Gnuman

How long has it been since Subaru had a car out that had to be recalled more than once in a single model year? IIRC, there have been three this summer alone. . . the 2010 and 2011 are too big for my uses, and the loss of handling is just not acceptable to me.

Well, no pictures yet. Perhaps early next week, after I take all the tools out. I ordered the WRX pump off of NASIOC, and I have a few parts coming in from 1st Subaru Parts. Between that and the parts I'm getting from Zach on this board, I should have a real good start on dressing Betty right up. more later...

Yes, it is looking a lot like that, and not with a very good either, is my guess. . . wtdash, do you know if that one for sale on NASIOC is still there? I can't seem to log on anymore. . . If the guy still has it, I'll be glad to take it off his hands. . . Never mind. . . I fixed the problem by making a new account. . . I'll try to post a few pics later so you can see her in all her beauty. . .

Do you know the rating of a 92 Legacy fuel pump? Also, the pump I took out of the Outback had bolt-on connectors, while the one from the Legacy had a plug. Is one of those not normal? The walbro site I have lists the same size for all of them (255lph) which sounds excessive for the early Legacies. Of course, it would not surprise me if Subaru over-engineered yet another system on those cars. . . I swear, that '92 of mine was built to withstand a nuclear attack, I think. . . I have to say, though, that my Outback is comfortable. . . Or at least it will be after I fix the small problem with the transmission (hard shift from 1st to 2nd, and I would not be surprised at torque bind). I'm getting a transmission shop manual for the phase 1 4EAT tomorrow, so I can fix a clients car, and I'll have the reference available then for my own transmission. . . (and my exes, and anyone else that wants me to work on thier early 4EAT).

I notice that no mention has been made about putting the cam sprockets back on. . . How do you all plan on properly torquing the bolts on re-installation? If the bolt is too loose, it will back out and the cam sprocket will spin and shatter (after destroying the camshaft) Yet, if it is too tight, you can break the sprocket with the force (they are plastic, after all. . .). I pull the valve covers as a mater of course, and replace the valve cover gaskets, Spark plug seals, and the bolt seals as well. I figure it like this: the timing belt lasts 100K miles. The seals tend to last about 150K miles. so halfway through the life of that shiny new T-belt, you are going to start leaking oil, and maybe get some on the belt, shortening it's life by an unknown amount. . . if you change the seals and gaskets, this will not happen. . . Of course, i have been accused of overkill before, so. . ..

There is no overkill. There is only "Open Fire" and "Damn, I need to reload". . . . The Walbro looks good, any idea about the reliability?

Betty is my "new" 96 Outback, 4EAT, EJ25, and fairly well thrashed when I got her. Looked like the poor thing had been used as a dumpster and ash tray all it's life. . . I cleaned up the center console, vacuumed out the interior, and replaced the stock radio and speakers with the ones from my 92 Legacy. when I got her she had no ABS or cruise (bad fuse, fixed) and the driver's door lock had been jammed with a large screwdriver. PO had told me that if you lock teh doors, you have to climb in the hatch and unlock it from there. . . (I found the passenger side door to be much more convenient) Well I fixed that problem by picking up a new key fob for the keyless remote entry system I found already installed under the dash. Oh, and I recharged the A/C so that now works. Getting it home I had a full power loss (bad battery, and the engine lost power) that took a bit to correct, and the PO said the car would do if left to sit for more than a month at a time. . . I got it to fire up again, and did not think about it since, until it started to loose fire on me again. I thought it was a low fuel thing, so I dumped some gas in the tank, but that was not all of the problem. I did get it home and took it out once since then, then I tried to use it the next morning and nothing. . . Well, no fire anyway. I had a neighbor turn the car on while I listened to the fuel pump, and found the source of all of my problems. . . It was dead. I have the car back on the road for now with the fuel pump from my 92 Legacy, but the motor is smaller on the older pump, and I'm not sure if it is up to the task of feeding that 2.5 for any length of time. . . My question is this: do any of you have a source for just the pump motor for a 96-99 Outback? the rest of the assembly is just fine, thank you very much, and I cannot afford teh $300 price tag for the entire module. The rest is going to be done a bit at a time, as I'm on a fixed income (which means I'm usually broke. . .)

25mm open ended wrench on the flats of the cam itself (under the valve covers). Cheapest solution by far and also the safest for the cam sprockets.

I'd be interested in one of the used ones if someone was willing to let it go for cheap? make an offer with shipping to 94511 (CA)

get under the car and see if you can move the outside shell of the inner CV joint. Some aftermarket ones do not fit well and make a noise just like you are describing. You can also check the wheel berring by trying to move the wheel at top and bottom. if it moves, you need the berring. if it moves front to back, you need to look into tie rod ends, and if it moves only at the bottom, look to the ball joints.

Wait, are you doing this job in the car? yeah, it is going to be real tight working in those spaces (I always pull the engine when I do this job as it is that much easier). getting at the spark plugs may be easier if you remove the engine mount bolts and jack up the engine to bring the plug holes above the edge of the frame rails. . .

Of course at that price it has some problems: engine has a cracked head and a few missing parts (mostly wear items like idlers and such). Both left knuckles are bad, and the front bumper is missing. Body is clean, tranny (4EAT) is good, all of the glass is good. I'm unable to register it, but may be able to lay hands on enough paperwork for someone else to. Otherwise it is a good parts car. You will probably need a flatbed or full trailer to haul it off, as I did not torque down the left rear wheel when I had to swap the knuckle there. I need this car gone in the next week so if you want it come and get it. PM or email me if you are interested in it. I really need someone to take all of it though, not just parts.

Thanks. this is not my personal car and she will be retesting on Monday. I swapped out the O2 sensor and ran Seafoam through it.

No codes on this one, but it just came back from smog with High NO numbers. I'm guessing it is a bad O2 sensor, or is the cat dead? Oh, this is on a '91

With 130K on the clock, the car is just getting to be good and broken in. Yes, there is major life left in it. is the 800-900 price for parts and labor? sounds like they are getting the $499 unit themselves. . (my vote is to repair it as it sounds like it has quite a few good miles left in it) Oh, and you can put off the repair of the sunroof if you seal up the sunroof until then. I use PVC tape (used to patch PVC pipes, find it at a good hardware store.) to do this on mine.

I generally use a Craftsman Pro 12/14mm offset box wrench to get at these without rounding them. IIRC, you can pull the P/S pump and alternator and wiggle a 6 point socket on a long extension in from the front. You may need a universal joint on the end, just to make sure you can get a 90* seat on the bolt head. You just need to break the thing loose, after that it comes out easy.

OK, time for me to chime in: I pull the engine for an EJ25 timing belt change, because i also reseal the engine at the same time (new crank and cam seals, new valve cover gaskets, etc) and there is no room on the sides of the engine. If you are only changing the timing belt, you can do it in the car. Also you can recompress the newer tensioners, but usually do not need to: use a pry bar to push the tensioner up away from the belt so you can insert the "grenade pin" through the holes before you remove the tensioner. This makes for minimal movement of the tensioner in the first place. The rule for this is the same as recompressing them though: gentle even pressure until you get the desired effect. For a grenade pin, I use a 1.5mm or 2mm allen wrench. use the larger if it will fit.

The front diff area for a 4EAT is the same as for the 5MT, other than the 5MT front diff shares gear oil with the mauin gearbox, while the 4EAT does not. Biggest difference to the 2003 units and the '98 units is that the 2003 units have twice as many bolts holding the bell housing to the crankcase. Other than that, proceed as usual. With you knowing how to adjust the pinion gears, I will just assume you thought to check/change the gear oil in the front diff as well. . .

I usually pull the engine as it is easier with the tools I have (cherry picker, etc), and I end up with more room to work that way anyway. If the timing belt is due any time soon, I would replace it and the cam seals, front crank seal, Oil pump O-ring, and valve cover gaskets at the same time. That way you do not have to worry about much of anything on that engine for a good while to come.

I say we should organize a trip to FHI headquarters in Japan, so that we can express our appreciation to the engineer that did not test fit the engine in the car before putting a whole bunch of them on the road. . .

OK, everyone around here seems intent on a flamewar, and that is what is just plain silly. bosango, I recommend getting a cheap junkyard engine, and pit it in the car to hold you over while you take your time and do the rebuild right. Just like everyone else, I have my justification for this choice: 1) If you put a junkyard engine while you are doing the rebuild, you will not have the pressure on you to get the job done so you can drive the car. This means you will have the time to do the job this fine engine deserves. 2) once you have the first engine rebuilt and ready to go, you can swap that in and rebuild the other one, so you have a top quality spare. And, again, this is without the pressure to get the job done fast. At the end of it all, you will have two examples of what I personally consider to be one of the best engines ever built. They are just simply that good. Hmmm, As a VW person, do you have a Vanagon laying about with a crapped out engine? Swapping an EJ22 is a very popular upgrade for that beast as well, if you need something to do with that spare engine you will have If you have any thoughts of going that route, I would pull the whole bulkhead wiring harness when you pull the spare engine. The upgrade costs a bit but goes like I think it may have something to do with the VW engine having something on the order of 85 horses on a good day, and the Subaru engine of the same size having more like 130. . . and being more reliable. .

Tahoe, I suspect the coil pack dying slowly (or at the end of it's rope). '01 is when they went ti the igniter being part of the coil pack, and they have had a few issues. Also, I repair these cars for a living (mobile repair) and I'm close to you (well, within range anyway). PM me if you need another head under the hood or tools. I'm about due for a road trip anyway. . .

they are on the outside of the HLA, between them and where they fit into the rocker arms. Jason at 1stsubaruparts has them for about $30 and shipping for all 16 (866)528-5282 (ask for Jason)

Yeah, but most likely not actually bad, but instead just gummed up a bit. See if you can get new o-rings for them though, as those break down after a while. . .