idosubaru

it has been said (i believe by nipper) that additives are not a great idea for steering racks, too many critical parts and valves and passages and such with tight tolerances inside. i was thinking the same thing a couple weeks ago since my XT6 rack had a very slow leak. i swapped racks instead. that's the only steering rack i've ever seen leak.

wow, that's some serious carnage for a cam sprocket bolt, i wonder if someone had it off before and did something funky to it? sounds bizarre. i'd be looking for an impact wrench to borrow. i'm wondering how you're holding the cam in place while putting that much torque on it? good luck, sounds frustrating but you're hanging in there so far!

i'm not picturing the problem very well. you're trying to remove the crank pulley or sprockets or everything? what exactly are you tryhing to accomplish? remove the radiator, it's very easy and will give you more room to work. and, it's very easy to damage it anyway when you're doing work down there.

it's only 3 years old, if no oil or anything is leaking on it, the car hasn't been overheated, you used a SUbaru belt and the pulleys/tensioners are all in good shape, the belt is likely capable of going much longer. i don't recommend it though, particularly based on the age of the pulleys/tensioners. those should be addressed at your next timing belt change as well since they're 10 years old. in my experience, by your age and mileage you'll need probably one pulley - usually the sprocketed joker on the lower right, $60-$70. replace that (or whichever pulleys are noisey) and the water pump and oil pump/cam seals and say hello to another 100,000+ miles. if money is an issue, selling this car isn't a good idea because it could easily go another 100,000 miles without much maintenance. maybe you can find someone to do the timing belt for cheap? make sure they use a Subaru belt.

odometers aren't very accurate to begin with, so it was probably wrong before anyway. US vehicles can easily have %5 error (speedometer and yes odometer will read lower) and it's even higher in Europe. so maybe your speedometer is accurate now instead of being wrong to begin with. psychology/marketing....."Wow, i'm going 75 but it doesn't feel like it, this thing is so solid and smooth i have to buy it". it is annoying trying to get legitimate numbers. GPS or checking highway marker signs the next time you're on a road trip are your best bet. check what your odometer reads against 100 highway miles per the little side marker signs on the interstate.

agreed, definitely have someone install a used one. no need to have a dealer do it either, and it's probably against their policy to install a used one anyway. they are straight forward and easy to install for any mechanic. subaru steering racks very rarely fail and when they do, they leak like nipper said. nearly every 20 year old subaru on the road has the original rack in it, even the older generation steering systems are very reliable.

6 point sockets for sure. heat won't hurt it, just dont' get crazy, the sprocket is steel/iron anyway. heck at this point you probably wouldn't care to just buy another sprocket if you had to! i'd try heat and PB blaster.

swapped a 1997 Legacy GT EJ25 into my 1998 Legacy GT (manual trans) and it's not running very well. check engine light doesn't come on. car will start, rev up high (3,000 rpm) and then eventually just die. if i give it gas it barely goes..bucks and kicks and will eventually die as well. the engine is good, because it came out of my 1997 Legacy GT and ran great just before i pulled it. first issue - i pulled the O2 sensor wires out of the plug. the plug wouldn't come apart and it didn't take much before the wires just came out. when i reinstalled them...there were 2 white wires and one black wire. i got the black wire dead on, i compared it to my other legacy. but the whites i took a chance it didn't matter which way they were plugged in. could that make it run bad? do i need to double check those and how can i tell which white wire goes to which plug? should it run fine if i disconnect both O2 sensors? i know the older soobs run fine without the O2 sensor connected. second - i played with some vaccuum hoses. the 97 i installed had a different solenoid in the passengers strut tower..really the exact same solenoid, but it had one additional vaccuum hose fitting. so i swapped solenoids as well so i plugged right up. solenoid connector was identical and everything dropped right in perfect. pretty sure that won't matter, actually i can't imagine it would matter at all. anyone know if there are any wiring differeneces from 97 to 98? maybe i need to swap the ECU as well?

not true. EJ25 in 1996 is interference. here's the easy info you need to remember for non-turbo engines: EJ22 is interference starting 1997 and after. all EJ25's are interference.

connie, i think you'll find your problem under that timing cover. let us know. i'm assuming this isn't it since you said "front of the engine". if the spark plug isn't seated fully into the distributor cap, you can hear the spark, it will sound. very mechanical..tack, tack, tack.. just throwing that out there since you had spark plug wire problems, if they "fell apart" close to the cap, make sure the cap isn't melted, warped or ruined. order magnecor spark plug wires and you'll never replace them again. excellent, excellent product.

removing a good motor is nonsense. his motor doesn't have any problems? anyway, you need to narrow down the oil leak, internet is hard enough, there's alot of experience and knowledge here, but there's not much we can tell you. there are a number of possible leakage points...cam seals, valve cover gaskets, spark plug gaskets, and rear main seal or rear separator cover...if the passengers and/or drivers side of the engine is wet/dirty with oil underneath, then it's likely the valve cover gaskets, they are prone to leak and brittle now that they're 10 years old. clean off the underside of the engine if it's too hard to tell. check all your fluids and make sure nothing is getting dangerously low. hmmmm, you didn't buy this close to DC did you? if so i was probalby looking at it as well.

i'm with nipper, i'd go with 60,000 mile intervals, that's what i will do with my 1998 2.2 impreza.

if you have 15" wheels i think there's a smaller dual piston caliper (90-94 turbo legacy calipers i think??) that will actually work with the 15" wheels as well. i saw someone mentioning that recently on this board.

yep...i *just* now finally learned about caliper grease, i've always used wheel bearing grease in the past too. brake caliper grease won't liquify and run as much as wheel bearing grease, so it will stay on the slide and within the boots better. if you use wheel bearing grease you'll find much less of it left next time you go to do the brakes, where brake caliper grease is much easier to retain for that application. so yeah...totally brake caliper grease, i just picked up a bottle this year. i got my rebuild kits online, but i've only done older model soobs, not the newer ones. same idea though, but i actually found aftermarkets online for $8 each (and that's for a kit, which does both sides). the boots seemed a little on the weak side, but they did work fine. i'd probably go Subaru if i could, though i'm doubtful they're available (or reasonable) for an XT6.

i was only going to say what josh said but hoped someone who knew for certain would pipe up. CCR probably knows and NASIOC would probably be a better bet, they would have more EJ20 experience there. if you find out, post back to this thread and let us know for sure.

awesome, some mid day humor! wow, that sounds a bit complimicated. glad i saw this thread for when i leave my switch on.

crack ,to think i've been walking past it all these years. actually while we're on the subject.....i have rotors sitting in my garage and of course they're going to want to rust...engine cylinders too. what's the best way to prevent that. i've oiled and sprayed cylinder walls but i'd like something i don't have to repeat all the time. i guess the rotors need to be bagged with dessicant to keep from rusting?

if they brakes are warn evenly from side to side and worked well and didn't wear quickly (from last brake change), i would leave the calipers. are the piston boots torn or wet at all? i've seen some uneven front to back wear on a single pad before, i'd be interested to hear what causes that, but it's definitely not a reason to replace the caliper, i never have. my only guess is that it's a function of the pad just getting old...but that's a complete guess because i've seen it on single piston calipers before as well. how old were your pads, did they still have life or were they close to the end? be sure to grease the slides with brake caliper grease only. and flush the brake fluid. that may help as well. and...if you want to replace the calipers, just rebuild your existing ones. it's very easy and they are very cheap. new piston seal, boot and clip and you're done. very simple to do and doesn't cost much at all....waaaay cheaper than new calipers. if you're changing your own pads, you can rebuild the calipers. as an added tip, if you want to do this at your next brake change, buy a used set of calipers to rebuild and have them ready to go when you go to do the brakes so you reduce your down time. not a bad idea for your first time anyway.

that's a good vehicle if the maintenance is kept up right you can expect some more solid use out of this vehicle. what condition is the vehicle in, does it look, drive and smell okay? oil leaks aren't a huge deal if you can manage the spots on the ground. some small leakage isn't abnormal at all and not a sign of anything significant. and...it can probably be fixed at the next timing belt for a few dollars (seals are about $5 each). you say water pump replaced...was the timing belt done too, it should have been. a proper water pump job would include the timing belt, oil pump seals and cam seals. since they are all right there, easy to replace and only cost a couple dollars. that would take care of your oil leaks. i would hope the timing belt tensioner pulleys were inspected, by 150,000 and/or 10 years i usually find one that i like to replace. and i woluld definitely replace the turbo hoses if it's never been done. the coolant and oil hoses are old by now, they need replaced or resealed...and that's really bad if they break and they only cost a few dollars. i usually replace things ahead of time rather than wait for them to fail. better than a new car or car payment. as an example - in your case i'd be concerned about the alternator, battery and the end terminals on the battery cables ($5). if the car is very rusty and not very comfortable or nice then maybe it's time to move on and sell while the car is running rather than get discouraged the next time it needs something.

wouldn't the missing clutch plate be lying on your work bench? i've never replaced them, so im' not sure how they work exactly, just trying to picture it, probably easier to wait until i have to do it!

he's talking about the area under the wheel, not the caliper. rotors rust very, very easily. remove wheels and clean them off, clean off wheels as well and then reinstall properly.

how did you like the original brakes? if they weren't that bad, then no need for upgrades. keeping in mind that your brakes suck now because they need maintenance, not because they are poor in design. they will perform much better when everything is properly replaced. probably not a bad idea to just get new rotors if they've never been replaced before. are they grooved or is there any vibration when braking, those are definite signs you need rotors. otherwise they may be fine. from what i've heard going with bigger brakes is far better than "performance" rotors. i've heard many people rave about ceramic pads, particularly the ones at NAPA. haven't tried them myself, but enough people that i know have said good things about them that i will try them next.

nice job getting it back together. how did you figure out you "missed" a clutch plate?

i'm with numbchux. a 2.5 swap is a lot of work for a headgasket prone and expensive motor. if power is what you're after then making a decision based on a measley 20 hp difference isn't worth it anyway, just get an EJ22 and turbocharge it. they are very easy to put a turbo on and quite capable of low boost and will be more reliable than the EJ25. and...like he said you can pick up EJ22 vehicles for a dime a dozen. don't bother trying to piece this together, your best bet is to get a donor vehicle so you have everything. finding a wrecked car or something that's rusted or needs work is easy to do and will be cheaper than buyhing the parts one at a time.

your car, your decision, thanks for the humor!! i don't care what you do to your car any more than you care what someone suggests you do to your car. that very common repairs didn't work sounds odd, so it would make sense to figure out why they didn't work before just jumping to more extreme measures. that's why we're asking. but you're not telling what you did, why they don't work, what size you used, how the threads got messed up to being with...so it's hard to answer the question properly. in the end, this would be good info for the next time you have to deal with this. in my oppinion welding should be a last resort for various reasons, there are very easy fixes to this that are far less riskier than welding, and that's not normal to choose more labor intensive, expensive and riskier repairs than are available. i understand that you want to weld it, but don't fault us for trying to steer you the more common route. if welding is how you want to proceedd then the bottom line is that as long as the same person doing the welding isn't the same person who couldn't get the helicoils to work, you should be fine.