idosubaru

the SVX H6 and the new one are not even close to the same motor. completely different animals, they are worlds apart. the 2.5 is a nice solid motor, in terms of reliability if i were buying or recommending a new Subaru i would definitely get a 2.5 over the H6. the new H6 hasn't been around long enough to see potential issues and such. the 2.5's routinely get to 200,000 miles without issue. it's based off the rock solid 2.2, which is an awesome motor. 2.5 failure is a rare thing with proper maintenance. i'd go with years and many miles of solid reliability over a brand new motor any day. if he's like most americans and isn't going to have the car long...say 5 years and 100,000+ miles then it probably doesn't really matter anyway.

do not plan on the insurance company being "honest" or helping you. you will have to be persistent and on them all the time. what they say is not necessarily the truth. anything they say or promise, get it in writing. they will tell you one thing, but do something else. they will ask you to provide or do things but when you do they still don't do anything. they will string you along at first and act like there's nothing they can do without "proof". after a while if you're persistent they'll change tactics and act like they're doing something but really they're just dragging you along hoping you'll drop it and figuring that without an attorney you don't really mean business. remember, they don't make money but handing out all the claims they can. without an attorney it is a long task but it is possible. stay on them, call them all the time and don't back off. have fun and good luck, gary

yes, i have pictures of an 89 RX in the "Parts for sale" forum of this site. the rear wheels both finally collapsed such that the tops of the rear wheels were leaning against the inner fender wall. not a pretty site. it was rusted very bad underneath and finally gave way. i agree with the previous poster about getting another hatch. i'd look into it a little bit and make sure it's nothing simple, but if it is rusted that bad it is not safe to drive. believe me, i saw the one i posted pictures of (it was a board members vehicle) and it was scarry thinking he had been driving it like that.

if it's about being stranded then replacement isn't necessarily the way to go. the way to go is to decide which items you can store easily that are likely to strand you. fusible links, the ignitor, ignition coil, timing belts, crank pulley and timing pulleys and alternator are nice extras to keep in the lower trunk trays (if you have them). water pumps and thermostats are cheap and absolutely necessary so i replace them with every timing belt. i'd add radiator caps to one of the shorter lists for the same reason. timing belt pulleys should be regreased or replaced at 150,000 - 200,000 (for reliability of course). or carry extras in the trunk if you don't mind doing them on the side of the road. wheel bearings are nice to replace at 150,000 if you travel long distances.....200,000 if not. but again...this is all dependant on how reliable you want the thing to be. i've found that a good charging system with new batter, good alternator, new battery cables/connectors and possibly even a heavy gauge charging wire if you like will keep the alternators running for quite some time...i've had very little alternator troubles even at 200,000 miles.

yes you can do it yourself. the non turbo motors are actually very easy to do as far as head gaskets go. but headgaskets aren't simple. it is a rather large job. it is much much easier with air tools. there are a ton of head bolts and they and the head bolt holes in the block need to be cleaned to be done correctly. this happens much quicker with air sockets. cleaning the bolts and holes by hand takes forever. i personally like to have a set of heads ready to go that way i don't have to take my heads to the shop and have them cleaned, milled and a valve job done. i can pull my heads and install the other set right away, no waiting on anyone or anything. the annoying part is often rust - exhaust manifold bolts, timing cover bolts...if they're rusty they can be annoying. down south you may have less issues than us northerners with rust? lots of info on the board here about head gaskets, should be able to find everything you need. if it's your first time your best bet is to spend an hour reading this forum about head gasket replacement. having a manual (FSM is best, haynes/chiltons may help more than they confuse) will help very much. you'll read in other threads people say to pull the engine, that is by no means necessary or even beneficial for doing the head gaskets only. i'm still not sure why someone would want to waste the hours of time pulling and installing an engine (particularly for a first timer) for a job that doesn't take that long anyway. that's a ton of effort for a straight forward job. on an EA82 (not sure what yours is, EA81 or EA82, i know GL hatches were EA81, but don't know about wagons) the only "special" tool you'll need to do them with the motor in the car is a wratcheting 10 mm wrench for the one or two bolts on the drivers side valve cover. you can use a regular wrench, but that's annoying. other than that, no special tools required. EA motors aren't that expensive, another option would be to buy a used one to swap out with yours. then sell yours to recoupe some loot. good luck and have fun

try disconnecting the shift resistor and see what happens? i leave mine disconnected anyway, shifts are firmer and the POWER light blinks but i like the way it shifts much better that way.

replace with a non rusty used one.

SEARCH BUTTON. i've looked this topic up before and there's tons of awesome information on how to do this yourself and why not to do it as well. use the search button or look right now at the bottom left hand corner of this page..it'll show threads with similar topics.

the hoses are typically hard as crap to remove, just stuck to the fuel filter. i usually slice them with a knife just enough so they come off easily. there's usually plenty of slack in the hose to loose an inch on a fuel filter change. i just pull the old one and install the new one. i've never done anything with the fuel pressure. a little will spray out as the pressure is relieved when you pull the old one, but tha'ts not big deal. when you turn the car on, it should prime itself just fine. if yours is carbbed maybe it's different.

nice hit hotdog, good luck fitting it. that's awesome work!

is there any rust underneath the vehicle...around the attachment points of the struts, diff hanger, control arms? rust causes weak metal which can cause geometry to change as well. i hope your answer is "no".

i've seen some front diff dipsticks that are actually threaded, they need to be turned counter clockwise to remove. but i've seen both styles on the exact same style vehicle...some threaded, some not. haven't figured out that variation, but i'd assume it's threaded and see if it comes out. the threaded ones are annoying to check the oil with as you have to remove, clean and thread it back down so it's fully seated for a good oil level reading.

depends which seals and what else you're going to have done while it's apart seals only cost a few dollars and you could probably find a place to replace the crank seal, reseal the oil pump, cam seals and o-rings for $300-$500. start adding in new timing belts, new water pump and the price goes up depending what they want to charge you for those items and additional installation costs (water pump).

and welcome from another maryland board member!

i'd do one more compression test just to be sure you get the same numbers. you probably will but for a headgasket diagnosis it's nice to be sure. they should be fine. if a machine shop is doing a valve job and milling them they will test them and see how far out they are first. yes i've got a write up here and at http://www.xt6.net on how to repack timing pulley bearings. it involves a grease gun and a 3 dollar needle type fitting for the grease gun. you can also buy new or source bearings and have new ones pressed in (but this is really annoying finding the bearings and pressing them in and ends up being expensive anyway). exhaust - i'd look for a used exhaust myself. depending how bad it is an honest exhaust shop will typically weld in some new pipe or flanges for not much $. problem is finding a shop that doesn't want to try to get you for a couple hundred bucks. pipe, flanges and gaskets are super cheap, so exhaust work doeesn't have to cost much.

save yourself some grief and install Subaru OEM wires only. any other off the shelf wires from the parts store are likely to cause issue sometime down the road, i've even seen brand new ones cause problems. the design of the EJ motors is not very forgiving.

subaru manual trans have low failure rates, so i'd guess it's something clutch related as well. doubtful you need a trans. i'd change the trans fluid for giggles. then i'd look at the clutch cable. after that you probably need a clutch change, new pilot bearing, throw out bearing and retaining clips and grease the necessary areas.

i've seen this happen if tires aren't the same tread depth. the TCU will act really weird...like it's confused, usually at low speeds...think parking lots or turns. it's been a while but the ones i've seen would even act strange driving straight, not just while turning. if it acts funny at all while driving straight i'd look into the tread depth, tire pressure and make sure all the tires are warn evenly. after that maybe check into the speed sensors? (the speed sensos suggestion is a shot in the dark though). if it never does it while going straight, only while turning i'd be changing the ATF right away. i'd check ATF, front diff and rear diff oils.

that binding and all is killing the transmission or at least the rear transfer clutches. if it is shifting okay, then the TCU is excepting hte transmission and this entire deal might be much eaiser than swapping transmissions yet again. if hte trans seems to be shifting okay (you didn't say it wasn't), then the torque bind issues is due to the rear diff ratio being different than the front diff (which is essentially part of the transmission assembly). the rear diff is waaaaay easier to swap out than the transmission. i'd find out what the final drive ratio is of the year vehicle the transmission came out of and get an idential rear differential to match. rear diffs are cheap (i've seen them for well under $50), easy to ship and super duper easy to swap. that's the easiest way to get back on the road. temporarily you could install a switch to inhibit and activate Duty solenoid C (or install a fuse in the FWD switch) to keep the thing from binding up so bad.

in 1993 i owned an XT that was only a few years old. 4 cylinder EA82, same engine as the loyale but with MPFI and better aerodynamics. FWD manual. on all highway trips i'd get 40-42 mpg at 70-75 mph the entire way. did it more times than i can count. driving around the 55-60 mark should improve that. but there are some contingencies here....this is over 10 years ago, maybe the gas was a little different back then, i don't know? the motor must be running in excellent condition. how is the alignment, bearings, drivetrain doing? also, this was all highway mileage, no city driving at all. i think i'd question the calculations of anyone saying they're getting over 40 mpg with stop and go driving. first you need to consider your driving habits. are you light on the pedal and what kind of driving are you doing. if you think you're still far off i'd look at the condition of the engine, realizing it is very old and may need a serious tune up or have issues that don't allow for highest possible mpg. 40 is attainable but i would'nt consider it a given for all EA82's in all driving conditions, it is more than likely the exception and not the rule. the motors are old and few people drive in a way that allows little stop and go driving. a 4mpg difference at this mileage is only %10, not a huge percentage change. at 20 mpg....you'd hardly notice a %10 difference as it's only 2mpg. the 150,000 mile injectors i've sent off and had professionally rebuilt and cleaned worked fine but they also tested as "dripping" or "leaking", so they're using and loosing fuel all the time, not just during the short duty cycle when the injector is opened. that's wasted fuel and not surprising on a 15 year old injector with that many miles. if the vehicle is loosing fuel, there's no way to remedy that without removing them and having them tested and rebuilt. service runs $50 - $100 depending where you send them.

i don't know jack. but the roughness of the intake and the tight turns it takes to get from throttle body to combustion chamber cause turbulance that aids in this. whether that can be improved upon i have no idea. that's why you don't polish the intake ports like you would the exhaust ports when you "port and polish" the heads. experiment away.

pool stick may also be a viable candidate, i've used one of those before, but not on an EA81.

i like bills idea of seafoam if you're not going to change the oil for awhile. i would leave running with ATF in the engine as an intermediate step, not a first step. i've done it plenty of times with no problem and others have as well (like GD mentioned), but i like to keep as much oil in there as possible unless it doesn't work.

sounds like a bad job by the previous mechanic. the wheel bearings may not be ruined, i would not replace them unless there's sure signs of damage/issues. how long did you drive the vehicle like this? an entire used hub can be purchased for $35 - $75. i'd buy a used hub and have it installed before paying for new bearings and all that labor on a hub that could have issues anyway. they are easy to swap and these front bearings don't fail enough to cause alarm in installing a used one.

he probably could have defined the term "hand tightened" a little better. he didn't mean loose. more like - not seized/rusted/impacted on to the point where he can't get it off with standard home procedures involving hammers, pipes and the like.