GeneralDisorder

You need a new oil pump o-ring and a new set of lifters. Not a head rebuild. 300k on the bottom end? You're nuts. Head rebuild is a waste of money. Might as well burn it - at least you'll get something out of that. I get used EJ22's with 120 to 150k on them that run perfectly for $500. Rebuilding in any capacity at that kind of mileage is a complete financial lose. GD

If you are just going to install the diff without rebuilding the transmisison (silly IMO) then you don't need a press. If you are doing a full rebuild you will need access to a press for the whole process. The shafts don't come apart any other way. GD

The general consensus on NASIOC is that if you have to ask how difficult it is - you aren't prepared to do it. You may as well rebuild the transmission with new main shaft bearings and new syncro's, You will have to reset the R&P clearances. Special tools are "required" but if you are handy at precision measurement and reading tea leaves you can get it done with only a few common things like a dial indicator, mic's, etc. GD

87 to 89 RX. 88 and 89 Full Time 4WD Turbo 5 speeds 91 Legacy SS Then there's a long interval till you get to the USDM turbo models with R160 LSD's like the '04 Forester XT, etc. All but the 87 to 89 LSD's are some form of VLSD. Which are basically useless after about 50k miles and cannot be serviced or rebuilt so unless you plan on buying a new one - don't bother. Clutch types from 87 to 89 can be rebuilt with parts from Nissan. They are very sought after - I sell them for over $400 to the Datsun 510 guys. GD

I haven't had much good luck with the gel batteries in my vehicles. They seem a lot less tollerant of sitting for long periods which my many vehicles tend to do since I have quite a few and can only drive one at a time. GD

Yeah it's a group 35. I like Interstate's myself. I get MT35's for $67 and some change. GD

Well - assuming you are going to strip the harness - it really doesn't matter where anything goes. You strip from the ECU out. So start checking pinouts and labeling connectors according to where they connect at the ECU plugs. Then you will know which one's are keepers and which are not. GD

I'll have to look for them. Been a loooong time since I posted this. And I can't edit the post in any case - all I can do is rehost them and put them on this last page. GD

Outback's do not have LSD's..... not in any of those years. The one's with LSD's are the EJ255 turbo Outback XT's which didn't come out till 2005. And I'm not even sure all of those got them. GD

No - a cold air intake (actually they are "short ram" intakes and they don't pull cold air they pull warm air from the engine bay) will do NOTHING for performance and there is NOTHING you can do to the EJ22 NA that will bring it even close to the stock performance of the EJ22T except run boost through it. Reliability takes a big hit. Redevil has gone through a LOT of engines and he hasn't used the NA's for a long time now. It ate them like candy. I beleive in it's current config it's running an EJ257. GD

Repair/replace the terminals also. Those look bad. Water and baking soda are your friends here. The fact that the terminals look like that is a sign that your battery is taking a dive. The acid deposits are a good sign that connections are poor and the battery is old. GD

Yeah if it turns out to be a peice of crap we can run it in for the core value unless you want to try to sell the heads - could probably get more than $100 for the parts off that thing if you wanted to part it out. Heads are probably worth $150 over on NASIOC and the manifold is good, etc. GD

Depends entirely on the year, model, and transmission type that it came from. GD

You really think the water pump and idlers will go another 100k? I've seen factory water pumps fail before 100k. You could put this back together, go 20k and have the water pump start weeping..... No joke. Just did an '06 Forester a few months back with a weeper at 98k and I just pulled an engine from an '03 Baja with a weeper at 117k. Both OEM. Remember that the dealer service departement has a vested intrest in your repeat business. I don't. GD

Yeah you can do them that way - SOA says they have to. I care about my back a lot more than SOA cares about their technician's backs. It's a lot easier with the engine out. And doesn't take that long to pull them. GD

Every brand has it's problems. Where Subaru's stand apart is that they are far easier to work on. If you compare the right models, Subaru looks good. If you compare the wrong one's they look bad. Making judgement calls about a brand as a whole is meaningless and silly. So is brand loyalty. I wouldn't own a Justy just because I like Subaru's..... they were crap. I also tilt my head to the side when people ask about the 25D. Used 25D cars are to be treated with much skepticism. All Subaru's are not the same - just as all Toyota's, Honda's, and every other brand are not the same. Blanket statements just make people look foolish to me. Make is a LOT less important than model and year. Us engineers and mechanics don't really care about perfect reliability because we know that all machines will eventually break. What we DO care about is how simple the problem is to solve. Subaru's are a LOT easier to work on than almost all other brands and they have the added benefit that most run-of-the-mill mechanics don't beleive this to be true because of their "strange" boxer engine design and symetrical layout. This is adventagous because when they break they are cheap and those of us in the know pick up that "wierd, broken Subaru" and we laugh at their ignorance behind their backs when we fix it for the cost of a duty-c solenoid and some tranny fluid or a $300 replacement transmission. :-p GD

If it were me I would just wait till 105k and do it when the timing belt is due. The external weepage usually isn't enough to be more than an annoyance. I would pull the engine, do the clutch if it needs it, complete timing belt kit with water pump, all idlers, tensioner, etc - front main and cam seals, valve cover gaskets, plugs and well seals, and the oil pump o-ring. Don't forget an OEM thermostat for your new water pump. And of course check your valve clearances. But they will almost certainly be fine. GD

You have to make sure it *has* a correct crush washer though. I've seen lots of cheap one's that were squished out and one's that leak, etc. Or just plain missing. I typically replace them with OEM one's when I change the filter. I don't always replace one's that I know I've replaced in the past and that still look good but I do swap them out. It's worth it to me to not have any drips for the $1 they cost. Also having a good soft crush washer means you don't have to crank the plug down so tight to stop them from weeping. Then I don't have to take them loose with a pipe wrench and a cheater. :-\ GD

Sure - but who really wants to look at a check engine light? Theres ways to eliminate it and that is the professional way to handle it. I would never let a customer drive off with a car that's going to pop a CEL due to my work. GD

Get those last few threads for extra strength. Aluminium should have 2x the diameter for thread engagment. It's just added insurance and it's the *right* way to do it. You don't *have* to - but if it fails won't you feel silly? GD

Beware of stainless on stainless - if you use stainless studs then don't use stainless nuts. Use zinc coated. Stainless paired with stainless will easily gall the threads and they will never come apart. 7/16 x 14 or 7/16 x 20 will both work fine. The 20 is a finer thread and typically with aluminium a coarser thread works better. Existing holes are 3/4" deep or so. The general rule with aluminium is 2x the diameter of the thread for proper engagement. Well - the problem I see with those inserts is they use much larger taps than a heli-coil. The M14 x 1.5 tap is still about $15 with shipping from Amazon. I see no appreciable difference in price nor any compelling reason to use them over a standard heli-coil. You are still going to buy their inserts and installation tool as well as a tap from another supplier.... you might save $10 in the process. I would rather have the whole kit in one box from one supplier. Being aluminium the tap is not really a wear item if you are careful with it. I have used a lot of heli-coils in my career. I've never had one fail or back out on me. Nice! It all worked out well I see. GD

The front and center slip yokes can probably take up some of that - at least 1" between the two of them. You could bolt/weld a spacer to the rear diff flange for the rest and then move the carrier bearing mounts forward. GD

Doesn't look like the duty-c solenoid to me. Their price is close (but higher than my local dealer with my discount) but the picture is way off and the part number is meaningless. I wouldn't order from them. GD

I believe it's a 31942AA090. That is the complete solenoid and the valve body. Just bought one last week. My local dealer price is $110.20 You also need the gaskets(2) which are #31954AA071 for $1.34 each. GD

You can't use a regular tap to install a heli-coil. You have to use a special heli-coil tap that's correctly oversized for the insert. I've looked into this in the past and they do not correspond to any commonly availible sizes. The stock exhaust stud size is M10 x 1.25. The "Screw Thread Insert" (STI) Tap for this size heli-coil is called an "M10 x 1.25 STI Tap". They run about $25 on their own. Here's the complete kit with inserts: http://www.threadtoolsupply.com/M10x125-professional-helical-insert-repair-kit.html You don't have to heli-coil them if you don't want to buy a kit though. Just oversize them to 7/16" x 14 with a plug tap and bottoming tap. Then use 7/16" x 14 all-thread to make new studs. Loctite really won't help with exhaust studs much since the temps can easily exceed what even the red (271) thread locker will withstand. GD