14D
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Posts posted by 14D
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I think a blew a head gasket yesterday and want to get some other's opinions before I scrap my car. 93 legacy wagon 2.2 5mt 272k miles. 3000 miles on new timing belt kit w/ water pump and xacstant thermostat. Never had an issue with over heating before but it started to use 8ozs or less of coolant every oil change or so within the last year or two.
Noticed it was running pretty hot when I got home last night, temp gauge was at 90% or so. No signs of any leaks. Added a gallon of water in the morning (no antifreeze and didn't burp it, was in a hurry). Had it overheat 10 miles into my commute (heat didn't work at all), blowing out a seam on my radiator when it nearly pegged (spiked very quickly when I started up a long hill). I immediately turned around and coasted to a gas station. Added aprox a gal of water and antifreeze, leak isn't too bad, make it almost all the way home before it starts spiking (heat worked intermittently).
Filled it with water later on and burped it once it was up to temp. Was still getting some bubbles by the bleeder screw when I revved the engine but it didn't smell like exhaust so may have just been some air bubbles. no bubbles from the filler cap or overflow tank. I know there was a big air bubble when i initially filled it this morning and that probably contributed to it's overheating, but all that water had to go somewhere. After the radiator blew it wasn't running long enough and the leak isn't big enough for it to lose over a gallon of water. No white smoke at any time. No water or coolant in the oil.
This car is beat to hell and has been on its last leg for a while but if I can get a few more miles by jb welding the radiator I probably will. Not too much info out there on ej22 head gasket failure so any input is appreciated.
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Found this writeup on NASIOC a while ago where the guy uses parts from mcmaster-carr. Possibly cheaper and easier to source.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753869
Been too lazy to do this to my car, now it has bigger problems and it's days are numbered
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This tool http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-58430-Shaft-Type-Puller/dp/B000FPYW4K makes pulling old seals a breeze and is WELL worth it.
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suspension stuff doesn't have to be that bad, need to find out what it is first.
replace one ball joint or control arm bushing and done.
Just do it sooner rather then later or the extra vibration will cause other suspension components to fail. DAMHIK
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Not sure about the newer engines but I was able to break the pulley bolts loose pretty easily with the timing belt still on (put transmission in high gear, have someone hold the brakes if necessary). Torque to spec after the belt is back on and everything is lined up.
That home made tool looks pretty slick though.
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93, 276k
3-4 has ground since i had it. Only If I shift fast though. If I shift slow, no problems. Never found anything concerning on the drain plug during fluid changes so I'm not worried about it. More bummed about spending $40 instead of $12, being the broke cheap-rump roast that I am.
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What gears do. You notice it in?
Mostly 1-2 and 3-4, but downshifts are a lot rougher as well and they will all grind if i shift too fast. Only when its hot and city driving (stop and go) though. Seems to do fine on the highway or in stop and go as long as it not over 100 out. Maybe shifts a little rougher overall but its hard to tell as its always been a little rough if I shift too fast.
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Grrr, wish I'd seen this thread before I changed out my trans fluid a couple weeks ago. I'm running Valvoline durablend 80w-90 (synthetic blend,"limited slip") and experience some grinding on upshifts but only when its really hot out (like 105). If I shift slow its ok, so I'll probably leave it in for the winter and change it before next summer. And I thought I was being nice to my car.
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what is with the grease seals that come with the timing belt kit?
Crank and cam seals? These come with a lot of the ebay timing belt kits. Post a pic for confirmation.
Get one of these to pull the old seals.
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-58430-Shaft-Type-Puller/dp/B000FPYW4K
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I've used a 2/3 arm puller on stuck ones before. Something like this would work even better though.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html
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Sweet, I'll have to pick one up. Couldn't tell if the impact spun it or not.
Got it all back together yesterday and it still ain't running right. Being non-interference there's no way valves or pistons could have been damaged when the idler seized and the belt jumped, right?
Hopefully the belt is just off by a tooth (although I checked it like five times) and its not a bad lifter or something else. Look for a new thread by the end of the day if it's not the belt!
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An impact driver is usually what is needed to remove those. I wouldn't worry about it if it isn't loose.
That's what I was thinking and hoping to hear. Thanks!
I like the manual impact driver for screws like this, great for those nasty brake disk screws.
Is there much difference between one of these and just hitting a screwdriver socket bit with a hammer? Might have to pick one up if so.
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In the middle of changing out my timing belt (and idlers, water pump, cam and crank seal, etc.) and pulled the oil pump to loctite the screws and reseal it. Only I can't get one of the screws out and it's started to strip. Tried loosening it with a scewdriver bit in a 1/4" socket after whacking it with a hammer a few times so it seems to be stuck pretty good.
If i just loctite the other ones, think this one will be ok? I deburred it as best as possible and its not protruding above the backplate surface. I don't want to mess with extracting it if I don't have to.
The car is old and pretty beat up, just trying to get in on the road for some temporary wheels so ultra longevity is not a concern. Hopefully I won't have it longer than another year or two, tops.
The screw in question:
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What brand is the suspect part from Autozone? Probably better than what's in the picture, anyway.
That's what I'm thinking at this point. I can't leave my car in its current position on jack stands for too long anyways. Looks like the cheaper one is a "Gabriel" or they can order a KYB one for twenty. I'll probably go with the cheaper one, I should have had them send it to the closer store so I could've checked it out/bought it today.
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Thats what I was hoping this thing is really falling apart though. It got completely saturated with oil and now flakes apart very easily.
Anyone else have experience with these? As always thanks for all the help.
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Found one at autozone for $10 bucks across town but have had REALLY bad luck with their parts in the past.
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In the middle of changing out a strut and my bottom out bumper is pretty chewed up. $46 at the dealer, and 4-5 day wait. Only 20 online and probably faster delivery but I'm supposed to head out of town later this evening and that won't be possible if my car isn't back together.
I don't want to take the strut apart again just to replace the bumper so I'll probably wait if I have to. Getting a bunch of little foam rubber pieces in the new strut doesn't sound good for it.
Thoughts? Should I run it or replace it? I can postpone my trip but would rather not if this isn't a big deal.
edit: bottom out bumper i mean.
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In my 93 wagon the rear speakers are on top of the strut towers and are 6.5's.
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I've had my fair share of fun with worn out transverse arm bushings.
Yes they will clunk and knock when they go bad. If you can move it AT ALL by hand, don't you think 3,000 lbs of car is going to have a LOT more push and shove when going around a corner or braking/accelerating hard?
They are fairly easy to replace though. They just cost about $70 a piece from the dealer.
Poly is a cheaper alternative, but they will start to squeak after a few months of heavy use on dirt roads. You may have to take them apart to clean and regrease them once in a while to prevent wear and noise.
Thats what I figured when I could move it so easily, just didn't expect it to make a noise like that. $70 a piece isn't bad, and stockers sound much better than the poly.
Thanks for all the replies, sometimes bouncing ideas around is the best way to solve problems. I'll make sure and post up if this solves it or not when I get it done.
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Poly bushing might be the ticket, they gotta be quieter than it is now. Thanks for the link, I think I've actually read it before when I first discovered the bushing was bad while researching it. Would it be worth installing a grease zerk on the bushing mount for the poly bushing, or does it even require regreasing? Whats the life expectancy like on those?
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I believe the axles are subaru re-manufactured ones. I had a hard time finding boots for it and had to have a parts guy measure the old ones and match the dimensions up. I remember reading somewhere on here about old brat axles being used for subaru remans or something, idk. My inner DOJ's are huge compared to normal ones though. I only drove on the torn boot on the driver side for a few hundred miles and still had plenty of grease left in it when I had it rebuilt. When I had the hubs off to replace the wheel bearings earlier this year I could detect no play in the joints of the driver side axle. I rebuilt the pass side at the same time as the rubber was starting to crack and it appeared and felt fine as well. At this point I'm thinking it's the rear control arm bushing the more i think about it. If the noise persists after replacing those I'll try swapping axles.
I replaced inner and outer tie rods in april as well as the ball joints (while doing the wheel bearings). My rack and pinion boots had been torn for a while and the rubber was cracked on the outer tie rod ends as well. The passenger side ball joint and inner tie rod were shot, I could get close to a 1/2" of play out of the wheel between the two. Definitely should have checked it all out sooner, but for a while was just planning on replacing the car but now can't afford anything else or even want a newer one if I can keep this one on the road.
I could get at least a quarter inch of play out of the control arm just yanking on it with the suspension unloaded from the rear bushing, so its definitely toast. Driving on the blown out ball joint and inner tie rod end and my tendency to drive too fast on dirt roads surely accelerated its wear. Replacing these sounds easier than swapping axles at this point, if I can find some. IIRC there isn'n't a part number for the whole assembly that unbolts? I'm thinking my best and cheapest option is find some from a yard off something newer with lower miles, maybe from somewhere other than the southwest which is very hard on rubber.
I could detect no signs of fluid around the bushing so its likely all gone (if the 93's had fluid filled ones?) The LCA wasn't hitting the inside of the mount in april, but it might be by now.
and good to know about the diff and spare. That's what I'd thought originally but wasn't sure anymore
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well, as for just working with some WAGs, I'll offer a couple;
double check the 'transverse link' bushing. Sometimes called the front lower control arm rear bushing.
as a wild experiment, you could swap axles left to right in the front. If the inner tripod joint is making the noise, it will make it on the other side now - or possibly stop with almost new wear surfaces in play (cause, only reverse would previously be wearing the axle.)
My transverse link bushings are shot. the right side is a lot worse than the left though. Could this be causing the noise? It sounds more like something that is rotating, but who knows. Sounds can be very deceiving and difficult to track down. And that would make sense that the noise was worse/happened more frequently when turning left. Last time I looked into it my best (and possibly only) option was getting some used ones off carparts.com or a yard. My steering wheel has a shake/shimmy to it but it seems to be slower than the noise. this has also gotten worse with the noise in recent weeks. Unfortunately I'm dead broke and jobless at the moment so any repairs will have to wait a bit.
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So I've had an intermittent "knocking" type noise coming from somewhere in front for the last couple years and 15-20k miles. It started after driving on a torn CV boot for a bit and sounded like it was coming from that side (driver's). I had a trusted mechanic reboot it (last time I paid anyone to work on my car) and he said everything was fine internally and of course the car wouldn't reproduce the noise for them. It stayed very intermittent until the last 7-8k and in the last couple thousand or so has become a pretty much constant noise.
Originally turning left reproduced the noise more often but lately turning either way will produce it, if its not making it already. It is also sensitive to throttle input and it only makes the noise when I'm on the throttle in gear (ie when I'm not coasting or have the throttle shut in gear). It sounds like a bad CV joint but more of a knock than a clicking sound. It is consistent with tire speed, not engine rpms. I recently replaced the wheel bearings, ball joints, ad tie rod ends in the front as well as rebooting/inspecting the other axle. Some were pretty bad so I was hoping this would fix the noise. Struts and mounts are in decent shape, my control arm bushings are pretty shot but I don't really see that causing this noise and the really bad one is on the passenger side and while the noise could be coming from anywhere it sounds more to the drivers side or center of the car.
At this point I'm thinking transmission or differential and will be draining my gear oil to check the drain plug later this week. So my question is if the trans/diff is bad should I replace it? There's no way I can afford a decent car right now but with all the crap I still have to fix (suspension bushings all around, total timing belt job, and new tires soon, plus a clutch if I have the trans out) not to mention the rough body (I don't mind it looking like crap as long as it runs and drives fine but at the same time it doesn't make sense to spend more than something cheap but decent would cost) so it might not be worth it. I'm torn what to do as I've grown to love this car and don't mind doing the work. 93 legacy wagon, fwd, 5spd, 260k.
Also I'm not positive but I think one time a few years ago I drove a few hundred miles with the mini spare on the front, with 200 of it being at freeway speeds. I can't remember for sure if that flat was on the front or not, but I didn't know it could damage anything at the time and wasn't missing my vacation, lol. Still not sure if this is as detrimental to FWD cars as the AWD ones. I'll certainly heed the warnings in the owners manual/on the tire next time though. Just remembered I have changed the gear oil since this started (probably 12k ago) and all was normal then (just a small collection of fine shavings). However the noise has certainly gotten worse since then, mostly in how frequent it is but also has become louder and more intense, maybe a 30% increase, mostly in the last couple thousand miles. My shift shaft seal has started leaking in the last 10k but not enough to where I've had to add fluid. Thats about all I can think of that might be helpful.
Sorry for the long winded post but I know how hard it can be to describe these problems let alone attempt to diagnose them over the internet. Thanks in advance for the replies.
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Gotta remove the outer tie rod ends then its pretty simple. Mark its position and count the turns and you might be able to get by without having an alignment done. Avoid the boots from autozone, I installed one and 6 months later it is half melted and falling apart. The dorman one on the other side is holding up fine though (could only find one good one at the time).
ej22, blown head gasket?
in 1990 to Present Legacy, Impreza, Outback, Forester, Baja, WRX&WrxSTI, SVX
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The part that confuses me is that there was no visible leak before the radiator blew. I checked the coolant level a few weeks prior and it was fine.
I did the timing belt job before I realized the input bearing on the trans is going. This combined with a slew of other parts needing replacement have made me decide to stop putting money into it.
I'll mess with it when I get some time tomorrow, started a new job and been super busy. Sounds like I can borrow my brothers old car till I can afford a new one, so at least I'll have a car if the soob is dead.
Thanks for all the input, I'll post the results after I mess with it some more.