idosubaru

RAM does some awesome work and would have tested various intake designs. i am sure they chose the path they did for a reason. they have custom pistons. last i stopped by and talked to them they said they would rebuild EA82's and even the XT6 ER27 with your choice of cast or forged high compression (higher than stock) pistons or cast or forged low compression turbo pistons. and i believe they can machine the piston head to be non-interference if i'm not mistaken. Mr. Radon over at http://www.xt6.net rebuilt his XT6 ER27 engine with these pistons, check out his thread for pictures, details, weights of the pistons, etc.

an option....steering racks are a dime a dozen as well, might want to play with a used one and install new tie rods and then install it to the car (easier to work on and less down time). or just install a new steering rack, they're easy and cheap.

i would keep a tight eye on your coolant and oil levels. which ever one is gradually loosing fluid is where you want to start looking. get an air freshener or some allergies and you won't notice anymore!

how many miles are on this thing? it's too bad you didn't convince them to address the piston slap earlier, they would have had to install new head gaskets for that job. now you're hosed unless you're ready to put in some time calling and talking to managers....etc.

sounds good. yes, ohio. and hopefully the driveshaft comes off okay. thanks.

huck just completed an EG33 swap into an XT6 - check it out over at http://www.xt6.net if you're interested. let me know if you sign up and i'll make sure you're account is verified quickly. (we have a sign up system to prevent spam). there are also a couple turbo wrx engines swaps in the XT platform over there as well. huck did all the work himself on his EG33 so he has alot to offer in terms of advice. i helped him with 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000004% of the work, i sent him a wiring connector.

anyone ever disconnect a rear EJ driveshaft? done it once or twice but don't really remember much other than that cover plate. i've done tons of EA/ER series cars and they can be annoying, nuts seized/rusted don't want to come off. are the EJ's similarly annoying?

you're dead on, the torque converter can easily bump out a little when pulling the engine. i've seen a number of people not get it right and shatter their oil pump, but those are people that didn't know about it so you'll be all over it.

thanks bruce, i'm golden on the tires. both sets of rims have new tires on them. i'm getting a matching set of snow tires to put on one set though for winter driving.

yep, lots of stuff tends to drip, flow, blow back to the same area. let us know what you find. helps to clean everything really good and check periodically after that before it gets so messy that it's hard to tell where it's coming from .

2005 Forester XT Turbo. you have an 06 what are you looking for wheels for hotdog! my WRX wheels have 205 55 16 tires on them. so the 225 is "two sizes" too big so to speak. wasn't sure they would fit. would rather have skinnier tires for snows but i'll live with them for my first set of snows.

i have 16" impreza WRX rims and 16" Forester XT Turbo rims. got a good leak on snow tires, will 225/60/16's fit? which brings up the real question...how do you know what tires can fit on the rims? what are the limits?

good point GD, i've never used the anaerobic on the pan gasket but was thinking i would if i ever did one of mine again. i was thinking about a chunk of RV getting into the oil pan, but really the sump screen and oil filter are there so it wouldn't matter and i'd surely be careful in quantity so none would get in there in the first place. guess i'll stick to RTV in the future.

some water condensation may be expected in certain situations, i wouldn't call it gasket related just yet. but like GD said it is typically an intake or headgasket sign. i'd clean it all up and see how long before it comes back. it should be obvious with your coolant level. if you're topping your coolant off then it's going somewhere. you can go years without ever adding coolant, if you don't have a leak.

why do you say "it wasn't the rear output seal"? did you look at it, replace it, was it leaking at all from there? was it leaking in front of that? really need a picture or to know where it's coming from. can you absolutely, for sure, rule out the rear extension housing from leaking - where the driveshaft slides in?

i'd look into the EG33. in stock form it won't accept much boost, but if you're talking about a full rebuild of the engine you could install low compression pistons. if you're looking for numbers that high it won't be a bad idea to start with a new motors, bearings and such. the EG33 has some aftermarket support, i'm sure there are numbers and figures out there for what an EG33 with a turbo will produce. stock will have to be low boost.

it is also possible to pull the engine and tranmission out as an assembly, still bolted together and seperate them out of the car.

need to verify it's definitely oil leaking. are you loosing oil? is your trans fluid okay? (if it was an automatic the torque converter seal would be in the same area). valve covers, head gaskets, rear cam seal, oil pan....are you sure it's not one of those? as a side note the only rear main seals i've seen leak are the ones that have been replaced. the rear mains on subaru's very rarely leak, i can't think of any factory installed ones that i've seen leak, it's always been ones that were replaced. so my question is, when the motor was out did you replace the rear main seal?

yep, rear output shafts leak frequently with trans work. pulling the driveshaft out can ruin the seal or just sitting and getting old. it's a good idea to check the driveshaft that slides into the trans. if it's rusted at all from sitting outside during the work, the roughness of the rust can eat away any new seal and leak.

i would make darn sure it's the oil pan first. many other leaks can show up at the oil pan and get it all wet. first step is verifying this more than just looking at the wet pan. the surface rust on the outside shouldn't be a big deal, a visual inspection will tell. the inside and mating surfaces are almost garaunteed to be fine. the tricky part about the oil pan is that each bolt hole is typically concave when you remove it. so the bolt holes want to dig into and crush the oil pan gasket. this doesn't make for a nice and even torque and sealing pressure for the oil pan gasket. so they may want to leak again soon after installing. don't overtigthen the oil pan bolts ever, this can cause them to deform. the flatter the mating surface is (bolt holes not concave *up* too bad) the better. if it's questionable or the motor requires unbolting and lifting at all i'd personally use anaeroic sealant on the oil pan side of the gasket when reinstalling. the ER27 requires unbolting the motor mounts, loosening the trans mount and lifting the motor up to get the oil pan off, i'd want to make sure i'm not doing all that again, so i'd use anaerobic sealant on mine for that reason.

"MINT" HA HAH !!!! nice job. i've used that same blown insulation before! woo hoo! gets a little annoying if you have to use a ladder.....up and down to refill and you can't put too much in the hopper or it clogs...or at least mine did. just in time for winter.

you probably know this, but since you mentioned the auto/manual difference, be sure you're familiar with seating the auto transmission the last 1/4". it's easy to miss that and crush your transmission oil pump (very very bad). takes a little lifting/turning/reseating for it to finally engage.

those numbers look decent (not scarry at least), the variances may not be related to problems. i always do more than one test, make sure i'm getting consistent numbers. i thought stock they were only supposed to go up to 160? i think newer subaru's are in the 170/180 range but this is just from memory. i'm almost positive the only time i got 170/180 range compression on the EA82/ER27 (same pistons) is with motors leaking coolant in the cylinders from a blown headgasket. the coolant in the cylinders can bump the readings up somehow. was the throttle plate propped open?

actually they often don't leak externally. it's not that it blocks the oil port. it's that the suction is going to pull air in through that gap created where the gasket is compromised. that mixes air with your oil which your HLA's will not thank you for (hello TOD!). air is compressible and oil is not...hydraulic valve lash adjusters don't like compressible stuff in them. i've probably seen at least a half a dozen gaskets pictured exactly as you have shown, and posted pictures of them before as well, one port sucked in. this is the primary/standard cause of ticking. as for the "B" stamp on your rotor. i'm fairly confident that's what you'll find. i think that's the standard OEM factory install, any others are for replacement/clearance issues and i think are seldom used. pretty sure all the XT6's i've ever done are all stamped "B" as well.

the front and rear diffs are completely different, not compatible at all.