idosubaru

that's not necessarily true. maybe if it's sustained low pressure, but i don't think the HLA's loose pressure very quickly. i lost all of my oil and the engine seized, the valve train never made a peep. i violently ran over some firewood on the road previously and suspect the pan or oil filter were punctured causing a leak. i never verified this before having the motor scrapped though, just speculation since it was only a day or a few before the seizure occured. but i was totally surprised the HLA's never gave warning when the oil pan went bone dry. but i'm not surprised after the fact because i've disassembled HLA's before and they are difficult to compress and bleed down once out of the car. they take quite a working over to get all the oil out.

here's a loyale with 120,000 miles. doesn't say if it's an auto or manual though. might be worth a try, they may come down considerably in price if it hasn't sold yet: http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/car/206930877.\ keep your eye out, something will come up that fits your bill.

my best friend just left your area a couple months ago. i visited all the time. i would not have been opposed to driving down some cheap FWD soob from up here if he were still there. last year i drove down and flew home and left my car at his place so i had it there to drive when i'd visit. i finally flew down and drove back to MD. anyway....keep those eyes peeled, might be able to find something. up here the FWD are in less demand so maybe that will help you if you can find one.

i don't know EA81's at all, but if they don't leak oil all that much then they certainly aren't anything like the EA82 platform. EA82's and ER27's don't hold back on the oil leaks. you would at least want to have the seals ready and if they look wet or leaky at all, then replace them. if they look fine, dry and no oil then sure thing, leave them (and don't forget to tell us how lucky you were to find them clean and dry). the crank seal can be a pain to get out and replace, particularly your first time. but the cam and oil pump only take a few minutes so it's a no brainer in the time and expense department for me.

the PT4WD and FTWD both use vaccuum lines to control the locking of the center diff so that really doesn't help you much. but if you're creative at all you could fabricate a handle/lever of some sort to manually shift the diff lock as needed rather than rely on the vacuum lines, solenoids and the mechanism that moves the lock (forget what it's called). i've crawled under and switched them before manually by pushing the lever by hand. might be worth thinking about considering the solenoids and actuators are now pushing 20 years old anyway. swap costs vary wildly. easiest and cheapest way to do a swap is to get an entire donor vehicle. getting it piece by piece can be a nightmare on a trans swap. driveshaft, pedal assembly, interior bits, vacuum lines, solenoids, shift linkages, crossmember, starter, clutch cable, flywheel, instrument cluster...lots of things can pose issues. if you have the complete car, you have everything. subaru's are a dime a dozen around here, florida is much worse i believe. but a donor car is the way to go. installation will vary so much that you won't be able to nail down an accurate price by posting here. it's a job that few mechanics ever do and many probably wouldn't attempt it. but that's where most of hte cost would be.

i'd look into that EG33 swap, excellent point. if that was a plug and play swap that would be awesome. 3.3 liters and non interference (technically it's interference but because of the design they won't actually "interfere). and there are turbo and other add on kits....sorry tangent, i know you want the H6. having the entire car is certainly helpful, but much more so with a transmission swap due to pedal assemblies, linkages, console trim, driveshafts...etc. if the wiring harness is the same, then this will be a fairly simple swap. possible issues: power steering, a/c compressor, intake, exhaust manifold and cross member. i'd guess those will cause minimal issues though. good luck and let us know how it's going. i'm in morgantown much of the week...you close to there?

i have a 1997 Impreza Outback Sport. will a bolt on hitch from a 99 Outback Wagon fit? it does not fit a 99 Legacy Sedan or an 03 Legacy Wagon if that helps at all.

good points. i'd bet money you can swap with no TCU issues. but you could swap TCU's as well.

all your tires are matching?

i've wondered the same but never asked specificall, good question. i bet the transmission is plug and play. you could swap the rear diff to match as well if they are different.

for the 2.2 question mentioned earlier, all 1997 and up 2.2's are interference engines. yours being the last year might be wise to double check for future reference. i don't know how to verify the new engine though.

Timing belt, crank seal, 2 cam seals (buy the cam seal kit from thepartsbin.com as it has the o-ring that goes behind each cam seal as well), and reseal your oil pump. the oil pump has an o-ring, a gasket and a seal. replace all three. thepartsbin has all three of those items as well.

this has been asked often recently with little to no feedback. there will be a very small contingent of H6 owners that pop up on here, they all dig the motor and haven't had any problems. not a very large sampling on this forum of the H6 motor though. not enough to consider a *trend*. so far so good. try a search and you'll see some other posts, i think nipper mentioned one glitch with it in a thread not too long ago.

standard blue 15 amp fuses are fine. a 10 or 20 or 25 would work fine too for testing purposes.

not a subaru but my best friend has a toyota 4-runner. it's over 200,000 miles and the only thing that's every failed was the power steering pump. sick, absolutely sick how little he does to it. his engine has a timing belt, he bought the vehicle at 60,000 miles many moons ago and the belt has never been changed since. if the belt was never replaced then it has 200,000 miles on it. if it was replaced just prior to him getting it then it has 140,000. (recommended interval on his is 60,000) i think that's because in maine cars usually rust to death before they hit 50,000?? something doesn't sound right there, you wouldn't get that response from thousands of mechanics across the world on a 120,000 mile timing belt. i've seen lots of belts go and i'm not even a mechanic. saw one about 3 weeks ago, a friend of mines honda.

flush the fluid first. make sure all your tires match in brand, size, tread and tire pressure. if none of that helps, then you'll start looking into replacing the trans or the rear extension housing assembly options.

if you pull the covers off you can verify the timing belt alignment without actually reinstalling it. just verify all your marks are dead on. there's no chance of the wrong pulley, sprocket or tensioner being on this engine is it...thereby artificially throwing the timing off?

if it's one owner and all shop work done there, they should know why it's in the junk yard. i'd wonder why all that work was done and there it sets? but even if you had to put an engine in it, that's not a terrible deal. ask for a good deal on a 2.2 or 2.5 he may have in the yard to go with the car...use that as leverage.

for the timing belt related reseal: Crank seal, cam seal (get the cam seal KITS, not the cam seals. they come with the o-ring that's behind the cam cap), oil pump seals and gaskets (there are 3 in total, all available through the parts bin). replace the PCV valve as well to make sure you're oil isn't blowing everyone internally. if you're going further than the timing belts...in other words, cam and heads then you'll need the $2.13 (used to be) cam carrier o-ring that thepartsbin also sells. you'll need two of those, one for each side. i'd also recommend doing the valve covers as they are typical leakage points as well. your best bet would be to narrow down where the leak is coming from before digging into this. it would be a waste to spend 3 hours (or more) doing your first timing belt only to see it still leaks like a seive and needs the cam carrier resealed...which would require removing the timing belts all over again. narrow down the leak first..... these motors are really easy to work on. to make it easier leave the timing belt covers off (not trying to start this debate again and again and again, some like it and some hate it but just a suggestion. search if you want more info)

i'm not well versed in clutch components so thanks for the input. i'm trying to decide whether we need an extra transmission ready just in case. he said we can take our time so maybe i'll yank the motor and do the clutch and if the clutch looks fine i'll start looking at the trans. will it be obvious that the clutch components (TO bearing) were bad when i pull the motor?

depends what you're looking for, what kind of time you have, what kind of time and money you want to put into it. i wouldn't plan on the motor being good. that's alot of miles and time sitting for those 2.5 liter headgaskets and the engine is an interference engine so if the timing belt had issues that could be problematic as well. price is up to you and what you want out of it. i wouldn't get it because i don't like all the unknowns and putting tons of work into a car. i wouldn't pay it, but even at $500 it's a good deal if you have the time. you could easily end up with a fine driving vehicle for not much money.

this is confusing me and probably others saying "in" with the clutch.... when i have the pedal pressed all the way to the floor there is no noise at all. when i let the pedal out...the noise begins to happen and the clutch catches very high in the pedal stroke, near the top. when i completely let my foot off the pedal, then it's really loud when in neutral. not quiet as loud if it's in gear and driving. another indicator - sometimes if you press the clutch pedal to the floor, you can't get the shifter out of first (probably other gears too, i ddin't try them all). i can yank as hard as i want but it won't come out of gear without moving the car a little first. you said "the engine isn't connected to the trans at that point and it could be making the noise".....but this one doesn't make any noise at all if i have the clutch pedal pushed all the way to the floor. if i let the clutch pedal out, take my foot off the pedal is when the noise happens.

huck is saying it could be the throw out bearing going to $#$!. he says they can be really loud. any signs to look for either way? i'm going to fix it for him, so i want to know whether i need to find a trans or not.

i went for a drive in a friends manual transmission XT6. makes a loud screech when you start it (pilot bearing?). otherwise starts fine and noise goes away nearly immediately. car will drive fine when you put it in gear. DIFF lock works fine. here's the kicker.. if you let the clutch out in neutral it makes VERY loud noises. sounds terrible. really bad, it makes a racket. can a clutch make that much loud noise in neutral? i told him to drain the trans oil and let me know if or how many pieces come out with the oil.

there's a really good thread or webpage i've found searching through the forum on replacing the rear transfer clutches and Duty Solenoid C. it can be done without removing the transmission. unfortunately i don't have that thread saved anywhere and don't recall exactly how to find it. but if you drop the rear of the trans and remove the rear extension housing, that will give you access to Duty Solenoid C.