idosubaru

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.

are they wider than what you had before? wider tires typically decrease mileage some. for that matter are they the exact same size or a little "off" from stock?

very interesting. i'm not saying either is poor quality, but a water pump on an interference engine is definitley something to pay attention to, good catch man! so the one in your 97 outback is the picture on the right?

thanks steve, i'm actually looking for the gear ratio of 5th gear, i know you told me before this was a 3.7 and i saw it through the searching i've been doing today. can't find the gear ratio though. i believe it might be 0.725 but the charts are kind of confusing. if it is that low i want that one in my car.

good call on checking the radiator hoses and clamps, that would be a much cheaper fix. if it is the radiator i'd go new myself. that being said, i did mail tanks to someone in new zealand that couldn't get a new radiator for his XT6 and he had his repaired no problems. that's a young radiator to leak already?

parking brake is mechanical and must be on the rears if you didn't encounter any problems with the front brake pads. with it on the brakes are not removable (without a torch at least!!). so it must be on the rear and you can leave it on if you'd like. i don't recommend this, but i have broken front lines before and just bled that line. not ideal but it can be done. but not in your case since it's been drained and sitting over night. if it was small amount of fluid loss and you could do it right away, you might be able to get away with it but it's not an option for you right now.

spend some time in the older-generation forum, lots of people over there are running without heat shields with no ill-effect. i usually don't have them in place on mine.

depends really. the sensor contacts or the wiring harness connectors? and are they corroded or just dirty? the sensor contacts i usually use a tiny screw driver and scrape them off. contact/electrical cleaner never seems to do much good though i spray it on there anyway. if it's really bad i'll srap a piece of fine grit sand paper around a screwdriver and clean them off that way. if it's the electrical wiring harness they are really difficult to clean if it's corrosion. if it's dirt/grease it should wash away with some solvents. if it's corrosion it's really annoying to get up in there and get it all out. i've replaced the connector before (with a used one, just splice it in line) or used tiny eyeglass screwdrivers to get up there and clean out the little areas. i've also completely cut the harness off on XT6 water temperature sensors and soldered the wires directly to the sensor because the problem is so prevalent and reoccurring. wrap them good and tight and it's permanent solution.

i don't know, but i never do it and don't have issues. but i've never worked on a rough running newer soob either. i've done tune ups, timing belts, water pumps but all on good running cars. even still, i wouldn't do it. but if you're having driveability issues, it certainly can't hurt. don't bother relieving the fuel pressure. have the battery disconnected or make sure the key isn't in the ignition so the fuel pump doesn't come on with the hose off. have a towel or something handy to cover the lines so the fuel doesn't spray every where, not much comes out (in my oppinion). definitely not enough to bother with the "fuel pressure relief suggestions" in the manuals. and the hoses get scored over time, i cut off an inch or so with a razor, there's usually enough slack to do this a couple times though i can't recall on the 2.5's as i've never had to do it yet on those. if you can't you are fine to buy any fuel injection suitable hose from the parts store and use it.

What is the gear ratio of the 1989 XT PT4WD? I searched but couldn't answer. I am putting a new motor in my XT Turbo this weekend and have three trans to choose from: PT4WD (89 XT non-turbo) FT4WD (original XT Turbo trans in the car now) Dual Range 88 RX trans. i want my RPM's to be as low as possible at highway speeds. RX and XT Turbo appear to have the same gear ratios (.871 in 5th).

ask them to grab a few off the shelf and compare them? i haven't done enough or taken notice of the few that i've done to be helpful.

can you post a picture of where it is leaking. the repair would not have caused this. however carelessness can damage a radiator. a fair amount of people remove the radiator before major jobs involving the timing belt to avoid damaging it while removing/installing the fans, pulleys, belts, etc. all it takes is dropping one heavy pulley, or jamming of a fan shroud to puncture the radiator. but there is no way to prove the shop was at fault so while it may seem likely you really just don't know.

yes. i'm not doing that so i'm not sure how to accomplish it but with a little electrical tinkering it would not be hard at all.

"how many miles" can vary significantly. there is no answer as it depends on condition of the engine, what kind of driving is going to be done on the last couple gallons, what kind of load is in the car, how hilly/mountainous or flat the terrain is going to be....etc. you're generally good for about 60 miles once the light comes on (on level ground of course). 70 and you better be close to a gas station. of course those figures can be slightly higher/lower depending on the above mentioned variables. figure out how many miles per gallon you get. open up your owners manual and see how m any gallons are left when the fuel light comes on. 2.7 gallons is a common figure for subarus. multiply your MPG times the 2.7 and that's the maximum you're going to get if everything is perfect, and you better hope you're traveling a few miles short of that as you can't eek out every drop of the gas tank. not sure why you'd want to push it anyway, but there you have it.

glad you figured it out, i was betting that was the problem. definitely avoid getting the steering wheel locked. don't turn it when the car is off. try a new key, maybe that one has issues. shouldn't be warn. the ones i've had that are warn work great. they'll work in more than one of my subaru's and i can pull them out with the car running then put it back in. the dealer should have a key code for the car (ask them to look it up, if they say they can't they're lying and go elsewhere). they can cut a new key from the code. that may help, but i'm not too positive of that unless yours has been damaged in some way.