idosubaru

ferret is right on. replacing the boots is time consuming and not very cheap anyway and who knows if the joints were compromised by being torn? the joints won't fail but they may be noisey in the near future. if the noise isn't an issue, then just leave the Subaru axles that are in there, they will not fail. they will be more reliable than an axle from the auto parts store. if the noise is or will be an issue then replace with a Subaru OEM new axle, a used Subaru axle or MWE rebuilt. do not grab one from the auto parts store. they can and do blow up. i've seen ones only a couple weeks old blow to pieces...not just leak grease, crack boots and make noise...but blow to pieces while driving. i've also driven 50,000+ miles on broken boot, clicking original Subaru axles, they are very tough and i've never seen or heard of one breaking that wasn't in an off-road rig (lifted, rock climbing, high stress, etc, those guys break axles all the time). there are plenty of people with limited experience that have done okay with auto parts store axles, but read the boards and oppinions of those that have seen alot of samples...the stats aren't good.

grease/oil/lubricate the new seal and install it properly and hopefully that fixes it. of all the seals to leak, what a sucky one to do it for you.

the 2.5 heads are probably salvageable, my friend who's a mechanic has done a couple of these motors with broken timing belts and said bent valve were the only issues, he said they weren't that bad. might be worth having them checked out? the computer will handle the additional boost fine, i don't think you even "need" an extra injector. i know someone who installed a turbo on his non-turbo EJ22 engine in a 1997 OBS. ran great, has over 100,000 miles on it and he's owned it since new. almost positive he didn't install any extra injectors. he has since removed the turbo stuff and is back to running non-turbo.

there are some members of this board that work at subaru dealerships and have posted their contact information. i've used them before, i'd do a search and find their information. there's also online subaru parts suppliers, they've been posted numerous times on here before and have excellent prices. 1stsubaruparts.com might be one, i can't remember off the top of my head. check out the search button, you'll find them. another girls name is Jamie, she's a part department employee i believe on here.

Bruce, i doubt i have the time to do it, but have an engine lift you can borrow. is this an automatic or manual? i would not go to that Subaru shop on the mileground myself. i stopped in and talked to them a bit and they were nice but their prices were higher than other dealers i've talked to in terms of headgasket work and such. being that the nearest subaru dealer is hours and hours away they have an artificial monopoly. maybe they give some people better deals than a nobody off the street (i was just pricing for kicks, i do my own work). someone i know told me of a "great" subaru shop in morgantown area but i do not know the name, i can ask them if you're interested. i've also noticed a shop out Route 7 west of morgantown that has Subaru's all over the place and appears to be a garage too. i'll stop by someday and find out. you can contact me in PM or email because i'll probably forget about this thread if you want the info on those places. i'll be driving by the place on route 7 a bunch of times this week, i'll stop by and see what they do.

definitely make sure it's not something else. cooling system issues are frequent at this age...water pumps, hoses, radiators, clamps, thermostats, there are plenty of other things to cause overheating. if it is headgaskets, locate, borrow or rent some air tools and go to town. the EA82 headgaskets are super easy to do. they can easily be done in a day no time. i like to have a fresh set of heads ready to go to reduce down time, but it's certainly not necessary. air tools help tremendously when removing all the cam carrier bolts and head bolts. there are a bunch of them. and when cleaning the head bolts holes i like to run the bolts holes down about three times in a row and clean the threads. three times in and out of dozens of holes adds up to alot...but is quick and easy with air tools. i do the 6 cylinder XT6 head gaskets and they're not bad at all....EA82's are super easy. it's money that it's a non turbo, the turbo's kind of suck. while you're in there get a valve job done, new cam carrier o-rings (you'll need two) and valve covers. timing belts, water pump, cam seals, crank seal, oil pump are nice too but not that hard to do anyway so they can wait if they're in good condition. i'd probably definitely replace the water pump if it's never been replaced. thermostat too.

since the engine is out, replace the rear main seal and all the clutch stuff. pilot bearing and throw out bearing. they are not accessible once it's back out. might want to tackle the oil pan gasket since it's a pain to do in the car (unbolt engine, lift it up...blah blah blah). but half the time getting a new gasket to seal is a PITA. everything else is accessible with the engine in the car, so feel free to leave it as is. i'd either go balls out and reseal the entire thing or only do things you have to at this point. i wouldn't try to find some "middle ground", it's too ambiguous really. but tackle the stuff that's easy with the motor out. since the valve covers are accessible with the engine in the car you can try a bead of silicone if you want and fix it again later if it doesn't work. i'd be mostly worried about any of the silicone squising inside the valve cover/cam area and getting washed down into the oil pan. yeah there's a sump screen and oil filter and it'll probably come out at the first oil change...but i don't like the thought of junk getting in my oil. i'd probably reinstall the old gaskets as is, no sealant. if they don't hold or start dripping then i'd worry about silicone or getting new ones. i ordered XT6 valve cover gaskets from the online cheapy guys for $6.99 each. i bought like 5 sets since they were so cheap

if they aren't Subaru axles i wouldn't trust them. i've seen aftermarkets blow to pieces with very little stress. but like i've said...i've put 50,000+ miles on clicking CV's on original Subaru axles. if they start clicking while driving straight that's when i start planning on replacing them...usually with a brake job or something else requiring similar work. the two birds with one stone thing. but if they aren't Subaru or MWE i'd be looking to get them out quick. when you replace them, get used Subaru axles or rebuilds from MWE..or new from subaru if you like giving away your wallet. aftermarkets suck, seen them explode.

i'd diagnose that compression loss before spending much time on it. if it's heads/head gasket related then no big deal. if it's rings....i don't know that it's worth worrying so much about it's going to need major work anyway.

how bad are these axles, are the Subaru (the originals) and do you drive off road? i've put 50,000+ miles on broken boot, clicking axles. the Subaru axles are solid and i've never had one fail. i've rarely seen them fail on the groups either, and those times are usually from guys with lifter/offroaded vehicles. i never replace mine until 'im pulling the axle out for something else. i have two broken in the rear and one up front now....so what, i know they won't fail and i'm definitely not messing with them any time soon. i'll get to it in a year or so. i'd leave them there. if they are clicking really bad you can hand pack some grease in there to quiet them down.

if you'd like another 100k i'd make sure the cooling system is golden. radiator, water pump, hoses, clamps, thermostat, radiator caps, coolant overflow hose, heater core hoses. one leak in the cooling system will entice those 20 year old headgaskets to finally give out. old gaskets and seals tolerate heat far less than new ones. then you have a much bigger problem. good luck on the party.

you could tow 2 cars, probably 3 if you wanted, the subaru would do it just fine...for a few miles....how long before you have an accident or the car gives out on you is the question. it shouldn't be done. before i had ever really towed anything, i asked the same thing about towing a Subaru with my XT6. the answers were about the same that you see here. i now own a truck and dolly, am getting a car carrier soon and since putting a couple thousand miles of towing under my belt i am very glad i listened to the members of this board and the xt6 group. with the situations i've encountered and people i've talked to that tow alot, i am thankful i listened. although....i know my XT6 "could" do it, but you're hoping everything goes perfect if you try! i'd be very concerned about the mounting of the receiver to do this anyway...better be done really well and better not be any rust.

i think you're out of range with the '05, so you should be okay. for only $1,000 you made out good if he really did replace the head gaskets. that is awesome if he did it right. for that price, you're best just to get it done. most mechanics would never give you that kind of deal for doing the entire front end work (t belt, water pump, seals) and the gaskets/covers, etc. that's normally a $1,500 - $2,000 job for all of that. my cousin got quoted $699 just for the timing belt/water pump stuff you just mentioned (same 2.5 motor). i did it for cost of parts (WAY less!)

i don't get it??

this vehicle doesn't have a sunroof does it? is it a two door or four door? make sure it's not something else leaking. i'd first peak underneath the car before assuming it's a hole and going through all the work. any hole big enough to pool water should be waving at you "hey, how are you today!!!" if you look under the car. be sure to look past the frame rail if that extends back and drops down in your way. might need to jack one side up (with all the precaustion of course...jack stands, etc). i'd just want to make sure it's a hole before pulling stuff out. if it's rust, remove all the rust first. and....weld in new stuff. if it's the door sill that may be replaceable...but we'll tackle that once you confirm where it's coming from. there's a Brian on http://www.xt6.net that has holes in his floor...not really holes so much as much of it was just gone. he had new inserts made for it. i actually thought YOU were him posting here at usmb when i saw the title of your thread and your user name "brian....barber". funny stuff.

that you never had problems before smells of A: them trying to rip you off B: they didn't burp the system and overheated your vehicle after installing the new water pump. whoops..we overheated and his gasket is seeping, well good thing these 2.5's are "known" for head gasket issues, we'll blame it on that. now...i'm making accusations based on your story that it's never overheated or had any signs or issues. if that's the case, i don't trust this story one bit. they're basically telling you that you won the lottery statistically speaking. the chances that it JUST started leaking the day or two before you took it in, just soon enough that it never had a chance to overheat until the 2 miles THEY happen to drive it....yeah right, come on dudes. or, are you sure it never overheated? could you have missed it? do a search on this forum. often people don't get all the air out of the system on these EJ motors after having the cooling system apart (and they had yours all apart for the water pump job). the air bubbles cause issues and the car can overheat...again do a search and you'll see numerous cases of this. seems unlikely they'd overheat it and blow the gasket...but i think that's more likely that the "mystical event" that it was leaking and you didn't notice. there are some examples of post-2000 headgasket issues. i don't know the exact dates.

hey will, i'm almost positive they are different...but wish i were wrong. the auto front diffs are completely different animals than the manuals right? so this wouldn't work for us freaks that prefer automatics?

how's the carb? ignition wires, cap, rotor (if it has them, i don't know the EA81's)? does it use any oil? loosing compression? (compression test).

did you give the motor 12 volts? what vehicle, year, model? any symptoms or previous funnies...or did it just quit working one day? do the buttons light up when you turn it "on"? it doesn't come on with a/c or anything? you can't find what unit in the air duct? the blower motor was replaced?

since it's you nipper i don't think i need to say it...but battery terminals/connectors will give these signs as well if dirty or not tight. welcome home hotdog. 5 main bearings forever, 2.5 headgaskets rock, synthetic oil sucks, what is TB, can i run without an airfilter?....welcome to the FUN>>>WOO HOO!!!

something sounds jacked up. some of the FWD vehicles i believe have smaller gas tanks are you looking up the right vehicle/have the right owners manual? as for the 20 mpg. you *should* see more but...there are lots of variables. what kind of driving do you do? if it's all city/stop and go/short distance, lots of hills/mountains driving then you might be relegated to that no matter what you drive. if you do lots of highway driving and still get that kind of mileage, what condition is the car in? a tune up will help greatly. tire pressure checked, spark plugs and ignition wires, and air filter are most important. fuel filter and O2 sensor might be helpful to address as well.

there are two completely different motors available in 1987...the EA81 and EA82....and there are turbo, non-turbo, SPFI, MPFI variants as well. if you tell us what vehicle it is we can tell which motor it has and someone can post a picture. if you can post a picture we'd be able to help immediately.

$35 for a resistor block, if that's what it takes. are you sure it's broken? if it is, remove it and make sure a simple solder of one end won't fix it. they can get really dirty too. clean it out and make sure a simple solder somewhere won't fix it first. what do you need heat for (ha ha!)

it's all over the forum here - search for "torque bind". under advanced search click on "search titles" and "new generation forum" and you'll get all you care to read about. look down to the lower left of this page right now, no clicky anywhere, just look then finish reading this sentence......did you glance down at the lower left? it shows similar threads to yours down there...now EDIT your thread (this one right here) title to include "torque bind" and similar matching threads will show up at the bottom left of this page you're looking at right now. go to the first post you made on this thread and edit the title - add "torque bind". if i was a moderator i'd do it for you. of course....just use the search button and you get more results.

here's how to sell a car in the city: make it look nice, who cares what the engine is like. most potential customers don't believe the "easy" fix mentality. if it was *that* easy, then you'd do it. you think "it's easy". they think "what else is wrong with it that i *don't* know about?".