idosubaru

by the way, i'll be out the next couple days starting later this afternoon and will have no or limited internet access. but i'm still interested in that FWD trans if it's any good and will work in my XT Turbo. mileage?

is that a 2WD manual trans DL you're removing? what's that transmission like? good condition? what year...will it fit my 1987.5 XT Turbo?

change the oil (coolant would be nice too if you can), before starting it again. advanced autoparts allows you to mix coolant and oil when you bring it in for recylcing. drive it until it shows signs of problems. do a compression test if you like. any coolant loss will show itself pretty soon, either in a day or a couple hundred miles if it's a slow leak. but there's certainly no way to gaurantee anything without looking into it a little further. easiest just to drive it around for awhile or let it idle in your driveway (keep an eye on the temp). it's probably fine, some minimal driving will tell for sure. my guess is if they are willing to give the car away they are more than likely to make the car sound as bad as possible, they just want it gone and not deal with it anymore. they'd rather not deal with thinking it's okay and having someone complain about it later, they just want it gone. i've picked up at least 4 free subarus that i can think of....they usually just want them gone by that point. "yeah it's a bad engine, just take it".

works awesome every time those intake manifold bolts break off in the head (which is like 50% of the time for me).

if the starter works you might want to tell the transport company that. tell them it will load onto a car carrier or dolly and they may move it. if you just tell them "disabled" they may be thinking they can't move it to load, but that's not the case if the starter works. be a much nicer trip. i've towed cars from atlanta to MD, i'd get out of it if there was an easier way!

i've ordered from thepartsbin.com, i use them often. for large orders a contact from the states might be your best bet. some of the online (and members of this board) Subaru dealers have excellent pricing here in the states, might want to check into that.

if you get a 2WD trans, you might want to source a 2WD TCU as well. not sure if the TCU is compatible across both. i'd actually bet they are, but i have nothing to base that on. i'd guess the connectors/wiring would be fine though...but like someone just said i've never seen confirming info either way.

he just got the car recently. don't think you'd have any problem if you can get the new crank pulley to fit. why won't the new one fit? get a file, a dremel or whatever to clean up the crank and get the new pulley on there and crank it HARD. 1/2" socket and 3 feet of pipe have always worked for me steve. i would not waste time on a motor swap if the car runs fine. i've seen a number of cars with sheared pins and keys, crank the pulley on super duper tight (cast iron, won't strip unless you try!) and you're golden. seen this before and no problems. i would not use locktite and i wouldn't worry too much about it. it's not ideal but i haven't seen any break loose that had issues.

Jeff - probably an easy fix to this. helicoil is usually a last resort. can you post pictures? i've dealt with enough broken timing gear and bolts that i can probably help you out. by "left" do you mean drivers side? remove the sheared off bolt if it's still stuck in the hole. with some PB Blaster and some vice grips it may come out. the easiest way....this will take less than a minute and be a piece of cake - use a welder to weld a nut on the top portion of the sheared off bolt, then you can use a socket to remove the shank left in the engine. if you don't have room to weld, borrow or rent a right angle drill or remove the radiator if you can get at it with a regular drill. i've used right angle drills in this exact area before. use a left handed drill bit to remove the stud. as your drilling into the bolt that's stuck in the engine, the bolt should eventually back out. if not, you'll have the bolt mostly drilled out for other options. DO NOT use an eazy-out, those things suck. if a stupid-out does works, that only means another method would have worked too. once the bolts are out you do not need to helicoil those holes. those holes are deeper than the stock bolts used to hold the tensioner in place (this is true for both the passengers and drivers side). run a tap through the threads (10 x 1.25 pitch i believe), and clean the threads up. this might be all you need. but to be sure this doesn't happen again, get a longer bolt than the ones that are normally there. a longer bolt will reach the unused threads which are definitely good since the stock bolt doesn't go down that deep. find any bolt that will work and use spacers (washers) under the head of the bolt if it's too long. or, i like to cut the bolt to the exact length and then chase the end of the bolt with a die to smooth out the cut i just made. if you can't get the bolt out, other than helicoil you could probably even try to drill and tap the broken bolt with a smaller diameter hole and use a smaller diameter bolt in the one that's sheared off. the one good hole that you do have is more than sufficient to hold the tensioner in place, you only need the other to keep it from rotating. (assuming this is the drivers side we're talking about). let me know if you have any questions....certainly this sucks for you dude! hang in there, it's not too bad of a fix.

sounds good. that's what i do. 1/2" socket w/ 3 foot pipe on the handle and crank away. cast iron crank and bolt, not much worry on stripping it, i never have.

the stub shaft has a circlip on the end inside the transmission. with enough effort it just pulls out of the transmission with the retaining clip still on the stubby shaft. same goes for reinstalling it, press it in and the circlip will snap in place and hold it. not sure where any play would come from or how that would happen but there is certainly no easy way to address it except to say that maybe a new stubby shaft and circlip may help. disassembly of the front differential is not an easy task. do to the differential set up, i wonder if one axle stub could by design have more play than the other. technically speaking only one wheel receives power when driving, so maybe there's a difference in play associated with that as well. i don't know, but if i remember or if someone wants they can check a spare trans. off the top of my head i've never noticed one side being more loose than the other.

it's on 30,000 + miles after a head gasket/reseal job i did. you are probably on to something. (6 cylinders). i'm wondering why the blow by can't vent out the dipstick or PCV valve? i'll do a leak down test and verify. i have a couple blocks, some brand new heads ready to go and a complete gasket set so i can throw an engine together. guess that will be a goal for the next couple months.

i'd also unclamp an ATF line up front, start the car and see if any fluid comes out. this will tell you if the pump is working. obviously just crank the motor for a couple seconds and shut it off.

Awesome! thanks for posting! i'll give it a try. how did you use the sealant? on the bolt head or the shank? i have a hard time believing the shank will completely seal. want to make sure i get it right the first time!

sounds good, i got air tools and two OBS for parts so that shouldn't be too bad. 80,000 miles and no rust, hopefully i get lucky. the XT6 rear i just pulled was hell, probably like you're talking about. i'll get that wrench and be sure to get all the brake hose i can. thanks!

yes. there are coolant passages at the top of the head and you just did some major work so who knows. off the top of my head, i doubt it though. i wouldn't assume head gasket this early unless you see it coming out. check the hose. sometimes it's best to just pull the thing since it's so simple but so important. a tiny crack under the clamp can be hard to spot.

look for the source. if it's coming from the top, that's usually a coolant hose issue. it's easy to nick a hose have a loose clamp or a tight clamp cutting into a hose and any of these will seap into the top of the head. there is also the possibility that the intake manifold gasket has coolant passages in it where it bolts to the heads. this gasket can leak as well. there are a number of options, you'll need to find the source to narrow it down. try cleaning the area (use Greased Lightening - purple bottle) and see where the coolant starts coming from if there's too much to tell. for now - don't let the coolant level get low or you will overheat and risk head gasket issues.

other than not having the right parts is there anything that would get in the way of finishing this? it's the wifes ride and the rest of our herd are all manuals. the last resort will be she gets a 5 speed driving lesson i suppose! thanks matt, already sourcing parts.

any idea what my changes of incurring problems by doing this? that is awesome. that's worth a try just for the coolness factor! wonder if a shop vac pulls more vaccumm than my vaccuum puller? i bet it pulls much higher volume, mine is small for A/C stuff.

awesome. how long did it take M? looking into doing it to my 97 OBS. this thread says 8 hours: http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/disc/disc.html is that right? that's alot of down time!

the older generation forums, considering how old the transmissions are rarely see torque bind compared to some of the 90's models. i've never seen any torque bind in the XT6's 4EAT's i've worked on and rarely (if ever) see it on the XT boards, not sure why that changed in the 90's. they will act funny sometimes on mismatched tires. not sure what it does but the trans shuttered and jumped around at slow speeds until i replaced one bad tire. it's like the TCU was confused.

i can post a picture later. any concensus on pulling this bolt out and reinstalling it? i don't want to cause major engine issues on an engine that runs fine. concerned mostly with breaking the seal between the engine halves. i'd think it would stay to together just fine but i really don't know. heck...what's it going to do, cause a leak? the bolt slides through one half (where it's leaking) and threads into the other half of the block holding them together. so i don't think teflon tape would work on the bolts "head" side of the block where mine is leaking since the tape would only seal the threaded portion on the other half of the block. an oring or some sealant would probably work on the shaft side though.

i don't think it's a bad thing to try some injector cleaner. i've never experienced anythign amazing doing it myself. try a couple cans and that's about as good as the $100 service they'll give you at the dealer. i usually use 2 bottles of MMO if i feel so inclined. i'd try the seafoam but don't really have any inclination as to which ones are really "better" than others. at this mileage the injectors could be prone to leaking/dripping that no kind of cleaning will fix. there are companies that will completely clean, rebuild and flow test your injectors for $15-$25 each. i had mine done by RC Engineering at about 200,000 miles,though there are cheaper companies out there. i know a few of us have posted our test results pages on here and xt6.net. a few of the injectors most have sent in have been dripping or had awkward spray patterns. most injector issues from what i've seen have been accelerating, rough idle type issues.

yep. i cleaned off the intake really well and noticed it after a 15 mile trip. tightened it and it seems to leak less, but still coming out. not being familiar with block work im not sure the best way to go about it.

i didn't know it made much difference in stopping, so i'll plan on doing it. thanks!