idosubaru

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.

used axle $35 - $65 international air shipping - $100 for a good axle. or add a few dollars for a remanned unit. saves yourself tedious work and hours fiddling around...and still having a jacked up axle.

try a post in the "parts wanted" forum here, EJ stuff isn't all that hard to find. i've mailed steering racks before, not that hard..takes a long box though.

probalby best to remove the old glass and glue if you can. to remove glued/taped items, you can put them in the oven and heat them up. usually comes right off then. can't say if the heat will hurt the paint, i can't imagine that it would, you don't need to make it all that hot to soften the tap/glue.

there's been a few threads about making an XT6 into a convertible and one person has done it....there are some decent discussion, structural, reinforcing type information over at xt6.net. probably on the internet as well. if you didn't want it and it's a FWD 5 speed i'd probably take it. i may still take it if it's AWD.

it's not nearly as scientific as you would think. it starts out that way, but in the end there are marketing, reliability, and safety factors that contribute just as much to the final answer. sounds like they're final result is 1,000 miles per month..which is 12,000 miles per year which is a figure that's been around for decades in the automotive industry. it's best to stick with a quantifiable result...no matter how convoluted that "quantification' process was! so, they stick with 1,000 miles per month as a guide. realize that risk is a very "loose" term....yes you are putting yoruself in risk....but it's a very small risk and the risk would increase over time...it would be a curve, non linear for sure. that subaru chooses to pick a point on that curve that's very conservative shouldn't be that surprising. a "low" risk..pick a number...isn't likely to affect you personally, but could easily affect their reputation, sales, warranty costs...etc when multiplied out by thousands and millions of vehicles on the road. so subaru choose to manage that risk in a certain way....of course most of the time a belt it replaced it's not close to breaking. but that's the mark of a well designed product and maintenance schedule. if you owned a company that relied heavily on your reputation you would certainly err on the side of caution...particularly when it adds money to your bottom line! most (the fact that i said most should be nearly humerous) people don't make decisions based on maintenance intervals, so there isn't a huge incentive to make them as long as possible. they would rather make the intervals shorter and add a little to maintenance costs...which most don't look at anyway, than even come close to maxing out the change intervals at the expense of high expensive engine work or replacement of an interference engine. also...maintenance adds significant revenue. also...the more often they are in there, the easier it is to spot leak, find a failed tensioner...etc. maybe the belt is okay for 10 years and 150,000 miles...but that's assuming the belt is a stand alone item, unaffected by anything else. not the case, engines are very dynamic. what one part does isn't independent of every other. and in reality if you're making a one-size-fits-all product...speaking of maintenance schedules, there will certainly be lots of safety margin in the figures. people running in very hot or cold climates may not be the majority but those environments make a difference as well. after 8 years i'd want to replace a timing belt and check everything else behind it. if i get a subaru that's 8 years old or more and the timing belt was "recently replaced", i'll still pull it apart to check the tensioners and seals since many mechanics and all dealers aren't very prudent in checking/replacing those.

if you known someone with a welder, that would be time well spent to ask him to have a look and find out what kind of experience he has. this is a very easy welding job...it doesn't have to look good, it's not a finished product, it just needs to come out. with a welder this job becomes a very easy 2 minute fix. i've done it numerous time, weld a bolt or nut to the end and then use a socket to get it out. you could literally be done in 2 minutes. that certainly beats spending all that time centering the bit, grinding, tubing, drilling, drillling again, tapping, bolting, locktite...etc, etc.... if it were me, i would go this route, but i have a welder and have done it before. it is the single best method for removing a stuck fastener. good luck, look forward to hearing good news.

are you sure they are turned in all the way and emergency brake is off? most likely you just need to line up the back of the brake pads with the pistons. 'im not familiar with brats, but pads and pistons aren't typically flat. they have ridges and such in them, the pistons have to so they can be turned. and pads often have little nubs on the back. those nubs need to fit in a recessed portion of the piston so they don't stick out very far...if they don't, then exactly what is happenign to you will happen. you will have to tighten them a little more or actually loosen them, turn them back out just a 1/2 turn or so until the nubs on the pad line up with a recessed portion of the piston face. did you turn the pistons on both sides? compare them and make sure they are retracted to the same depth. if they are at different heights, then they aren't compressing properly. which means they need new seals (couple dollars) or you need new calipers. aside from that, is it possible you got the wrong rotors or pads (or they gave you the wrong ones)? it's obvoiusly rare, but i've seen the wrong parts come in the right box...in other words order "XT6 something" and get the wrong part even when the box says XT6 and has the right part numbe ron it.

thanks guys, i appreciate it. i dont have any temperature gauges, but i got two hands and 10 or so fingers. anyway and i don't have a vacuum gauge but probably should. if the temp to the touch and feeling out the exhaust pipe are indeterminate i'll probably get a vaccuum gauge. where do i hook it up???

i mentioned welding a long time ago, he does not weld and wasn't interested in pursuing that option, i think it's time to move on unless he informs us otherwise. i would feel very confident of this bolt coming out based on the observations made thus far. i've had very good success getting out corroded, seized and very difficult bolts, i don't think this one, not even being under load or seized will be all that bad. i had materials engineering course and understand yield very well and agree that won't help, but i think it's not a huge obstacle if you proceed slowly and pay attention. and good points about the tap...read up or ask about using one if you're not familiar with using them. lubricate, allow it to cool, and thread, reverse, thread reverse to break up chunks as you go. remove to clean at intervals.

i didn't know how long you had those cars, just making an observation. you only had one for a long time, mileage is more important than time and one or two is still anecdotal at best. i'm not saying it won't work...as a matter of fact it will. not trying to poke you, only suggesting that percentages and mileage is much better if it's machined..like nipper said, for flatness and finish. it's not about "right or wrong" so much as percentages. i like a high percentage success rate and many on this board have a %100 success rate on a lot of headgaskets, not just a few. there's your mistake and the cause of your confusion, that's not what happens. like i said, there are threads discussing the failure mode and how it works. a complete loss of coolant isn't the case, as is the case in other types of head gasket failures. it's more about pockets of air in the wrong place. if the technicalities interest you or you don't believe what you read here, then search this forum or the internet for subaru specific info. then read up on fluid flow, pumps, cavitation and all that fancy jazz and it'll make more sense. i'm not an expert so i won't try to describe "exactly" how it happens, but the information is out there. in a similar way, some systems will overheat, if when filled, they do not have all air pockets out of them...they overheat for the same reasons. same failure mode, but different causes.... this principle isn't "subaru-specific". if you run any engine with underfilled amounts of coolant and see how they respond, some will do the same exact thing...depending how the coolant settles, circulates and where the air pockets end up.

there are explanations posted on here, but it's quite common for subaru head gaskets to do that. they don't really "blow" in the typical sense, they are really minor leaks compared to a fully "blown" head gasket. what you're experiencing is not weird or abnormal, it's typical EJ headgasket stuff. nipper said it best, that you got away without milling it the first two times was fortunate. use subaru gaskets, have the heads milled and you're likely to have the good results everyone else has. also..if you've done it twice before, but don't still own the cars, there's no telling they really held for 100,000 miles like they should if done properly, so those "successes" are really anecdotal at best.

the 4EAT thing is not the problem. i've swapped numerous manual and 4EAT ECU's, never seen a problem on that end.

good point, that means maybe you should just use a very small bit only to start the divot, not actually drill a hole of any depth. i have another idea...as if you needed another.. i was wondering....if you drilled a hole all the way through the remaining crank bolt and tapped it ...then threaded a very long bolt into it...long enough to bottom out, and kept turning it after it was bottomed out, since it is only threaded into the remaining crankshaft bolt it will never tighten and it will keep rotating the crank bolt. the remaining crank bolt will either go further in the hole, or come out. i just can't picture which way the remaining crank bolt will go. but if it goes further in, then you'll just need to get a left handed threaded tap and bolt. i think this is the method i would try first. given that the bolt isn't actually torqued or seized in, i believe it'll come right out and you avoid any ez outs or the like. make sure it's not a little tiny hole and bolt, make it large enough to handle the job. i'd say 3/16" would be golden...but i don't have any to look out in front of me.... actually the left handed tap might actually draw it out, the only down side to this is that a right handed tap might "screw it in", you'd have to keep an eye on it. i'm betting the left handed tap would pull it right out, it's tight work threading a hole. use a large tap...a broken tap is about as suicidal as a broken ez out, but i've never broken one yet. be sure to use the correct size bit and work the tap properly and it shouldn't break, that's what they are made for.