GeneralDisorder

If you want something to lift and play with get an EA81 Hatchback. The Loyale is not what you want at all. You need to look for an EA81 Hatch - 1982 to 1989. EA82's are too heavy, poor departure angle, etc. Plus the engine's suck and the cooling system's suck even harder. And a loyale has no low range - you would have to swap out the tranny first thing. At the very least hold out for a late '80's GL with a dual-range transmission. GD

A hydraulic press with a pressure gauge. You can't put more than a specified amount of pressure on them. GD

'98 is in that nebulous zone - could be either but probably the two-peice tensioner. You should check with the dealer. The ram-style (two-peice) tensioner is better and typically doesn't need to be replaced. Just the idler portion. As for the idler's - these things fail and this is EXACTLY why I can't stress enough that they should be replaced at every timing belt interval. Especially with belts lasting 105k now. GD

Typically I'm replaceing water pumps as well so with the radiator out it gives that much more room. Preventative maintenance - it's too cheap not to replace it IMO. GD

There are no special tools needed and no one ever pulls the engine for a timing belt job. Just pull the radiator and fans. GD

I wouldn't say the EJ18 is any more reliable than the EJ22. Both are excelent engines and the differences (valve train, and size) really aren't big enough to point out a reliability problem with either one. Also, the EJ22 is more availible as it was the only engine offered in Legacy's from '90 to '94 and the EJ18 didn't come onto the scene till the '93 Impreza was introduced. Both are good for 300k+ easily. GD

Yeah - Subaru clutches tend to shudder more than some other brands so it's always wise to have the flywheel turned and replace the pressure plate (and TO and Pilot bearings of course) with a new one. It's too far to go back in if something is wrong. GD

Engine is easier. And gives you access to more seals, etc. I always pull the engine. Only time the trans comes out of the car is if it's being replaced or the car is being parted out. GD

Never heard of them. But there are probably 100 different brands out there. And I'm betting most of them are made (or remaned) by the same factories. It's just the marketing people that rebrand everything and customize it for each store chain. GD

I usually just coat the splines (hub and transmission) in anti-seize. Grease works as well. Just a thin coat is fine. Glad you got it fixed and it wasn't as bad as you thought. That's often the case - people are more scared of doing something new than anything. Most jobs on Subaru's are far easier than other makes. GD

If the boots are intact then I would open them up - might just be that the grease has gone sour. Clean the joints out, regrease and reboot - they will probably work - slim chance they won't but the boots are cheap. GD

Some of us downshift in order to accelerate. I'm just saying...... Though I don't much care since I'll just tear the thing down and put in new syncro's when they start those shenanigans. GD

The Subaru dealer will also have availible remanufactured axles - which are similar quality to MWE, etc. I've heard excelent things about them, I beleive they run around $175.... in that neighborhood. Personally I use the EMPI axles - they are brand new and I haven't had an issue with one yet. EMPI is a well known brand and has a good reputation. $65 each and locally availible. You aren't going to hurt anything useing an impact on the axle nut - don't know where you got that from. I always impact them off. You can remove them without an impact - just put a 1/2" breaker bar or beefy ratchet on them and hit it with a 3 lb. sledge..... repeatedly. You'll eventually spin it off. It's basically a "hand impact". GD

Every manufacturer of filters has the ability to produce both high end and low end filters. I wouldn't be concerened that the OEM on them is the parent company of Fram. There's many, many products that you could avoid buying because the parent company also owns another unit that makes cheap throw-away stuff. That's business for you. Where there's a demand, there will be a product. GD

I'm assuming you have an automatic...... Could be a bad duty-c solenoid. Do a search on "duty-c", "dutyc", or "duty c" and read up on them. GD

The one-wire swap is stupid on anything but a race vehicle or something that has basically no electrical devices. It's only done so much because people don't understand the 3 wire remote sensing system. It's a much better system delivering more consistent power and has no real drawbacks other than it takes more than 2 brain cells to install it. I agree though - the quality of rebuilds in general seems to be really poor. I get the Bosch reman's for a good price and they seem fine for the half a dozen I've bought. Rebuilt parts in general are very poor these days. Axles, alternators, starters, etc are all largely junk and are almost worse in many cases than a carefully selected junk yard part. GD

Nope - 14.5 should be the max. If it's higher than that then the regulator is not working or the sense lead is telling it the voltage is low at the main junction. Where are you checking the volts? The alt is designed to put out enough voltage so the reading is 14.5 at the main junction (fusible links). Sometimes that means putting out more at the back of the alt though that generally indicates a poor wiring connection between the alt and the junction if it's more than a few tenths of a volt. 14.5 at the junction and 14.8 a tthe alt I wouldn't worry about - but over 15 is a problem. GD

Two long bolts on the top (one through the starter), and two nuts on the bottom. That's it. If it's not comming apart then I would say it's probably stuck on the dowel pins. Try driving a thin blade between the two - putty knife, etc. Sometimes it just needs to be pryed off the dowel pins. GD

That's a double-edged sword though. There are things that aren't listed in the manual, but should be replaced BEFORE they break. The water pump is a good example. Do you really want to hang a new belt on a water pump with 200k miles on it to save $60? But nowhere in the manual does it indicate the water pump should be changed - nor the belt tensioners or idlers. It is the opinion of most of the people here that have done a lot of these jobs that all that stuff should be replaced at the 2nd timing belt change for 60k belts, and EVERY timing belt change for 105k belts. It's cheap insurance and water pump/idler bearing failures are not that uncommon - I've bought a few cars for exactly that reason. GD

That's true to some extent. Though it's hard to differentiate as the guy that puts on the larger filter probably isn't causeing any major harm in doing so, and at the same time he's maintaining his engine with some care and thought (however misguided). Likely he's checking other fluids, changing them, adjusting things, etc. A well maintained EJ will certainly outlast a poorly maintained one. Very often the engine's internal's do outlast other parts of the car though. GD

What you are talking about is a boundery condition. Specifically, the point at which the filter is too dirty for cold oil to flow through it and thus the bypass valve opens. While I conceed that this point can be and surely is being reached by some people's filters, you cannot say when or if this is going to happen before the filter get's changed. That's speculation at best. I would err on the side of saying that Subaru did enough homework to avoid that in normal circumstances (filter being changed on the schedule, and the engine not being a total dirty mess inside). Further - the only reason the larger filter would perform better in your scenario is that it has a larger element - so it's a trade off. As I noted before the element gets better as it ages - you are trading that aged property for a chance to avoid the bypass valve opening when cold - which you can't demostrate even occurs (though under the right circumstance it could). I guess that's a judgment call that would come down to how dirty I thought the engine was inside. I would definitely have to be cutting open every filter to make that call. And at any rate, I'm certain this doesn't happen enough to justify the change in filter size on an otherwise clean engine (and on a dirty one, it should be flushed with ATF and the filter changed more often IMO). And as you pointed out - if you run synthetic's it's likely MUCH less of an issue. GD

One of the reasons I use the 90A Nissan Maxima units is they seem much better quality than the GM stuff besides being easier to fit up. Though it of course depends on the rebuilder but I haven't had a bad Maxima unit yet and I'm using mostly junk yard units. I don't imagine my EA's put much strain on them either. GD

You have to remove the driver's side fender and removing the dash is optional but makes it a lot easier. There are big differences between 90/91 and 92-94. Namely the location of the ECU, routing of the wireing, and the brand of the components (Hitachi vs. JECS). To make it easier get a harness from the same year range as you get the engine. GD

I must dissagree with you. I've had several bad tanks and the plastic the nipples are made from is obviously detrimentally effected by the years of hot coolant. It breaks down to a whitish colored paste which when dry just flakes away like dust. The fix is so simple that there's no reason to not do it. You cut the nipples off, tap the tank to 1/4" NPT, and install brass nipples with tru-seals. It couldn't be simpler and cheaper and not doing it is just asking for one to crack and dump coolant while driving (I've had it happen). The rest of the hoses suffer from being old - plain and simple. The rubber on old hoses is subject to breaking down. Most especially the turbo coolant hose from the water tank and the heater core hoses but the rest are no better. For the cost of replacement I wouldn't risk it. I've had more coolant hose failures on old Subaru's that left me stranded than ANY other type of failure. GD

How do you figure this? The bypass valves are set at a specific pressure. The size of the filter isn't going to change the amount of pressure the pump puts out to any great degree - it shouldn't if designed properly and the engine is operated within it's allowable ambient temp range. GD