idosubaru

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?

in general resealing the oil-pump solves most problems (TOD and leakage). some people have experienced issues even after doing the reseal, in those cases a new pump would likely cure things. be sure to replace all the oil pump stuff - new shaft seal, gasket (mickey mouse gasket) and o-ring. have a 1" socket ready to get the nut off the oil pump pulley. it's a 12mm nut, with the oil pump out of the engine, use the 1" socket to hold the rotor on the back steady while you knock it off. works wonders. there's also the front crank seal right above the oil pump, they can leak severly as well, so if you suspect a leak in that area plan on replacing that as well. it's really annoying to replace, not much room to get in there and work with it and tap the new one in place. take your time. and use SUBARU only crank seal. i installed a crap Fel-Pro seal a couple weeks ago for a friend. it was wobbly and did not want to seat straight. finally got it lined up and pressed in after multiple tries. it ended up leaking, i replaced it with a Subaru seal and all is good.

don't be too glum about your dealer. i'm not up to date on all the years and models they offer the extended warranty too, but many people on here have had subaru replace the headgaskets under that plan. talk to them face to face and see what they say, you have a good chance of having them replaced. do not let this thing overheat, you have a great car and engine right now.

loosen/remove the engine mounts, remove the rear trans mount as well (so the engine/trans can tilt back so to speak without stressing the trans mount). then use a jack to push the front of the engine UP and give you the clearance. PITA is right. that's not even the most annoying part. often what looks like oil pan leaks really are something else. have you verified it's not something else ending up at the oil pan mating surface? then new gaskets often leak after being installed anyway. get a good OEM gasket, not a cheap-o, thin aftermarket job. make sure you get the pan and block clean, plan some time for this the cork is usually stuck on the pan really good. now that i think about it, it's so annoying it might be worht $25 to let a machine shop hot tank it for you. then you have to hope the pan is flush and the bolt holes aren't so concave that they cut into the new gasket and leak in a few months. if the bolts have been tightened in the past this is more probable, the bolt heads will deform the oil pan mating surface and make the bolt holes protrude up into the new gasket, degrading it over time.

it's going to be hard for you to believe and swallow this, but it is sort of good news. better than "get a rebuilt". subaru auto trans are extremely reliable. i would not hesitate to install used auto transmission, particularly something as new as your vehicle. i've owned many Subaru 4EAT auto trans, some now around 20 years old and problems are few and far between. low mileage used transmissions can be had for not much money in the states, not sure the about the canadian market though. if you're close to the states it might be worth trying to source one here and going and getting it? they will fit in the trunk of any sedan just fine.

you'll have to look at the transmission side, it's likely a 17mm but could differ some. either way it just unscrews and is very obvious. the cable is a two part mechanism. there's the sheath and then the cable rides inside of it. i would first try by NOT pulling the cable out of the speedometer like you metioned. you can pull it from the fire-wall and reinstall it when you're done, but you may be able to avoid that. once you remove it from the transmission side you should be able to pull the actual cable out from inside the sleeve without ever removing it from the fire/wall or instrument cluster. the cable slides inside the sleeve. since it pulls out from the transmission side, you may be able to slide it off once you remove it from the transmission. make sense? clean it up, relube it and slide the cable back into the sheath (which is still in place and connected to the instrument cluster) and you're done. if that doesn't work for some reason, then yes, pull it out by the firewall. installing can be really tricky as the back of the instrument cluster may not be easily seen...or seen at all depending on the model.

sounds like you're loosing coolant? you'll need to find out where you're loosing it from. pull up the carpet around your passengers side footwell and see if it's wet at all underneath. this would be a sign of a failing heater core. also check and double check all of your hoses. there are MANY tiny hoses running under the intake manifold, through the throttle body, under the alternator, heater core hoses...etc. any one of them can be cracked or have bad clamps. some may requiring removing a few minor parts to get out and check properly. if you can't see any wet spots, try reving the car up to a couple thousand RPM's while looking under the engine. try moving any and every hose you can find, often a small crack won't show itself very easily. particularly at the top of the engine, it won't have fluid in it unless it's full and/or under pressure with fluid circulating. pressing on hoses with the engine running may reveal a tiny crack or clamp that's rusted through the hose. also - how bad did the previous engine overheat? if it was severly overheated there may be block/head issues. were the heads pressure tested before being reused? that's not really necessary unless they were severly overheated/abused.

leave it in drive will driving. there's no reason to put it in neutral while you're driving around. the POWER light should light up when it downshifts. why it is not, i do not know. if it flashes 16 times at start up, then the transmission has a stored code (similar to the check engine light - the POWER light flashes 16 times at start up if there's a problem).

Hopefully Subaru upgraded the FSM in the EJ series, the TPS values and figures in the FSM for the XT6 are not even close. i would assume the FSM for the EJ series isn't the same, but just a word of caution. i would inspect the knock sensor and wiring as well like nipper suggested. regarding the TPS if it's consistent in it's issues, which it seems it is, then the wiring is likely okay. i'd check for corrossion on the TPS sensor connectors, the metal tabs that actually plug into the wiring harness. and i'd check the wiring harness side as well for corrossion. you could also check the pins for the TPS at the ECU, with all the wiring work that was done a bent pin wouldn't be that surprising. i'd expect more problems than you're having, but it's an easy check at least. the TPS on the older series engines can be disassembled and cleaned internally and can help substantially in the running department. never looked at the EJ stuff, but i'd imagine it can be disassembled as well. but you're probaby like me and have a bunch you can just swap out.

here's a write up about the speedo-cable if that's what you're after: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=71341 at the bottom of the original post you'll see where i mention an easy way to regrease the cable. you'll likely want to approach it that way, should be quick and simple. at this point i'm guessing you'll need another cable though, but maybe it's not too bad yet.

PB Blaster and Liquid Wrench are excellent. WD40 is not meant for this application.

make sure it's the pan leaking, other leaks can make the pan mating area wet and look like it's the pan but it's not.