nvu

Definitely disconnect the battery. Also I've had a wrench fall between the positive terminal and an ac line. After the sparks stopped there was a nice hole in the tube. Now I prefer pulling the negative side and leaving the positive terminal covered.

Be careful adjusting the hydraulic clutch pedal. The master cylinder rod needs to fully release when the clutch is all the way up. There's a tiny hole in the master piston that releases pressure when it's all the way released. This is to account for temperature changes and expansion. When the clutch pedal is fully up, there should be some play in the pin connecting the pedal to the master cyl rod. There's a spring in the slave cylinder that takes up the slack. There's no pretensioning to adjust over time like cable clutches, the spring in the slave cyl self adjusts after every press and release. It sounds like either there's air in the system from a bad slave seal or the hose is rotting out. Also could be cracked clutch fork.

Used to always clean out and replace the factory bearing grease whenever I install new ones. I've noticed they come in sealed plastic pouches and already greased. Is this already wheel bearing grease and ready to install? I'm getting older and lazier these days. This is for NTN or Koyo press in bearings on earlier subarus.

The radiator endtank is plastic, gets brittle and cracks easily, even when leaning over the engine bay and you inadvertently put your weight on it. The hose is likely fused to the nipple, cut it and peel away if needed. Also don't go overboard tightening the hose clamp on the radiator end.

I've recently noticed this with a bad tensioner; the side with the two smooth idlers, you could grab the top belt with your fingers and bottom belt with your thumbs and squeeze by hand. I had a failing tensioner and was able to see it move way too freely when squeezing. I've not tried this on an engine with a good tensioner, but pretty sure you wouldn't be able to move it with just hand strength.

Great writeup mpower! Those pictures really show the issue at hand.

I'm rebuilding a 2004ish era EJ DOHC. I'm wondering if a stretch belt for the AC from a newer gen would fit. Has anyone tried this before? Was it worth the swap or just more hassle to install/remove?

For a '96, it probably needs a new upper radiator hose. Squeeze the hose with your hand, if you hear crunchy sounds it's time for a replacement.

That kit doesn't have seals included, new bearings won't last long if water and dirt get in. Get new seals to go with your model, fronts and rears are different sizes so pick appropriately. The video is for a newer subaru with integrated bearing and hub unit. Your 2002 is a lot more involved, the bearings would need a press to remove and install. There are snap ring and seals to contend with.

I'd worry less about silica and more if there are flakes in the oil. Silica can be remedied: better filter or shorter intervals between changes.

Yup dohc cam plugs https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_2004_STI-25L-TURBO-6MT-4WD-SEDAN/Engine-Camshaft-Plug/49223411/11051AA070.html

I haven't worked on it myself. From what I understand with the USDM immobilizers starting on 05 on, they are matched to the ecu that came with the car. People doing engine swaps have the old key taped to the immobilizer antenna and tucked away. We didn't get immobilizer models in US until 2005 so I'm guessing your 99 would be the older style. It's not simple voltage/resistor to bypass. https://iwireusa.com/blogs/iwire-university/what-does-it-mean-that-my-subaru-is-immobilized

Good to know. It's only been a little over a year for me. I'll check on it every once in a while and report back.

They were all dirty or cracked bushings, definitely failing state. I've only went with window weld if was too lazy to take things apart, though nowadays window weld is pricier than getting replacement bushings. I did have one that needed extra stiff bushings, so used concrete leveler. Needed to make molds to pour it in, but it completely filled the voids after some days of curing. It was definitely close to solid, had to tap it in with mallet. Car already had stiff cusco style transmission and engine mounts, so a little more noise from solid diff mounts isn't an issue. It was $7 at home depot.

I've done a couple, it's okay if you want to do it on car. More than likely you'll need to soap and water to get the grime off. Brake cleaner or acetone is fine. mainly to get the water off.

The first oil change is to flush out and machining swarf and loose particles. Put in conventional oil now, cut open the filter and inspect oil. It's an EJ25 with standard rings and metal headgasket, after the first oil change and you don't find unusual glitter, just drive it hard and get the seating over with. Get it warm, accelerate harder than usual, use lots of engine braking in between.

Great to hear things are fixed! Also you're talking about the pod on top center of the dash? I have a 2003 impreza and it cracked, replaced it with a 2006 one, it also cracked. The plastic just gets brittle over time. I've given up repairing it and covered the hole with some scrap plastic sheeting and double stick tape.

If you're doing timing belt, break loose the crank bolt before taking out the engine. On retightning, service manual probably says 90ftlb's, I'd do 100-110ftlb's.

This sounds way too familiar, I've had a freshly rebuilt 98 sohc skip 6 teeth on the first test drive. It fired up and idles perfect the first two days as I was putting the rest of the car back together. Then on the first test drive, gave it the beans and it was barely idling. Reset the belt the following week and it never skipped again, it's been 5 years now no belt issues.

Oh, you're right. There's no MAF on an '02 nonturbo sohc.

Just for kicks, try starting it with the maf sensor unplugged.

Yes, exactly because it was loose. Tighten to 133ft-lb, treat the procedure like headbolts. Oil up the bolt, clean out crankcase threads, try to torque in big 60 degree sweeps and avoid creaking.

Was it making this noise with the leaky cam seal head before? The new tensioner could blow a seal if it was retensioned too quickly. Either way, have your mechanic look at some of these videos, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=subaru+timing+tensioner+check

slow knocking like that is valve train related; slow pace like sewing machine. piston/rods related knocking is faster like machine gun speed. it doesn't sound like rod knock here.

Yeah, the cover gasket almost never leaks. At least top up the fluid and see how much was missing.