idosubaru

that link doesn't work...my machine or bad link?

oil pressure gauges may not be accurate. verify the sending unit, wiring, etc. you put oil in it right? did an oil change?

bad alternator, bad bad alternator. the battery could fail in short order too. i don't know exact statistics but lots of cars i install a new alternator in loose the battery within a year as well (usually much sooner). a failing alternator does bad things to batteries. i'd at least have the battery tested.

the bellows is just a dust shield i think, if fluid is coming out of it then there's likely a seal that's leaking somewhere inside of it. you said it needs sealed up, so it's leaking fluid? probably best to find a used rack or scavenge some used but good boots for it.

you are tough. what a piece.

for the suspension i'd look at the ball joint and tie rods. steering rack boots can cause quite a bit of drift while driving and also need more response than normal to get it to turn. very easy to repalce as well.

find out if any fluid is moving, pull the fluid lines and see if any fluid is moving like 4x4 said. after this i'd drain the fluid and see if there are any chunks or pieces in the fluid/pan. a dented pan will restrict ATF flow. i'd start sourcing another transmission while you diagnose. there were no problems or work done to this transmission recently?

good points...verify that leak! i've yet to pull a subaru motor with any rear main seal issues...even 200,000 miles. crank, cam, oil pump, valve covers...everything else goes like crazy but i never see leaky rear mains.

you're talking about the newer generation subaru's when you say "98". that's a completely different animal than the older generation motors. the 2.5 in that Legacy GT can and does pass the HC test and nearly every other headgasket test even with a bad headgasket when they first start to go. very common to go misdiagnosed due to this. it's happened multiple times on the board and i've seen a mechanic do the HC test on a bad headgasket 2.5, but it still passes. he knew nothing about Subaru and just couldn't believe it...he did the test about 10 times. then he saw the light and ended up installing another motor with some advice from myself. for your problems....more details will help diagnose. where is it puking coolant from? hoses, radiator caps, gaskets, water pump...lots of things can cause puking, we need to know where it's coming from. headgasket issues will cause bubbling into the overflow tank when the car is overheating or shut off. bubbles are bad here. if you're looking for a cheap and easy fix, retorquing the headbolts is not the way to go. like you said, best just to replace the gasket if you're already down to the heads. but...subaru adds a conditioner to mitigate the 2.5 headgasket issues in the earlier 2.5 motors. i'm still wondering if this "conditioner" that they sell for the 2.5 wouldn't help a minor headgasket issue on other motors. still an aluminum block, i'd give it a try. a flush would likely remove most of the HC from the sytem as you suggested.

86...does it have a flapper style or hot wire style air flow sensor (the MAF GD speaks of in the last post)? if it's the hot wire type, one way to check is to look inside of it and there are three very very fine wires, you can only see them if you remove the sensor and look in the right kind of light inside of it. any broken wire will cause problems. they can fail in other ways as well though, so best bet is to swap in a good one. i'd say we need to start with what kind of codes you're getting. what do you mean by "all over the place". reset the codes and tell us what you get after that. do you know how to read the codes, maybe that's confusing you? i've seen others count the blinks incorrectly, not hard to do particularly if you do'nt have the books. when you swapped motors...did you just swap the long block or an entire engine block...sounds like you swapped an entire engine block except the throttle body? so you swapped the entire intake manifold? if you swapped wiring harness or sensors at all you need to make sure they are compatible as the XT Turbo changed significantly from 86 to 87. i'm having problems getting my Turbo running well after a swap and it's due to wiring changes that i still haven't nailed down just yet.

pulling the cv joints apart is dirty and messy. also takes time and the parts really don't save much. $50 for both sides. then you're kicking yourself if they start clicking soon after you do the job. for that cost you can buy a genuine used Subaru axle with good boots already on it. so it ends up being quicker and cheaper to replace with a used axle. axle replacement is not hard at all, 30 minutes to an hour (with the right tools). or buy new from Subaru if price doesn't matter. anyone know what they run? i haven't priced any newer EJ subaru axles recently. i think the newer EJ series cars are decently priced if i remember correctly. if you plan on doing alot of these...own alot of subaru's, or do driving that breaks alot of boots (lots of miles, off road) or like to learn then it's more beneficial to replace the boots. just don't buy remanne'd axles.

the motor and transmission will come out of the engine bay as an assembly too if you want to do that. yank them together. normally there's a rubber plug underneath the throttle body on top the engine. remove this access plug and you can unbolt the TC (torque converter) from the flexplate. remove one bolt...rotate crank and remove the next bolt...keep going all the way around until they are all out. listen to john on reinstalling the torque converter/input shaft. the shaft is very tricky to get to seat the last 1/4". there are a number of posts and i've posted at length on suggestions how to seat that remaining bit. you must make sure it's seated that last little bit or you'll crack the oil pump housing inside the transmission and that is no fun to deal with. usually requires transmission replacement unless you want to tear into it. do not torque any bolts to seat it that last 1/4", it will break. the FSM actually gives measurements you can use to help determine if it's properly seated before installing the engine. when yo'ure installing it you'll generally wiggle it back and forth as you gradually pull in and out and rotate it...eventually you'll feel it drop that last little bit and you know it's in right. seen a couple people not pay attention or know about that last 1/4" and break things like john mentioned.

MMO won't cause problems. a quart of ATF or bottle of seafoam can help as well. this will help with HLA issues. these treatments will do nothing for the oil pump seals though. the oil pump seals typically start to fail as well which is $10 in parts but requires removing the timing belts to change. either way, drive it and it will be fine, just turn the music up.

the auto trans changed a good bit in 1998. they have a screw on filter on the side. i wouldn't gamble on that unless someone tells you they will work for sure. not sure about these "problems" that were fixed after 1997 though. i've never heard of serious issues with the 4EAT's. they are quite reliable for automatic transmissions. i'd look for a good unit, install an aftermarket transmission cooler and make sure all your tires match. with those things in place i would be surprised if you had any problems with it. heat kills transmissions, on a 1990 vehicle it is likely the radiator, water pump or some other component of the cooling system failed in the last 17 years. that would cause the coolant to run hot and the ATF to run hot...not good for transmissions. that's also 17 years of possible tire mismatching as well...all of these are likely causes of AWD transmission failure. the ATF cooler ($30) and matching tires should keep you runnning fine. i have some 4EAT's from 1991 XT6, they may be compatible with the legacy 4EAT's? i don't know. not sure where you are either, shipping might be counterproductive.

i've put over 50,000 miles on a clicking cv's. the stock axles do not fail. reman'ed axles suck (i've had brand new ones brake out of the box in less than 100 miles). I install used Subaru axles, remanned axles are not an option. use the search function and you'll see a number of people that have had relatively new axles from auto parts stores fail. (i'm one of them). but the stock axles almost never fail...even with the 20 year old EA and ER series vehicles. the offroad guys break them, but they do all sorts of extreme stuff and body lifts, angles on the joints. there is no need to replace the boot unless you really want to. eventually after 30,000-50,000 miles the axle will start clicking while driving straight (in my experience). this is when i start thinking about replacing them with a used Subaru axle. return the subaru parts. keep your eye out for a good used axle, someone will sell you one for $25 or so and they are much more reliable than the cheap-o remanne'd units from the auto parts stores. there are plenty of people that have used them and not had problems, but listen to all the people who have had problems, there is a statistical trend to take note of. "one experience is not conclusive". i'm pulling a 20 year old XT6 axle off a parts car next week to install on my daily driver with broken boots. if it starts clicking or you want to keep them lasting longer, pack grease in the broken boot by hand. it'll fling back out but helps some. if they start clicking, often squirting some grease in there will quiet them down instantly. but that's not worth it in my oppinion, i just drive them forever until i feel like replacing them or am going in for some other work like brakes, struts, or something. doing all that labor just for an axle change isn't worth it when i can wait and do it in conjuction with something else.

tri-cities and tri-state....is ambiguous. there are more than one tri-city and tri-state areas in the country.

i'd guess it's possible, the condensor is largely malleable metal like aluminum or possible brass. whatever it is, it's not resistant to damage like steel. condensors are very easy to replace. i replaced one earlier this summer.

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have your battery tested as well. failure of one often signals failure of the other.

i agree, replace the ignition coil for sure. i have a couple and so do others on the board. i think there are two styles across EJ motors though and i'm not familiar with which are which. find out which style you need or what other models work on your car and post in the parts wanted section. being hard to find up there, might be best buying two while you're at it.

even removing the driveshaft, completely disconnecting the rear drivetrain doesn't help with mileage. i'm sure it does some minor amount that doesn't really show up in the daily variations of driving.

what hubs did you use in the rear? XT6 or legacy?

can you post a picture? some of us like stuff sitting higher.

6 cylinder never had a turbo option. only the 4 cylinder models had a turbo option. also is it FWD or AWD, XT6 came with auto of both. if the POWER light blinks on the dash (in the center where the outline of the car is)...it'll blink 16 times only right at start up then stops, that means the transmission or TCU related circuits are having issues. that could be something simple or could mean the transmission is on it's way out. if you're not sure, turn it off and start it again, the light only blinks immediately at start up if there's an issue. this applied to AWD ONLY - (front wheel drive has conventional coil over suspension). run the car for a mininum of 10 minutes, preferrably leave it running continuously...if you stop it you gotta start counting again. if the air suspension light starts blinking on the dash idiot lights then the air suspension has issues. or if it's sitting on the ground and the air bags aren't aired up...this will be VERY obvious, the car will bounce like nothing you've ever ridden in before if the air suspension is shot. this system is very tricky to trouble shoot, but it can be done. don't expect a mechanic to figure this out without lots of $$$$. also - if it's an AWD make sure the tires match. driving the automatics with mismatched tires is bad for the AWD transmission internals. if the steering light is on or the steering is tight, most of the time that only means the brushes need to be replaced in the pump. it's an electrically driven power steering pump, not a belt driven type like most cars. brushes are $15-$30 from the dealer and very easy to replace. then check for anything else you would on a normal car, radiator caps, oil caps, coolant overflow tank, oil dipstick for signs of head gasket or major engine problems, coolant out the exhaust at start up, broken or clicking cv boots, battery terminals, transmission shifting fine, CE light...etc.

i used to agree until my friend did what i told him was a bad idea. check out this awesome $64 paint job. walmart special, i was wrong. you won't believe how good this looks.....i didn't when he drove it to work: http://xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1440&highlight=dollar