nipper

thats it. Californa has very tight emissions. You need to match the engine and ecu properly, as im not sure what is going happen if they are miss matched. could be nothing, could be far worse. nipper

i agree, as a full valve job requires tools you dont have at home, but you can do everything else yourself. nipper

First get a new mechanic who can check the codes. The abs unit on soobys are very reliable. My bet is a bad wheel speed sensor on one or more of the 4 wheels. This dealer is clueless. nipper

Thats the one thing that EJ's dont do is crack. Always go with the newest design HG, which most times will be the higher part number. nipper

i hope not. Those surfaces have to be clean as a operating room otherwise you will blow a gasket really fast. Are you sure its not overspray from rust protection?

Sealant is not used on HG's or their mounting surfaces. What else is near the goo? nipper

There is NEVER a need to machine the deck of the engine unless you want to raise compression substantially. f the engine hasnt been backed, once you fix the head gaskets its fixed. Cyl heads warp because of all the passages and stress on the assembly, where the block does not have those issues. You have themodynamic, pressure, and spring forces on a cylinder head. ALso at 170K its not the HG fault they blew, its more likely age. Anycar can blow a HG at that mileage, and they tend to do it too quite often. Look at it this way, the original HG lasted 170K youll get at least over 100K if not 200K on the replacements. Pet peve- high mileage aluminum engines be it honda ford gm toyota blow headgaskets, so if the car has over 150K on it, stop picking on subaru Ok done venting nipper

model year and milage please Yes it can cause lower gas milage depending upon which O2 sensor it was, that and combined with a HUGE exhaust leak. How much lower we talking about.

i do it once a year in the spring nipper

Thanks. The first one in january failed, hence the 2nd one to fix the first (ugh) nipper

alot of cars now use a reverse flow radiator due to emissions. It keeps the engine temp more even. I think subaru does it because thats the only place where there is room to put it and make it easily serviceable. i agree with air traped in the system. Blown headgaskets would make bubblesin the radiator. Bad news is that you may need HG anyway soon depending upon how hot the car got in the past. Also in any car that overheats repeatedly or gets cooked with an aluminum engine, its important to change the oil. The oil takes a beating in these newer engines and begins to break down. nipper

Its easy if its like a 98 unscrew the arm rest (2 screws). Unscrew the trim plate behind the door release. Gently pry off the trim blank behind the outside rear veiw mirror. Starting at the bottom of the panel, using a long screwdriver, get as close as possible to the panel retaining tab and getly pry it out. These are not like the tabs of the old days, they are fairly robust. Work your way around the door untill you can pull the door bottom towards you easily, then lift the panel up and it should come off. Now disconnect all aplicable connectors and you have the panel off. nipper

there is no cable. its electronic. FIrst check the VSS sensor, as this gives the spedo its signal (usual cause). Then if that is good replace the spedo head. nipper

OK folks, this is normally something i can fix myself, but recovering from 2 back surgeries i cant, so i need my mechanic to do it. i have a long list of things i cant do from the Dr til sept The rear tailgate latch assembly is rusted so bad the tailgate wont open (97 OBW). The handle will move to the open position and stay there. It wil not spring back. I can hear the locking solenoid operate so i am assuming that is ok. i need to know how to get into the tailgate, and what parts i need to order. The more specific the better. thanks nipper

You cant drive above 50 mph like this, but you can safely drive around town. At 50 or less the tranny just thinks your driving in circles. There is a clutch pack that applies the AWD only. if i was on my own puter instead of a 7yo laptop i would fully explain. Has reverse when cold i would bet. the fluid is thicker then. The reverse band is shot, and i would bet that 2nd gear is not far behind. nipper

beleive it or not, that one place i havent devled in a sooby, as mine always seemed to need replacement at the most inoportune moment. That being said, whats the serval interval for a timing belt on a 97 2.5L nipper

if the tensioner seizes it will break the belt. If it looses tesntion or gets alot of play in it the belt can jump. nipper

it sometimes help to dissassemble the console. You may have goo down there from spilled liquids holding everything together. nipper

On my first sooby clutch went out at 160K, and i atributed the hill-holder to the long life (i did alot of NYC driviing).My second sooby was 180K, again the hill holder. On my 98 Legacy the auto had 180k on it when the car got crunched. i have a 97 OBW with 182K on the auto its going on strong. Matching tires is important, as the auto will tell you its not happy, and the manual dies a silent death. If you keep the tires matched, change the fluids as per the manual, both should last you the life of the car. Average clutch life on all cars is 120K or better. If its your first stick shift it will be mutch less then that. nipper

i vote for bad grounds too nipper

wonder if this covers my belt not retracting all the time nipper

i would open up those panels and see where the water leak is. Mildew and moisture will eat up belts. nipper

There is no such federal US mandate that i have seen on that so i doubt it exists. The only time you replace belts is when the car has been in a collision and those tabs show. Thats another way to see if the car has ever been hit. Shops dont replace seatbelts all the time. The tab usually means the belts have been over stretched. nipper

This sounds like corrosion. Inspect and clean the battery cables. Cables do get brittle and old. Remove inspect and install the alternator cables. Make sure they are tight Inspect the grounds on the eingine and chasis. A bad ground is the only thing i can think of that would cause this sympton, and that would be on the engine. Inspect the main fuse box, remove it, look underneath it (with the battery disconnected) and look for corrosion. Remove and reinstall all the fuses, just this simple thing will clean the corrosion off. thats a start nipper

And that fixes it 90% of the time in an automatic. nipper