idosubaru

no puffs of smoke on shifting/accelerating/start up out the tail pipe? check the owners manual but might want to bump up to 10w30 oil. probably won't make a difference, but may slow the oil loss depending where/how you're loosing it. check your intake hose, it could be filled with oil. replace the PCV valve (use Subaru only on this part). a tune up may help it. new plugs, wires, and air filter. otherwise i wouldn't bothering with the performance route, you'll keep getting the same results as you mentioned "alot of work for little return". that's how it goes with small non-turbo engines without lots of money and serious engine work. depending where your oil is going, there could be some power losses associated with that as well.

i thought you meant it was a used vehicle. let Subaru deal with it, that is not normal at all nor have i seen/heard anyone else having an issue like that. make sure they document exactly what it is for future reference.

these guys in Rancho-Cordova 1-916-638-5773, have a few of them for $65 as new as 1999 (that will fit your vehicle). they have a bunch, might come down on price?

i've messed with racks, hubs, control arms and such before. like they said, mark and count well and you won't need an alignment. i've done 100's of thousands of miles and never get alignments. i'm waiting for uneven wear to prompt me to do it, but it hasn't happened yet??? i'd consider getting a used rack myself. i'd see how new i could get from the yard for under $100 to save myself some time. failure is so rare i'd imagine these are easily available cheap. someone on here probably has one they'll sell you cheap. if i didn't just send my two EJ parts cars to the yard i'd have one for you.

is this EA81 or EA82? i think EA82 but i'm not sure. any check engine light? start there if you have it. ignition comes to mind - plugs, wires, cap and rotor (if it has them, not sure what motor you have). did you gap the spark plugs? are they fouled? check the rotor, i've seen new ones come unscrewed and also blow to pieces the first time they were cranked (bad parts??). water temp sensors are frequent problem children. look for corrosion of the harness that plugs into it, the sensor won't be the problem. green, nasty corrosion is what you're looking for. did it set for awhile? you could add some of that water absorbent stuff to your gas, maybe there's gas getting in there? if i started replacing sensors i'd start with the MAF.

i think i'm seeing the throttle body. i'd clean that out and clean the throttle plate off really well. replace your PCV valve with a Subaru OEM valve. see if that helps, it will if this is PCV valve related. people actually install oil catchers in line with the valve cover vent hoses to prevent oil from getting into the intake like this. this could also be due to excessive crankcase pressure caused by blowby past the rings. thicker oil is about the only thing that will alleviate that besides major engine issues. i wouldn't try this until you replace your PCV valve though and make sure your hoses are all cleaned out. knocking the crud out of your filter as best as you can shouldn't hurt anything.

check out your owners manual. it'll show the ranges of oil to be used for your temperatures. stick with your 10w30 regular synth. that mileage on your block is nothing and "high mileage" stuff is highly unnecessary. +1 for marketing.

check continuity to Duty solenoid C. being disconnected will cause the transfer clutches to be fully engaged and hence binding on hard surfaces.

automatic transmission i guess? AWD or FWD? seems it has to be auto AWD but best to give us more information. if all the dash lights came on, that sounds electrical - battery, alternator, or belt (that drives the alternator). alternator and battery are a nice place to start since the local auto parts stores all check them for free now anyway. i'd have a look at the belt right away, see if it's broken/working properly. did the check engine light come on? if so...your friendly local auto parts store (advanced auto parts, autozone...etc) will also read the codes for free as well. if the CE light is on then there's no point in guessing what it is, the codes it spits out will tell you the problem.

i'd guess ignition related. how old are the wires? best if they are Subaru OEM wires or Magnecor on any EJ series engine. any others are questionable. might want to consider replacing if they are old or this returns. if it returns check the previously loose wire for damage.

i have an impreza cup holder like the last poster linked to a picture of. i'm going to install it in my XT6 like he did in his.

connie, a year ago i'd say fix it. now i'd say no way unless you really want this car. i witnessed first hand what can happen to a car with this kind of rust. myxyphlyx from this board came to my house so i could help him install his intercooler. when he left my place his rear wheels collapsed into the car due to rust. i posted a picture..okay it wouldn't let me attach the picture since i've posted it before. check out the pic i posted in this thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55764&page=4 it's hard to see from this pic, but the top of the rear wheels collapsed "inward" and rested against the inner wheel well. you can see the tilt of the wheel. both sides were like this. very scarry stuff to be driving a car like this. what metal is left it weakened and not safe. it could fail like his did or it could prove costly to yourself in an accident. if you were going to fix this...i'd get a donor car without all that rust and completely swap the entire rear subframe. with your old subframe out, the undercarriage, gas tank and such should be accessible enough to fix easily (relative term as far as rust/body work is concerned). basically swap everything underneath for non rusted parts and reinforce any rusted attachment points or sheetmetal. junked subaru's with bad engines/trans aren't that hard to come by very cheap. you'll also run into all sorts of problems with rusted bolts and removing parts to fix this. that's one of the most annoying issues. most bolts will shear off and won't want to come out.

sounds like you have a complete non-turbo motor that you want to put in a turbo vehicle? yes it can be done by removing the turbo bits. you'll also need a non-turbo header and intake parts and the vacuum lines will be different. year may matter as well...what year is the car, what year is the motor and are you swapping intake manifolds or not? basically....need more information on what exactly you're doing. there are issues, but nothing that can't be overcome. the non-turbo intake parts are particularly tricky to find. i posted and posted and called and searched and still don't know if i have everything for it. but certainly you can make something up as you go along if you don't mind it being non-stock. automatic, manual...trans details? i know the flywheels are different either between the turbo's and non-turbo's or AWD and FWD so that could be an issues depending what you have. i did it but haven't gotten the car running yet due to other issues. i'm fairly certainly it had ECU issues, but some may be conversion related as well...haven't looked into it recently.

here are some pictures of some work i did on the heads, gaskets and intake. http://www.xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4169&highlight=intake+runner never noticed those fins on the XT6 - but they have dedicated ports for each intake, so that explains that.

yes i've done this to XT6 heads. XT6 heads are exactly like EA82 heads except with one extra cylinder slapped on the end. same mold basically, same valves, vavle seats, springs, etc. anyway, yes they are rather imperfect but i did not have that lump that you see in yours, nor do i recall any lumps like that in the EA82 heads that i've pulled. i'd grind them away myself. remove all the casting flash, there should be a nice line of it running down into the runners. also set the intake manifold gasket on the head without the intake. you'll also notice the gaskets protrude quite far (at least the Subaru and Fel-Pro gaskets i tried both did) into the intake stream. i'd cut those down to match. and the intake linkely won't match perfect either. cut the gasket to match the head then grind the intake to match the gasket so they all line up. bolt the gasket to the head so you know exactly how it will set. get a good grinder to save yourself some time. cheap grinders will take you forever. the goal is to smooth it out and take off as little material as possible. you're not aiming for a complete redesign and bench flow test of the head, but just smoothing them out as much as possible.

i don't know anything about the 3sp transmissions but i'd bet they easily swap. i don't even think the 3speeds have a TCU do they? even if it did have a TCU i would first guess they are identical anyway and second the plugs would likely be the same and you could just plug in the 2WD TCU if it mattered (doubtful).

first - i would make sure that no coolant is getting in the oil. if the previous owner added alot of water instead of coolant (which is often done since antifreeze can be quite expensive if you have to keep adding it at $5-$7 a bottle). water won't show up nearly as well in the oil as the antifreeze will. i have seen headgaskets leak only oil and no antifreeze, but that has been external leakage at the rear of the head gasket. if not coolant is getting in the oil it should be head gasket and not a cracked block or something bad like that.

might want to do a hydrocarbon test to verify exhaust in the coolant. if you fix it quickly it'll be fine. if it were bought this way and had possible previous overheating issues or has extensive water in the oil i wouldn't trust the motor. should be able to score a good condition 2.2 for not much money. swap motors and be done with it if the hydrocarbon test gives bad results.

you'll loose reliability if that matters at all. slap a turbo and intercooler on the car you have rather than trying to retrofit everything. keep the temps down and run low boost (due to the high compression non-turbo block). if you really want the turbo block, i'm not sure on models. All XT Turbo's, RX (only available with turbo) are EA82T engines. The GL-10 Turbo's are EA82T as well. loyale's...if they ever had turbo's would be an EA82T. justy won't work, that's a freak of an engine in the subaru world. 3 cylinder as well, completely incompatible with the EA series.

as the owner of over 15 of these things, i highly recommend converting to coil over suspension. as reliable as these cars can be, it's silly to keep the air suspension unless you really like it. i choose to keep it but i'm fairly proficient with it and have extra parts everywhere. otherwise i'd convert immediately. the car drives horrendous and is very unsafe when they don't air up, not worth it if you have to wait around for parts and can't trouble shoot it easily. let's assume you convert (best choice for most people). the rear is done. for the fronts you don't need to do any drilling unless you want to use the impreza bolts, they are larger and you can even use the adjustable camber bolts if you'd like to adjust camber. probably not necessary unless you want to race. so...instead just reuse your existing XT6 bottom strut bolts and you don't need to do anything. you'll only have to pry the bottom strut flange out enough to fit on the XT6 hub, it's very straight forward and only requires a long tool...pry bar, crow bar, digging bar, even a long wrench will do. any large item will be enough to spread them out until they fit. two struts and you're done, that's the best option. now if you want to keep the air suspension....... you can leave the rear coil overs and get the front to air up via the system. if you just disconnected the rears and the air lines and wires are hanging there, that's probably why the system isn't working correctly. you can not remove the rear air struts and expect the system to work properly without a little trickery. depending how you disconnected the rears, the fronts may not be airing up because the rears are disconnected. you have to "trick" the computer into thinking the rear is okay before proceeding. yo'ud have to make sure the air lines aren't open...otherwise all your pressure just vents to atmosphere. and there are two wires you'll need to cross i believe to make the computer think those air struts are in place and at the correct height. these systems can be very troublesome to work on...air bags, height sensors, solenoids, o-rings galore, broken connectors, electronics, computer, air tank, drier, compressor, pressure sensor...lots of stuff to go wrong. first - are you sure the front struts are bad? a bad compressor can feel like it's moving air but isn't really putting out nearly enough pressure to air the car up. there's a big difference between just moving air (feeling it) and actually raising something that weighs a couple thousand pounds. so i wouldn't rule the air compressor good just yet..until i saw it airing up a strut. also - if the car sets for awhile, even if the system is good sometimes the front struts just don't want to air up. they get "stuck". jacking the car up while letting it try to air up and prying them down manually to get them going can alleviate this problem. there are many possible causes to why your fronts aren't airing up...i would not bother replacing them or thinking they are the problem until you rule out some things or give us some more details (like how the rears were installed and how you left the air lines/solenoids?). the struts are not rebuildable. either recondition yours, or a used set. unless you want to buy new for $250 - $400 each which i don't recommend. good luck and have fun! sitting for awhile in general is bad for the air suspension. corrossion and time generally don't do good things to the compressor and air tank pressure sensor, or the struts. i have a thread over at http://www.xt6.net on how to recondition a set of non-failed struts. i have never had to replace any of mine yet.

he needs to check the fluid level and condition first. check to make sure the transmission pan isn't dented. a dent in the pan from underneath is a hard problem to diagnose if you don't look for it and restricts fluid flow since the sump is so close to the bottom of the pan. a dent will restrict that already tight clearance. these are simple checks that require no skill at all. you didn't mention if the AT light is blinking at all. that tells you the TCU knows there's a specific problem with the system. the code can be pulled and help narrow it down. aside from that....i'm betting it was sold because of this problem since you say he recently got it and it started doing this...and that would explain why he got it cheap. if he's interested in dumping it on someone else, tell him to email me. depending where it is in ohio i may buy it from him.

there's no leakage anywhere? no oil/coolant mixing? no bubbles in the overflow tank when it starts to get hot and is turned off? the problem is likely age related if it ends up being a head gasket. the radiator, hoses, clamps, overflow hose, radiator cap, thermostat, water pump and others may have never been replaced. likely something failed and caused the head gaskets to blow rather than the head gaskets blowing for no reason. if you fixed the gaskets or replaced the motor i'd be on the lookout for a bad radiator, water pump or something else cooling system related to make sure the new motor doesn't get hosed as well. 16 years is plenty of time for a part of the cooling system to fail. i picked up a new to me XT6 this summer with 100,000 miles. when i get a new one (even if i'm going to sell it) i install new hoses, water pump, radiator, thermostat, radiator caps..etc. better to know it's all good then hope and have one cheap part ruin a perfectly good motor.

FWD XT6 struts are a direct bolt on. they are the only option up front that doesn't require some modification. the front of the car will sit lower than the rear due to the weight difference between AWD and FWD. trim a coil and a half off the rears to equal it out and it'll ride level and lower than stock. on the front, impreza/legacy struts can work but require the flange to be spread out or the hub of the XT6 to be ground down to fit. the impreza front struts have larger holes that accept the adjustable camber bolts. you'll either have to use the smaller XT6 bolts and torque them down snug in the larger impreza strut holes, or drill out the holes in the XT6 hub to accept the larger impreza bolts. in which case you'd have adjustable camber if you did it that way. for the rears you can use any EA series rear struts...that's the late model subaru's. no newer EJ stuff even comes close to fitting...completely different set up. i hear 4WD rear struts are better as they mount lower and therefore help the car set lower in the back (which helps alleviate the slanting affect of converting). huck has an excellent write up on constructing your own set of new coil over struts for the XT6 on http://www.xt6.net, you'd be well served to check that write-up out. remember - EJ struts (impreza/legacy) ONLY FOR THE FRONT. EJ stuff in the rear is completely different and won't even come close to fitting.

i haven't found any parts place that carries a direct fit stud. but...all good autoparts stores have one that will work. it's not exact, but works great. i've bought them many times. best bet is to go match them up and get the closest one. the auto parts stores will have ones that have a small un-threaded middle portion maybe a 1/4" wide. put the short threaded end in the engine side hole so the nut doesn't run into the unthreaded portion of the stud. (if that sounds confusing, it's really simple). almost all decent stores that have parts bins have these studs. but they won't be able to match them up by part number or computer, just look. i think they're 10x1.25 pitch threads. the harder thing to find is the thin walled nuts they use on those exhaust studs. they are nice for ease of use, but don't think they can be bought except used.

replace the radiator cap(s). make sure the hose from the radiator to the overflow tank is in good working order. no leaky and no cloggy. install a subaru thermostat. someone just posted a side by side picture of subaru thermostat and an aftermarket....amazing difference. i'm a believer as of last week when i saw that. and be very careful....overheating 17 year old gaskets and seals is not a good thing. while this is a great motor, bad things happen very quickly on seals and gaskets of this age. you don't want to blow a headgasket on such a good motor.