idosubaru

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.

the cracks between the valve seats are no big deal. with maybe one or two exceptions, every single head i've pulled has the cracks between the valves. they are repairable, but can be beyond repair of course too. a good machine shop should know about this. find someone familiar with Subaru's. my machine shop repairs them with Stitch pins and knows subaru heads. the other crack sounds like it's trashed though. have a machine shop look at it, but probably easier just to get another head. a used head will probably have the valve seat cracks, but they should be repairable. all of the ones i've pulled were repairable. i'd suspect turbo motors are more prone to having worse cracks.

good brakes (not dragging) well greased, synthetic grease in the cv's and hub bearings.

caliper doesn't need to be removed to replace the pads. if you do need to remove the caliper, there are two bolts holding the caliper bracket to the back of the hub. remove those two bolts (17 mm on the XT6 and i think the same on the EA82) and the caliper assembly comes off.

forgot to add, the holes are almost always a little deeper than the bolts or studs used in them. so if the helicoil is the same...or even if it's a tad longer than the stud you shouldn't have a problem getting it to go all the way in and sit flush with the exhaust outlets. 15mm all the way. i don't ever remember having different length helicoils to choose from, i'll keep that in mind next time i buy some for sure.

first step - tatoo on your head "NO EZ OUTS!!" they suck, they break all the time and create far more problems than they ever solve. they should be illegal. two easy ways to remove it. one is to weld another bolt or nut to it. but if you can't weld or have no access to the bolt then no dice. another easy method is to cut a slot in the top of the remaining bolt so you can use a stout screwdriver on it. if it's recessed im not sure youll get a good slot cut in it. if you attempt to drill it out, get a left handed drill bit. they will help back the bolt out while you're drilling. removing the radiator and all helps, hitting it straight on is your best bet and less risky. i have a right angle drill and drill attachment that allows you to do it from above, but even with that it's still harder to get it straight and see what yo'ure doing. but if you have radiators and A/C stuff in the way sometimes it's a good option. don't forget the left handed drill bit, that's the way to go on this one. if the bolt is recessed alot, then is it possible to use a really short bolt in the threads that are still there? i think these tensioners have two bolts, so one won't be necessarily carrying any load if the other is holding the tensioner to the block. might be worth a shot. if there's enough room and depending which one it is, i might be tempted to stick a short bolt in there with some locktite (the non-permanent kind of course!). if you get the bolt out and in the process of doing that you bunged up the threads, no worries. chase them with a die. and remember that these holes are longer than the bolts used in them. so if your threads are jacked up, get a longer than stock bolt, it will reach the brand new, never used threads at the bottom of the hole and hold just fine. good luck and let us know how it goes.

the 15mm should be fine. they can be trimmed as needed, though that can be annoying sometimes. yes they are available locally. call and ask first, but they should have them in stock.

you posted at the exact same time i did, check out the pointers i posted above.

it's definitely 1.25 pitch.

yes, i've done it a dozen times. you can attempt to chase the threads, clean them up and use longer studs to see if that helps, but usually it doesnt on the exhaust studs. probably best and save time to just assume they're shot. the job is actually fairly straight forward for a helicoil job. access and room isn't a problem. the most annoying part of the deal is removing and replacing the exhaust manifold. on the ones i've done the holes in the exhaust flange are too small for the drill bit and insert, so the headers have to come off. other than that, drill, tap and insert. probably one of the easier helicoil jobs to do on a soob. if i remember correctly the hole will be actually deeper than just one insert. but you can get away with using just one or make the attempt of trying to insert two on top of each other. i've done both and had no problems either way. just figured i'd mention it in case you notice the inserts aren't as long as the studs/original holes. have eye protection handy, you'll be lying on your back with metal (possibly hot) shavings falling on your face.

i already answered this question in general format in my earlier post and am speaking from experience, not theory. it would likely depend on the vehicle, but in general no. reduction in "back pressure" does not mean higher gas mileage. GD brings up a good point about the fuel maps. dylan (a member here but not very active) drives a dodge neon and says the right year and FWD manual trans can get 50 mpg highway of course. he said there's a modification you can do to the O2 sensor that allows the ECU to run at a better mixture than stock....something very similar to what GD said. at that point you'd want to closely monitor to make sure you're not running lean. his is a very simple mod that retains the stock ECU but still leans the mixture out. i always wondered if and how it could be done to a soob. i don't have time for megasquirt but would love to learn it and build one. it's really annoying that i can't find his emails about that. i just sent him an email, hope he replies and i'll follow up with more info.

agree with everything GD says (in that last post anyway, ha ha!!!). keep trying to contact delta, have you called them, email...etc. heck if you waited 7 days already, send them a letter! in general, always go with the experience if you can. far better outcomes that way.