idosubaru

are you sure you don't just need a clutch and that it is transmission and not engine issues? trans replacement probably run $1,000 or more from a shop. depending on the issue, they could possibly fix it. but if it's not clutch related and they have to crack the case open you're probably better off installing a known good used unit. cheapest alternative is to buy a used transmission and they'll install it for about $150-$200 in a couple hours. if you need a new clutch then add the cost of the clutch in there too, but that will be the case for whatever solution you choose. i have a manual trans from a 97 outback sport available and travel through morgantown frequently. PM or email if you're interested.

glad you got it fixed. i had a "new" axle from random CV joint place blow out in a week or so as well. for future reference, rebuilt axles are definitely risky and not worth any savings. as a matter of fact the cheapest (and best) route to fix them is to buy a used axle. the OEM axles are very resilient and well made, a used axle with good boots is the best solution really and cheap. well new OEM axles or MWE (CCR links) mentioned above are the best.

that coloring is terrible on my monitor, i can't read it (the first yellow one).

as far as swaps go, it's not that hard to install the wiring harness/ECU from the 2.2 in something else. time consuming, but a swap takes time/effort too. for all that effort i'd hate to use a 20 year old wiring harness. i've pulled some apart and noticed corrossion on wires , under the insulation, up to a foot away from the wiring connector. that's 12 inches of compromised wire on one of the few that i've ever cut open. but - go ahead and try it, you never know until you try. good news: they use the 1.8 EJ series ECU to run the EJ 2.5 liter motor so the 1.8 EA82 may work just fine with the EJ22 2.2 liter. like he said the DIS might be the hoser in the whole deal. you'll need something for spark. from playing with MAF's (mostly by myxyphlyx on the board here), you would probably be better off using the EA82 MAF sensor. or at least having it handy in case the EJ22 MAF doesn't work with the EA82 ECU. you could easily have issues there, otherwise i think the sensors might be compatible. only other difference i can think of is some EJ22's have more than one O2 sensor (but i might be wrong and maybe some only have one). if that's true, i'm not sure of the issues there. i know the older subaru's run fine without the O2 sensor in place, but i don't know the EJ22.

proof of headgasket repair - real good deal. no proof, move on or drop the price $1,000 and plan on it needing that somewhere down the road.

someone else is saying i have this backwards, that the FT4WD is 0.725 and the PT4WD is 0.870 in 5th gear. anyone?

it's all completely custom, so if you're looking for something that "fits", he can't help you. okay you didnt' state you had a manual transmission on XT6.net (or here, but since you have a flywheel i'll assume it's a 5 speed!) you have the highest gear ratio transmission you can get out of an 80's subaru. you'd need to upgrade to a newer transmission. front differential is attached to the transmission so unless you disconnect the front axles and drive in RWD, you'll have to upgrade both the front diff and the rear diff. 90's subaru's have 4.11 and 4.44 gear ratios final drives available which might be more what you're looking for. two choices: upgrade transmission entirely. swap in a newer transmission with the higher gear ratio you want. swap rear diff to match (this is the easy part). next option is to try and swap the front diff from a newer 90's subaru in place of your existing front diff. that is no easy task and if the trans ever goes bad you're faced with replacing a custom transmission. easier to swap in another, newer, readily available subaru transmission in my oppinion. easy to do since it's a manual.

no need for an XT6 kit, just buy new timing belts and repack the pulley bearings yourself. read my post on how to do it, it takes about 3 minutes and is super easy (just need a grease gun).

someone did this on an XT6 FWD to AWD, TONS of close up pictures, details and discussion on it here, he did a fantastic job and provided equally admirable details: http://www.xt6.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=12439#12439

alternator sounds like it has issues. have it tested. check connections at the alternator first, if the engine was reving high, maybe it torqued enough to jolt them? check battery and terminals while yo'ure at it but alt is where my money is.

hey play nice! i've lost track of brake jobs.....3 dozen would be a wild guess. i don't disagree, i even mentioned doing one myself. this is partially a discussion of semantics - nipper is speaking to a broad audience (average person asking questions doesn't know much about cars) and you're speaking to knowledgeable folk (yes you can get away with less work if you know what you are doing and what to look for). for the average person posting and asking questions it's probably not a bad idea to do them all until/unless they feel very competent diagnosing cars and brake systems. those giving advice here often know much more about cars than those taking advice (most users!) so being on the conservative side is in the majority's best interest. i recall when i first started i just did what people told me and didn't really understand how things worked. the haynes manual is a nice tool, but is wrong sometimes and there is documentation saying bleed them all...not all literature is perfect. haynes manuals are considered far inferior to the FSM and for good reason.

steering rack bushings will cause a very weird *swaying* feeling. turn and a slighty delay or over turn and wobble type feeling like you're describing. i'd look into replacing your steering rack bushings. alignments are fine and dandy but i've swapped tons of front end suspension parts and never needed to do one and i drive a ton of miles. i just posted about my 200,000 miles of never getting an alignment here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=52599 when one of my tires starts to wear unevenly i'll get an alignment, until then i'm not doing it. my tires have always worn perfectly even. i even installed the last set on my wheels myself, the more i keep my car out of a shop the better. i'm not saying they are bad just that when i was in college i never got an alignment and since then i've kept up the habit since i've never had a need for it. furthermore i have had my entire front end apart and parted out a couple soobs and haven't even noticed where they could make any adjustments anyway? what do they move?

i wouldn't waste my money on alignment. it would be very odd for every single tire to wear the exact same and it be cause by alignment. usually one tire or two will show different wear with bad alignment. not them all, unless it's been seriously abused. i never ever get alignments. i drive off road, in the snow, mud, drive over curbs if i need to, i've swapped struts, installed new suspension bushings, installed different and larger wheels and tires, even swapped control arms (a MUST for realignment *they* say), etc...200,000+ miles on one XT6 and more miles on other XT6's and my tires all wear perfectly normal. i slammed into a curb while playing in the snow and bent my control arm. swapped in another one and put a ton of miles on that car, a number of sets of tires. some would swear and call me stupid for not getting an alignment. i should have been from the "show me" state, cause i aint seeing, my tires have always worn fine.

a little in hp yes, but in reliability terms and cost savings it's an upgrade. what are you doing with the blown 2.5, i know someone in PA looking for a 2.5 motor. Pm or email if you want to get rid of it.

cam swap aint that hard for sure. wonder if the machine shop might measure the cam lobes for you, two different ones to see if there is a difference? have them with you when you drop the heads off and see if they'll have a look? how would you test? feel or compression test?

i think that's applicable to most 20 year old cars where i live. not sure what you're talking about, brackets that hold the swap bar bushings in place? can you post a picture of them? if you're looking for different brackets, i doubt you'll find anything. the stock ones should be fine, just get non-rusted used ones and they'll be fine if it's the brackets holding the bushings in place. or maybe you're talking about something else???

ha ha, that's funny.

that's a terrible analogy. one tire isn't related to the others, entirely independent and stand alone items. the brakes system (if you'd read through the post) has shared lines between front and back. air introduced at one tire can get into lines affecting other calipers. it is very common practice to bleed the entire brake system, most people do. i always do, (with one exception mentioned earlier, that i do not recommend if you don't know exactly what you're doing and it's your car and you know how to rectify it if there's any *play* later).

that "cooler" is so lame in usefulness that it's really not worth the trouble in trying to cool your oil, power steering fluid, differential fluid, trans gear oil, anything with it. it's not worth the possibility of hooking something up wrong, additional clamps = additional modes of failure, not worth it. even in an automatic the best thing to do is completely ignore the radiator lines and install a *real* aftermarket cooler that's dedicated to the ATF. when i buy new radiators i get manual transmission radiators if i have a choice because even if it's for an auto trans i'm installing (or already have one installed) an aftermarket cooler. the radiator gets very hot and the side tank that the cooling lines run through doesn't do a very good job of cooling since it's not even much of a heat exchanger. the fins and cooling lines are all dedicated to the antifreeze/coolant, the ATF only pases through the side tank. i'd guess a large part of the "cooling" happens as it passes through the ATF hoses and not the cooler.

i checked into bigger valves for the XT6 a month or two ago. got no responses here or elsewhere. the local aluminum head specialist that i always use could not source any through his suppliers. maybe there are suppliers he doesn't deal with, but he couldn't find anything with a quick search. two 6 cylinder heads cost $175 for a complete valve job, pressure test, maching the heads, new valve stem seals, everything. they charge less for 4 cylinder heads but i forget the break down. someone else i know paid $200 for the same thing. i'd expect no more than $150 for a 4 cylinder 8 valve EA82. watch your intake manifold gaskets. they are huge and overlap into the intake ports anyway. you'll want to trim them down and match them to the intake and/or heads. i posted before and after pic's at xt6.net of how far they protrude into the ports, it's quite a bit. i posted questions about cam differences awhile ago and couldn't seem to get a consensus answer. "yes their different, but no they aren't" sort of thing. wonder if delta cam would know, they've seen enough of these cams to know if the spec's differ. so what about the valves/piston clearance miles!!! you'll have the only interference EA82 around! got a junk head lying around you could mill and see how far you can go? the shop might even be able to tell you, i think they have specifications from the rebuilders associations, or whatever there sources are for the maching spec's when checking thickness, warpage, etc, they should be able to tell you the limits based on that.

i have a PT4WD manual transmission and the only info i've found here says that "1800 5spd all-----5spd wg" has a 0.725 5th gear. does that apply to a PT4WD manual out of an 89 XT? or does it have the 0.871 ratio like the RX and XT Turbo FT4WD transmissions?

agreesive driving/cornering?

one of the most common issues (though not "common", it's all relative) with these transmissions are the clutch packs. you could remove the rear extension housing (has the clutch packs in it) and save that in case yours ever has *issues*. if it does, swap in the rear housing/clutches from the old trans. install an aftermarket trans cooler with your new trans and rest better!

no i have never seen one fail, but i've never heard one make a noise either. every subaru i've owned (except my impreza) has torn rear joints and i have left them that way for nearly 100,000 miles. difference is that i've never heard them make noise. you could swap the axles and see if the noise changes sides! just kidding, im sure you wouldn't want to go through the trouble. hey you're in maryland, don't see too many MD members.

make sure the trans pan isn't dented badly. that will restrict flow to the ATF sump/pick up.