idosubaru

nope not normal. does it do it all the time, even at highway speeds? you need to fix this now or your headgaskets will be mean to you. i've owned about 15 and the gauge rides about 1/3 of the way up at most. definitely not halfway, up to halfway and something isn't right. if it stays cool at highspeed but not at idle it's probably just the fan not turning on. if the fan never comes on, sounds like you found your problem. check the sensor for the fan (the one that is screwed into the bottom of the radiator on the passengers side tank) and the relay....i forget which relay it is though. the radiators on these jokers are OLD, has yours ever been replaced? most of them i get are questionable at best. they need replacing and most people don't because there are no aftermarket sources for a direct fit radiator and dealers want $400-$600 for one. (you can get them for $300 online sometimes). more details would help...mileage, condition, anything replaced, overheats all the time no matter what....

that's the fuel pump. there are hoses and clamps. if it's just the hose or clamps leaking you only need new hoses/clamps. the fuel pump can fail and leak as well...usually when they are severly rusted but i'm sure it can happen other ways as well. in this case you'd need a new fuel pump. they are typically expensive new...approaching or exceeing $100. used for $25 or so. the pictures are blurry so i can't tell where it's leaking from.

also if you have multiple codes in "read memory mode" with the green connector connected you can clear the codes to start fresh. in other words if you have 5 codes, 4 might be 2 years old and one is the recent trouble maker. if that's the case i believe you connect both connectors to clear the codes. then the memory will be cleared. first time you see the CE light after this, check the read memory mode again and the one stored code that you're looking for should flash. this all sounds more complicated than it is..

i know and have talked to a guy that put an ER27 (XT6 engine) in his 914. He also has done an EA82T swap into it as well, then went to the ER27, i spoke to him about some issue he was having a few years ago. He has a webpage with pictures of it here: http://www.etischer.com/914xt6.html

i should qualify those comments since it's always XT6 related. it's probably XT6 only...it always is. same thing here, i placed an order that included something they no longer carried. on one hand it probably shouldn't be listed...they emailed, didn't charge and sent the other items. it was seemless and required no effort on my part. Beck Arnley has two styles of headgaskets. Same part number but one has the thin black rubber stripping around it and the other does not. I ordered two and got one of each??? He ordered 3 more to see if he could get another with the rubber ring on it...don't know if it does anything but "looks" better. I checked back in a week and he didn't have anything, never asked again after that as I haven't needed them yet.

should be some R12 left in there. as soon as you crack the line....the pressure will drop only to the point where it's in equilibrium with amospheric pressure then no more will come out unless it's forced or pulled out. what i've found is it's best to replace any o-rings and both schrader valves once the system is open. for $1.00 in parts it's silly not to and really easy. also check the...what's the radiator looking thing in front of the radiator...i think that's the condensor, check that as it's the most prone to leakage in my experience due to accidents, rocks, debris, etc. after that charge away. a friend told me to pull all the R12 out, use R134 that has R12 compatible oil and charge with 134. i've followed that, always replace the o-rings and schrader valves and it works great. vaccuum pullers can be had for 10 - 20 bucks from harbor freights. seems to do the trick. gauges are nice for seeing a leak, but if you don't have them, pull a vaccuum and let the car sit overnight. press the schrader valve in with a screwdriver and if you hear it sucking/pulling air in that means it held a vaccuum over night and is probably good to go. if it leaks the pressure will equalize with atmosphere overnight and you won't hear anything when you press the valve in the next day. not ideal, but it's a way to do it without gauges.

when the CE light is on, the ECU in the trunk will flash the code. as soon as you see the light, leave the car running and read the code off the ECU LED. there's a stored memory mode you can access if you can't read the code while the light is on. it involves either connecting the green connectors, black connectors or both (they hang right by the ECU and should remain unplugged for normal driving). they are for testing, but i forget which ones to connect for read memory mode.

i like their prices but not that they show 4 cylinder EA82 parts when drilling down for an XT6 (6 cylinder ER27). part no fit, do no good! other than that they have great prices and have always sent the right thing...well, the thing i ordered i should say! actually i've never ordered the wrong thing either, if it's questionable i no clickly and get it elsewhere. i've use Fel-Pro gaskets and OEM both with good luck a number of times, but haven't gotten a chance to put many miles on them. Have about 30-40,000 on a set of Fel-Pro's on one of my XT6's. The corteco's look nice as well, i've gotten a few sets of those. when replacing the exhaust and intake manifold gaskets the Subaru OEM and Corteco ones are thicker and nicer looking than the Fel-Pro ones i've gotten. Of course they aren't nearly as critical or prone to failure though.

in my experience subaru brake systems seem to be fine with aftermarket stuff. i'd get good quality pads though, not the cheapest thing you can buy. i'm not a brake expert so i'll refrain from specific suggestions. your process sounds about right. remove master cylinder cap and press the caliper piston back in place is all i would add. i have a large eyedropper to suck any brake fluid out that may overflow as i push the piston back in. some subaru's (not sure about the later models) have set screws in the rotors. these are really annoying if you can't get them out. i usually just drill them out and don't reinstall them, many (most) cars don't have them anyway. impact screwdrivers are the cleaner method. on the rears...if they're anything like the e-brake calipers i'm used to you'll need the generic 4 dollar box brake tool at the auto parts store for turning the pistons in. they have to be turned in rather than pushed in.

maybe the oil on the ground was from the previous guy on the side of the road? if it did leak oil you need to see where it was coming from on your engine.

date doesn't matter, how many miles? how many miles on the car? also - does the sound seem to come from one side, one cylinder or all over? does it change or move across the engine so to speak? this can help point to something affecting them all (oil pump) or something at one cylinder (HLA). yes. but they also don't. there are many variations and possibilites. they don't have to do the same thing every time in every vehicle. why was the oil pressure sensor replaced? what does it read on the gauge? depending on mileage, i'd attempt an oil change. if that doesn't do it you're looking at one of three scenarios: replace the oil pump seals add some seafoam or ATF to the oil or start pulling the cams and replacing HLA's (very expensive but rarely needed). the easiest of those three is to add seafoam or ATF to your oil. this has been discussed about 199,234,233,233,112,123 times on the board, using the search will give you all the info you need for that. after that you're looking at replacing the oil pump seals. no need to replace the pump, just the 5 dollars seals. but it requires removing the timing belt so if you're not doing it yourself it's $$$$. for now...keep the music and windows up!

do a search on "headgasket" and see how many 2.5's come up. not to scare you, but to help you make the best decision possible. it's not really THAT bad, since of course a site like this typically brings all the trouble children to the forefront. but you'll see more headgasket issues with the 2.5 than other subaru motors. others will disagree, but i say search the forum here and let the number of problems/threads speak for themselves rather that start the 34th thread debating this same topic. get one cheap with a blown motor and swap in a turbo 2.0 or 2.2. i've seen 5-10 local 2.5's with blown headgaskets this year so far that could have been gotten cheap. don't see many RS's though, i don't recall seeing any locally at least. they are harder to come by than outbacks, foresters, legacy.... and hey, welcome maryland...

no need to pull the engine. like already mentioned the engine mounts needed to be loosened or removed. i also loosen the rear trans mounts to "tilt" the engine/trans assembly in order to pull the oil pan up. you'll be able to access all the bolts just fine. that's not the tricky part. after it's unbolted it will not come out. the oil pan has baffles in it that the sump will not clear without tilting the engine upwards. i learned the hardway. unbolted the pan before i knew jack about cars. pan does not come out...yank yank, bang bang and it's seemingly invisibly possessed and won't come out. moves around alot, but won't come out. are you sure the oil pan is leaking? other leaks can drain down toward the pan and make it appear wet but it's not actually leaking. i'd do this last unless it's really bad.

in this case it's an OEM part. Subaru OEM parts are outsourced to various companies. in some cases these parts are available through other (non OEM) sources. i can't stand the rockauto website. it's rediculously inefficient. look up the XT6 and it shows 4 cylinder parts all over the place...i don't know what the point is of drilling down if it's going to list 4 cylinder parts for a 6 cylinder vehicle. no other site does that...... okay i'm done.

it's the HLA's making noise. first step is to change your oil. after that there are more things to look into but for now do that and get back to use. have that done and let us know how it goes and let us know how many miles on the engine? any recent work done to it?

yes if the ignitor is bad or not grounded properly it won't allow the coil to spark. as far as i know all EA82 (87 and up i suppose) and ER27 ignitors are interchangeable.

the transmissions will swap. tear it up! my old FWD 1988 XT manual was capable of 40 mpg on all highway driving.

change any suspect pulleys or repack the bearings. many subaru bearings can be repacked for a couple cents worth of grease like this: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50430

i pull from inside and nothing happens on the latch, it doesn't move at all. for now i took the nut off the little latch that catches the door and pressed it in the body and took the spring off the door. took all of 25 seconds while the gas was pumping. at least the door opens and shuts by hand now. i may revisit this someday or leave it as is.

http://www.thepartsbin.com has them for not much money either and you can buy just 2 if you like. but then shipping... dealer charges me $2.13 around here and they usually have them in stock.

ah....right on turbone! use a head bolt to clean them. some people "doctor" them up for cleaning...cut a noth in them or something. i've never done it and if you don't have an extra then it does you no good anyway. use a head bolt, i've done that before and it works fine. keep cleaning the threads off as you go.

hardware stores, any tool supply stores?

there's directions on here how to make one. take a socket and cut/grind it down, etc. WJM also posted contact info and said it "should" be available from somewhere, i had no luck. you retorquing your ER27 or EA82T?

i've had no problems sourcing 11x1.25 tap at local stores.

hard to say....did you use Subaru OEM wires? if not, might want to consider that. did this stuff start happening shortly after replacing anything? that would point to something not being "just right".