idosubaru

anyone post a picture or FSM diagram, i'm not picturing where these go since i'm used to old generation stuff. i understand it's a separate mechanism and that's about it.

what's the difference between this brake lube and wheel bearing grease for the slides? didn't see anything mentioned on the link.

no warranty on the headgaskets - if that's the case and the engine is that old, then i'm with nipper, consider replacing them now. the JDM motor i got last year (not an EJ25) had a very bad headgasket when i got it. i'll never buy one again. cost, who's doing the work, time, reliability and all of that are decisions only you can make. if you're going to be completely put off and put out and hate the car if the headgaskets blow down the road, then there's no question - do it now. if you travel long distances in this vehicle then maybe that's another vote for having them done. around town you can get the car home even if they do go out. 500 miles away might be a little trickier. many people post about how "terrible" their car is and use the USMB as a sounding board after they have problems, but if they'd make good decisions to start with they would have avoided that stress in the first place. we do not know you or your situation so how you manage a low percentage, but viable risk, is up to you. if you can do the work yourself, then tear it up. it's a $1,000 - $1,5000 job to pay someone to do headgaskets. best to just do it now if there's any question and you can. it's far easier with the engine out. with new headgaskets the vehicle you have now is quite likely to see 100,000 miles with very few problems, that's worth the cost of a headgasket.

what year is the motor? how many miles? is there a warranty? are you doing the work yourself? there's no way they used different headgaskets or had completely different engines over there, so i'd guess they're nearly identical in terms of long block assembly and materials. i wouldn't change the headgaskets. there's a higher probabilty of never having issues than having issues, so why go through it now? just depends how preventative you like to be and how much time and $ you have now and later to address things. if there's a warranty...which it seems like there should be, i definitely wouldn't touch the gaskets.

i've never done it, but i have pulled a few racks and it seems like there's usually room down there to work. not much, but the boot is completely accessible so i can imagine whatever is underneath of it may be as well. to gain clearance you could try removing the two metal hangers that hold the rack to the underside of the car. then loosen the bolt on the ujoint for the steering wheel. that's only 5 bolts and would allow the rack to move a little bit if you need extra room. and you'd avoid the more annoying items, you wouldn't have to remove the fluid lines, loose fluid, bleed the system or remove the tie rod end and screw with the aligntment. it's worth a shot. if you remove the tie rods and find you can't complete the job, it's not that hard to remove the rack and you didn't really do any extra work trying since the tie rod end has to come off anyway. let us know what you find out. i will post my results here as well, though i suspect it'll be a few months before i get to mine as it's not leaking that bad and i probably won't be driving that one much.

From searching i came up with this at another site: e-brake cable, backing plate, rotor and caliper is that to say you can do the swap without exchanging the hubs? if it's just a matter of swapping drums for disc's that sounds much easier than swapping the entire hub like i originally thought was the case? i was under the impression i'd need the entire hub for the ebrake drum set-up of the discs?

hey nip, why does the leak condemn the rack? that seal isn't replaceable? i have one too that leaks out of the boot some.

is there not a seal inside that boot that can be replaced? remove the inner tie rod and shouldn't there be a seal in there? don't have my FSM's with me.

see below...

pay via credit card and you hvae options to contest the charges later at least. i'm VERY confused you it drove fine to the shop but then the trans was shot? something isn't right about the way i'm reading this. were there any signs at all of trans problems before you stopped there?

2.5's do have piston slap issues. it's not really serviceable, you have to live with it essentially. i mean it is, but requires tearing the engine down. the good thing is that it shouldn't get worse and won't cause any problems. you might want to search the new generation forum for "piston slap" and see what results come up. the descriptions in other threads might help you pinpoint if this is piston slap or not.

RAM will customize their pistons for you. talk to them if their price range is within reach, they do excellent work.

how about the pilot bearing? where did this car come from, did it have noises when you bought it and is it a FWD?

if you saw particles come out of the trans fluid, i would replace the filter. but an 05 experiencing issues sounds odd. all the tires are matching and inflated properly? i would research any TSB's avaiable for this model as well. an 05 shouldn't have shifting issues and get noticeably better after changing the fluid. my 1991 XT6 with the original auto trans didn't shift any better when i changed the fluid last summer and i wouldn't be surprised if the fluid was original and 105,000 miles old. that car has the first generation 4EAT that's in your '05.

northeast and attitude, nooooo?? come on???? are you sure????

i don't know about soobs, but trucks and jeeps without carpet can get annoyingly hot. so hot that you can't go barefoot or wear flipflops. maybe soobs don't have that issue?

drilling out a crank bolt is absolutely not an option. that would be a terrible solution. socket. make sure he has a long pipe that fits over the end of the ratchet if you're going to use the starter trick. or creatively pull up to a curb that's going to allow you to lock it down that way...

pitting of the walls is definitely obvious. should see nothing but continuous crosshatching. so long as you weren't scraping rust off the walls and it never saw rust in the past, they shouldn't have any pitting. cracks between the valve seats are typical. a picture won't show us how deep they are. if they go all the way through, then that's bad but i doubt a picture will show that. i always have them repaired at a machine shop and during that repair process they'll see if they're too deep or not. i have never sent in a set of heads that were trash. but i've seen others have that problem. a shop can pressure test them as well.

TSB - Technical Service Bulletin

replace fluid often and they rarely have issues. check the fluid, records of ATF changes are good depending on mileage. turn the car in tight circles (steering wheel turned all the way), slowly in a parking lot. any binding (you'll know it) is bad. the 4EAT has been a very durable automatic transmission since it was first introduced. also, if the transmission/ATF/POWER light blinks 16 times at start up, that indicates the TCU sees an issue in the transmission. you have a much greater chance of headgasket issues in the motor for that vehicle than any auto trans issues. search this new generation forum for "headgasket" if that interests you at all, it's been covered in great detail here.

melted belt covers isn't necessarily a sign of blown headgaskets. it's a sign of heat which can come from other sources. fill the engine up with coolant and turn it over a few times by hand. remove the spark plugs and look for coolant in the cylinders with a flashlight. a bad leak will readily show itself this way. with fresh oil in it, run the oil pump with a drill to circulate the engine oil and also turn the engine over by hand to distribute oil through the engine and HLA's. may take awhile to get them pumped up. then figure out a way to do a compression test. just find a trans or bellhousing to bolt up to it with a starter so you can turn it over for a compression test. or do a leak down test- no starter needed. this will confirm if your cylinders are holding pressure. if so, run it. non turbo headgaskest are so easy to do in the car i wouldn't do them unless the engine is questionable. which it sounds like it could be.

you're having trouble with what the crank pulley bolt? 21 or 22mm bolt i believe? put it in gear (manual) with the emergency brake on or someone holding the brake pedal down and loosen. or if it's an automatic then under the throttle body is an access hole with a rubber plug in it (or that could be missing). rotate the engine until you see a rectangular-ish hole in the flexplate of the trans and put a socket extension in there to hold it in place while you back the crank bolt off. these thing i just mentioned will keep the engine from turning over while you loosen the bolt. if the problem is getting the bolt itself off, then use the starter method. shouldn't be done unless you're very careful and know what you're doing. but works every single time and takes literally less than a minute. install socket on bolt. knowing the way of rotation, have the socket resting against something very solid and hit the starter. do not start the car, just use the starter to turn the motor over. the socket will hold the bolt in place while the starter/engine cranks over and the bolt will loosen. on an XT6 it's super easy because it has a front engine mount to rest the socket against. an EA82 is a little trickier finding something to rest it against....a long pipe to reach the frame rails is ideal. this works every time. as far as the tensioner, you should be able to inspect it yourself. if the pulley spins without too much noise or resistance then it's likely fine. be advised though they are typically onisey by now as they don't have much grease in them.

i have the same issue as well and would like to see some more info on it. the steering column bag is really simple, i've already done that. that one swaps out very easily, i think the passengers side is trickier. what is the "clock spring"?

sounds like you got the real issue covered. on a side note, i know a long time subaru service manager who is still working with them and worked all through the 80's with them as well. he said these oil pumps typically put out plenty of volume for the engine which is key, eventhough the pressure may seem low. he said the volume supplied to the cams and HLA's is critical and it is rare that the oil pump can't supply the necessary volume.

why not just get a good junk yard engine with good compression? get new valve cover gaskets, timing belts and front engine seals and call it a day. or install new headgaskets if you want to go all out. it's not too hard to find a good condition EA82. probably even cheaper just to find a beat up, rusted out, bad trans, or wrecked EA82 car and buy the whole thing for the good running engine. i'm sure someone on here can recommend a good machine shop, definitely go with one that has subaru engine experience. calling the dealer might help, they can tell you what machine shop they send their stuff too.