idosubaru

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.

more likely scenario isn't adjustment, but that the window actually popped out of alignment. this is going to be very difficult to explain in words and not knowing all the little parts. but towards the front of the door is a catch mecahnism...a stopper of sorts. the part that catches this can jump over it, such that it doesn't actually catch it anymore and the window will appear out of alignment and loose. you need to loosen or remove one bolt for this catch and turn it properly and retighten. unfortunately it's usually only one window, you're in a real pickle here. the easiest way to check things out is to remove both door panels and have a look at all the little components and stoppers and such. but since both are bad you can't compare like that. and i don't know how different the rear windows are, never worked on one. anyway, i've found that this happens in cold weather. ice/snow will cause the window to stick to the vehicle and when you pull it open, it bends or forces the glass such that the stoppers will hop over where they're supposed to be. there's my terrible terminology, i don't know jack about power windows but i have fixed a few. of course this is for vehicles with no frame, just glass resting against the veihcle. i'm not sure what an 01 impreza has - just glass or frame too?

depends on the shop and what they're doing, you can be really cheap and just replace the clutch disc or replace everything that should be replaced with a clutch job. pilot bearing, throw out bearing, 2 clutch retaining clips, pressure plate and clutch disk. a good clutch kit will have most of those things, probably not the clips. rough guess for mechanic $500-$700 assuming you're not going the ultra cheap route. this job can easily be done in a day. there's no mechanic that would take a day to do this job. figure on a long day for your first time. if you really wanted to do it in a day and you want the flywheel machined (i almost always do that) you might want to consider buying a used flywheel and having it machined at a machine shop prior to doing the work, that way it's there ready to go once the engine is out. it beats trying to run there when the motor is already out, you don't have a vehicle to drive and you have to wait on the shop...and they're not going to be open on weekends. the only real tricky parts are separating the engine from the trans and reinstalling it to the trans. just have to get everything lined up right to go where you want it. may help to have someone who's done it before or at least access to the internet (here!) while yo'ure doing it. we can give you tips for that, everything else is fairly straight forward. the biggest question is that of an engine lift to yank the engine. you will need one of those. you can buy them new for $200, used for less and rent them for $25 a day. the quickest method possible is pulling the transmission, but that's difficult for your first time and without any help. it's also very awkward working under the vehicle and reinstalling by yourself unless you have a good transmission jack or adpater plates...which you probably don't have. i would definitely not recommend this method to a first timer. the nice thing is you can have the transmission out in 30 minutes where the engine takes 2 hours. what it might take a first timer to do: 3 hours to pull engine (i had one out a couple weeks ago in 2 hours) 2 hours to swap parts 3 hours to reinstall 2 hours for annoying hang ups! 10 hours total.

duh duh duh duuuuuhhhhh it's time, hope you're ready! good luck and have fun!

ah ha, a spring? i definitely don't have a spring on it, nor do i remember every having one. thanks J.

yep, the quickest *possible* way period is pulling the transmission. but, i say *possible* because the caveat to that is tools and patience. in the same way that pulling an engine would be very difficult without an engine lift, it's best to have a good jack or suitable method of holding/stabilizing the transmission (adapter plate, transmission jack, straps, extra people helping). it can be done by yourself, but for the first timer this takes time to figure out if you don't have these things. the trans can be out in 30 minutes. but reinstalling the trans is the tricky part, this is where tools/experience come into play. and you're working on the ground, on your back, over your head. pulling the engine keeps thing easier and simpler. so yeah, it can be quicker and easier, just depends what kind of equipment selection you have. it seems engine lifts and familiarity with them is more prominent than transmission jacks or adapter plates or loads of friends wanting to help, so that's why most people pull engines. the EJ25's come out fairly easy though, they're not too bad. leave the hood on and don't touch the intake manifold, not necessary.

so you're going right? sounds like the perfect opportunity to teach that friendships are more important than celebrities!

nice call svxpert. i would want the separator and gasket replaced for sure. the rear main will likely never fail, it's the least likely seal to leak in a subaru going all the way back to their EA82 engines in the 80's even. it's easy to see if it's seeping or not, it's either dry or wet since it's so clean inside the bellhousing typically. but while you're there it's not a bad idea. it's about 30 minutes to do both of those. the suggestion that they're charging based on engine removal required sounds very plausible. my guess is they're going to stick to the books though and one of their mechanics will be very happy about that job since they get paid by the job, not time.

i like posts like this where the OP never comes back but the thread grows and grows......

i got your email, looks like you're set up. feeling nice and confident now!?!?

the graphite seal you mentioned will be the same as the "ring seal" i mentioned. my recommendation isn't necessarily to "not replace" the rear main. but make very sure it's seating properly and everything is done exactly right if you do decide to replace it. there are a number of examples of people having them leak after installing a new one. be very careful installing the torque converter in the transmission. if you've already got them, practice now well ahead of time. don't wait until the install. seating the TC the last 1/4" is tricky business and is hard to tell if it's fully seated or not. using the TC bolts to draw the TC and flexplate together = destroying your new trans. happens often (relatively speaking, it's not like that many trans get replaced). there's good info on this board about seating the TC, there was a recent thread about it and i got emails. search button will help you here.

for real, i was thinking the same thing. particularly in the snow/rust/salt/coal areas. i'm surprised i haven't had to replace them in my OBS yet. part number note: 1990-1999 Legacy (except 99 GT and Outback) 26740AA001 The wagon and sedan sensors are different, showing a different part number. that's bizarre.

any subaru motor will fit, so get the newest/faster WRX STi motor.

howdy, i'm from just outside of Westminster, MD just down the road from you. i used to drive past R-town for work. you'll need all the wiring and ECU to make this work, you know that right?