idosubaru

right on nipper. i've always driven XT6's and have never read or paid any attention to safety, air bags, side impact blah blah blah. wanted to check it out as i get ready to put a legacy on the road too. actually the publication my insurance company sent was an interesting read, that's what got me thinking about it. thanks for the links.

my insurance company sent out a comprehensive list of vehicles. it showed the actual injury claims per accident per vehicle...adjusted somehow. unfortunately i don't have it any more. it created a base number of 100 and anything under that reflected a lower number of injury claims for that vehicle relative to others. i'd like actual statistics like that better than stars. maybe i'll call my insurance company.

i did, my ealier post: i didn't see anything. all of the sites i visited had horrible layouts. i'll try again.

sweet! nice hit kevin.

okay i did find that site, but i could not find out what those numbers meant. i'm sure it's there somewhere but they had no definition, scale or comparision to other vehicles that i could find.

I have not been able to find much safety data on 1996-1999 Legacy Sedans. been to a bunch of websites, including the NHSTA and didn't find anything. anyone got any good links?

kevin, post that picture in the parts wanted forum, someone probably has one they can send you? i have one in maryland...but i'm not there right now. i might be there sometime this week, if i do i'll try to remember to snag it for you.

the 4EAT doesn't have a center diff, but he's on the right track. keep the rear extension housing with the clutch packs in it. the entire assembly is not that hard to remove from the rear of the transmission. this is the assembly you'd need to fix torque bind if you ever have that in the future. i would also remove the shifting mechanism on the passengers side. the actual external electrical part that the shifter linkage connector too. those are the two parts i'd recommend keeping. doubt you'll ever need a torque converter or oil pan but they are easy enough to remove and have been replaced before. the stubby axle shafts pull right out with the c-clip attached so you could yank them off if you wanted. i'd personally keep the torque converter ring seal because it's a strange part and i've seen them in poor condition before. most likely you'll never have to deal with a 4EAT problem again so you probably wouldn't want that. it's a Subaru only part and they may or may not have it in stock. it's a round graphite like seal that's got a cut in it, a broken circle so to speak and it sits on the shaft that connects to the torque conveter and goes inside the trans. i like keeping a good used one on hand, just in case, but you'll probably never need it.

yes it's possible, but don't do it. if for some reason you're really bent on doing it this way, pull everything you can off, leaving just the block to yank if you're disassembling the engine anyway.

i think i'd start with a compression test to make sure everything is in properly in place. are the cams and timing belt all set dead on? they can not be off, even by a little or it will do what you're talking about. check compression, spark and fuel and let us know.

it makes a huge difference why you're asking this question. are you having it done, what engine, what mileage, is something already happening?? that wasn't the original poster that posted, he hasn't replied yet. you should edit this post. the EJ22 from 1997 and up is an interference engine just like the EJ25, and can have valve damage. and also the engine doesn't have to come out to fix the valves, though that is the most popular way to do it.

a trusting mechanic is your best asset, use him. we can help you with any subaru specific info. on this manual trans i can't imagine him having any issues replacing the clutch. straight forward as far as clutches go. i would replace the rear main seal, throw out bearing, pilot bearing and retaining clips. and of course the timing belt and water pump stuff would all be nice if it's needed and now is a great time for him to do it. if done right, you're good for another 100,000 miles. the oil pan gasket is a real pain to do in the car, requires unbolting engine mounts and actually jacking the engine up, though it doesn't need to come completely out. so if it appears to be leaking at all, do it when he pulls the engine to do the clutch.

two tips: use a 1" socket on the oil pump rotor. fits perfect and holds it in place while you remove the 12mm nut off the shaft. when reinstalling, don't try to push the oil pump flush to the engine, then install the bolts. instead, hold the pump a 1/2" from the block, insert the 2 or 3 bolts, then seat the oil pump. otherwise the bolt holes are tricky to line up based on the way the rotor spins in the block housing. i would not use any sealant on the mickey mouse gasket, but that's personal preference i suppose. the Subaru FSM does not say to do that, i never have and have never had any problems so i'll stick the FSM on that one. the FSM does mention using sealant (i prefer the expensive anaerobic but other can be used) to be used on the oil pump housing. at 12 oclock and 6 oclock place a very small dab of sealant outside of the mickey mouse gasket (not on it). you'll notice on the engine block that the two halves of the block come together there, the sealant is intended to fill any gap that could be caused by the mating of the engine halves. be sure you have a small dab of sealant at that juncture. there's little room between the engine and radiator. it can be done without removing it but is easier and less risky to the radiator to remove it on an EA82. might want to make that decision based on how big your hands are. if you've done the cam and crank seals you don't really need much more info. pull the timing belts (which you've already done). follow everything you did to replace the crank seal...then remove 5 10mm bolts holding the pump to the block. it's very easy...just 5 more bolts than you did before and follow the tips above.

no, not the same. i'll likely be sourcing aluminum pulleys for the XT6. if you're interested i'll do it now. there are none for the XT6, they'll have to be custom made.

have any seals been replaced - like headgaskets, cam carrier o-rings, or is all of that original? any oil leaks? if the cam tower o-rings are shot, you might be loosing volume there that the HLA's need. they are $2.19 each from the subaru dealer, you'll need one for each side. you can look at the bottom corners of the cam towers for leakage, but you won't be able to spot any internal leaks. there are metal reinforced o-rings, Subaru part only. http://www.thepartsbin.com is the only store/company i've seen carry them other than subaru. the most desirable next step is to replace or rebuild your HLA's. i'd replace them, they're a pain to rebuild, not worth the few dollars you can buy them for for mitzpah engineering or whatever that place is called, i always spell it wrong. the long term fix that might alleviate some or all of the noise is to do frequent oil changes. that will take a very long time and might not help. the short term fix is to use ATF in with the engine oil. i typically don't advocate adding anything to the crankcase except engine oil, so i don't recommend this, but it does work. start with one quart ATF and the rest oil. run it for awhile. if that doesn't help, try 2 quarts ATF and the rest oil. run that for 100 miles, getting the car up to operating temperature and drain. repeat if necessary. this is a quick fix to avoid doing work that you may not be capable of or desire doing.

check for air like nipper said. assuming they misdiagnosed this, have you asked how they want to proceed? they should have correctly diagnosed the cause of the problem, but this is an easy one for an uneducated person to mess up. they may be willing to work with you knowing they didn't fix the problem. and yes they messed up, they didn't do it in the right order. if it's true that you should have replaced the timing belt, it sholuld have been done at the same time as the headgaskets. as it stands now, you paid the timing belt bill once and you'll be paying it again - because the timing belt has to be removed to replace the head gaskets. part of the expense of a headgasket is removing and replacing the timing belt since it has to come off. so you're paying twice.

sounds good to me. these engines are excellent for reliability. 95 is a really nice year for the 2.2. make sure the timing belt is up to date on replacement (60,000 mile belt). if you want another 100,000 miles i'd also plan on replacing the water pump and thermostat now or at least at the next timing belt change. on the thermostat, PCV and spark plug wires, use Subaru only parts for those. don't use aftermarket spark plug wires, Subaru only or Magnecor (my personal favorite) is the only acceptable alternative in my book. keep your tires matching. these transmissions are very reliable, i'd suspect mismatching tires, vehicle improperly towed or something else probably initiated that rebuild. obviously i could be wrong, but these transmissions rarely require valve body work, particularly at that mileage.

wow, well i can't say i have much experience with engines engulfed in flames. i did have one soob catch on fire, but didn't try to reuse any engine stuff off of it. fire and having likely set for awhile in a questionable condition could have something to do with it. i'm not one to cry wolf though, it could be really loud HLA's, they can tap and they can also TAP! i've never had much of a problem diagnosing a tap from a rod knock, but i haven't seen that many rod knocks either. i think i'd address the oil pump and if that doesn't solve it, you'll still have the oil pump for the next motor anyway. oil pump work is easy enough to do, it'd be worth the effort to find out.

you're comparing an automatic to a manual. it's not so much power as it is gearing. the hunting is annoying. as soon as it shifts to 3 going up a hill, manuall shift it into 3rd and leave it there for the ascent. then drop it back to "D" (it'll go to 4th) at the top of the mountain. i do it all the time too...on those same mountains in western maryland. since you can drive a manual trans, this shouldn't be too out of the ordinary for you to get used to. sideling hill here you come.....

did you actually use an adapter plate for your jack? i talked to someone that said the one they used sucked and was not usable with Subaru transmissions.

have your headgaskets or intake manifold gaskets ever failed or has the engine ever been run with very low oil? these issues in the past can prematurely wear road bearings and cause them to fail later. it's hard to say without hearing it, might want to find a local that's familiar with subaru sounds and have them take a look? nippers idea of pulling the plug sounds interesting to try and at least it's easy. lots of TOD info on the board here, might want to start there if you can't figure it out. i do not know a way to tell someone to differentiate between ticking and rod knock.

and make sure it's installed perfectly. there were a couple members here and at xt6.net who had newly installed rear seals start pouring oil out shortly after installing. not sure if it's the quality of the seal or the install but i'd be very careful replacing them. for the few rear main seal replacements we see, having two fail last year is interesting and both were by seasoned subaru guys.

there's a "search" button on the gray bar up top, being a newer user i didn't know if you knew about it. this question gets asked all the time, so you could have found your own answer in about 60 seconds without ever posting. including more details on why it doesn't "work".

pretty sure i have an XT Turbo ECU, but i'll have to rummage through them. email or PM me if you're interested. turbone said he may have one.

not worth it. a search will yield all your answers and details on why it's not worth it.