idosubaru

i would imagine the heat cracked the plastic separator plate. new ones are metal and not prone to that. replace with a new one (it'll be metal, the new ones are, and won't crack) and reseal it. sounds like you overheated. assuming it wasn't overheated long, or often it should be okay. do you know if maybe it overheated before but you never noticed? maybe someone else uses the vehicle that woudlnt' have noticed? typically replacing the headgaskets solves the issue. be sure to get new Subaru headgaskets as they have an upgraded design. have a machine shop mill and check the heads and you should be golden assuming, like i said, it wasn't run hot often or for very long. be sure to replace both side headgaskets, i saw you mentioned one side - cylinder 1 and 3.

there's a brake drum spring removal tool that you would typically want to have. i've never done subaru drum brakes, so i'm not sure how different they are, but if there's a tool that helps on subaru's like other drum brakes, i'd make sure you have it. trying to do it with a bag of other tools can be frustrating. good luck!

EJ25. interference engine. headgasket issues are a concern of mine. it's a rather large job, $1,500 at a dealer. i'd look for signs that the gsaket has been replaced. if not, i wouldn't get it unless it's a really, really good deal. read up about the EJ25 headgasket issue if you're not familiar with it. i have two sitting in my garage right now.... with high mileage and being an interference engine you'll want to make sure the timing belt is new, the water pump is new and check all the timing pulleys. there are a number of them and i can almost gaurantee the sprocketed pulley at least needs replaced. the tensioner would be a good things to replace as well if you want to keep the vehicle a while. any one of these pullies fails and that will likely cause the belt to break as well. even at 80,000 i'm usually replacing at least one due to noise, play or lack of grease. with "high mileage" i'd expect a few.

i've searced for this and found a good deal of information on it. the aussie guys seem more motivated to do this than others. someone there even converted an EJ22 to a distributor ignition, i've seen the pic's and write up about it. i'd do a search on here and on the internet, i think you'll find a good bit of information, i did. i would also like to do it for the learning component...i think it's about 1,435th on the list though!

MAN! how cool would that have been had you whacked the rear caliper with that mallet! that would have been awesome..oh well, there's my problem! caliper bolts falling out is a very, very strange thing. i would imagine that at some point along the line that rear caliper bolt was removed for some reason and was either stripped (very unlikely) or not torqued tight enough. aren't too many bolts i've heard of coming out...and calipers bolts are not one of them.

i haven't made much sense out of all the EJ timing stuff either.

it might easier to lean down behind one rear tire and look at the back side of the other side. you'll be able to see the rotors (discs) that way as well. for what it's worth my OBS has rear drums (for now) and i have WRX rims on it, they don't really show that bad if that's what you're concerned about. the larger WRX rims look waaaay better too.

i'd check some online subaru parts places and online stores like advanced and such and see if they're all showing a different part number as well. you're definitely right, all 95 2.2's are non-interference for sure. you say you're looking at a "kit". maybe the timing belt is identical but the kit is different?

excceeeelllent the answer to that question by itself is, No. ABS does not have anything to do with whether your car has disk or drums. ABS stands for "Anti Lock Brake System"..or something close to that. That has to do with a system that has a feedback control mechanism for your brakes. ABS can be used with disc or drum brakes. now..whether your car has rear discs. it's really easy to tell, just look at them. if the rear looks like the front with a big disc on it, then it is the same. if not, then it's drum brakes. there are impreza's and legacy's with rear drum brakes. a legacy GT or SUS will not have drum brakes. i didn't see what kind of Legacy you have, i'm guessing it's not a GT because the 97's don't come with 14" wheels.

agreed, if the rust is that bad i would move on as well. even if you fixed this one problem, everything else in the future will be the same increased level of difficulty. the rust is going to get worse and it's a safety issue as well. i'd rather be in an accident with a solid vehicle than something only operating at %60 structurally. if it's minor rust or just isolated to the brake lines, maybe you could install new brake lines that don't follow the same path as the original, that is what i would look into doing. just route them some other way and leave those pesky old lines wherever they are around the fuel tank. i'm working on a 98 legacy sedan now that has horrific rust issues on very particularly items, but everything else is in good condition. i've even started some threads on rusted bolts and studs that won't come out in the past week or two because of it...all rusted exhaust issues. but most stuff is rust free, the frame rails, gas tank and all of that don't have any rust at all?

that's not how it works, i figured you might not quite understand how it all works together. your wheels must match whatever bolt pattern your car has...your HUBS are the defining part here. if you hvae 5 lug hubs and 5x100 spacing of the lug studs (which are in the hubs), then you HAVE to have 5 lug wheels with 5x100 spacking. you can't just get whatever wheels you want then add or take away lug studs and holes as needed to fit those wheels. you have to get 5x100 wheels to fit your legacy. that being said, bigger wheels can't affect the brakes. you said "if my brakes had 4 bolts"...if they did, you would HAVE to get 4 bolt rims, you can't just get 5 bolt rims and "change the brakes"....it would require far more than that to change the bolt pattern on a vehicle. so, your legacy has a 5x100 bolt pattern (5 lugs studs, all your wheels will have 5 lug studs). changing wheels has nothing to do with brakes...you remove a wheel and put another one back on, there's no brake work, changing, looking at, touching, removing, or even moving involved of the brakes. the wheels bolt to whatever studs exist on the hub of the vehicle...so the wheel has to match the vehicle, period. that's why everyone keeps mentioning 5x100, which is what nearly all Subaru wheels are. you can use any 5 lug subaru wheel (which means all legacy and impreza..exception new WRX STi's) on your vehicle, except the SVX and newer STi, they have a 5x114.7 bolt pattern that does not fit. and who cares, they don't look all that nice anyway, there are nicer legacy and impreza options out there. the WRX wheels are nice, 16" and easy to come by. 15" like you mentioned aren't quite as nice and are a little harder to find, but the legacy style 15" are really nice...don't know what they're called. 16's have far more options.

NGK only for all subaru's i touch, and Magnecor ignition wires on my personal vehicles, they are the best in quality, service, lack of BS and hype, and performance.

cleaned the driveshaft up and all the joints are perfect (they are brand new and freshly greased). swapped it end for end and still the same thing. you can't change the orientation on these, the holes are such that they only bolt in one way...so i guess you could rotate it 180 degrees, but you can't change the orientation of the ujoints. drove it with the rear half of the driveshaft removed (in FWD) and no vibration at all, so i'm assuming it's that half that is bad. there are no places around me that balance driveshafts so i'll have to find somewhere in maryland or ship it somewhere to have them check it out.

hopefully someone on here will know. it won't leak, i'd be concerned about rust down the road and would want input as well. trim and gaskets can trap moisture and eventually rust. being so new i'm sure you plan on having this car for some time.

your brakes have nothing at all to do with getting these larger wheels. remember...if you get larger wheels...there is no issue with your brakes. you might want to let us know why you're thinking the brakes need to change, maybe we can help you understand how it works a little better.

can you describe it any better? "it seems to drop in RPM's"...does it actually drop, does your tach do anything, do you feel any vibrations, any other noises? it only does it when it's in gear and decelerating? the clutch is performing just fine, travel is normal? bad ujoints usually are audible and vibrate as well, particularly as they get worse.

i emailed a guy with an old post about this same problem and he wrote me bac last night. he said he had the fluid flushed once before. after the problem started he read up about it and decided to flush it again. so he flushed it, pulled the lines to pump some additional fluid out and then added new fluid and Lucas oil treatment as well. that was over a year ago and he said it's been fine since. i'll try changing the fluid once or twice on my friends car and see how it goes.

i've seen these "plastic" cam gears on DOHC Legacy GT Sedans as well. i was very surprised as well. and they do chip/break easily, i cracked one and replaced it. still have it at home, if i remember to take a picture i'll post it. i remember just thinking that "was normal" since i haven't worked on nearly as many EJ's as i have older gen stuff.

is it an EA81 or EA82? the XT6 clutch won't work straight up in an EA82 GL. it'll need some help....see below....

yep, motor is out. i don't think they'll come out with any type of tool or equipment from the remaining stud that's outside the engine. if a welded on rod just sheared the bolt off, even after heating and cooling...the torque to remove the stud is more than the force required to shear it. so i think no matter what, the stud is just going to shear. i'm not sure what stud pullers are, but if they require any threads that's not going to work either. too rusted and weak, the threads just tear up easily...or they really aren't even there. and the first one i've been working on is all mangled. i was putting some serious grunt in it with a large pipe wrench (i think that's what it's called, one of those plumbers tools?)...anyway, it just shredded the metal like a cheese grater once i really put some stank in it. even after grinding all the rust off and getting to clear shiney metal, it still crumbled under the force of the pipe wrench and never turned at all. i'm working on it tonight or tomorrow morning, i'll be trying the drill bits.

it's 5 lug. 5 x 100. no need to change the brakes. if you went with larger brakes you would likely HAVE to get larger wheels to clear the larger brake caliper behind it. but not the other way around.

hey jeep, i syour 99 outback still doing this? a friends 99 Legacy sedan is doing the same thing? delays/hesitation going into drive. has yours gotten worse?

the calipers should not cost anywhere near that amount to replace. this is really easy work...the rust will be your enemy. i'd have a notion to just remove the brake lines, leave them hanging in place and install new (or used) lines in place. this would not be hard and saves you the hassle of dealing with some of the rusted bolts and stuff holding the brake lines. the calipers shouldn't need replaced. if they're working now, there's no need to replace them. subaru calipers very rarely fail. now with all that rust, maybe the inside of the calipers are bad...but i doubt it if they are working fine now. but, even still you can buy used calipers for $25-40, and they require TWO bolts to replace and the brake line, that's it. they very rarely fail and are easy to replace, used is an excellent option. have them shipped from somewhere south or west with no rust. another option is caliper rebuild kits, that's what i do. for $8 you get a kit that does both calipers (both rear or both front). it's one piston seal, and the rubber boot, that's it. also very easy to do and you essentially have brand new calipers for $8. there might be some options. and hopefully someone on here has experience with this and knows an easy way to replace those brake lines without much effort. there are companies that make brake lines and it isn't all that expensive. just give them lengths and type/size of the end couplings and they make them. you could start by putting a request in the "Parts Wanted" forum on this board, someone may have those brakes lines you need.

non-issue, go buy it. as of '03 headgaskets are a non-issue. with 07 you're way beyond that. and for any with the H6 6 cylinder engine, it's a completely different engine anyway.

Ordered 4 CV axles from MWE in colorado. excellent service, top notch all the way around. he went out of his way for me, highly recommend.