idosubaru

i wouldn't expect a mechanic to skimp on a couple seals, i'm distrustful of them, but would'nt expect too many to say they replaced a simple seal but don't actually do it. what they're more likely to do is...."hey mr., that one pulley was all bunged up and they cost $200 new so that'll be an extra $300 for parts and labor on that". if you can get it down to svxpert, do it. i do my own work, but i'd much rather have someone i know working on my car if it's at all an option rather than some random guy...even more so in that dreaded part of the country you live in, that place is horrible. and he's a subaru man, he knows his stuff, always better that way too, no surprises. as for how dangerous your leak is, really depends on amount. you just don't want the engine to get low on oil, that will destroy it quickly. take note of how much it's loosing and keep adding it. if it's just dripping and pooling up, that's not necessarily too bad and quite normal on older subaru's. BUT - leaking front seals can dump oil fast, like drain the engine in a matter of seconds, so it's not to be taken lightly either. i'd have it addressed soon if you're not sure.

that's not an action shot, it just has two flat tires. hey wait...dont you have a headgasket to replace first!?!??! i don't know jack about handling ....and i hate to say it since i'm always big on lots o' ground clearance, but won't lowering that wagon help, get some of that weight closer to the ground?

HA! BS! if someone else can do it, I can do it. i'm not up to date on this stuff but the "sealed" units aren't typically automatic transmission fluid related i don't think, i think it's other internal bits - like a manual trans center diff that may be sealed. but again i'm not up to date on the latest and greatest out there and am unsure what you're talking about. but...if they can do it at the dealer, it can be done elsewhere. i stopped in and asked the dealer in atlanta what synthetic fluid they used in their LSD's and they showed me their stash of yellow Penzoil bottles just like you buy in the store. why would you want to know this? it seems like it's on par with asking what brand gasoline the dealer uses.

it's been covered, but 215,000 is high. yes there are plenty that go beyond that and the 2.2 is certainly capable of it...but lots of car owners are not. the years are more likely to kill this motor than the miles anyway...after 15 years often at least one radiator, hose, thermostat, water pump, clamp, radiator cap will have failed or have been replaced. if the car was driven hot....or oil changes not adhered to, or mismatched tires been used, then the engine and trans may not be in as good of condition as they could be. there is no shortage of subaru's with engine or trans failure before 200,000 miles...many on here can post pictures of them. but more often than not it's due to overheating or lack of oil/maintenance. i've been looking for two friends recently and just in the past two days seen dozens of 2.2's with 200,000 - 292,000 miles in good running condition. inspect it good and make your decision accordingly. after you get it home, revel in not having a car payment, enjoy that. a compression test is a good tool if the engine condition concerns you.

there are some late 90's legacy wagons and impreza's sedan's and OBS(except the impreza RS) that have the 2.2 liter engine. i think even up to 2000...2001...2002 maybe some impreza's have the 2.2. i'd go that route myself since they don't have the head gasket issues. no way i'd drop 9,000 on a newer 2.5 unless it was 2003 or newer, but that's just me and i'm a little different than most. up to 1996 the 2.2 is a non-interference engine (like the legacy you speak of). 97 and up 2.2's are interference engines. all 2.5's are interference.

put the car in gear - brakes on and block the tires. socket wrench with pipe or breaker bar - some quick punches with those will get it tight. a rubber hammer on the socket gives you a pseudo-impact wrench. i posted in your other thread as well.

put car in gear, brakes on, block tires for manual trans. on an auto remove rubber plug in the bell housing and stick a socket extension in the bellhousing flexplate, there should be some gaps/holes in the flexplate to wedge a socket extension or a heavy duty screwdrive into. then crank the nuts out of the crank bolt with a 1/2" socket wrench and a long pipe or breaker bar. cast iron bolt, cast iron crank shaft - tighten that joker good.

no chunks, just gunk. it runs, drives and sounds fine so i'm not worried about it.

it's not a consensus item, it is okay (with assumptions like...you did'nt leave the socket hanging from the crank!??!!). just know what you are doing. engines need to be cooled, without any cooling on it, the engine will heat up indefinitely until failure. at 30 seconds running time you're not reaching an internal heating threshold that's not seen under normal circumstances. i don't know that anyone can tell you that....at 4 minutes 32.5465 seconds you'll reach the threshold at which internal cylinder wall or temperature differentials begin to deviate from norm.

check your owners manual. unless the engine has problems, there is nothing to gain by using higher than the recommended octane. i'm not weighing in either way, only stating that your owners manual should say. lots of gas/octane material out there to read to understand this. on older soobs you can you can get a higher horsepower by advancing the distributor and running higher octane gas. running 27 degree advance on an ER27 that comes stock at 20 degrees will gain about 7 horsepower if the dyno numbers are right in my head (you can verify this at xt6.net if you'd like). now.....whether that translates to better mpg, i don't know and whether the newer EJ series vehicles that don't let you do any advancing of the timing mechanically can take advantage of that i don't know either.

+1 for very short duration.

on the XT6 and XT it's like jeff said. you don't even need to reach up there to pull it out, just pull it all out from the engine bay and it comes right out of the cluster since there's nothing holding it in. on installation, run it through the wall and reach up behind and plug it in. i'm not sure how different your EA81 is, but i'd definitely look to see if you can do it this way. yeah, not much room but who cares if it takes 2 minutes why bother removing anything?

thanks snowman - you are correct. i changed the thread and edited it since i found out it takes 1.5 quarts. i added one, wasn't even on the stick. added another .75 and it came right up to full (some spillage in there for sure). i won't have my FSM's, owners manuals and some tools for a few weeks.

auto AWD XT6 - the front diff oil plug had more stuff on it than i recall seeing on others that i've done, but maybe my memory is bad. i swiped off some of the stuff to create a ridge so you can see how much is there on top the drain plug. trans and diff are all functioning perfectly well, camera didn't want to focus well that close.

in general you should be good to go for 100,000 miles. i'd have new timing belt and water pump installed if you want to keep it that long and the pulleys checked/replaced. if it's a japanese engine with unknown history/condition/miles and has a pre 2000 2.5 headgasket in it, i wouldn't trust it. i bought a JDM engine this year and it had be headgaskets. all they'd give me was new headgaskets, i'd have to install them...but i never even received the gaskets. another regular member of xt6.net bought a JDM engine this year and also has a bad headgasket right now. i will not buy another one, but people on here have success stories and i'm sure they'll pipe up. i'll rebuild my own, buy CCR or get a used one first next time.

i can't find anything on "PG", who/what is that? i guess it stands for some company i've never heard of? searches give me nothing but page of the 2007 WRX BS.

yep, i've swapped inhibitor switches before, they are very simple. just go easy as there are some plastic parts i believe (though they could vary across models).

sucks real bad but you have some options. the ideal option is just to have a leak down test done to verify where it's leaking - heads or rings. if it's just the head gasket/valves then replace the head gaskets and have a valve job done. it will run great and run forever once that's done at least. the cheap option would be to look for a used engine. i haven't looked into the details of the EJ22T but i know on the EA82 series engine (older generation subaru's) you could just buy a non-turbo EA82 block and install it in the EA82T turbo vehicle. there are some issues, but basically it can be done fairly easily. the benefit to doing this is that the non-turbo blocks are a dime a dozen, very cheap, easy to find and typically don't have many issues. and you could just buy a long block (block, heads and all) and drop it right in. the EJ22T may be hard to score in good condition and for a decent price, but it's worth looking around. once it's said and done, make sure your radiator is golden, replace the water pump and hoses clamps and turbo gaskets to make sure you won't loose any coolant and overheat the engine. if you keep this thing from overheating this motor will see 250,000 miles easy and you'll be happy you kept it 5 years from now.

gear grinding is not common. i've seen a number have the minor grind going into gear from 2nd to 3rd that nipper mentioned, but that doesn't cause issue, i've seen them go 100,000+ miles like that. in general you'll have to replace less manual trans versus auto. but subaru auto's are very very good in the durability department, if you get one that hasn't been abused and take care of it, it is unlikely you'll have to replace it. manuals are nice but still require maintenance and if you drive them hard you'll likely go through at least one clutch replacement. resurface flywheel, new clutch, new pressure plate, new pilot and throw out bearings...it's not a cheap job. auto trans are not hard to find at reasonable prices used either, so i wouldn't hesitate to install a used one (i've done it before), not that that is rarely a problem though.

the engine is probably fine. maybe new headgaskets to inspect and replace any valves and you're done. did leak and run out of oil or anything? did you shut it off quickly after the accident, if so it's fine and plenty fixable. like shawn said, replace the bad valves, slap on new headgaskets and on your way.

oh yeah, that's a smoking deal. can't do that with an XT6......

can you post pictures, i didn't see an easy way to get the seal off and feel comfortable getting it back in tight enough that it wouldn't come off. what retains it once you remove and reinstall? it's just pressed on? i'll give this a try, i have enough extras to play with that's for sure!

easiest way is to replace the pulleys with new. a cheaper alternative is to have a shop press in new bearings. the cheapest alternative is to repack the bearings, which i have documented here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50430 i would not do this on an inteference engine so i typically don't post this link in the newer generation thread. the interference engines are newer and worth new stuff anyway. as for not being any benefit to this, that couldn't be further from the truth . if you've done the process i've demonstrated above, the bearings feel brand new after you're done. i'm no bearing expert but with greasing at every t-belt change i feel the bearings will last the life of the vehicle. they loose grease and the grease gets old/dirty. regreasing helps tremendously. now...that it's done properly and doesn't all blow out or bust the seal...this is all assuming it's done right of course. i have never attempted to remove the seals as edrach posted, didn't know that was possible, from the disassembly that i've done of the pulleys i wouldn't attempt any more than you have to. they are robust and well built, just give them fresh grease and move on.

on an interference engine it isn't a bad idea to replace all the idlers and pulleys. if you don't want you have a few options. buy them all but only replace the ones that aren't tight and feel like good pullies. having new pullies is a good idea if you've never had one before, to tell how tight and smooth and soundless they are. return the ones you don't need. the last option, besides not replacing any, is to at least have on hand or replace the cogged pulley. those tend to be the first ones to start making noise and loosing their smoothness in my experience (and others i've talked to as well).they are expensive but if you don't replace them, you're expecting them to make it to the next timing belt....250,000 miles. another option that few take is to take your pullies to a shop and have new bearings pressed in them, much cheaper that way but requires taking them to a shop and little extra work. on the EA82's, ER27's i regrease the existing bearings but i wouldn't do that on an interference/100,000 mile timing belt engine. your list looks good to me.

no, i still get the TCU error flashing, but i don't care for a number of reasons. first of all i have my shift resistor pack unplugged to firm up the shifts and lesson the lag between 2nd and 3rd gear. shifts much better that way. i could splice in a resistor there but i don't care too. some companies sell the $50 "shift kit" that basically does the same thing but probably eliminates the light and actually "disconnects" the stock pack only at certain times. i say just unplug it, but that's me. i can always plug the existing resistor back in if i need to see if there's a "real" code. so mine already flashes, having the duty c switch doesn't make a difference. it only flashes 16 times at start up and no more. if it was like the CEL and stayed on all the time, then i'd do something about it. actually it was replaced at 150,000 miles, but that was before installing either the duty C switch or disconnecting the shift pack or messing with any transmission electronics, didn't know anything about that back then. i'm guessing that my time in college spent buying used tires wasn't good on the AWD trans (whoops!). the used trans took 70,000+ miles and the shift pack and duy C switch without any issues and still works great. i have it as a spare now. is someone going to document, post a link or post here about an actual failure due to this mod?