idosubaru

if you replaced the belt you should be able to tell what it drives, what did it go around? water pump (to the right, drivers side, and a little low), a/c (also to the right but high), alternator...sounds like you know which one the alternator is, and power steering pump is to the left (passengers side). then the crank pulley, that's the big joker in the middle that both belts share. the oil pump is driven by the timing belts, not the accesory belts so the belt you replaced shouldn't have anything to do with the oil pump. that it made noise was coincidence or water pump related. if it drives the water pump, then the engine could have gotten hotter than normal and that can cause abnormal noises. owners manual may show where things are if you have one.

yes. someone is going to do it, millions of timing belts have been changed, so it's not that difficult. what experience and tools do you have? the accessory belt is really simple, the timing belt is rather technical. the beauty of this board is that every single thing you need to know is already written on this board. TONS of information, including links to Subaru's ENDWRENCH site which details subaru's guidelines on this job as well. search and read. you'll need to determine whether the time researching and reading is worth it to you, but the information is already here. if you've never changed oil before...then maybe this isn't for you. if you've rebuilt aircraft engines, you'll be fine. so the question remains, where do you fall between those two extremes?

i second that notion. although...at least you got 35,000 miles out of it the last time and the car will run on 3 cylinders. at least i think it does, mines a 6 cylinder and runs fine with one missing anyway (forgot to plug one in before).

nah, won't be that much unless you're paying someone to do it. the system only takes a bottle. i just flushed mine this year and i don't think it took an entire bottle to do it. if you're doing that, it wouldn't hurt to save the old stuff just in case for later.

let's start from the top, some very important info: does the check engine light every come on? if so, what code is it showing? (real time, not in D Check mode) when is the last time a tune up was done? spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor? i'm betting it's just the IAC (Idle Air Control Valve) is sticking. very common and costs 98 cents for a can of cleaner to fix it. you'll see the large valve sticking up above the engine on the passengers side of the engine cover, it's one of he "highest" items sticking out the top of the engine. it has a wiring harness plug right on the top of it. it has a hose going in one side from the intake hose and the other side hose is just a real short one going into the intake manifold. based on that description you really can't miss it. remove that and clean it out really well. keep runnning cleaner through it until it's perfectly clean. or just swap in another one. at the same time you're doing this, remove the intake hose (the big black hose from the air box to the throttle body). these often crack around the bends. remove it so you can look underneath, flex it a bit and make sure it doesn't have any cracks - which are essentially vaccuum leaks.

thanks, i went ahead and purchased the set.

awesome. that first kit looks like it only has two adapters in it, but gauges have three fittings? what am i missing? those look as if they connect to my gauge set so i can use them on newer cars, seems like exactly what i want. thanks!

Search button is your friend here, you'll find everything, including pictures of exactly where it is on the engine. they crack and need replaced, so just get a new (or used) one. call junk yards, post on here, order one new. don't click on anything, scroll to the bottom left of this screen and you'll see posts with similar topics to what yo'uve just asked, it's titled "Similar Threads". everything you need to know is here. all you need is a 12mm socket and some extensions to change it, but it is tricky to get to. just be patient.

i have a set of R12 compatible a/c gauges. they have the screw in type connectors. the R134 connectors are the compression fitting type. is there a way to convert mine so i can use them on R134a or do i have to get a new set of gauges?

as usual it did it this morning. i popped the hood, wiggled the IAC wiring harness and TPS as well and it went into gear perfectly right away. could be coincidental of course, i'll have to test it, the wiring, or just swap another one.

sounds like a diamond in the rough to me, that's great! wow, there's people like that in NY? i'm baffled. traveling through the NE is no fun just based on the attitudes up there. maybe this is rural NY?

if money is an issue i would not go $1,500+ into this job with new heads and all that. that's a significant amount of work. i don't think that's necessary. if threads are the issue, fix the threads. at least have a mechanic look at it, they should have seen this before. your best bet is to check into a machine shop. they are very experienced working with metal and some will actually look at your vehicle and for work like this i've found machine shops will charge less than mechanics because it's more their specialty. i orchestrated a machine shop from 900 miles away to fix my friends toyota 4 runner that the dealer said "needed a new engine". my friend called me from the dealer and i told him they were FOS (full of stuff). i went to Yahoo! yellow pages and looked up all the machine shops in the area. i called a few of them and found one that was willing to look at it and work on it. a couple hundred later he was back in business. this was about 3 years ago, he drove his toyota to work this morning with a happy 260,000 miles on it. i've also had machine shops do many things for me in the past, they are very good at what they do. i'd call around and see if a local machine shop will fix it. if you want to spend $1,500, let me know where you are in Ohio! i have a spare 2.5 engine that i might sell.

if the insurance company is admitting guilt and paying for your expenses, then you can get almost whatever you want (within reason). i gaurantee you *could*, if you were so skilled, get them to pay to repair your vehicle...even if the damage far exceeds the value (been there, seen it done). ...it all depends on your abilities and willingness to be persistent. they will buck and balk. they are in the business of making money and show higher profits based on what kind of claim layouts they make. they employ full time salesmen, psychologists, lawyers and public relations people to determine the most effective way of settling claims for the lowest amount possible. if you go in knowing that, and knowing that the amount they will give you is not set in stone, they will pay out a lot. it's up to the individual, but most people don't know or understand how to work it...so they get away with paying minimal fees like the "value" of the vehicle. it mostly comes down to lawyers and court. you don't have to go there, but you at least have to make them truely think and believe that you are willing or starting that process. they will much rather settle out of court than in...particularly if, like you said, they are admitting guilt and paying for your vehicle. most people aren't good at or understand this sort of thing and need a lawyer to make them budge, but you can do it yourself. remember just because an insurance company says "we can only give you this amount", what they are really saying is "this is what we're willing to give you"...they can literally pay out whatever they want. look at it this way -think of an economics curve...the point at which people start thinking they're getting lowballed and want to go to lawyers and court....just above that amount is what insurance companies want to pay you. just enough to make you disgruntled and willing to swallow the lumps, but not enough to convince you to go any further...any less than that and they loose money uneccessarily. just like you don't offer the grocery store a few extra dollars for that fat steak because it tasted so good and was a reasonable deal...businesses aren't created to loose money. even if they offer you a reasonable amount (and some insurance companies do that), they will pay out more as well.

i would go with the dual cam set up. the benefits to risk/effort ratio doesn't look good to me. keep in mind performance and hybrid knowledge i know not. the DOHC 2.5 was the highest output of the older EJ's, can't imagine junking those. and far easier. spend that time/effort on something else, it's an NA anyway, the effort on NA motors just isn't worth it in my oppinion if power is what you're after. spend that time port matching the intake manifold, intake manifold gaskets and intake ports on the heads.

they're not that hard to find. i had 9 or so just a year ago. check out benebob's above, great deal and he knows everything about it.

they are actually really easy to do without any special holding tools. i'd read through some threads here and go to it. i've never used a tool to do it, it's really easy.

have your flywheel sent to a machine shop. any local mechanic will have a machine shop they deal with specifically for head work, valve work, engine boring, rotor turning and flywheel resurfacing. have your flywheel resurfaced, buying a new one is complete overkill. it's about $40 and the shop will have all the spec's on hand to make sure it's good and not out of tolerance.

i don't have anything to scan the computer with. doesn't matter where i shift from (P or N), but if i shift into any other gear that should caues the car to move it will stall. and it stalls immediately like a manaul trans that's put in gear with the brakes on. it will only do it once it's been sitting for awhile (like overnight). trips during the day from work, it works fine. now....either once a certain temp is met or it's idled for awhile (maybe 2 minutes?) it works perfect. don't know if that's temp or time related? no flaws at all, shifts fine, drives perfect, plenty of power, nothing out of the ordinary at all and i can turn it off and on lots of times. won't re-occur until i turn it off for a signficant amount of time. IAC you say hhhmmmm? i'll plug my shift resistor in and see if i'm getting any transmission codes. my POWER light always blinks at start up since my shift resistor is always left unplugged (i do that to all my soobs - that is definitely not the problem).

when i first start the car it will stall when i put it into reverse or drive. engine runs fine, no problems there. brakes are not seized, not that it should matter anyway. after warming up for a few minutes it goes into gear and drives and shifts perfectly with no problems. the first time or two it only did it in reverse, put it in drive and drove fine. now i can't put it into any gear without it stalling, have to wait a couple minutes before it goes.

if you're looking for someone on here to say they've used it for years and you can go to the parts store and find it...you're not going to find that kind of answer. but yes, there is certainly something out there, noone just knows exactly what that is. one of our XT6 members in NZ has been running ATF in his for at least 2 years now...maybe 3 and so far there are no issues. i'm not saying that's a good idea, but that's the only non-Subaru fluid i know of that's actually being run and driven in an XT6. the more pressing question is where did your fluid go? if it's leaking then dumping fluid in is not going to fix it. leaks very, very rarely get better with time. at $25 a quart, adding isn't quite as economical as oil leaks. check the fluid lines attached at the pump. there's one that has a clamp on it, the lower one, that typically leaks. it's just a standard hose and clamp set up.

as far as actual traction is concerned, you'll notice the most improved traction based on tire selection....all seasons, snows or studded. the facts - the older models have a locking center differential. the newer models do not. also the older style locking rear diffs were a clutch type, not a VLSD. the clutch type EA series rear diffs in the older soobs are better for most typical snow driving situations. now to oppinion, which seems linked to those facts. of the many subaru's i've owned i prefer the older gen in snow.

get it in good tune before your road trip...engine tune up stuff. and let us know what highway mileage you get on road trips. the 88+ models can get amazing highway gas mileage, not sure about the earlier year XT's. if yours is even close, keep track and you'll be surprised at what you get.

the automatic transmission radiators have an embedded ATF cooler in them. the dealer will show two distinct part numbers - the auto trans model will have the ATF cooler and associated hook up lines and the manual transmission will not have that. the aftermarket companies will sometimes supply the same radiator for either one. if you install that kind of radiator to your manual transmission vehicle you just won't hook up any lines to it (because you don't have any!) and the ATF cooling part will remain unused. so yes, they should work just fine.

mechanic sounds like a good choice here. you could check the adjustment and pick up some of that slack. but it's not that hard for a 91,000 mile vehicle to need a new clutch. the one to wear it out that quickly probably wasn't very kind to it, but it doesn't take much to get it to that point.

you only hear about 100,000+ mile failures because that's what most of these vehicles have on them by now. 10 year old vehicles have about 120,000 miles on average. there are plenty of failures prior to 100,000 miles, just far fewer samples since few have that low of mileage. there's no formula for the EJ25 in terms of when, if, or how it will fail. i've got a few blown headgasket EJ25's in my garage with nowhere near 100,000 miles. don't be fooled just because that's what you usually see. i buy them often and i would never pay anywhere near full price for one with original headgaskets. which brings up an important point - you can easily see if it's the new style or old style headgaskets, just pop the hood and look to see if it's singular or multi-layered in design where it sticks out of the block. check for torque bind. do a search for torque bind here. other than that, solid car, basic vehicle inspection rules here.