idosubaru

it's not that hard to do. the toughest part is knocking that axle nut loose. best to have a 3/4" socket or an impact wrench (air compressor style). they are very tight and i've seen many broken 1/2" sockets and breaker bars on axle nuts. i would also recommend changing the axle if you can get one, boots are super annoying and at this point an annoying, messy job that still might end up in clicking down the road would surely suck. but...i'm almost positive i've seen people replace the inner boot without removing the axle nut....pull it off the transmission, rebuild and reinstall. probably require removing something from the hub, but i believe you can leave the axle nut intact if you really wanted to. i always remove it since i replace the entire axle. i've also seen 36mm axle nuts, so if 32mm doesn't work then 36 is your next bet. no loss of diff oil like you'd see in a honda.

the short answer - not a big deal, just keep adding oil for now. it's annoying, but shouldn't be anything you can't work around. just because it didn't show up on the dipstick does not mean you damaged the engine or that the oil was "empty" or "all gone". even when the oil level is below the dipstick, there's still a fair amount of oil left in the pan. not that i recommend driving it at that level, but it certainly doesn't mean you destroyed the engine either. how long had it been since your last oil change that the oil was low? it's probably loosing a quart every 1,000 - 2,000 miles. that's not a big deal, just keep checking it and adding as necessary. buy a funnel and keep a couple quarts of oil on hand. the "high mileage" oil is not necessary, don't buy those. if it still leaks down the road, as summer and heat rolls around start using a thicker oil, that may slow it down somewhat. if you take some pictures of the underneath of your vehicle we may be able to help you diagnose what is leaking. follow the PCV valve replacement suggestion - they cost $6, i have a big bag of them. use Subaru only for that part, make sure to tell your mechanic you only want a Subaru PCV valve because some freaks that only work on Subaru's told you. better yet, just hand him one you bought from Subaru.

this motor doesn't have headgasket issues. but you want to be aware of anything abnormal. high miles, skethcy looking radiators, new hoses and clamps may suggest a car that has been run hot and that's not good on headgaskets. that's just something to look out and look under the oil cap for signs of milkshakes stuff, and the overflow tank for signs of oil. but in general, no this engine is solid.

do not buy a dealer from a car. the only thing you'll get is to pay higher prices and you won't know anything about the vehicle, that's what yo'ure gauranteed. there are people selling good vehicles in the paper and on-line (craigslist) every day that have full service records and great vehicles. look for one owner or two owner with service records and all. depends what you're looking for, but for the most part buying from a car salesmen does not gaurantee anything. sometimes newer vehicles have really good plans, like they'll offer them with new timing belts and such...but that's usually not the norm. buy from a private owner every time - you'll get a better deal and know more about the vehicle. dealer won't know anything. take along a friend or two as yo'ure looking and driving and get to know the person yo'ure buying from. if they seem shady or anything, go elsewhere.

awesome, glad it's going so well. keep an eye on that ring seal, it can be confusing on where along the shaft they are supposed to set.

sweet, so i was right you can just slide the cable out of the housing and leave the sleeve in place? excellent. that is good to know.

he is right, but it is highly unlikely that they pulled the stub out with the axle. a transmission shop would knock the pin out and drop the trans. if they only replaced the torque converter, that can be done by pulling the engine, swapping converters and reinstalling the engine - and never touching the transmission. if i saw the pins never touched like you mentioned i would bet the transmission did not come out. but of course it would require some more looking around.

that's cracked up girl. those rear windows are a PITA to remove, i mean a real pain. i would do whatever you can to try and seal that up without needing to remove the window. the lower control arms aren't that bad. the only tough part about the whole deal is rust. lack of rust would be a nice score for you right now.

FWD fuse is an automatic only thing. manual trans won't have that. the EJ22 (2.2 liter) engines are awesome. they are very solid and should not cause you any serious expense assuming they've been well maintained and continue to be so. in 1997 the EJ22 went to an interference design, so the 1996 and earlier 2.2's are nice in that if the timing belt ever breaks you don't have to worry about major engine damage. all 2.5 EJ25 engines are interference and they also may experience various head gasket issues at any mileage. great engine, great cars, but keep the headgaskets in mind in terms of maintenance costs and reliability. it'll run $1,000-$2,000 to fix it if they go. some people are far more capable of dealing with a $1,500 repair bills than others. the idea that any used car can blow a headgasket masks the EJ25 issues. what is nice though, is that it doesn't need to be discussed here. you can look it up yourself if you feel this is something you'd like to know more about. type in "headgasket" in the search forum, google or yahoo and you'll see that the 2.5 headgaskets have issues. you will be hard pressed to find 2.2's with headgasket issues.

i wouldn't typically replace anything. axle nuts are often replaced, but new axles come with them so that's easy enough. but i've reused them many times.

that's the seal, the one i can't describe, definitely not like any other seal. the rear output shaft seal is really easy to replace with the trans in the car, so that's a good one for them to "loose". good luck!

i'm not one for one sentence commentary, but that's awesome!

incorrect, that's taken out of context. i've never had any of those "Subaru" axles fail. i've never had a Subaru axle fail even with 100's of thousands of miles and even with broken boots and clicking joints. not to mention they're 20 years old, they are quite proven in the reliability department. the only failures i've seen were brand new aftermarkets, not Subaru. and i've seen them fail in a matter of days out of the box...others have as well. yes, there are plenty of instances of aftermarket axles working just fine, that's not my point at all. if you like them and don't mind them, then tear it up, i'm not here to argue that every single one breaks, that's rediculous. what i am saying is that there is a pattern of low quality from store bought axles. i don't only work on my car, so i've been through dozens of CV axles and the experience of others on here also shows the pattern that after markets are lower quality. like i also said...don't believe me, use the search function and see the oppinions of other people that work on lots of soobs and have years of experience. i don't consider aftermarkets a terrible option, they can work. but for me i like reliability and the lower failure rate of Subaru and MWE axles is worth it. all that to say...anyone looking to buy an axle can look at their own situation and decide what's best for them, there's multiple options for multiple situations.

if the car is a good, reliable, daily driver candidate you will get more money for it with the dent fixed usually. the general public doesn't want to deal with fixing a car and something that looks nice will sell better too. someone who is capable of fixing cars can typically get good deals on them too. to find someone willing to fix it and pay good money for it is not the best marketing strategy, but it can happen.

i lied, my favorite anti-seize was living in the south.

there are other concerns - i think it's 1999 when the bellhousing changed, so you'd want to figure out that year and probably avoid anything that year and after. technically that can be overcome with not much effort, but i think you're looking for a direct fit anyway.

oh yeah skip is on it, there's a good chance your final drives are different. which means, snag his rear diff too and your speedo will be a little off (but most are already a little off).

was that torque converter shaft seal a small circlip looking "C" shaped graphite type ring? those are the ones i've seen, wondering if this is the same? odd piece if we're talking about the same one. funny you say that, the last 1997 Auto trans i pulled had RTV all around it as well, i thought it was odd since it was a one owner vehicle and had never had any major work done to it. it had never had the trans pulled that i know of, but surely it could have. it was orange as well.

it will bolt up to your engine just fine and i think the trans will bolt in place fine too. the only thing i would check on is the axle splines and make sure the stubby shafts didn't change. but worst case scenario is you would just need his axles if the trans stubs were different, the hub side will be identical so that's easy. his shouldn't be, but make sure it's not a hydraulic clutch set up. i'll be dropping a 93 (same style as your 90) into a 1998 in the coming months, so i'll be keeping an eye on this, post what you find out and how it goes.

not for me, depends how much you value time and reliability. i, and others (a search will reveal), have had new aftermarkets fail. from here on out all of my soob axles are MWE or soob only. getting stranded and doing the same job twice is not my gig.

subaru did sell FWD MT in 1996. if it's a 2.2 and manual trans, that's a great combo. if it's FWD and snow is a concern, just get snow tires they are more bang for your buck in bad weather than AWD anyway. at 140,000 it should get new timing belts, water pump and probably at least a new sprocketed pulley (they tend to get noisey first). cam and crank seal (also the oil pump seal) would be good to while you're in there. that would be an excellent vehicle and that's about as close of a garauntee as you can get to make 200,000.

that yours is knocking, i would replace that very soon. that's not normal. it may be a previously replaced aftermarket axle. stuffing grease in the joints will quiet them down. typically the CV's bust then loose grease over time, then start clicking while turning, and finally start clicking while going straight...but that usually takes many, many miles. when they start clicking while going straight, i consider that time to replace them but that takes a long time to get there usually. unless you're playing in dirt and sand. i've put 50,000 miles on broken boot, clicking CV's before. i've never had one fail. that was down south, no salt and rock on the winter roads down there. haven't put nearly that many miles on any bad axles up north here. got a broken boot now, no clicking but i'm not replacing until that axle needs to come off for something else...so it might on there a long time. i would only trust original Subaru axles to last this long. aftermarket axles mostly suck.

no pilot bearing, manual trans only for those. gear oil in your front diff - drain and fill all fluids in the "new" trans. check owners manual like dave suggested. you can leave the pan, no need to remove it or worry about sealing it. some newer soobs have sealant, no gasket. not sure when that change occurs. there is absolutlely no need to replace the internal "filter", it's not a filter at all. it's a screen. it doesn't collect anything, just prevents stuff from getting sucked up and circulated by the pump. i replaced a few only to find out it's pointless. as long as you know and are concerned about seating the torque conveter, you'll be fine. check it and double check it. don't assume the one from the parts yard is seated fully and don't assume your is seated fully either. when you separate the engine and trans it can pull out, sometimes the TC sticks completely to the engine and comes out with it..if it has the clearance of course. probably not on yours since it's newer but still wouldn't trust that it didn't move at all. good luck sounds like all is going well. not sure with the newer EJ 4EAT's but the older ones have a ring seal around the torque converter shaft. if yours has that i would replace it. that's subaru only. the rear output shaft is a toss up, they're easy enough to replace in the car and don't leak too often so it's not necessary. i'd probably replace it while the trans is sitting on the floor though.

disconnecting the O2 sensor might eliminate that from nippers list. car should run fine with it diconnected, if you ignore gas mileage.

a 96 OBW should have a 2.5 in it right, not a 2.2. was the engine swapped or is it an OBS? like mentioned, are the fans coming on? thermostat could be stuck? any history on this car or mileage info?