uniberp

Thanks. IMO, "noise" is relative on these engines. My '08 with 65k is not quiet, but it has no tick, slap, or tap. Me, I am now skeptical about this so-called "piston slap" noise. Funny how it got worse just before it turned into full-blown rod-knock. This one in the 99 is pending. After a normal commute, it taps every time around. One piston or one rod? My guess is a rod. Oil pressure is fine, AFAIK, although it is burning oil 1qt per tank, which I hate. BTW The solution of "knurling" pistons seems 'way iffy to me, with a built-in life expectancy.

Bent pinion shaft? IDK how that would happen, unless mercilessly reefed on at full lock.

Is there a way to check/change rod bearings without splitting the cases?

Ace Hardware often has a selection of metric threads.

Don't be so sure. That might be the best one in there.

Which cylinder is that?

I believe it is normal to reusing rods and caps in rebuilds, with undersize bearings and a crank grind if necessary. Out of round journals are the most likely culprit, IMO. The 2.5 pack quite a punch on a short stroke. Splitting and re-splitting the cases and "plastigage"-ing the journals seems like a half-baked way to rebuild these. It would either take some crazy high tech micrometers or a perfect touch , neither of which I have. With the case bolts threaded into aluminum, the bolt stretch may have to be done merely by expert hand.

Rod knock, even when you spin it by hand I hear it. I think. I belieive it is much more common in these engines than any enthusiast would like you to believe. I hope the rebuild market has figured out how to cost-efficiently build thee bottom ends. It's not something I can spend the time learning.

At 187k, the general condition of the car is an issue. My 99 is worth a completely new engine, since it has new struts, brakes, tires, wheel bearings, and still shifts good. I unfortunately installed a top-end rebuild six months ago, built by a local guy on an untouched original used shortblock. It hasn't worked out, burns oil and is developing a rod knock. This is a typical scenario; new tight heads on old rings (less leakage --> higher compression) blows more gas into crankcase and sucks more air back form the crankcase, and blue smoke coms out your tailpipe. So I learned. The bottom ends on Subaru 2.5's tend to last about just that long (150-250k miles), and are therefore the limiting factor in the life of an non-abused/non-neglected engine. I know of 2 sources for reputable longblocks, and fortunately one is a pleasant 2 hour drive from here. I won't name them until I have direct personal experience.

Ed. from http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=126528 "To avoid snapping the pinch bolt, I try first to break it loose with a short breaker bar (12"). If it starts to twist more than 5 degrees, I drill a .125 hole straight down the axis from the thread end about .75 inch. This seems to reduce the pressure or something, gives the twist torque somewhere to expand. I drilled the left, the right broke loose no problem. To lever the socket our of the knuckle, a long spud bar for leverage and it's free. A pickle fork finished the job on the stud end. Awesome. Found new pinch btolts at Ace Hardware, called "class 8.8" which equates to Grade 5. I think that is better in case these ever freeze up and need to be drilled out. Just got to get that abs stub out of there and I'm golden. And I have my technique down now. And I'm replacing yet ANOTHER inner right boot (Actually the whole shaft now that I see the outer boot is cracking). My advice, at least for salted areas, any time you have it up on jacks, remove and antiseize every bolt you can reach."

Is there any problem with the practice of downshifting from D to 3 for engine braking, or staying in 3 then pushing the stick to D to avoid the too-soon upshift to 4 in normal driving? I trained it myself. 2008 Forester

New tires always feel better. You could paint new numbers on the bezel.

Ball joint(s) froze?

Do everyone a favor, offer him $8k for it cash. Anyone who only keeps a Subaru for a few years either has mistaken priorities or has no judgement.

Heh, one of my old ones, codename: "Orange Alert"

Sine the Furtster has 60k it is still young enough to warrant quality tires, so I bought the Yokohama Avid Ascent from Discount. Supposedly made with orange oil which makes for a more temperature stable compound. I can't tell anything from driving it. New tires always seem smoother no matter what brand/type. It's not like I ever 'get on it' anyhow. My only trick is to downshift into 3 instead of braking. Auto. Now maybe I can really "peel out".

Go to the junkyard to see how they are put together.

It starts fine. It was NOT starting consistently with the remote starter. The volume knob on the radio and the cruise was working intermittantly. I think it was the alternator putting noise on the bus, (someone poiinted out this possibility above) combined with a weakened/partly discharged battery, made the electronics go wonky. It remote-started and radio-cruise worked all week, so it was prolly either the alt or the grounds.

If this is true, then for some reason Subarus have heavier electrical loads than all the other cars that are used only for short drives with no problems. It's 75 amp alternator. That should be massively enough to start it, keep the lights fan compressor and wipers running and charge the battery in 15 minutes.

1999 Forester, replaced battery within the last 12 months. Replaced alternator, added a second ground cable from battery to block (doubled up, basically). Cleaned and retightened battery to body connector. I will know by this weekend if things are is still working.

Just pile a bunch of lumber between the strut top and the roof. That should hold it up.

New alternator seemed no diff than the old, but I think I have to wait for the battery to be properly charged. If the battery was working a lot (Discharging and charging) It may be worn out, but like I said ther alternator light never came on during running. I do suspect the alternator and or the diodes. Machinery and electronics re so long-lived now we may see new failure modes, like the ripple you refer to. I gave the car back to the driver, and will wait for a report next week.

Which is exactly what I am dealing with now. Marginal low voltage condition, showing up in funny ways: volume knob on stereo not responding, cruise control and remote start working intermittantly, expecially when I was using wipers, lights, fan and defrost (a/c compressor). Stopped by autozone on the way home, warm afternoon, he put his tester on the battery, it showed 14.3 v charging, battery "good". The battery was 138 degrees he said, which seemed kinda hot indicating charging. So I suspected intermittant charging due to heat/vibration/something. Replaced alternator. Seemed better at first but then radio/cruise started acting up again. I checked connections for a third time. It appeared the battery block gorund cable was potentially weak, very fine wires may be susceptible to corrosion. I twisted them a bit for better conection and it may have improved things. I then bolted in an additional ground strap from the battery to the block (New cable bolted to same mounts.) Not happy about buying that alternator, but I doubt the battery because it was replaced last winter. If it was seriously discharged and recharged it may be damaged, but there was never an alternator light. 1999 Forester

Whiny grindy is power steering pump.

Good question, and here is blank speculation: At 350k+ miles you'd think it had plugs changed 3-4 times, and each time they get a little looser, being aluminum threads. I just replaced plugs, and had a little difficulty deciding how much to compress the gasket. I went 3/16 turn beyond. I thinks it's kind of impressive that the engine has enough compression to blow out a plug at that age.