idosubaru

frank, twice i've had distributors test within spec's of the FSM and they were still bad. spent hours trouble shooting (you could probably find my threads here or http://www.xt6.net) and in the end both times it was distributor related. i don't know how, i still haven't taken them apart but they were both on vehicles that i did extensive engine work on and the disty sat for awhile. whether that down time caused corrosion or what i don't know but i've never had one fail in a running vehicle. both times they worked fine, car ran fine, took it down for a few weeks/months for engine work and they didn't work when reinstalled. but they tested fine, go figure.

corrossion around the bead. tire needs to be dismounted, clean the rim (they usually just dimount, slap grease and remount without cleaning), then reinstall. the valve stems could be leaking....but with multiple tires doing it i'm guessing it's the wheels. maybe the air that was used to fill the tires had alot of water or something else in it that caused excessive corrossion. or maybe it's the weather, salt....there's something in common across the wheels causing that corrossion. i can't think of a common cause for valve stem failure, so while that's possible i say less likey. the valve stems can be tightened with just about anything though. or throw some soap water on them to see if they bubble. make sure the next set of tires you get they replace all the valve stems and clean the wheels good (after they quote you the price!!)

2.5 quarts in 600 miles sounds horrific. a leak down test should show where all this is going. which cylinder/which valve stem and/or which rings are the culprit. depending where/why, thicker oil may mitigate that some if you're going to keep driving it. why was this work done to begin with? what happened to this engine? compressed air in the cylinders will prevent the valve from falling if you want to attempt this in the car. do a search, some people have talked about how to remove the valve stem seals with the engine in the car. i'd pull the heads myself. like shawn said you wouldn't want to do this for all the valve stem seals. maybe if you isolated one a two. but if one or two are bad now i'd probably rather just get it all done right and replace them all. i'd worry that it's wasn't done right, or inferior parts were used and the ones you don't replace may fail in the future. you do not have to pull the engine to do the heads. with air tools you can have both heads off in the same time as it takes to pull an engine out (including set up time of the lift, chains, angling..etc). remove the heads (engine in the car), it's very easy. pulling the engine is a waste of time unless you have to do the rear main, clutch or oil pan at the same time. i think it's a good idea to cool the valve stem seals before installing them to get them in without compromising the aluminum in the heads. i take all my heads to an aluminum head specialist and have had excellent results so i continue to do that and don't actually do my own head work though. but i will say don't buy the cheap valve spring compressor at the auto parts store, they suck on subaru valve springs.

subaru's can definitely leak without mixing coolant and water. actually the long story i mentioned earlier was a coolant leak into the combustion chamber. no coolant was mixing through oil/coolant passages in the gasket or heads. i can only guess that somehow water getting into the combustion chamber also got into the block...through the rings? actually the only blown head gasket subaru i've gotten that had oil/coolant mixing was a blown turbo and that thing was blown to bits. you're using the words "coolant" and "water" interchangeably. water won't show up nearly as much in the oil since it evaporates and burns off easier than coolant. if you have milkshake under your oil cap then you have mixing. if not then maybe not so much. lots of fluid coming out the tail pipe at start up is another sign, that's before it gets so hot it burns up right away. but that's not definitive either way. either way, don't worry about the seafoam. keep changing the oil on time (if it's black, it's not on time!).

yes that's the front differential. the front diff and transmission are considered and assembly and one unit so to speak. in other words you really wouldn't replace the trans without replacing the front diff or the front diff without replacing the trans. i mean you could...but it's not advisable and butt loads of work. and most places won't sell you one without the other. don't know the name, i'd imagine a new cable would have the "end thingie" on it?

also good idea to see what they are selling for on http://www.autotrader.com or http://www.ebay.com (allows you to see the final sale price if you have an account).

yes pour the seafoam in the oil. but seafoam in the oil won't help at all. if coolant is not mixing with your oil then the block is fine and seafoam isn't needed. the heat will damage and warp your heads which seafoam won't protect, but if there's no mixing then your bearings in the block are fine. since you're concerned about the oil, i'm assuming that means you know the oil and coolant are mixing. the coolant in the oil will quickly destroy your bearings regardless of it being mixed with oil or seafoam. i've seen two results of running a vehicle with bad headgaskets. first is the rod bearings do not last very long after you fix it. i tried it once eventhough i heard all the horror stories about how bad coolant is for your bearings. i forget how long, but it lasted a few months before...you guessed it, i proved all the horror stories correct, the rod bearing gave out. the second result of running a bad headgasket too long is the point where the leakage is occurring will wear down significantly the metal in that area. somewhere on here or xt6.net i posted a picture of this engine that was run with a blown headgasket for awhile. the coolant jacket that was leaking was no longer a round hole in the block and head, but was oval and the aluminum had been eaten away in the direction of the leak from the hole. there was only a very small mating surface left for the gasket to even seal on with all that metal gone. i can only guess that some kind of local heating in the area of that leak caused that much metal to be "warn away" so to speak. i decided to install new heads, but kept the block in there. the gasket held fine with no leakage and then the rod bearing blew up so i couldn't tell if it would have lasted or not. if coolant is mixing in the oil and has been for some time i'd start looking for another engine.

you reminded me of something i've done in the past, i wasn't saying that's what you meant. i had good results running 20w-50 in some motors.

i wouldn't try any additives unless the trans was to the point where you wanted another transmission or another vehicle. when you have nothing to loose, then maybe, otherwise i've never used any. did the last owner tell you why they did a transmission fluid flush? if you can talk to them again find out why they did one. ask if it alleviated any symptoms it may have had before the flush. and ask if they did an actual flush or just a drain and refill. if they did the later than you may consider doing it again since that only removes some of the ATF (very different than an engine oil change). they may not answer the first two honestly or may not want to since they sold you the car, but they shouldn't mind letting you know if it was an actual flush or just a drain and refill. you may want to try unplugging the shift resistor on the front passengers side strut tower. i unplug them everytime i get a new Subaru. it causes the transmission to shift a firmer/quicker/with less delay. on the first generation of 4EAT's in the XT6, the 2nd-3rd shift is kind of long and delayed. i'm not that picky or anal about my vehicles but this delay is annoying. someone on xt6.net even had a valve body job done to their transmission to help and it still did it. so i unplug the shift resistor. (or you can buy a $50 kit that does basically the same thing). unplugging it firms up and quickens the shifts and lessens that delay between gears. it will cause your transmission light to blink though as it is a component that's unplugged. if you ever needed to see if your transmission is really throwing a code (instead of just blinking because that one resistor is unplugged), just plug it back in and start the car up. the light won't blink any more. this may mitigate the lag you're feeling.

fairly easy for these to strip even though the bung is iron. it is repairable though they won't repair it. they'll replace the $1,000 part and labor instead of welding on a new $5 bung for the O2 sensor. all exhaust shops carry these O2 sensor bungs, i've had them give me one for free before when i stopped in and asked. if the dealer won't fix it, drive it to an exhaust shop (call around first and try to find and honest guy) and they'll weld a new bung in place for pennies. if you can't find a nice guy to do this for you for the right price (under $100), then you can JB weld it in place yourself (i do NOT recommend this method but it would probably work...for a bit). or you can find a used converter off the internet or from someone on here and install it. i bought an exhaust header earlier this year for about $100 (shipped to my door) with an O2 sensor bung in it from someone on the boards here. $1,000 is rediculous

the power stroke diesels (or other motors) could vary from NA or Subaru stuff. maybe different vehicles have different tolerances? i don't know any subaru peeps with a blown motor due to after market filtration. everyone on this issue should avoid making a general statement based on very small samples...like if i said "K&N's are better because i've had them in a couple 200,000 plus mile subaru's". that doesn't mean anything to me. i know they let more stuff in, now does that matter or not, i'm not sure. the power in this group is that we can amass the many many samples and information that might show a trend. i'm an aerospace engineer, work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and have experience in a clean room working environment assembling vehicles that have to be launched and can never be touched again once in orbit....no maintenance, no air filters, no changes, no touchy touch for decades. i'm not ASE certified but i do have some background in things technical and have disassembled a few motors in my day. i'm curious, not trying to argue. that bobistheoilguy testing is nice. my interpretation is that it shows very little (sorry bob!). even the stock "golden child" air box filter let in a signficant amount of dirt based on the "color test". the significance in this testing to me was not the difference between them but that they all let in a fair amount of particulate matter. still can't see that small percentage difference doing anything. recall that this was only a 500 mile test.....over the course of 100's of thousands of miles i can't imagine that the K&N destroys a motor and the stock does'nt do anything...it still let in alot of stuff. much of it gets burnt, carbonized, and blown through the exhaust and never does anything anyway. that a tiny tiny percentage could be the sole cause of engine failure is hard for me to understand still.

wrong...the XT6 has 5 lug and XT has 4 lug. if you're asking about an XT, they are EA82 and an EA82 lift kit will work on them. the XT6 front suspension is completely different than the XT. it's not "hard" to lift an XT6, just very few people have ever done it on an XT6. all we are saying is the EA82 lift kit will not work on an XT6. we weren't saying it's impossible.

the front suspension of the XT6 is completely different than the XT. the struts and hub are completely different. so anything that modifies the strut or hub will not directly swap to the XT6.

i have air suspension with the height switch installed (not available in the US). haven't gotten it to work yet, but will.

i like to do something like this to a spare hub. i would pick up a used hub (or to be totally honest, have my own parts cars), swap hubs and be done with it. then you have your old hub to work on as you have time and there's no pressure to get it done. $35 front loyale hubs in Oregon: Mt.Hood 541-352-7118 Hermiston 1-800-854-1455 La-Grande 1-800-233-9640 Goshen 1-800-437-1708

how do you know it's due to K&N? i believe they let in more particles and and not trying to argue, just curious and skeptical that they make any difference in engine life or performance. skeptical in the curious sense, not argumentative! if 3% more particles (or whatever tiny amount it is) kills a motor.....isn't that odd? it seems the "stock" air filter would equally kill a motor....but would take a bit more miles to do it. all air filters let stuff in. that an engine runs forever with X amount of particles coming through (the stock ones) and fails immediately due to X+%3 more coming through seems odd. i'm an engineer so i'm real limited in my creative thinking skills....tolerate me a litlte bit! those who install K&N's are more likely to be concerned with performance and harsher driving habits (speed, harder shifting, performance, racing, towing, heavy duty) than those that don't. those cars with coffee can exhausts and kids constantly holding 4,000 rpm's likely have more engine issues than your average daily driver. but the exhaust doesn't cause the engine problems...it's sort of anecdotal but i'd be more inclined to blame the operator. again...just curious how you're diagnosing all these engines with massive failure related directly to a filter that only lets in a small percentage more stuff than a regular filter.

if i got this right, ideally i'd need trans mount and engine crossmember spacers to reduce the cv axle some. that's all the extra pieces i don't understand when i see pictures of lift kits. makes sense now.

oh right, this is not EA81 or EA82. it's an XT6 (ER27). i don't want tons of lift, probably just something you offroaders would laugh at. if i could easily get an inch or two without seriously straining the reliability of the vehicle i'd go for it. the picture shows strut extensions, that's it. the 3 cylinders are just spacers/extenders for the top three mounting studs on the front struts. they go between the strut and the body mounting points. the other two are the rear strut tops, those extended pieces of metal are just metal welded to the strut top as spacers between the strut and body.

http://usera.imagecave.com/benfroebel/lift.jpg what are the issues with doing it this way for a minor lift? is 1" or 2" fairly useable without much chance of cv failure? tires will wear unevenly?

bob-is-the-oil guy site has some great test results and information. anyone interested should check that stuff out and make their own decision. if you're cautious and anal, don't use K&N. if you don't really care, can swap motors or rebuild when you want, then use them if you'd like. in my experience, my subaru's handle them. it was mentioned some diesels blowing up. sounds like something is wrong with that engine/intake or the people using them. all air filters let in particulate matter, to say that the 1% more stuff let in by one complete destroys a motor says something isn't right, but i'm doubtful it's the filter. i don't know how one filter that lets in stuff destroys and another motor that also lets in stuff (though %1 less) does not. that's odd. there are plenty of high mileage engine stories with aftermarket (K&N) filters. i am one of them. i totally agree they're likely letting in more dirt. my oppinion is that the percentages are so small it doesn't matter. if my motor blows up, then so what. i'll install another one. any filter lets a certain amount of particulate matter in. if one lets in a tiny percent more...then in the same way that it's a very small performance increase it's probably a very small affect on the engine as well. with the combustion process and pushing stuff out the exhaust the tiny bit more let in really isn't going to matter. i've seen loose air housings, filters that don't seal well, and an idiot friend in highschool running his laser without an air filter 'cause it sounded cool...etc, letting in unfiltered air. not good, but haven't seen a blown motor because of it yet either. premium gas can give some of the largest performance gains possible on some non-turbo engines. kevin documented this on the DYNO with his XT6. see results on xt6.net. advance the ignition timing and run premium. +7hp i believe. that's dyno results, not bogus advertising math. and of course each vehicle/engine/computer is different. all fuels have a certain level of cleaners in them (regulated by law i believe). often the advertising trick is (or used to be) they say "our premium fuels have blah blah blah detergents". they don't tell you that all the grades have the same cleaners in them so you think only the premium does. they aren't lying, but they aren't telling the entire story either. welcome to marketing.

anyone notice this dude hasn't checked back in yet? did you check how much oil your owners manual says to add? compare that to what you did and take note next time to add the correct amount. the drain valves are super nice, great idea and i've seen them leak...just drip leaks but that's more than i care to have. take your pick and check your oil often. i'll stick with a drain plug, KISS. add the right amount and draining isn't necessary.

tell him to be careful and use good wire and connections. i did the same. then smoke started billowing inside while i was driving down the road....then really thick smoke...then red embers were seen. luckily no damage, no harm except breathing in bad bad carpet smoke for a few seconds.

i would have bought one earlier this year for $125. i paid around $100 shipped for mine, i can't remember. you'll get alot more "wants" and thumbs up before hand than paid for units afterwards. shipping will be annoying too, but hey you'd be helping the subaru community a ton! i know i had a hard time locating one when i was looking, i'm sure there's a handful here that may jump on it.

i looked in the salvage yards as well. they do have a decent interchange ability, but they certainly don't cover everything that's interchangeable. on some transmissions a few places list the final drive ratios (typically older subaru's), but i've never seen them list the final drives of newer EJ tranny's when i've looked. this leads me to believe they are as clueless as we are and therefore the absense of the interchange doesn't necessarily tell us that they don't. i still don't think the impreza/legacy will interchange just based on the little that i do know..impreza and legacy usually have differeing final drives if everything else is equal (or not). another test.....i'd count the revolutions myself and be done with it. but if the RPM's and speed don't match that would be a hard clue that they are different. in other words if one is turning a different RPM at 70mph, that would indicate the final drive or interal gearing is different.

someone used urethane...like the kind used for windshield installation i think...to repair motor mounts. says it works great. have no idea how to do it, but i just read it today or yesterday on here or xt6.net.