are really easy to swap.

should be able to look at the electrical plugs and see. fuel will spray everywhere of course if you do it out of the car. could probably swap injectors that are on there. swap 1 with 3 and 2 with 4. be ironic that both are doing the same thing though, i'd follow GLOYALE's suggestions if they both have a common ground or relay or something. that would make more sense and is more probable statistically speaking (excuse the dork in me).

it's rare for a soob to have injector issues like that, sounds like he has a good starting point for you. i do recall some very interesting posts on fuel injector testing, but never having done it i can't recall the details. i wonder if an inductive timing light could sense the wiring enough to see if the injectors are getting a signal or not? i know those signals are hard to see, don't think you can do it with a basic multimeter.

that must be a good feeling! EDIT/CORRECTION: this only applies to older vehicles since the knock sensor mounts differently.... on an old XT6 i had years ago i had some running problems that were cured by addressing the knock sensor as well. i didn't move it, but i wrapped the sensor threads in a bunch of wraps of plumbing thread tape - probably 12 or so wraps of it. car ran noticeably better. in your case the engine is making noise so that probably wouldn't work. maybe in some cases the knock sensor could have bad threads and rattle around in it's insert somehow?

you should specify which engine, some of us aren't sure which have EA81 or EA82. if yours is an EA82, they are really easy to do in the engine, particularly non-turbo's. i've done a bunch and even more of the 6 cylinder ER27 which is identical to the EA82 with just two more cylinders slapped on, still easy to do in the car. i wouldn't pull one out myself, air tools make it really nice, and i can just about have both heads off by the time it takes to get the motor out. i'd imagine an EA81 isn't all that different time-wise than an EA82, but i've never done one of those. removing the engine is strictly oppinion of course, i've done it both ways. it's definitely a big plus your first time. be very careful removing the intake manifold bolts. they are typically seized and want to shear off, at least in my neck of the woods they often are. there are many posts about sheared intake bolts, removing them, and tips and such. might want to search for those threads.

did you get it? still contemplating? i'd start by seeing which two clyinders aren't "working", check compression. the headgaskets on these aren't all that hard to do really and can easily be done with the engine in the vehicle. dealing with rusty exhaust bolts is the most annoying part. air tools makes it super nice.

I use mine for laptop work with no problems, even on the older soobs. The extra draw is an extra load on the system, so it could conceivably shorten the life of your alternator or battery depending how often it's used. Moderate use would be fine, but constant use could affect the life of those components. Someone more knowledgable than myself can comment more about that.

now, i say this to make a point, so read all of it. not that i recommend it or that it's a good idea, but typically there's enough oil in the system to probably get distributed through your used compressor without adding anything. now, again i don't recommend it and that's not what you're going to do since you also risk completely trashing your system. but my point is, don't feel like you have to measure the quantity to some very specific accuracy, because that isn't the case either. make a good judgement call after hearing some knowledgeable suggestions and enjoy the cool air!

true that. i missed that we were talking about different things. you were talking about their candor in testing, which is an interesting topic that i was getting sidetracked on as well.

the plan is, yes it is coming back. it may or may not have the same domain name though when it's all said and done. there are currently a number of other alternate domain names secured for xt6.net as well, that 'we' already have. one of those may be the main domain if the xt6.net domain issues continue to be unresolvable. hang tight and plan for a long pause. and the "guy in gainesville, FL" is a member of our group and Austin's brother. the issue lies with these guys: Registrant Contact: Registerfly.com Responsible Party

that they try to be accurate doesn't tell the original poster much about his vehicle. and i didn't necessarily contradict that, but in the same way they choose certain "myths" over others for the overall entertainment value, they would be stupid not to do the same thing within the tests they are doing and make decisions that increase their overall value. that they use nice, new SUV's in itself is proof, of course it looks nice, rides nice, sells and gives a positive image. no matter how or why it came about, an SUV will surely have different results than a car. expecting subaru results to mirror an SUV probably isn't very accurate.

how about installing what you need and only removing what you have to?

i wouldn't be surprised if cars had different results than SUV's. and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they actually tested a few vehicles (car, truck, SUV) and found the ONE that "contradicted" what people would think or had some quirk to it that made for good television..and that's the one they showed/produced. that's how television works. it's nice what they're doing, but i wouldn't trust it all that much either.

sent you an email, i may be able to check it out monday or tuesday.

you do mean the inside of the wheel right? any clicking cv joints? it usually doesn't get a ton on the wheel, it's usually all over the control arm and suspension related gizmo's, but i guess some could get on the wheel?

i replied to your post in another thread. ball joints and tie rod ends are easy things to check as well, but yes this could be a valid diagnosis. use the search function and look for "torque bind", should find lots of info here. but, that should be noticeable in a parking lot, driving slow with the wheel turned to full lock. that's a typical way to spot torque bind.

severe vibrations around sharp turns may also indicate ball joint or tie rod issues. often they will be at certain speeds, or worse at certain speeds and may only happen when turning one way...say left but not right...etc. they should be easy enough to check though. the bad thing is that if it is "diff" related, the front or center diffs are far more costly and labor intensive to deal with. a front diff replacement on this vehicle may mean replacing the entire transmission, that's what i would personally do anyway as it's easier.

axles tend to make all sorts of various noises particularly the fronts and particularly ones exposed to air, dirt and heat...which the one you speak of gets much of. i wouldn't be surprised at all if this axle is causing noises. it should be obvious which side the creaking is coming from, if not then it must be in the center, trans side of the axle, which would probably be your passengers side that's already bad. i dont' have good hearing and i've always been able to tell which cide CV is making a noise...speaking of outer joints (wheel side). i'm all for running cv axles as long as possible, but if this is the joint closest to the trans, i would advise replacing this axle soon. that vibration and shaking will destroy the inner gear that drives the speedometer. it's a plastic gear and all the vibration does not do it any favors. i guess it might matter which side the axle is on and which side that speedometer driven gear is on...i believe it's the passengers side but i'm not positive. fixing that plastic speedometer driven gera requires replacing the entire transmission unless you want to disassemble the front differential which is quite a task. from my experience - clicking is no big deal. vibrations and shaking - not a good thing. this being the case, i'd go ahead and replace that p/s axle as soon as possible then see if the noise disappears.

you're speaking in broad terms, but in this case you don't want aftermarket ignition wires on an EJ engine. EJ engines are very sensitive to ignition components - plugs and most importantly, wires. aftermarket wires, right out of the box often cause problems with EJ engines. not the case with older EA and ER series vehicles, they can run most without any problems. the EJ engine is a bit of a freak for some reason though and it is best to stick with OEM or possible Magnecor i mentioned earlier if reliability and long term use are for you.

yep, i know lots of people use hose clamps. friends of mine have the tool and "corrrect" cv boot clamps but have problems getting them to work and leaking and find the hose clamps are much better. why they choose to have a "special" clamp for CV boots is beyond me.

another option is Magnecor wires and never replace them again. they last the life of the vehicle, i install them on nearly every vehicle i own. even on EJ vehicles which are ignition sensitive. in my oppinion and experience they are the only alternative to Subaru OEM for EJ engines. they are reasonably priced, high quality and you'll never need to replace your wires again. i've used them in applications where the user was going through wires every 15,000-30,000 miles (not subaru) and in those cases Magnecors went beyond 100,000 miles and last the life of the vehicle as well. order them from a distributor, not directly from magencor to get the best price. i ordered my last set (an EJ set) from a place in New York off the internet, that's all i can remember.

for the 99 it sounds like piston slap. the piston slap should not cause any failure, it doesn't typically. other issues - 2.5's have headgasket issues, i'm guessing you know about that.

"compressor bearing" brings up many threads that mention it. this one shows an exploded picture of the bearing: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=58635&highlight=compressor+bearing i'm not going to search through them all, but there are more out there, including some replies from people that have actually done it.

Depends on your driving style and habits as well. For highway mileage on some vehicles you'll notice little difference, i haven't in my 1997 2.2 liter OBS...... of course the caveat to all of this is if your vehicle is running good. one that is running poorly won't help your numbers either way. as to your compressor being shot. if it's a simple failure you can just get a used compressor for $25-$35, charge it yourself and be good to go. if it puked up pieces all through your system then youll need to replace a lot of parts to get it back and running again without destroying your next compressor you install. if you open anything and see lots of black or pieces in the system, then you might as well forget it unless you want a rather large job and expense. i suppose you could try and source all used parts, but even still i can't imagine it being less than $100-$200. now, if you're really lucky the compressor does have a bearing that can be replaced on the vehicle without discharging the system. i've never done it, but others have. if this bearing is frozen you might be in for an easy fix, without discharging the system or replacing your compressor. use the SEARCH button here and you should find some info on how to replace this bearing and a part number for it as well. subaru will look at you cross eyed if you ask them, they'll say you need a new compressor. ..when really you need a $2.00 bearing. does the pulley free wheel at all? in other words if you try and spin it, does it turn? if not, then this may be the easy to replace bearing.

if you're driving with the windows down at highway speeds, on many vehicles it's worse on your mileage or a negligible difference anyway than using your a/c. try and turn the a/c compressor by hand. if it doesn't freewheel at all, then the bearings are shot and that's why they removed it. then try to turn the center portion, it should be tight, like turning an engine over as it compresses internally, if that doesn't move at all or feels rough/makes noises then the compressor is shot. if it appears to be working fine then throw a belt on it. it can affect mileage and performance some but it isn't much and would only make a noticeable difference if it's on. if it freewheels fine, which you can check and you don't use it, you won't notice anything at all. i think the XT6 has a mechanism by which if you're inducing a certain amount of load on the engine it temporarily disengages the A/C compressor, pretty sure i read that in the FSM because i certainly wouldn't make that up. if that's the case, i wouldn't be surprised if the legacy does the same thing. if not you could wire that up yourself.