idosubaru

since your vehicle is 10 years old and has 60,000 miles i would look at the belt. if you can't find proof anywhere, then that's your next best step. it only takes three 10mm bolts to look at the timing belt, it's very easy to do. the right and left timing covers come right off very easy without removing anything else. most likely the belt was recently replaced...if it all....so it should obvious if it's only a year or two old or if it's 13 years old. also...if it doesn't show up in Subaru records, maybe it wasn't done by Subaru. if that's the case you'll see the writing on the belt will indicate an aftermarket belt, which obviously means it was replaced. if you can do it yourself your best bet really is to remove the belt anyway. check for play in the water pump, oil pump backing screws, and replace any pulleys, or the bearings, that are bad. by this age there is normally at least one, usually the sprocketed pulley at the bottom, that needs replaced. i replaced the one on my wifes 97 OBS with only 68,000 miles and a friends 97 Impreza with only 80,000 miles. they were both noisey and spun freely. most shops and dealers aren't that cautious about those items. age is against you here, not mileage.

what exactly is it doing? when you assemble everything does the fluid leak anywhere? the power steering just doesn't work? does it make any noises? turn the wheel with the cap off the reservoir to keep it from blowing out. when you unbolted the power steering line from the pump did you reinstall the spring and banjo bolt properly? you disconnected the line at the pump didn't you?

i just posted about an auto to manual swap in this forum like day or two ago and they posted links to two websites with excellent information and pictures on the 5 speed swap.

yeah, i dig the air suspension. i have pages in the USRM about how to maintain your struts so the strut bags last the life of the vehicle. do that and replace all of the orings now, rather than wait until they start leaking and it's not that hard to have a reliable air suspension. it actually rides quite nice, i like it better than the coil overs i've had on the XT6. that being said....i would recommend most people get rid of them. spend the time sourcing the struts and you can have coil overs for $200 - $50 per strut isn't that hard to do. lots of options for swapping too, so it's easy. then sell your air strut parts to get some of your money back. unless you have a use for the air suspension or are completely set on keeping it stock or like the coolness factor of them, there's really no point in keeping them because if they have problems it can be very hard to figure out without someone who knows the system very well...and you won't find any mechanics who know this system and the dealer will just replace 4 different items at one time for $1,000+.

friend has a 97 impreza sedan automatic and may be needing a new driveshaft. anyone know what models/years are interchangeable on newer gen driveshafts? front and rear halves? a board member has an 02 impreza driveshaft, any chance of that working?

everyone say together "brake booster vacuum hose". at least it was simple. i should have went with nipper vacuum testing, i probably would have used that port! yep, checked the fuel lines, my wife has an outback sport with identical fuel lines...now why did i double checked some things and not others??

i removed the exhaust (at the exhaust manifold) and unplugged the O2 sensors and it ran exactly the same as it did before. so the exhaust and O2 sensors shouldnt' be the problem. i used a 97 GT intake manifold in a 98 GT vehicle. slight vacuum line differences and the 97 had the charcoal canister lines that the 98 did not have. it all seemed to go together right, but i'm hoping the problem is there since that's easy enough to do. so i'm swapping manifolds right now so it has the stock 98 GT set up on it.

i would use nippers method, rack fittings/lines are annoying.

GAH!!! i left out a step, sorry about that. you need to break the drill bit in half for it fit in front of the engine. do that and it will work with no engine pulling nonsense. heck, even revoming the condensor and maybe even the bumper would be easier than pulling the engine. they come out very easily actually. should have given you my phone number. well, now you'll know what to do if it's starts leaking. given the heating, expanding and contracting it would not surprise me at all if it starts leaking at some point, so keep an eye on it.

make sure the final drive ratio didn't change between years either. probably didn't, but you want to be sure.

i noticed some hex plugs on a steering rack the other week. pretty sure you could probably unscrew those. might have to remove the jack plate to see if there's access from underneath. turning the rack lock to lock pushes a lot of fluid out. so disconnecting the lines is probably a good way to go. i'd think disconnect the return line down by the rack, disconnect the other line at the pump. then you would also have the option to refill the rack through the pressure hose at the pump and flush it two or three times to get all of it out...kind of like doing an ATF refill in the trans.

use NGK plugs and Subaru only on the wires. that's probably a problem as well. that will 95%..or some high number, of the time solve the problem.

want to send a picture of the pan? if it's not close to the sump it won't matter. it'll just displace a little fluid. but if it's by the sump, then you need to do something right away. the pan can be really annoying to replace, they often leak after reinstall. the holes get rusty and corroded and the holes may be concave up...cutting into the new gasket as you tighten it. also make sure you clean the mating surface of the trans and pan very, very good. and use a Subaru gasket, some of the aftermarket gaskets are thin and whimpy. some people like to throw RTV or sealant of some kind on both sides of the gasket to avoid the leaking issues mentioned above. of course some newer gen vehicles don't have a gasket, i think they just use sealant, not sure when that changed though. and don't bother replacing the filter while you're in there, just fix the pan and go. the "filter" isn't really a filter at all, it's just a screen. they are never culprits to worry about. the oring at the top of the filter might be worth replacing though if you feel so inclined while you're in there. but you wouldn't have replaced it anyway had the pan not dented. you could also drill a hole in the middle of the dent, drain rinse the ATF out, pull the dent out and then weld it shut. that's what i would do, much quicker than pulling the pan. but most probalby don't feel comfortable doing that. along those lines, i'd check out some body dent pulling methods maybe..i'm not well versed in body work.

that's awesome, thanks guys! that wiring looks like a real pain for me, but not all that complicated at least.

is there any info out there on auto to manual EJ conversions? i'm not worried about mechanics too much. are there any ECU or wiring issues?

seems like running a VLSD in 2WD would be bad news. running one that has failed (binding) sholudn't matter...like i said, i know someone running one like this right now. what exactly are we after/discussing? now that i agree with, the person ruins the solenoid, not the switch. the one failure we have documented from a reliable source admits he left it on...on the highway. i think i heard of another, but he was also offroading and abusing the vehicle, don't think that's considered normal either. so still no documented, reliable sources of failure due to the switch.

i would turn it lock to lock a number of times, i would bet that works. if not, then try the bleeding procedure. make sure none of the lines are clogged. just turning the wheel puts significant pressure on the fluid and should get things moving.

what guinnea pig is needed? one with a failed diff or good diff? you're looking for someone with a good trans to disconnect the shaft and see what happens? interesting.....if i get a wild hair i'll try it. all? how about everyone that has used it properly is running fine...and some of us did it many years before anyone here even talked about it. there's no need to spread incorrect information or bring up the same thing that's been addressed over and over again in other threads.

first, it is an EJ25 right? if it's an impreza outback...it's an EJ22, if it's a legacy outback then it's an EJ25. look at the head to engine mating surface, i'm fairly certain...like 99 percent that you can tell if it's been replaced or not. i have two at my house and one has a plain flat old headgasket. both are identical engines and vehicles, the other has a multilayer gasket with metal on both sides and a material in between...i've almost certain this one is the "updated" headgasket. those that have done more than i will verify. i can post pic's but i'm sure someone here knows. easiest spot to look might be between the power steering pump and alternator at the front of the block, behing the timing covers . part of the gasket protrudes outside of the engine. if you have the original headgasket, it's a decision only you can make. this will turn out to be a 100 page thread of oppinions more than anything else. oppinions from people that dont' know you, don't know who's driving (wife, children, parents...), don't know what kind of driving (long road trips??) and what kind of reliability and how flexible you are as a person. reliability, type of driving and all of that is a decision only you can make. if you're the kind of person who gets all worked up when something goes wrong and you'll hate subaru's for the rest of your life if the headgasket blows...then have it replaced and spare us the flaming post later! if you're flexible and stuff doesn't both you...then don't worry about it. if you're somewhere in between, then make your decision accordingly. myself...i don't know what i would do, but i do know that i wouldn't have my wife driving one for any extended distance unless it has updated headgaskets. and because of that, she drives an EJ22 vehicle. they are more reliable than an EJ25 with original headgaskets, so it's not worth it to me. if you get them done, definitely send the heads to a machine shop. find a shop that knows subarus, ask the dealer who they use if you can't find any, and have them check it and mill it. do not skip that step and do not just replace one headgasket - those are two low percentage no-no's.

i agree totally with the above statement. if you were trying to be as inexpensive as possible and wanted a "test", then you could pack some grease in the CV joint by hand. pack grease all up in there by hand, rotating the joint around and packing, packing, packing. if it goes away, then it's definitely CV related. if it doens't, then it could still be cv related and you proved nothing. like he just said, there's no point in guessing what else it could be until you find out whether the known broken boot is causing it. a loose mount can easily cause vibrations as well, so you need to look into that broken mount as well.

technicalities aside, it's being done right now and can be done in FWD or RWD....so far i've yet to hear of it "not working", but obviously the sample size is tiny. in cases where the viscous coupling has failed such that it's "locked", i don't know what that means or exactly what is happening inside that unit, but it does work to run in 2WD. i've done it myself for many thousands of miles as well on a diff lock equipped manual trans, on multiple vehicles. no problems, but those certainly aren't viscous couplings and are better for this than the viscous units. i would think you would be fine. in a perfectly working 4EAT, stock config, i had bad luck running with front axles. i did not have the duty C switch then i don't think. it really confused the TCU. but running with the rear driveshaft disconnected it would run fine...but i'm guessing i probably used the duty C switch to do that, it was awhile ago and i did not drive it very long like that. also, this is all on first generation 4EAT stuff in an XT6, so differences are possible.

how are you finding so many people that store these things like that? rusted, pitted cylinder walls is not normal for any subaru...even any subaru engine that blows a headgasket. subaru's are notorious for having near perfect cylinder walls and crosshatching at 200,000+ miles. it is hard to keep the cylinder walls from rusting, they will rust even if oiled and sitting in a garage. it's really annoying, i've had it happen too. i hate reapplying the oil, i just want to store it and let it set. either a very controlled environment or wrapping them is needed i guess.

in short, best to fix it, but i'd do it. if your center diff is fried, then you'll probably be fine to drive it as long as you please. on the older generation stuff you can run them with the center diff locked and the rear shaft out for as long as you please...i suppose some internal parts are seeing more load than normal, but assuming you don't drive crazy, race the car and install a turbo i'd guess you won't have any problems. i know a guy with an EJ trans just like yours, with torque bind and he's running it in 2WD (RWD actually).

i'm not very good at welding, just discussing.

it does suck, but i think a wire feed is worth looking into. i've done some tight space welding with a wire feed, the thin wire feeds through very tight spaces without getting the tip close to the object. not ideal, but worth a look i think. almost positive my small wire feed would fit this job.