idosubaru

sometimes they're rusted so bad they won't come out. use a press or heat. if you smash the axle too hard it'll mushroom the threads and won't be able to pull through the hub until you cut/grind the end of the axle. then the first 1-7 threads will be smashed tigther together and won't be reusable unless go through inordinate effort to reform/rechase axle threads which are huge and not available as dies. even if you're not reusing the axle, my point is that they can be very difficult to remove. a press or heat or continue to bash it with your sledge and plan on cutting/grinding the ends off so it can slide through.

Just give it oil, no special treatments needed. Change the first one after 1k

That would certainly be an easy route!

also if they're really bad, on the intake bolts - loosen them slowly. at first you may even need to tighten it a few degrees to get a range of motion to work it back and forth just a small amount. if they're tight at all, work it back and forth 20, 45, or 90 degrees or whatever feels allowable and stop and go work on something else (another intake bolt). the instant that resistance is felt, it starts generating heat. it's localized heat not in places of advantage. that's bad an expands and contributes to the issue. continue to work the bolt back and forth, and take many breaks along the way to allow it to cool down. over time you'll be able to expand how far you're working it back and forth and the threads eventually begin to act like taps, cutting their way through the garbage. back and forth multiple times and eventually it's range of motion expands. the corrosion ranges all the way down the shaft, through the thick intake manifold body, and into the head, and i haven't seen penetrating oil be able to get down far enough to help get started. if you can get the head to come up at all and create a gap for penetrant access then get some down there, it's better than nothing and will eventually speed up the above processes referenced.

Got it. I think you said that the two engines have the same hole depths? That suggests the holes are fine and points us to focus on the bolts and manifold thickness. Can you post pictures of them - do the old and new bolts match, have the same grade, and appear the same length and tread to bare shaft ratios? do you have a caliper that you can measure the depth of the intake manifold bolt hole areas, if they're accessible? I'm having a little trouble following what's going on. First sentence says different bolt hole depths, last sentence says hole depths are the same.

Test for voltage at battery posts (not clamps) Test for voltage at battery cables (as far back as metal is showing from the posts....clamps, crimp, exposed wire) Test for voltage at starter. How close are all those three measurements? Starter needs lots of amps so voltage doesn't tell all the story, but it's a good start to know how much voltage drop you're getting at each of those points.

No washers. Here's the money question - why are you measuring the bolt? If it's because you have mixed up bolts, count and make sure the number of matching bolts equals the available slots. Post a pic of the bolt(s) in question. Measure again, 1 to 2 threads of engagement is a tiny amount. I've installed hundreds of that exact bolt on countless subarus with no length or install issues. This is highly unlikely and would require significant material to bottom the bolt, but If the heads intake mating surface, or intakes head mating surface, have been filed or resurfaced or cut that would shorten the bolt path.

Particularly a 2016 Forester which has a value far exceeding the cost of tires and presumably many years/miles remaining. If nails/flats/replacement are a local issue, like I said, get tires with a road hazzard warranty. Tire Rack has good tire prices and includes road hazard replacement free.

That being said you said “another nail” - you could get all 4 new tires, keep the good used ones as spares, a full size spare, to sell, and/or get new tires with road hazzard warranty - tire rack, discount tire, etc. if the tires have any age to them and you need winter traction I’d lean that way even more. Snow traction deteriorates with age more than miles.

Subaru’s were never “sensitive”. Or they’re functionally just as sensitive now as they used to be. Someone who thinks they used to be sensitive will probably not be comfortable with anything but 4 new tires or doing whatever the shop tells them. I routinely buy one, or two, new tires and put them on the positions that wear the fastest. For me that’s the front. So two new tires go up front or one new one up front of there’s another I see as a good enough matching fit. newer cars can ocassionally have a more even front to rear tire wear depending on use. I think this is due to brake and proportioning valve changes which can favor rear braking and reduce nose diving. In some driving styles and environments this could lead to more even wear. On my $@!&$@& roads and heavy weight front end with 6 cylinders and mountain roads I’ll still see higher front tire wear. if the others have reasonable tire depth like 1-2/32nds less than the new one, get one and leave it in the highest wear position when rotating. Don’t move it. It’ll wear down to meet the others. Same with buying two. Position two new ones in same manner. there are people getting torque bind at low mileages with perfect tire maintenance. and nearly unheard of data driven statistically relevant trends showing Subaru’s are sensitive. Ive seen towing on two wheels hose the trans. Yes, don’t be egregious but it’s often talked about on some forums like they blow up every time you drive with an under inflated tire. theyre old enough now that people are ignoring the dead battery TPMS lights and running all the time on low tires with mismatched pressures/rolling diameters. I’m seeing absolutely zero calls, questions, failures, trans demand increases at yards, or cars with blown trans for sale. If it was a big deal we’d be seeing it more often. Be smart, but the latent verbiage on the internet is largely armchair quarterbacking from folks that have only worked on 10 or less Subaru’s = anecdotal. I would normally think that would be the fronts for a Subaru, but again driving environment, use, and vehicle will matter. 2 new tires on the rear sounds like it’s coming from someone who’s working on a lot of other 4WD platforms which are typically rear wheel drive until they’re put into 4WD. That’s not how subaru transmissions work so I’d check that.

that other panel in the picture looks like it might have an easy/tab/handle for pulling down? can you pull that off and look? does it have an external antenna in that area? are there any drain hoses for the atenna, etc there? keep looking "up" for the highest level of wetness you can find. which can be tough if it's been wet, humid, condensing. generally spray water from the outside while looking carefully with a flashlight on the inside. preferrably after drying it out so there's no residual wetness.

There are only two things that cause your symptoms...assuming I’m reading and picturing them right: 1. axles - specifically the front inner joints. 2. front diff - always...(or usually?)....accompanied by noise. you don’t have any noise so front diff seems unlikely. When the bearing or R&P have any play it’s hard for them not to make noise...particularly if they’re getting worse, but I guess it’s possible. the minor metal on the drain plug is hard to assess without seeing it and knowing how long since the last front diff oil change. But typically some debris is normal assuming it’s not changed frequently which is often the case.

Ieft this hanging - This comment applies to the 05-09 EJ25s. This is why they’re marginally somewhat less desirable than 00-04s, unless you can feel very confident of the oil loss history. EJ25 HG are tough because there’s rampant anecdotal opinions on them. One well respected shop who’s dedicated web space to this, says bad grounds cause HG issues. Whatever minor truth that may hold is nearly bleached out by the fact that HG prone engines have the same grounds and propensity for bad grounds as engines with no headgasket issues. Or in the northeast where I rarely see a Subaru without broken and corroded ground straps, even on engines without HG issues. Those kinds of anecdotal response to EJ25s is common, inaccurate, incomplete, or impractical.

What he said. the car market is bonkers in some areas now due to current environment. Some buyers are out of the market, not driving, don’t want to spend, and others are in the market and trying to fill needs from a drying up, or quite different, used car supply. From my limited perspective I’m seeing Subaru’s with issues holding value really well, while other vehicles like trucks and luxury brands with downward price pressure.

also make sure it's not the power steering - does it feel like the steering is bad or is it noisy or loosing fluid at all? is the power steering fluid bubbly and foamy after making these symptoms/driving? any check engine lights?

torque bind. all your tire sizes, diameters need to match. otherwise you need a new viscous coupler. it's in the rear of the transmission but is done without removing the trans. remove exhaust, driveshaft, remove rear housing of trans, swap in new VC. $300-$700 labor plus the part depending on your locale/shop.

awesome, glad you got it, that's the point! no tow, have a party! you're welcome...not that my suggestions probably helped but collectively we appreciate hearing you got it!

I recently took a friend to a well known local Subaru used car dealer, I'm frequently helping people buy subaru's, often college students. They have 30-50 Subar's for sale. I looked at 10 05-09's and 7 of them had currently leaking headgaskets - all oil seeping. One or two were hard to distinguish - I didn't have good access and maybe it was a CV boot slinging grease and I saw one incorrectly - but even still it was 50% or more of the ones on the lot for sale had at least the beginning of external oil leaks. Also - take note where you're buying from. Which cars are more likely to be traded in to a dealer and sent to auction - ones with leaks or without? This place I just mentioned sources all their cars from east coast auctions and is getting traded in vehicles. it's no surprise many of them have existing oil leaks. I prefer private sales - someone lost a job, is moving, got a promotion, has a growing family, retired and is tired of driving a manual trans, is on medical rotations and moving, needs to tow more...is moving away from the vehicle for clear reasons. All of those, and more, are people I've bought cars from. It's worth the extra work and personally, and all the people I've helped over the decades by Subaru's - there's been a clear delineation. The dealer cars are far more likely to have issues, the private sale vehicles were excellent condition. From that experience I pay as much, or more attention, to the person, than the car.

To the extent that they are all old and a predominant majority have been subject to some type of headgasket attention by replacement or additive campaign (particularly the ones you're looking at) - this doesn't much matter and what everyone said is practically relevant. But it's also somewhat misleading depending what and why you're comparing. All EJ's have headgasket issues and "headgasket mileage" isn't a relevant indicator for purchase between two competing EJ25's. 00-04 EJ25's commonly failed under their existing 36,000 mile warranty and all were offered a free additive campaign and 100,000 mile extended headgasket warranties. 00-04's leak, usually coolant externally, and progressively get worse over long periods of time. They are less likely to leak oil, but can. You can drive them 100,000 miles just topping the coolant off, so they're not all that concerning. Of course shops would just say "headgasket" and people freak out, and to their defense, many shops may not have known that this was a very slowly propagating failure. And we are just post-EJ25D which had eggregious, stranding, catrastrophic headgasket failures so some people/shops would be gun shy. Anyway - so the 00-04's frequently have issues but they're not that alarming at all. They rarely can overheat as a lone symptom, but it's rare/not common. 05-09 are basically the same except they leak oil and it usually get worse much more quickly. Driving them more than 20k with an existing oil leak may or may not be a big deal. But again - no stranding issues or anything. They are also prone to a low rate of lower end bearing failures because you can drive with low oil without any symptoms and destroy the lower ends. 5 years ago I could pick one up every week with a blown engine. The 00-04's usually leaked coolant and would offer incentive or symptoms to keep it topped it off, most people aren't going to drive overheating, steaming, etc. The 05-09's are more risky if people don't know or try to limp them along and forget or dont' check oil. So to put this all in perspective when buying, I don't consider mileage relevant at all. It is slightly, but it's no more order of magnitude than anything else is susceptible to higher mileages...fluids, trans, bushings, rust...: 1. All of what I said is true of factory installed original HG's. Replaced HG's have more variable failure modes. Aftermarket gaskets have been known to fail in months, seen it many times (not personally but someone else doing it). 2. In terms of headgaskets the 00-04 are superior. It's the most benign headgasket issue due to it being more obvious, having more symptoms, and Subaru was more proactive towards them early on. And they get worse more slowly over long periods of time - giving you 10's of thousands of miles and years to plan to repair it. So buy one that's currently not leaking or repaired properly with Subaru gaskets and heads resurfaced, and you can almost plan on 50k of never having to worry about it. 3. If they've never had bad oil leaks or had HG's replaced early and you have a great feeling it never ran low on oil - they're also a fine candidate. But verifying that is kind of tough. You just don't want one that ever ran low on oil. Those are asymptomatic and risky. Or just buy one with a blown engine and see if Subaru still sells the $2,000 OEM engines. $1,000 rust free blown engine, $2,000 new Subaru engine, $1,500 to install it - and you're got a rust free zero miles engine with 36,000 mile warranty for $4,500.

Axles. make absolutely sure they’re fully seated into the trans. Aftermarket axles are garbage. I don’t know how many bad and failed aftermarket axles I’ve seen.lost count years ago. It’s nearly routine if you’re around even a small volume of Subaru axles. I’ve written a lot about them if you want to search here under my username. Or search “aftermarket axles garbage” or “trash” and you should begin to step into the light Buy two front Used OEM axles and reboot them. I’d offer to ship you two but they’re so cheap it’s not worth it. Yards have them for $15-$35 each. Other than being lazy, which I do understand, but there’s no reason not to use OEM axles in this situation. of course you’ll want to verify but it would be ZERO surprise for this to be the axle. Oh but you replaced it already - Yawn - still no surprise. 4 in a row would probably be surprising. Two - not even close Consider yourself lucky they haven’t just blown apart while driving - I’ve seen that multiple times two on brand new axles. That doesn’t even surprise me now. Trash. There’s a couple other things it could be but you haven’t described any other symptoms that point to them, they’re less common and more expensive so rule out the axles first...and you’ll be done.

Good! I just pull the line off and crank the key - gas either flows like a garden hose for one second or it doesn't. Make sure it's not power to the pump first. I'd probably convert to some aftermarket unit that's not $$$$$$$

okay - good then the removal of the intake should have definitely caused this if it was running before. if the distributor if pulled up about 1" and then set down, the tooth engagement in the bottom can change and it won't be aligned properly. if it wasn't unbolted and lifted up then that's not the issue. i'd pull a fuel line and make sure fuel dumps out while cranking the key, or check the PSI if you have a fuel pressure tester. no rags stuffed in the intake chambers of the heads that may have been left there?

1. Was it positively running just fine a week before you did this work? 2. Why did you pull the intake manifold? if you pulled or moved the distributor check that.

That fuel line coming out of the fuel filter looks questionable - it’s bent at a nearly 90 degree angle and with a generic Gates hose it may be collapsed internally. If that’s SPFI, which a Loyale I think is, they may be less forgiving than MPFI. the fuel line with the inline saucer shaped part - where does that lead too? I don’t think that should be a return line or go to the charcoal canister. But I haven’t looked at one in awhile I don’t see the brake booster line - where is that? It should come out of the fire wall by the booster/master cylinder.

It’s often the brake booster. Check all vacuum hoses. Check all hoses and intake hose and ports on manifold - cruise vacuum (if equipped), 4WD, switching solenoid hoses. Spray starting fluid all around intake - if it starts while doing that then it’s a vacuum leak. Fuel lines john mentioned did you mess with the timing belt - The marks are used opposite from modern subarus and EJs and they get installed wrong all the time.