idosubaru

that's a vent tube and is probably meant for releasing pressure, good job checking and noticing that. not sure what to do about it. otherwise you should be able to reinstall the seal and be fine if you can figure out the vent issue. make sure the torque converter is seated all the way before bolting it back to the engine. search on some other threads for detailed info, the last 1/4 inch is hard to seat right and easy to not notice before bolting it up.

yes, the distributor is only driven by the drivers side cam, independent of the passengers side cam and belt. but i think yo'ure way ahead of me anyway, with the smell and all sounds like you might be onto something i just don't know what. how about the fuses inside the cabin? those will make a popping noise when they blow as well, definitely an audible pop when they blow sometimes. i'd look at those. did you check for spark yet?

passengers side timing belt? check for spark?

could easily be the timing belts, i think you've made a good guess. pull the left and right covers, they come off quick and easy. look for bad belt. you can also remove the distributor cap to see if the distributor is turning. if it's not then the drivers side tbelt is broke. if you hear a "slapping" noise while cranking that's a broken timing belt flopping around, but doesn't always do that and might be a little dangerous if it wraps around something it shouldn't. if it is a broken belt, replace and you're good to go. fusible links are next to the battery in most soobs i've seen in a roughly 1 inch by 4 inch size black box. pull the top and have a look at the 4 or 5 fusible links in there.

i'm seeing 97-2001 impreza's and 97-99 legacies will work. other years/models possible as well, i'm not saying these are the only years that will work. i don't know if ABS or non-ABS makes a difference. i don't know if they all came with ABS or that was an option? as long as whatever you get is the same you'll be golden. it is strange for your calipers to be going out like that. any unusual service of the vehicle? towing, off road, weather? the slides like mentioned earlier should be greased with every brake job, otherwise they may cause sticking. though still strange failure rate for you...two calipers. good luck with getting it fixed.

ha ha! sorry, didn't mean to sound negative. grumpy and lonely old man is humerous! i am neither. sometimes i get straight to the point and skip presentation. that's the problem with the internet, it's like problem solving to me and i focus more on the problem solving than the person. bu that's not all bad, this is a car forum and not a social class (good thing i'm a ENGINEER - BIG DORK!!!) for those that have met me and i've personally helped them fix their cars they'll know i'm not a jerk..i think? i try to help and be as concise as possible. with time spent here and on other boards sometimes i get 'straight to the facts'. i try to help alot of people on various boards and time is limited. better descriptions are easier for people to respond to and easier for the original poster to find later if he still needs help. so i'm only suggesting it to help them. for people that post once every few months when they have a problem or peruse the boards every now and again this forum isn't that much of a concern. some of us are here often and on other boards trying to help and quite involved even off the board in various ways. i trade off quantity for presentation sometimes and for that i appologize. i'll try to be more friendly and less negative in the way i phrase suggestions. but i'm not perfect so i can't promise anything, your suggestions can be more friendly as well grumpy! thanks!

yah, i've done it before. it's not too bad at all. really not much too it, it's just annoying working from under the car and you don't have great access to the rear extension housing (where the seal is). you'll have to remove the driveshaft to replace the seal. when you do , make sure the driveshaft doesn't have any excessive rust or anything on the input shaft that could compromise your new seal. it shouldn't unless it's been replaced before. and be careful sliding the driveshaft into the extension housing when youre done, you dont' want to bung up your new seal.

incorrect. there were two different types of head gasket issues depending on year. one was an internal leak and one was external. head gasket issues are valid for any 2.5 prior to 2000 MY. they were all "limited incident issues", none are gauranteed to have it, nor have near the predictability of say the dodge neon head gasket conundrum. subaru never offered a 2.4 liter in vehicles offered in america and i've never heard of one elsewhere.

easy job. well worth doing yourself and you'll know you're doing it right. a mechanic will charge $450 and just change the belt. do it yourself and you get good info or doing water pump, oil pump seal, and pulleys while you're in there. replace any pulleys that are not tight (like a new pulley would be). if you can't take the car down for long, get all new pulleys and replace whichever ones you need and then return the others. replace the water pump while it's all apart since the timing belt has to be removed to replace it. oil pump seals are easily accessible and take a few minutes once the belt is off, i'd replace those as well. i'd get Subaru belts and oil pumps seals. the rest is up to you. on an interference engine i'd get all Subaru but yours isn't interference so it might be worth a try for aftermarket parts if you want to save $.

a specific title can help with more responses from people who know your situation (car won't start, car stalls, car blows up, tire fell off...etc). and it's easier to find in the future using the search function. was this car running or yo'ure trying to get it running? that makes a HUGE difference. sounds at first like it was running, you worked on it and now it isn't, but then you said it sat for awhile so sounds like it hasn't ran for awhile. if it hasn't ran for awhile, then the gas is old and the car won't start. get some good gas in there. check for spark at each cylinder. pull each plug and make sure it's getting spark while you're cranking the motor. passengers side cylinders are 1 and 3 front to back. drivers side cylinders are 2 and 4 front to back. the starter does sound weak if you're just getting clicking. that doesn't necessarily mean the starter is bad though, it might not be getting enough power. how is the battery? with repeated attempts to start the battery will drain very quickly. have a running car available to jump from. check the battery terminal connections. if they are dirty, old or corroded or not tight that is a problem as well. the starter draws alot of current, a bad connection will cause the clicking and no turn-over. if it's turning over at all, the engine is not seized.

(2) 1989 XT6 AWD manual, 1987.5 XT Turbo FT4WD, 1989 XT6 AWD automatic, 1988 XT6 AWD automatic, (3) XT6 parts cars

no problem jeff, i figured you probably didn't realize his setup is completely custom since you're new-ish to the board. supercharger outlets are really annoying, i haven't seen any that look easy to work with but i haven't looked much either. turbo's are cake, nice round orifices to work with!

agreed, pull the engine and trans as an assembly. works great.

$40 per head for milling. if you're talking complete valve job, pressure tested and milled, about $150. add $25 - $40 for any cracks between valves seats that may need repaired. i would consider these on the high end of prices since prices are higher around where i live. you can get a few bucks lower in more rural areas.

someone on the board here converted a DIS system to a distributor style ignition. wasn't too long ago (month or so) that i recall seeing the thread and pictures. i can't say i recall which motor it was, but seems like it was an EJ22. i believe it was also a propane conversion and one of the down under guys did it, but that's from memory so don't hold me to it. pretty cool set up...i hate to hack up the details so find the thread if you're interested, tells the exact distributor and what they used to do it.

97 and 98 impreza OBS are 3.9 gear ratio, so you should be golden there if the daul range is 3.9, which i think it is so long as it's from a non-turbo car. you can check the rear diff plate of the car you pull it from. the TCU won't do anything so no worries there, just play with the ECU wires mentioned above and remove the TCU entirely. *edit*...whoops just saw you're not swapping...

HA!! excellent. that's what i was looking for! it is indeed 3.7. thanks a bunch. is it possible to break the trans open and swap 5th gears? install the 0.780 5th gear into the PT4WD? thanks guys!

i'd grab the driveshaft and rear diff while you're there. you already have to pull the shaft out of the trans anyway. two 17mm bolts at the center support and three bolts to drop the rear diff, knock out the axle pins and you got the driveshaft and diff for 5 bolts. and you'll probably unbolt the center support anyway to remove the trans, so 3 more bolts and you got it and the rear diff to go with you.

i hear your pain, i'm trying to figure out gear ratios in another thread and it's cumbersome. there are two differentials, one in the front and one in the rear. the front is connected to the transmission so it comes out when you pull the trans. if the trans you're installing is different ratio then you need to swap rears too. so to answer your question, changing transmissions is not a form of changing final drives, unless the front diff attached to it is different than the one you took out. if they are both 3.7 or 3.9 then you're not changing the final drive, the front diffs are the same final ratio. NA dual range 4WD transmissions should be 3.9 from what i've been seeing. i thought the 3AT was a FWD only transmission? why won't my posts let me seperate paragraphs? ?

cool, thanks. getting close, but i'm still confused as i was with all the searches i went through. the PT4WD is non turbo so that should follow the gears you listed. but it is 3.7 final drive and you have 3.9 listed on your list. is it still 0.780 even though it's a 3.7 final drive? and the FT4WD and RX trans mission (dual range) are turbo tranny's with 3.7 final drive. do they have 0.780 5th gear ratio also? almost there.... thanks!!

the only way i wouldn't replace both sides is if you weren't planning on keeping the car awhile. visual inspection, other items should be okay. tie rods are good preventative replacement items, safety issues with those. never seen them fail in a subaru, but other makes i have.

No to which of my confused questions? ?

this is a 1989 Subaru XT (non turbo) PT4WD transmission. i don't see it listed in any of the on-line charts. the one you just posted is for dual range RX (turbo)? are PT4WD dual range as well? even so, it's still a non-turbo. ah, confused in maryland thanks, gary

if it's slipping then it's just clutch related issues and not the actual transmission. but i'm not a manual trans expert, someone else will pipe up and help you out that knows more about those. i like automatics. sounds to me like you need clutch work, not a transmission. clutch, pressure plate, new throw out and pilot bearing and you should be golden. and a rear main engine seal "while you're in there". probably about $500 roughly.

my ebrake stuck last year as well. i freed it up...can't remember what i did but it wasn't hard. haven't had any troubles since and i've put 10,000 miles or so on it since then at least. i recall the pads being thin and replaced them after the incident. warped that rotor too so i'll have to replace that. not sure on the piston seating. overheating (is that the "stuck" side) or internal rust on the cylinder bore. trying extending it out, rotating back in a couple times. there's a tool that makes this much easier than the little square block ratchet attachment. harbor freight has them on sale now for 19.99. is the caliper still on the car, if the ebrake is still pulling or stuck on that caliper, that will prevent the piston from going back in. make sure to pull the ebrake cable if that apperas to be the problem. pull it out of the connection with a pair of pliers. i would not worry about the busted rubber boot. it's just a dust shield, not an actually seal or anything. if there is any wetness inside the boot then the sealing bad on the piston and you need another caliper. i've left torn boots on mine before without issue. i located a rebuild kit for my calipers a couple years ago on line and it was less than 10 dollars if i remember correctly, it was really cheap. i had never rebuilt calipers before but it was really easy. straight forward. blow the piston out (compressed air or pump the brake pedal until it comes all the way out), clean up the insides install the seal around the piston, install the piston and dust boot cover and yo'ure done. really simple. i have since tried to find another rebuild kit and can't find them, but i haven't looked really hard since i don't need it yet.