GeneralDisorder

Unless it's leaking there's no reason to remove it - just remove the cable from the clutch fork and replace it with a return spring. If it's not being actuated by the cable it does nothing at all. Seems a bunch of extra work to eliminate something that's not a problem and not in the way. GD

The TCU won't let you do anything dangerous. You can rapidly descend in gears though if it's setup right. Mostly that's just an "added feature" as they are not designed to be shifted at all really. They have an infinite gear range so it's best for mileage and such to just leave the TCU to do it's thing and not touch the paddles. GD

$37 for a T/O and we pull the engine and replace it. I don't see a reason to replace the whole clutch kit for just a bad T/O as long as there hasn't been any slipping, etc. It's about 4 hours to pull and replace the engine with inspection and cleaning, etc. While the engine is out we can check the tranny input shaft for play. Typically if they are bad they will make noises all the time and the gear oil will be full of metal. GD

That kind of rust is almost unheard of out here - especially on a 7 year old car. Where did this thing come from? That looks like east-coast rot. I have seen those bolts on my 20+ year old Subaru's not nearly so nasty and usually come right off. Stuff here just doesn't do that.... GD

Actually - more and more car companies are adopting CVT's - notably Nissan which has switched to CVT's on all it's small and medium sized cars in the US. Virtually all of the hybrids are equipped with some form of CTV including the Prius. The Subaru design is interesting in that it borrows from a very old technology called a Reeves drive - which is a set of variable pulley's on which runs a belt or in this case a chain. It's a really simple concept and fortunately it's pretty well a proven technology in the world of machinery - it was a common form of variable speed control used before electronics - back in the '40s through the '80s they were used extensively. They weren't suited to cars because of a lack of computer and electronic control - relying primarily on an operator to adjust the drive for the desired speed. On the downside - it's *not* a proven technology in the world of automotive transmissions. Subaru is once again doing their own thing and opting for a design that departs from all the designs of other CVT transmissions. It's actually an elegant solution using very few moving parts - it *should* be pretty well bullet-proof eventually - but a few early design bugs are sure to creep in. Fortunately it's not very similar to the Justy's ECVT. So we'll see...... I personally prefer to stand on the sidelines and watch all the guinea pig early adopters from a distance. GD

I would guess that there is very little experience with these outside of the dealerships themselves owing to the fact that most are still under some sort of factory warantee - therefore..... being both new technology and such a new car in general I would not reccomend any shop besides the dealership. I'll add my own feelings on the matter - NEVER buy the first generation of any new technology. Early adopters have a high probability of getting burned. Hard lesson but one that needed to be learned apparently . He's just going to have to ride it out - failure may result - but until they get the bugs worked out there's no tech anywhere at the dealership level that's been highly trained on these and the most likely results are either total failure and subsequent replacement under recall/warantee - gradual failure and eventual replacement after the warantee expires - or it just makes funny noises and never fails. If the old Justy CVT was any kind of water mark on the subject..... well let's just say they were total peices of crap. Only time will tell what happens and what Subaru's response will be. In the mean time he should not be so "sensitive" - as an early adopter he's going to have to get used to quirks in the products he buys. One would think, having clearly fathered a child that is now of adult age, that he would have learned this by now . GD

Changing the axles is trivial though - especially with the transmission removed. GD

Any 90 to 95 2WD Impreza or Legacy transmission will work. After '95 Subaru did not make 2WD's for the US market. GD

Your's are hydraulic and do not require adjustment. GD

The choke spring is broken - they have a "hook" bent into the end of the bi-metal spring that engages the choke plate lever. After years of use and cold-temp starting the choke spring wear through at the hook and no longer catches the plate lever - rendering the choke plate fully open at all times. You can replace the electric choke (go to the dealer for this part and be prepared for sticker shock) or conver it to a manual choke using some of the generic kits that are availible at most auto-parts stores - there is usually some mild fabrication involved, removal of the air filter housing, drilling of the rivets holding the choke on, and a bit of work installing the manual choke cable through the firewall and mounting it under the dash, etc. Another alternative is to install a Weber carb instead. This will give an increase in performance as well as fix your choke problem and is well worth the entry price of ~$350 or so. About twice the price of the electric choke part from the dealer but worth every penny unlike the dealer part which is only fixing an already old and crappy carb. GD

Depends on the year. GD

Yes. GD

Yes - set the intake to .008" and the exhaust to .010". It's a direct swap - the cam doesn't matter. Make sure the oil pump is not actually your problem - HLA's on these rarely fail (I've never seen it). GD

You can swap them, yes. I prefer the manual lifters personally. They are easy to adjust. GD

Why don't you give us more than a single sentance of information so we can help you?!?! We don't know what you are working with (equipment, time-frame, current state of your vehicle, etc, etc) so it's impossible for us to give you any kind of decent help. Either cough up with the info or just figure this out on your own kid. GD

That is not entirely correct. The Automatic's are 80/20 till the front's start to slip then the rear is engaged by the TCU. Manual's are entirely different (except the 6 speed's) - they are 50/50 but also have a center diff and viscous coupler that can heat up durring excessive wheel spin at one end or the other and transfer more torque to the end that had traction. Over time, differences in tire circumference will cause damage to the center diff/VC on the manual transmissions and will cause damage to the clutch pack on the automatics. It's a matter of them not being desinged to be in constant use - only used when turning and when wheels slip. The larger the differences in tire sizes, the faster these components spin while driving in a straight line, and thus the faster they overheat and wear out. It's that simple. So YES you should always run similar tires (brand and size)with similar wear and inflation. You don't have to be super anal about it - within 25% tread wear and within 5 psi inflation is accurate enough to insure a good long life for your transmission. GD

Only two things I will use on water pumps - OEM metal gasket (prefered in this case) or loctite 518 (which I use on EA's). Either will work fine. The 518 peels right off leaving a nice clean surface since it remains somewhat flexible. It seals like nothing else though. Subaru crankcase halves, oil pumps, water pumps, etc - it won't clog any passages since it doesn't dry except in the absence of oxygen. That Indian Head stuff is old tech. I wouldn't even consider using it on anything. There are now much better options even for 1950's gaskets. GD

The TCU requires some inputs from the Fuel Injection ECU for correct operation IIRC. So if you have a carb engine that might be a problem. I beleive the 4EAT's are larger and the car's did come with a bit larger tunnel, yes. GD

+1 - there are better looking options. They look aright and are definitely functional on a wheeler (where wider isn't neccesarily a bad thing), but on a street unit like that it's no the best choice of offset. GD

Lack of information - we need background on the car - how it came stock, how and why it was modified to a carb engine, and what (if any) of the original FI wireing and fuel system remain. FI is computer controlled - carbs are not. There's a big leap from one to the other and a lot of people have a hard time with this type of swap - even experienced mechanics. We need info and pictures, etc. We can't tell you anything useful from a one sentance question that potentially has very complex answers. GD

Excelent! Glad you found it - the spray pattern was probably due to poor/uneven manifold vacuum. GD

Don't just blow it out with carb cleaner - pull the e-tube out and really get it clean. Use a bit of bent wire (paper clip works) to pull the e-tube out of it's bore. Yes - the spray pattern should always be even - dripping, etc is a sign of some kind of problem with the circuit. GD

Not all EJ25 blocks are the same - but the frankenmotor generally consists of the EJ25D block with EJ22E heads (from any year you desire). The reason the 25D is used is because the pistons are taller and provide higher compression than the EJ251 and up. That and the EJ25D is the cheapest of the 2.5 blocks. Your local dealer doesn't know much about Subaru engine's apparently. But that's not uncommon - they don't do many engine tear downs and they surely haven't ever tried to fit a part from a 2.2 to a 2.5 - there would be no reason for them to do this. The DOHC head design goes all the way back to the first EJ20's built in the late 80's. The DOHC/SOHC has nothing to do with the head fitting to the block - only the way the cams fit to the heads. All EJ 4 cylinders have the same head/block mating with only minor changes in cooling ports, etc. GD

That's what the '97 EJ22 I did looked like - cutting torch style. I replaced the injectors on general principle but it could have been a valve clearance problem - It was so ugly and cought me off-gaurd with it being such a strange failure that I did not have the presence of mind to measure the clearance prior to taking it apart. With a hydro engine..... only thing I can figure is the lifter was bottomed out in it's travel or there was a serious lean condition. GD

99% of the time, the system just has a leak and has lost all it's refrigerant. You have a couple choices - charge it with a can of R134 - most of them have a stop-leak additive and that may work or at least it may be cold for a summer. Or replace all the o-rings in the system just on principle and then charge it - could still be a leaky evap core, etc but usually it's an o-ring problem, etc. GD