idosubaru

problem is some of these head gasket replacements are getting 5, 6, 7 years old so it's hard to tell. and for some, particularly ones that failed early, it's likely mechanics or even Subaru just gasket slapped it and didn't do a complete head job on them...clean, valve job, hot tank...etc.

for me it's not that the v grips are too big, it's that they don't cut it. i can't put nearly as much torque into them as a 3 foot breaker bar on a socket wrench. it's stripping the bolt head with a 3 foot pipe over my socket wrench handle and still not budging. there also isn't any stud left outside of the bolt, it's all rusted away. oddly, the rest of the car isn't really rusted that badly. it's like they intended the exhaust studs to rust like stupid.

any autozone or advanced auto parts will read the codes for free. or go to Subaru and pay $80. i think it's a toss up if it's related or not. but i'd surely get it checked ASAP and find out, oil supply is nothing to mess with if that's what it is.

i would inspect the oil pump as well. the oring and screws. also, the newer EJ's with adjustable valves have a 100,000 mile valve adjustment recommendation. i'm not familiar with what they sound like or do when they are in need of adjustment though, maybe someone who has experienced that can chime in for you?

i might have an extra A/C compressor i can send you for $75 shipped. what engine is this off of? i'll check what i have. if he's nice and it's just the clutch or bearings, they may be replaceable without disassembling the entire compressor and discharging it as well. i know people have done that before.

that's my experience. i've noticed a 1-3 mpg increase when going up to a larger wheel/tire combo, i do very little city driving though. tricky figuring out your actual mileage though...as your odometer/speedometer is no longer correct. i've always wondered...speedometer are typically inaccurate..up to 7% in the US, so does that mean the odometers are inaccurate as well?

being a non-interference motor and never seeing any first hand issues with aftermarket belts, i'd go with the advice mentioned in this thread. i've used many different sets with no issues.

what phil said...sold on ebay out in california i think. and yes, it was a truck bed grafted onto an XT.

no way vise grips or sears bolt kits are going to work. couldn't touch it. i need a torch. i'm going to cut the exhaust off and pull the engine and deal with them out of the vehicle. ha - PB blaster. i hit them multiple times with PB blaster the 24 hours before starting on it. nothing worked on all 4 of these seized jokers.

thanks nipper. i'm not surprised, but still curious. i'll look at them closer and see if there's signs of tampering under the intake manifold. they would have had to swap solenoids...that's the bizarre part to me.

how do you guys typically get rounded off exhaust nuts off when pulling an engine? i think i'm going to just cut the exhaust, but was wondering what other easy options are out there. once the engines out i can deal with it easier. hate to hack the exhaust, but i do have others anyway.

HA HA!! awesome, that's great! nice job asking here about buying from that dude, that's good stuff.

check the Offroad forum, there's info on swapping other vehicle drivetrains into a Subaru. there's alot of good info in that offroad forum and you should find some info on solid axle swaps. it's all fab work, you can put anything you want under a vehicle with enough resources. tank tracks anyone??? i think that's been done before as well....

you mean the charcoal canister is missing? do you think it's supposed to be, a model year difference or someone removed it? at first i figured someone removed it, but those solenoids being different and the lack of any metal lines in the intake manifold seemed to indicate the engines differ slightly in their vaccuum set up. i guess someone could have removed all of those metal line gadgetry, but seems like alot of work. (both have ABS). the two solenoids have the same connector, the hoses all connect to the same thing, bolts to the same location, look nearly identical but the one has one additional hose.

I pulled two EJ25's from Legacy GT sedans. one is a 1997 and the other is a 1998, both manual trans. first - the 1998 doesn't have the charcoal canister and no existing lines on the manifold that i can see. but the 1997 does. are they all like that? looks like it has the mounting holes for the brackets...but nothing else. the 1997 has the canister and all the lines. they both have a solenoid on the passengers side strut tower. each has a vaccuum line going to the item above it, whatever that is. but, one has two vacuum hoses going to the engine bay, the other has only one. they both have the line with the circular doohickey in it...whatever that thing is called, i've always wondered that. anyway...what's the deal with one having one hose going to the engine and the other having two going to the engine?

agree with nipper....check BBB for pep boys. also your existing axle with a new boot would be more reliable functionally speaking that the "remanned" stuff they'll put in there. i've seen brand new ones (aftermarket) fail myself and on this/other boards. if i were paying i'd install a new boot before going with an aftermarket axle. chance of failure is small, but why intentionally take on any chance of failure? even if the axle started clicking i'd rather have an actual Subaru axle on there....but i've been scarred (seen the aftermarkets explode).

ha ha....2 packs of smokes, that's awesome. it's huge, you can't miss it, you just need to lift the carpet up. or cut it. remove the drivers bottom plastic molding/trim holding the carpet and you should have access to it.

the price seems a little high, but you are not getting taken for a ride. it's much easier to just replace the axle than the boot, so the price difference is justified. more money for the new axle....but less time for installation. replacing the boot is dirty, annoying and easy to mess up on the fly. whoever installs your axle - just make sure it's a Subaru axle (new or used) or from MWE. don't buy aftermarket. the other option is to just let it go for awhile. i've driven 50,000 miles on broken front boots (mostly highway)...far more on rears. i never replace rear axles, they don't fail (knock knock), mine are currently broke in the rear. if it's an inner boot on the front, they'll last longer than the outers. the outers have more range of motion (steering) and get stuff in them easier. in maryland and georgia i'd go years and 10's of thousands of miles with broken front boots and some moderate clicking around turns (tell tale CV noise). i would only replace them if i had to go in there for something else. they didn't fail and it wasn't worth my time. now that i drive frequently in WV...they use some kind of coal or crushed rock on the roads in the winter and it degrades CV's quickly. mine is making a horrific racket now after 6 months of driving, mostly through the winter, and i've got a new one on hand to replace it with.

come to think of it i posted a picture of that plug a long time ago, who knows where it is... yes, got your...i mean my....er uh, his package yesterday. thanks.

i'd be looking at the brakes and wheel bearings. disabling the AWD isn't likely to help narrow it down.

the computer is under the seat - unplug that. on the XT's (maybe this GL-10 is the same), there's a white plug up under the front left corner of the car when your left foot sits from the drivers seat. i believe it's attached to the side of the wall. it's a large connector...maybe 10-15 pins roughly. and it's white in the XT's. unplug that and it will quit blinking. that's the easiest way to do it.

subaru automatic transmissions (speaking of the 4EAT) are very reliable, for an automatic transmission! i'm not sure how to word this, but i would almost expect a 4EAT (your transmission) to make 150,000 miles without failing. anything can happen, but they rarely fail before that. i've seen them make far more, but 150,000+ is when all the failures i've seen start happening. there's no way to tell you what "you" will experience. but once you start getting towards 200,000 and 300,000 miles auto trans can't compete with manual trans in terms of reliability.

no. they are completely different engine designs and are not interchangeable at all. you would need to swap the entire wiring harness and computer stuff...it's possible but it's a huge job. i wouldn't recommend it on a vehicle that old anyway. find a newer soob that can take your 2.2...impreza or legacy for cheap. an older subaru is likely to have rust underneath (frame rails, gas tank, wheel bearing issues, driveshaft ujoint issues....they are good cars but if you have time you'll probably find just as good of a deal on a newer vehicle that wouldn't require near the work to swap.

good call. i know of one person with cracked up window problems...turned out the wire was exposed and rubbing against the body of the car. this was from the door to just inside the body of the vehicle i believe. passengers side, but completely different older generation soob.

i'm confused, can't you get it off by just removing the crank pulley? that's not that difficult is it? i too advise against "breaking" them off...depending how you define "breaking", you could carefully extract it...get all the bolts off and then carefully crack it around the crank pulley as necessary, that's the only breaking required right?