GeneralDisorder

You sure it's 5 long and 5 short flashes that you are seeing? EGR temp sensor's were only included on CA models. I've never seen one but if it's there it's got to be either in the EGR tube from the passenger side head or on the manifold very near to the EGR valve. I beleive there may be a way to ground or not ground a pin on the ECU and tell the car it doesn't have the sensor.... being a CA only device IIRC the ECU's are capable of running either way. GD

Search.... this has been covered every week for years. GD

Pull the rear cover and look. Clutch style LSD's will not have visible spider gears. VLSD's will, but you can still determine if it's an LSD or not. If the sticker doesn't say LSD or VLSD in big letters.... it's an open diff unless someone has changed the guts (which is possible). Also - in order to put an older diff into a newer Subaru, somtimes you have to change the rear cover as the mounting studs are too short on the older one's. So the sticker might not even be for that diff if the covers been changed, etc. GD

I've never had an issue with the spacer's holding up the axle. The splines and the bit where the cone-washer locks to the shaft are tapered enough to push the spacer out of the way. It sounds to me like you just have a normal fit into the bearings and aren't able to get it through far enough to pry it into place. They aren't supposed to just slide in - the fit is not interferance but it is zero clearance. You are correct on the caliper and bracket. Three bolts and it's off. GD

I still partially blame the guy who installed it. He was the one with hands on the part and hands on the car. If I'm given a part to install by an owner of a car who is obviously not capable of, or willing to, install it themselves then I inspect both the part and the car for suitibility. As soon as you slip a 25 spline cup over a 23 spline stub it should be obvious that the fit is not right for a spline style machined fit. The diameter is all wrong on the cup splines and there's a LOT of play. At the very least he should have looked at the other axle, seen an obvious difference and stopped right there. GD

The manual is for people that haven't done it a couple dozen times. There's lots of folks here that install them both at the same time. Driver's side up, passenger side down. The reason the manual sugests to rotate the engine one revolution is to get the passenger side cam to an unloaded posistion. If you align it straight down then it's under valve spring tension. It's not a problem if you are careful though. GD

I never rotate. I install both belts at the same time - one cam up and one cam down. GD

I prefer a rotating vise.... (if I can only have one) http://www.yostvises.com/rotating_vise.htm More versatile IMO. Does the same thing as the offset if you build the right jaws for it..... and so much more! I particulaly am partial to the "V" jaw on the side opposite the standard flat jaws - perfect for holding small round objects. BTW - a "Vise" is the tool. A "Vice" is generally a term used for a bad habit or immoral practice..... GD

I've never had my pants shot off with rock salt, but I can't imagine that I would "blend in" if this had recently happened to my posterior. Just look for the fellow with the wattery eyes. GD

Yeah - you have to use the timing marks on the flywheel, not the cam setup marks. And you *do* need to know which cylinder is which. It's always 1/3 on the passenger side, and 2/4 on the driver's side. Lowest number toward the grill. GD

A triangle file and some attention to detail should clear up your problem. The mechanic should not have put it together with a 25 spline cup. It should have been obvious that something wasn't right. GD

Yeah - you should have no trouble doing the heli-coil with the engine in place. GD

I would just break the sucker's off. It's easy enough to get another hub or a new brake disc if you can't easily get the peice out once you have broken off the heads. Snap the heads off the bolts, and then pull the hub off. Or pull the whole disc/hub assembly off and then pry the axle through just using the nut and the knuckle. It's not as easy this way but can be done. Helps to have a few bits of wood or some big washers to get a better purchase with your pry-bars. GD

Well - eventually you may want to replace that brake disc so you should probably get going on getting the hub removed from it. I have done..... maybe hundreds of these now. When I do them, my technique is to leave everything on except the hub. I remove the axle nut, unbolt the hub from the disc, and drive the axle through - leaving the disc and brakes still attached to the knuckle. Then on reassembly, the brake disc acts like a pivot point for my pry-bars. It's important for the axle to be centered while you pry it through. Insert the axle as far as you can, and thread the nut on. I pry a little, then with a dead-blow I center up the axle in the bearings and pry a bit more. Thread the nut down a bit farther and repeat. When you run out of nut, put the cone-washer under the nut but flip it around so the flat side is availible for your pry-bars to grab. By the time you run out of pry-bar grip on the nut+cone washer, you can just install the hub and pull the axle the rest of the way in with your imapact. I have this down to where I can replace an axle in about 15 minutes - assuming everything comes apart without fuss. I usually pull the ball joint out of the knuckle to get the neccesary room to pull the axle off the tranny. If that's too badly stuck I'll just pull the inner control arm bolt and the sway bar link. There are also sometimes burrs on the axles - check for high spots. A bit of anti-seize on the shaft as you insert it will tell you where the high-spots are. Sometimes a bit of dressing with a grinding stone (by hand) is needed. GD

You have a feedback carb model (EA81). You need to wait for the light to come on, then read the codes from the LED on the side of the ECU under the steering column. Remove the kick-panel so you can watch the LED as you drive. It's probably an O2 sensor, or Coolant Temp Sensor code from the symptoms you gave so far. GD

What are the laws on non-lethal rounds? I have a 12 gauge side-by-side. One side is loaded with rock-salt and the other with a magnum slug..... if he is fleeing I figure I'll at least get to blow his pants off with the rock-salt Although he might not flee very quickly after that. Rock-Salt isn't "deadly force" right? GD

I have a good used 5 speed PB tranny. Came from a Loyale that I put a dual-range into so there's nothing at all wrong with it. $75 and it's yours. I'm in West Linn - about 15 minutes from Beaverton. (u-pull-it cost is $150 around here). Flip me an extra $100 and I'll even install it If you are looking to do a WRX swap, you should find a mint condition GL to start with. No reason the least expensive part of the project (the EA82 vehicle) should be a jalopy with near 300k on it..... As far as cost - you will need a complete front clip. A front clip from a wrecked WRX usually runs anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on what it is and condition. GD

Cables aren't worth the metal they are made from. They might fit, but you are better off getting a set of real chains. A few miles and those things will fly apart for sure. Cables are really a last ditch emergency sort of deal. GD

I've done a lot of head gaskets and I've never stripped one yet. Your experience is not typical. The history on your engine is probably to blame. It is relatively easy to heli-coil all of them when it's apart. I haven't needed to do it, but other's here have. If nothing is warped, it probably won't blow the head gasket if a single stud is stripped. Many engines don't have but 4 studs around each cylinder. The Subaru engines have 5. GD

Exhaust leak before the turbine would limit boost. Turbo going south (bearing) wouldn't help either. A leak in the wastegate flapper could cause too much exhaust bypassing the turbine..... 10psi is about the safe limit of the stock EA82T. The VF7 blows too hot much above that. GD

For the choke, just get out your DMM, and find which one of the terminals going to the old carb has 12v. You might have inadvertantly grounded the wire while working on it and blew the fuse too. The electric choke should work fine from the 12v supply to the carter/weber's electric choke. That's how I've always hooked them up. GD

You still need BOTH the 1/4" line and the 5/8" line from the passenger side head going to the air filter. The way you have it there, fresh air is only supplied to the system via the single small line of the "F" fitting. You need a positive flow, and that requires that one side have more air availible than the other. Like this: Here I used a fitting and hose from another earlier model of Subaru, but the effect is the same. The passenger side head gets full airflow via the 5/8" line. The 1/4" ID line is only a vacuum breaker to prevent too much suction from pulling oil out of the driver's side valve cover. In other words it allows positive flow, but regulates it with a 1/4" ID orifice GD

Just pull the whole knuckle/strut out completely. It's really pretty simple. GD

Replace the solenoid with a 33 Ohm, 5 watt resistor. That will permanently fix the problem. You don't need the EGR solenoid. GD

That doesn't tell you much. It just tells you to run a leak-down test to determine the real problem. Be sure you are running the test properly..... disconnect fuel pump, run till the engine stops, all plugs out, throttle fully open, crank for 5 comp. strokes of the cylinder being tested..... GD