NOMAD327

I will copy over some info from previous posts I have made on the subject. I used PFR5B-11 NGK which I found at advanced auto for $10, best price I found, and yes those are the original equipment plugs for the car. List on those plugs most places is $15 each and a lot of the internet sources wanted $12 or more with shipping extra. My kid who is on a budget bought Autolite APP3924 for about $4 apiece. They are double platinum and made in America. Very high quality appearance and seemed to match the NGK's for dimensions very well. The car runs like it should on them, so they may be OK to use. The plugs on this engine are real difficult to change, so I bought the NGK not wanting to have to redo the job if there were any problems Once you remove the windshield washer bottle and battery (can probably just slide it forward on it’s tray a bit) on the left and the air inlet tube and mass air sensor and air cleaner box on the passenger side, access is fair doing a 2.5 in an outback. I would do the front plug first on each side, as they are slightly easier to do. What makes it the most hard is that the plugs are really far down inside the wells in the heads. The rear plugs on each side are harder because the frame rails are closer in the back. My problem was that an extension was needed, but there isn’t room to get one in with the socket attached. You have to slide the socket into the hole first, then slide in and assemble the extension, and finally attach the ratchet to the end of the extension. I immediately removed the sponge rubber plug protector from my socket, the reason being it will be extremely difficult to get the socket off the end of the plug and out of the hole if the rubber is gripping the spark plug. I didn’t want it on for plug removal either, because there is a lot of trial and error with your socket set as to what gives just the right length for getting the socket stack down into the hole. As I recall, what worked best for me was to use a plug socket in the rear, and then use a ratchet with a standard socket on it to turn the hex on top of the plug socket instead of using an extension. On the front plugs, a 3" extension worked pretty well with the regular spark plug socket and a ratchet. There was at least one plug which worked slightly better with a standard deepwell socket instead of the spark plug socket, but that was not a critical must have item! I would recommend having a small hand mirror on a stick or a ladies compact to be able to glance down into the well to see what’s happening. I’ve done a few of these cars, and on each one, at one time or another, the spark plug socket became slightly jammed on some aluminum protrusions of the head that were down deep in the well. The impression is that the threads are pulling rather than the socket is cocked and dragging. If you experience this, Use the mirror to reconnoiter. If in doubt, reverse direction, and the condition should go away if it’s not the threads. This usually happens when it’s just starting to go real good to scare the heck out of you. Going back in with new spark plugs, make sure you check the gap first, then lube the threads with an anti-seize compound. Make sure there is a washer on the plug or you will wonder later on if it was in fact there. The big trick for installation, is to have a piece of rubber hose that’s about three or four inches long and a snug fit on the top of the spark plug. Stick it down over the top of the plug and use it to guide the plug into place. Twirl the hose between your fingers and you can probably get the new plug in half to three quarters of the way which ensures the threads are started straight. It's also much quicker and easier than a socket wrench as far as it will go. Putting all the stuff back on after the plugs are in, make sure the three quarter inch hose that connects to the bottom of the intake tract after the air flow sensor is reconnected, The car will not run without the hose connected, and sometimes it slips off unseen during disassembly, and you don’t even realize it needs reconnected.

My view is if you are buying one new you can make your own choice. If you are buying used, there will be a few more WRX's to choose from. It will also add a few dealers that can work on Subaru's (eventually) to the mix. I don't see a real downside to the new cars except for GM seeming to pull another fast one with their dealers. GM bought Saab hoping to jazz up their lineup with a lot of Euro tech, then killed Oldsmobile for not selling enough cars. Oldsmobile sold 300,000 a year, Saab sells 30,000 a year. What's the sense in that.

Regular grade actually has a bit more energy in it per gallon. The difference is slight but it is the regular grade that would favor higher economy. You can always perform a personal real world check and see what results you see. Even a slight improvement with higher grade would not offset the higher cost per gallon. I would run the lowest grade where the motor ran good.

Even conventional oils never truly wear out. It's contamination that destroys the oil. The steam turbines where I work run around the clock year round, and are on the same oil after twenty years. The problem with an internal combustion engine, is that burning fuel creates many chemical residues which largely go out the exhaust, but some of the stuff by necessity goes into the oil. I believe it's mostly acids from combustion dissolved in the oil that cause the problems. Since it isn't particulate and can't be filtered out, It requires an oil change to remove it.

I will add a note for anybody that owns a Ford Zetec engine here, a lot of them but not all have variable valve timing on the intake cam only. These models can be identified by a big cone shaped protrusion pointing straight out to the passenger side on the end of the engine where the rear cam sprocket is located. These engines are real sensitive to oil viscosity and oil cleanliness because the cam actuator can block up and jam. This sets a check engine light because the cam doesn't move when the computer directs it to. It's a $600 internal part if it jams. If I owned one of these, I would only use the 5W-30 oil, and I would change it a lot, or use synthetic oil. I believe it is more common on Contour, Mystique and Escort. The Focus engines I've seen do not have variable timing, except the SVT versions that have it on both cams.

ZX2's all have a 2.0 liter engine, 130 hp zetec, pretty much the same as the focus uses. most base escorts have a 1.9 liter. I don't think there's been a 1.6 since 85 model year.

I'm located in Danville, Pa. on I-80 about midway across the state. The Garage is an old building from the 30's in a nearby 10 house town. They were the local VW beetle wizards for many years and shifted to doing a lot of Subaru's in the 70's. They do what work comes, and haven't really done any SOHC 2.5 yet as the work there is mostly still under warranty. They do a couple of DOHC and older models a week, as well as other cars. They have worked on my twin balance shaft mitsubishi engines and my Taurus SHO at times, no engines are more complicated than those. This job was done in the car and took a day and a half start to finish. The second day was mostly making adjustments and heating up and cooling off a couple times for a good coolant fill and to ensure the job was properly done.

My kid just did a replacement of both head gaskets today. He did the timing belt spark plugs and oil pump stuff last year, so that work isn’t figured in, but total labor, fluids, etc. was $450 which would have been about the same even if oil pump work was done. The parts from liberty subaru were $230 including a water pump and thermostat and every other seal and gasket. $680 total compared to $1300 the dealer wanted without doing the water pump. Just posting for info and comparison. It was a 2.5 DOHC at 99,000 miles. 97 OBW

On newer cars, I have seen people have trouble from the short 1" diameter air hose that goes from the main induction hose to the idle air control valve. It is out of sight on the bottom of the big rubber hose, and pulls off pretty easy when you are just messing with the air filter. When off, most of the induction air can bypass the mass air sensor and the engine will just barely run or not at all. I don't know if your car has this arrangement, but it's easy to check, and will prevent the car from running after simple maintenance.

I would say you need to find a used tire, either same brand with similar tread depth, or any other tire with same outside diameter and similar wear rating so it stays that way. One other option is to buy the tire new from a vendor large enough to have a tire shaving machine and have the new one cut down to match. It's not an option to drive with different dimension tires on the car.

My 99 is about the same, a bit more than 3 high at 60, that's not too bad, It's also about 3 high at 30 which is a 10% error. I usually settle on a speed where I am passing a couple of cars for each one car that passes me, and that seems about right. My speed check is by the big outbreak of "your speed" radar speed signs at all the work areas in Pennsylvania this spring. I believe they are pretty close, other sources I have to check speed seem to concur. the state probably recycled all it's older speed enforcement guns into the new signs.

I just did a timing belt, water pump, oil pump o-ring, front seal, etc on my 99 Outback DOHC. Problem going in was a very steady oil drip from the front. What was found was no problems with anything else other than the lip seal. The seal's lip was rock hard, would crack if you tried to bend it. One screw on the back of the oil pump was just a little loose, rest of the screws very tight, everything now fixed. The new seal from Subaru has a brown colored rubber lip insert, hope it's better than the OEM seal was.

The 1.9 diesel has more torque than the 2.0 gas at any RPM. I've heard they feel much more peppy in everyday driving as well as getting the kind of MPG Volkswagens were once famous for. 700 miles on a tankful was the number I always heard and I could definitely get used to that on a car! The two things I have always heard on the new beetles was that there were a lot of electrical problems like on all the other german cars. Not the big stuff, just lots of little switches and stuff. My Ford dealer is a Volkswagen dealer and they once told me they had to replace the radio in every one they had sold! The other thing is they have replaced lots of rear axle assemblys on them and golfs and jettas. What happens there is if you back into a curb, the axle bends and the fix is to replace the entire axle assembly. That should be pretty easy to avoid, especially knowing it could be a problem

A simple point here is that the crank turns twice for every one cam rotation. The cam doesn't care which rotation the crank is on, because it will line up on one rotation then 180 degrees out every other rotation. That is to say, if you line the cam up with # 1 piston at top dead center and install the belt, then turn the crank one full revolution, everything will now line up perfectly with #2 at top dead center. (This is valve timing, both #1 & 2 cylinders are at crank top dead center at the same time) First is top of power stroke on # 1, second time is top of intake stroke on # 1. The requirement for #1 stroke TDC is for firing spark plugs when there is a distributor type ignition. If you have a crank trigger ignition, the plugs fire on every revolution, wasting a spark on the exhaust stroke, so the #1 TDC position requirement is even becoming obsolete when talking spark timing. In any case, crank to cam relationship is set using the timing marks and on the older models we are talking about, there isn't a problem with valve interference. If I need to find the TDC on #1, I do it as follows. The timing belt needs to be installed with timing marks aligned, and the motor is turned in the normal direction. One method is to turn the engine in the forward direction with your finger partly in the spark plug hole and when you start to feel air blowing out, it's on it’s compression stroke. Continue slowly until the timing marks line up and it's at TDC of the power stroke. (This is when the spark plug will fire roughly and you would set a distributor rotor at this point). If the valvetrain is exposed it's even easier, turn the engine in the correct direction until the cylinder opposite in firing order (#2) has it's intake valve just start to move. The crank timing mark will now be very near TDC. With #2 cylinder at the top of it's intake stoke, the opposite cylinder (#1) is at the top of it’s power stroke and it’s at the correct spot to set rough ignition timing. Once rough timing is set, the motor will be capable of running and fine timing can be set using a timing light. (This is for motors with a distributor). If the haynes manual is having you check these things without need, it may be that it covers models other than yours that still have a distributor.

Loctite makes a product called quick metal which is made specifically for repairing worn out keyways and fixing similar problems. It’s a thick silver liquid in a tube which you fill the worn out area around the key with. Like most other Loctite products it sets only when assembled in a joint, depriving it of air. It requires clean dry parts like other Loctite products as has already been stated. I have seen it hold up for a period of a year in big industrial drives that reverse direction under load twenty times a minute. At that rate, I would expect it to last nearly forever in a crank key application which is lighter load and mostly only used in one direction. If nothing else, it only takes a few minutes to perform the repair after disassembly, and should it not hold up, there is no permanent damage from the repair itself. I don't normally see it in stores, might have to get it from a bearing supply house.

It could really go one way or the other, simply based on the fact some models were built with the new engine here that model year. Legacy models here are built in USA, don't know about the other two, but that could constitute the difference. It's easy to tell on one specific vehicle by lifting hood and checking out the engine. The DOHC has very blocky valve covers with spark plugs exactly centered in the face of the cover pointing straight out to the side. The DOHC timing belt cover is shaped a bit like a bowtie with two diples in the plastic where it covers the two sprockets on each head. The SOHC valve cover is a bit more rounded with spark plugs located very near the top and angled upward a bit. The SOHC timing belt cover is nearly rectangular in shape with no room at the ends for the pair of sprockets in evidence on your engine.

I have a 99 and it looks like a 96 to 98 model. It has a DOHC motor. The engine block is the new version, but the heads and gasket problems are the same as your model. In 99, Forrester and Imprezza got SOHC engine with old styling. In 2000 the Legacy changed styling and engine type.

May not be an issue for you, but engine would have to be removed to use studs for head mounting. It would not be possible from that point on to remove heads with motor in car. Many people pull engine for head service anyway, but option to do in car would disappear.

Have to make sure front and rear have same axle ratio when done obviously, using rear from donor car will ensure this

The wrenches that are pressed out of thin steel seem to work a bit better than the ones that are made out of hard plastic. I have both kinds and prefer the steel. One store chain will sell one style and another store will sell the other. Usually a single store will not sell both kinds.

I have an industrial X-ray interpreting background, and it is quite possible to miss a crack in material with X-ray. If your film catches a flaw on edge, it shows up fine, Viewed more direct on, It will be invisible on the film. A dye penetrant exam is a better method for finding cracks of the type one would expect to cause a coolant leak. That said, the established way to check cylinder heads is to pressure test them as has been discussed. If the gasket isn't leaking and they pressure test fine, they will normally be fine in service. My observation on this thread is that We get a new head gasket discussion a couple times a week and talk of cracked cylinder heads is rare. I would stick with a head gasket theory unless the engine was badly overheated, or a physical exam shows the crack. The air entering the engine symptom is the same in either case.

I got the 99 manual on disc and it is arranged with a bunch of .pdf files in various folders as you are all describing. The disc doesn't look very full when you get it, but when the files are all printed out, it makes a stack of paper over 30" thick. very high quality prints, looks like factory printing

It may not be an issue for you, but I’ve noticed problems getting comfortable in my 99 OBW just because the side dashboard vents are on all the time. This is normal by design, but it is unlike most cars where the side vents and the center vent work together. (This is actually the way all Japanese cars were back in the 70’s). I mention it only because it may be different than you are used to, and it is easy to check.

I have had a number of Chrysler products with the 3.0 Mitsubishi V6 engine. That engine has extremely tiny hydraulic lifters that love to block and the engine is notorious for cold tappet noise as a result. All those engines were completely cured by adding one pint (to 4 qt. oil) of Marvel Mystery Oil or CD-2 top end lube to each oil change. It was necessary to do it once with each oil change, on those motors at least, you could not get ahead of the problem and go back to regular oil without the noise returning.

On the Legacys at least, taking the main rails off the roof requires pulling the headliner out of the car. That seems like a lot of trouble for the results you are seeking. The body styles haven't changed in a decade, so the newer units would probably fit. I would park side by side with a newer one and eyeball the contour of the roof to be sure. You should be able to figure out by looking if the areas where bolts are installed are in the same place.