idosubaru

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.

automatic or manual transmission? does it do it in all gears? forward and reverse? does the POWER light ever blink (if it's an automatic). how many miles? what kind of work has been done to it, clutch, timing belt, etc? does the car idle fine and rev fine in neutral? this sounds like a trans or clutch issue, but i don't really have enough info to do on right now. diagnosing over the internet is tricky, but there is enough knowledge/experience here to help with enough details.

i've never had problems swapping lifters out on a number of EA82 and ER27 motors. not that i try to, but i've never had a problem doing it and never had issue replacing stuck HLA's with used ones from another motor. no ticking issues for me, i'm surprised he's had issues with his. i've never heard of others having issue with this either until this post. i would not hesitate to do it again, i've probably done it on roughly 5 different motors.

plugs, wires, cap rotor, fuel filter, air filter. i'm surprised this thing ran that good if the gas is 7 months old? after the basic tune up, run it for a couple tanks of gas to see how it runs, if there is any major fluid loss, keeping an eye on the volt meter, temp and oil pressure before deciding what else to do to it. timing belts, water pump, oil pump reseal all at the same time. buy a new oil pump if you're planning on lots of miles. also repack or replace your timing pulley bearings, at least any that aren't tight (on this age soob i've yet to pull pulleys that are tight and full of new grease). for a reliable daily driver, trip maker get new pulleys or read my thread on how to repack the existing pulleys. replace the cam carrier seals and o-ring while the belts are off. replace thermostat. replace coolant with antifreeze and distilled water. and radiator caps. change other fluids, brake, trans, diff. inspect brake pads. i like replacing the battery terminal ends with new if they aren't in perfect shape. keeps your battery and alternator in tip top shape.

replace the timing belts, water pump, oil pump seals (easy) and any pulley bearings that are questionable as you won't be in there again for another 90,000 miles or more. use the Search button in the gray area up top, there is tons of information here about doing timing belts on a 2.2. it's easy. i've done fords, dodge and subarus and i think subaru's are much easy (never need a stupid pulley puller for the crank pulley for one thing). start learning the search function and you'll find all you need to know. there's a link to great information and endwrench website (subaru's own mechanics tips site). great info in all these places.

awesome, thanks dave. mine is a 87.5 XT Turbo (digidash) so hopefully mine has something to work with. probably doesn't even need to be exact, anything close should register. for instance if the gearing/sensor is a little off maybe the steering will stop at below 9 mph instead of 15, big deal. thanks!

it's a good idea to remove the tires and pull back the inner fender lining every year to clean out the crud. mud, leaves, dirt, debris get crammed in there and hold water against the metal. once it rusts that stuff falls out, gets washed away. i've seen inches of stuff packed in there before.

flush the fluid and go from there. if the this wasn't an issue before the brake job, i'd wonder what they did wrong.

if it's locked then i bet it's just jammed. turn it hard hard hard right while turning the key. not that the wheel will move any where, you're not trying to move it, just put enough pressure on it that the key will disengage it fully. if it would "move" the key would likely turn. i would try again to pull it hard right (very hard) and hard left (very hard) while trying to turn the key. not with the intention of moving the steering wheel, but applying lots of pressure while turning the key to disengage whatever mechanism locks the steering wheel. i don't know of anyway to disengage it without disassembling the steering column, but i do believe it'll come out with enough force applied and turning the key at the right time. eventually while your exerting force in one direction the key will turn and loosen the steering wheel. there is no point in trying to get freedom of movement from the steering wheel since that is what is causing your key to be "stuck". freeing the wheel essentially means freeing the key at this point.

the rear panels suck because i believe they aren't bolted on. they have to be cut and rewelded in place. do a search on rear fenders i posted a question awhile back about this, some good info on the site here.

i will have spare parts for sure, already do. i'll post whatever i figure out, that's for sure. it'll be a few months before i get to the p/s, i have a motor swap to do first. you just might have to remind me. i'm doing EA82 though so there's really nothing hard about that. the EA81's i'm not familiar with.

easy. spray penetrating oil (liquid wrench or pb blaster, not WD40) on the 12 mm bolts holding the axle to the rear diff and the two 17 mm bolts holding the center support to the bottom of the car. i'd spray a couple times the couple days before doing the job to get them loose. this is an easy job, only 6 bolts in total to replace the entire driveshaft. unbolt those 6 bolts and it comes out. the 4 12mm bolts on the driveshaft are not all accessible at the same time. you'll have to remove/loosen 2 or 3 of them, then rotate the driveshaft to get the other ones out. i usually jack the rear of the car up so i can spin a tire (which turns the driveshaft). or move the car just a few inches/feet so the other bolts spin into view. maybe you can try loosening some before you crawl up the ramp? or go half way up the ramp, loosen two then pull all the way up to loosen the others? of course being careful to jack stand the car and block the tires for safety. once the 6 bolts are off might have to tap where it mates to the rear diff with a hammer if it's stuck or doesn't want to come off. after 20 years and miles and rust sometimes they want to stick. have to wedge it around the exhaust, but i've gotten mine out without removing any exhaust parts on the XT6. be advised, trans fluid comes out easily when you pull the axle out of the trans. have a catch can ready, watch your eye balls and be sure to refill/check the level after you're done. not sure if you're just replacing one half or the entire thing, if it's just the front half with the carrier bearing then you remove the 4 bolts that bolt the rear half of the drive shaft to the front half. then remove the front half. either way 6 bolts in all to get it off. the only hard part about this job is that it's annoying working from under the car on your back, otherwise it's easy. wearing goggles is sometimes nice to keep crud from falling in your eyes/nose. the shaft into the tranny is sealed by the rear extension housing seal. be very careful pulling the old axle out and installing a new axle. it's easy to damage the seal if you're slopping the old axle around. be sure to check that seal after installing the new axle to make sure it wasn't damaged. replacing it with a new one isn't a bad idea if you're comfortable doing that sort of thing. but i've done plenty without replacing it as well.