geek500

Hi all, well so I finally got the motor back in the car yesterday and I'm currently putting things back together on top the engine. In reattaching all the wiring harness connections, I found a ground cable with an eye on it that I can't seem to figure out where it goes. From sizing the inside diameter with calipers, I believe it goes on an 8mm bolt. As most of the individual wires and plugs go off in pretty well defined directions, this cable seems like it should be situated somewhere on the passenger side of the engine. I don't have the intake manifold on yet, but maybe it goes on there or something. I'll try to get a pic of the culprit ASAP. Any ideas on where this connection lives? Thanks for any help in advance!

Well so for the time being, I'm just gonna use those sprockets (Turns out they're all a little wobbly, but the tensioner seems fine) and watch them carefully and replace them with the good ones in a month or two. For those who were asking about the brand and stuff, I got the kit with bundled with my reman'd short block, it's from a company called Preferred Components inc., (PCI). I watched a Youtube video about replacing the timing belt idlers from the All-Wheel-Drive Auto place in Seattle, and he mentioned that these sprockets with the green bearing seals aren't very good so that kinda confirms my suspicions that they need to be replaced. The reason I'm holding off on the good sprockets is that I need to get the car running and don't want to wait another two weeks to get those sprockets. I know that sounds bad but it's a complicated situation. Thank you all for the suggestions!

Hi all, I'm still in the assembly stage of rebuilding my engine (2.5L DOHC), but I've come across a weird issue. The new timing belt kit that came with my reman'd block, I just broke into it the other day to start putting the new sprockets on. The first sprocket one I opened, I bolted it on loosely just to see how it looked and feel the bearing, and to my surprise it wiggles. I'm not joking, this brand new never used sprocket, the bearing wiggles like a worn out bearing, though it's still tight when you spin it like a fresh bearing should be. I don't know about you but I'm getting a red flag about this, does anyone have any ideas on whether or not to use it? Thanks in advance, David

Thank you all for the help, turns out the belt and sprockets all came with the rebuild kit so I'm covered!

Hi all, so a lot has happened since I last posted, right now I'm up to my neck in rebuilding my engine. Sort of. Long story short, my last oil change I decided to try synthetic blend because my buddy kept bugging me about how good it is and how much better it wears and blah blah blah. I know it's good stuff, just when it's used in the right situation. I put blend in and then unknown to me, my engine started leaking oil a lot faster than I realized. One day coming home from work the engine died on me and when I started it again I got a terrible knocking noise. My oil had gotten way too low, and the damage had already been done. All my rod bearings were shot and I just found out my crankshaft is toast. Due to time and money restrictions I've got a reman'd short block on it's way as well as a new clutch and a master seal and gasket kit that has new oil and water pumps. The only thing left is I would like to replace the timing belt and all its paraphernalia. I've looked at the stuff direct from Subaru and I've also looked at kits on eBay and Amazon and I'm not sure which would be better. Can anyone recommend one or the other? I'm not afraid to just get them from Subaru but are the cheaper kits on eBay and Amzon any good? Thanks for any help in advance David

Ok so I took the HVAC control unit out, or at least it is all disconnected, ready to be looked at, but now I'm not sure what to do next. I have to have it back together tonight cause I have to drive it tomorrow. I guess if anything I'll endup doing the unplug-replug test that Nipper mentioned. As far as​ can tell, the sockets and the contacts all look fine, none of them are bent or corroded. Any ideas on what to do next? David

Hi all, I have a 98 Outback and a problem. The buttons that control the air direction (face, feet, defrost, recirculate, etc.) are flaking out on me. When I got the car this past spring this control panel worked fine with no problems, but a couple months in the buttons started failing to work every now and then. I noticed this partly because the green light which indicates which button is active did not turn on anymore, regardless of which button was depressed, and now they hardly work at all. When I go and start it on a cold morning, everything seems fine and the buttons function properly, but once the car warms up, the indicator light goes out and they quite functioning. I don’t think it’s an issue with the motor that actuates the flaps in the dash because when it works, each direction setting is reached fully within 2-4 seconds. I suspect a power issue to that circuit of the dash because at night, sometimes the backlighting in the air control panel flickers or part of it goes completely out. Note that the AC button, temperature selector and the fan speed control are all functioning properly, I haven’t had problems with those. Also, I doubt that the problem is soda residue because if that was the case, wouldn’t they just quit working period? Mine work under certain conditions for unknown reasons. Any help would be greatly appreciated, David

FYI, the type of paint I was removing was a linseed oil based stain, I don't know if TSP works with other paints so be cautious! Just saying.

Thank you for the suggestions, and sorry I haven't closed this question, but I did eventually get a hold of the guy and got the information on how to use the TSP. It is like a 1/4 cup of TSP to, idk, like 2 gallons of warm water... something like that. Anyway, it worked like a charm and with a little bit of elbow grease, my Subaru became clean as a whistle! Thanks again for the suggestions, David

Hey everbody, I have really nice white 1998 Outback, and a dilemma. A couple weeks ago, I was helping a guy redo the exterior of his house. When we re-stained the house, we got overspray on his two cars and my Subaru. He was gonna help me wash it with Trisodium Phosphate, but I had a busy schedule and wasn't able to get over there to do mine when he did his. He washed his truck with it and I guess it came out really clean. I borrowed the TSP from him and was just going to crack down on washing it myself but I can't get a hold of him at the moment to ask how he washed it so I tried googling washing a car with TSP. I couldn't find anything about using it on a car. I did read about people cleaning off overspray with some kind of clay bar, various polishing or car cleaning chemicals, but I don't have easy access to those kinds a things cause I live in a small town. Can anybody suggest how I should go about using this stuff? The guy told me that you have to mix it up with warm water and he also mentioned that I should only use half the recommended dosage for mixing it up so I will make sure that I don't use too much. From researching about TSP itself, it sounds like it's a pretty powerful chemical and I don't want to use it the wrong way and ruin my car. Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated, David