lmdew

Don't bother dropping the pan. There is NO filter in there, just a pickup screen that I've never seen dirty or plugged. I use the Drain, Fill, Pull the Trans cooler hose and pump out the old fluid. Do this about 3/4 of a gallon at a time, refilling the trans each time. In about 3 gallons the fluid will be coming out nice and clean. Your year Subaru, Subaru does offer an external filter kit. If it has this the filter is up in the engine compartment on the drivers side frame rail. Add it if you like. Super Tech, Wally World is what I use. Cheap and good quality, at least I've never had any issues. I'd rather buy cheaper fluid and change it sooner that buy expensive stuff and leave it in there for 100K.

I picked up an 03 Subaru Legacy Outback. The hood and front half of the roof was showing paint failure. A fellow I work with does auto body on the side and is painting it for me. As he sanded it down he said they painted right over rust. Poor prep would cause this failure. I also noticed rust bubbled on the inside of the roof as I had pulled the headliner to get to the roof rack.

You Pull get a 2.2 and Auto Trans from a car that has been hit and plug and play. $500 in parts and a day to plug it in. If the trans diff ratio is different you'd have to swap out the rear diff as well.

Not worth messing with. You are dropping the top of the struts 3/4", that does not mean you will get a full 3/4" lift at the bottom of the engine and rear diff, the lowest points on the car. - The Steering U-joint is longer and you may need the shorter one. - There is no spacer for the rear Trans mount, it's a different cross member - Drive shaft center mounts do vary, but I doubt the small change would make a difference Again, not enough difference to even mess with IMHO

Unless there is play in the hub, bearings can go for years with a little noise. 320K on my 98 Impreza and the rear bearings have been making some noise for years! Has not gotten any worse, no play in the hub. Yes it makes noise but not enough to drive me to change them.

I'd just get a set from a nice rust free area along with struts and bolt them in. Save the hassle. www.car-part.com I could pull a complete set shocks, hub, disk Caliper for about $150 each side and then it would be shipping from CO. www.nasioc.com is also a source of good used parts. Fellows sell their stock stuff all the time.

Yep, a good Used Subaru Half Shaft is better than a new Aftermarket any day! www.car-part.com will help you find one in a local yard. You pull and Pay yards will be about $35-40 each and you can pick one with good boots.

Free and they should bolt right up. The STI you may have to modify the mounts on the rear struts.

2.2 engine swap is the best way to go if you need a new engine. You can get one and install it yourself for close to or less than the costs of the HG and Valve work.

KYB's are the way to go. You didn't say what model but I've gotten some great deals over at NASIOC, as those fellows like to pull their stock struts for the aftermarket. I've also had good luck watching the yards, and pulling almost new KYB struts. Complete strut $30, $120 for the set.

double check the plugs and make sure you have no bent or pushed pins and they are seated all the way. Check the trans sticker on the front of the bell housing to make sure you have the correct trans.

Is it an automatic trans? Is the AT Temp light flashing 16 times after you start the car? If so, torque bind most likely!

Did you get the knock sensor properly positioned? It has to be clocked so the plug end of the sensor is in the cutout and it sits flat on the engine. If you didn't do that you may have damaged the new knock sensor. Yes, mis fires can cause loss of power, as will the retarded timing due to sensed knocks.

Yes get some miles on it. If it's running well, I would not worry to much about numbers. I bet things will even out as you run it.

As listed above NGK Copper core Plugs and Subaru or NGK wires. First step. If it turns out you need a coil, I have several Subaru coils.

You can take the old radiator to radiator shop and they can check the flow. Sounds like you have an air bubble in the coolant system. Search Burping. You can put the Stat in a pan of water and heat it up and make sure it's opening at the correct temp. It can be hard to move the air out of the coolant system if it's in there. Some, start the engine and fill as the engine is running. I usually jack the car as high as possible in the front, back fill the engine with coolant and then start the engine and fill the coolant slowly the rest of the way. With the heat on high, keep on filling the system as it heats up. Once the coolant starts to come up in the radiator, put the cap on and let it come to temp. Shut it down and let it cool. The system will draw coolant in from the overflow bottle. You may have bad radiator cap if it's not allowing the coolant to be sucked in.

The square brown one, it was the one in the middle of the bank of 3. Two round ones on the outside and the square one in the middle. I assume it's the main relay, but I did not look it up.

No electrical power to the engine. It was like someone had turned the key off but the key was still on.

Help a friend with his 97 OBS. It would die, no power, no CEL codes. I dropped the driver Kick panel and looked way up there at the relay bank. The square relay, had corrosion growing out of it. Replaced the relay and cleaned the connector, and the problem is solved. Happy Subaru owner again.

Two different problems. The Flashing AT Temp light tells you there is a fault in the trans. Search Torque bind. The Knock Sensor fault will retard the timing which will degrade performance - power. Misfire on #2, start with the basics, New NGK Plugs, New Plug Wires, Subaru or NGK and Sea Foam in the gas tank. Map Sensor, Clean the connector first. Misfires are not a good thing for an engine and should be corrected to prevent additional wear and tear.

Nick you can just list it on EBay and you will get a free report and then cancel the listing. Hope all is well, Larry Is this Eric's or are you buying a replacement? 3 (98) outbacks 2.5 to 2.2 conversions in the works right now, 1 Auto and 2 5 speeds. Larry

Sad to say, I have not gotten to the Pan, nor did I replace the valve stem seals. I know I could do both with the engine in the car but might just be easier to pull it. It will go to the sideline for a month or so, got 6 other ones that I'm working on and lots of travel for work. Thanks for the feedback! Larry

Gunk Engine Cleaner helped, as I ran the engine with it in the oil I could hear the change. The oil consumption is down but still high, a quart of more every tank, 300 miles. I can get the engine to smoke out the tail pipe if I rev the engine numerous times quickly Idle to 4000 RPM and back. Steady RPM it's no smoke. Review of items done and the engine: 154K 2.5 SHOC 2000 - Had bent intake valve, so I surfaced the head, glass plate and replaced and lapped all the valves. Engine runs great. - New Subaru PCV - All hosed clean and connected properly - Seafoam in the gas and Oil - MMO in the oil - Leak down check, see numbers above - Gunk Engine cleaner, seemed to help but did no solve the problem - No external leaks - Runs Great Pretty much down to stuck Oil control rings, engine pull. Thoughts?

Yes, they can be tough. Slip joint pliers behind the Tee Handle on the boot and the Lever it straight out. There is a special Spark Plug Wire Puller but this works most of the time. For the Mis-fire grab the CEL code first. Use only NGK copper core plugs, the cheap ones and NGK or Subaru Wires. Anything else and your asking for trouble.

Auto Trans as it's a Limited? Might have a sticking brake switch.