heartless

it is my understanding that it is the pistons themselves that cause the knock.. short skirts allowing them to basically "flop" back and forth in the cylinder.. so you probably would not gain anything by reusing them.. but, I am not a real mechanic, i just play one in my driveway.. =P

the key thing is that it goes away when the engine warms up.. yes, it sounds like rump roast on first start after sitting overnight (or all day at work).

the reason for the multiple drain/fill intervals is because roughly 2/3rds of the fluid is trapped in the torque converter. the only way to evacuate fluid from the torque converter is to run it. draining the pan alone will only drain about 1/3rd of the total amount of fluid in the system. most do 3 drain/fills with some driving time between each to fully circulate the fluid. I would not use the entire bottle of Lucas in one go.. i would only use about 1/3 of the bottle for each drain/fill cycle. Owners manual should give you a recommended fluid type, possibly filter too. you can download a service manual for your car from here for more info: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

definitely sounds like piston slap to me from they way you are describing it.. and yeah, it can be a bit unnerving if you aren't used to it - kinda freaked me out the first winter with my Forester. but that was 3 yrs ago now, and still going strong (255,300 something). The colder it is outside, the worse it sounds on a cold start (also kind of embarrassing when other people are around), but invariable pretty much gone after several minutes.

don't dismiss the timing out of hand.. Check it! one tooth off on one pulley is all it takes

What GD said. Unless the coil is actually having a problem, there is zero reason to change it. if the plug wires are OEM, there is really no reason to replace them either, unless there is a verifiable problem. I have run several cars on the stock coil & wires for well over 200,000 miles. My current Forester (2002) has over 254,000 on the stock coil pak & wires.. no problems at all at this point. If and when i do need to change them, it will be NGK wires. NGK plugs, too.. and OE coil pak if that ever needs changing (doubtful, but it does occasionally happen)

the other half has an 06 LL Bean Outback with the H6 and oil leaks.. his is definitely coming from the oil cooler and apparently this is pretty common on these engines. I would suggest cleaning things up as much as possible, run it for a bit and try to determine exactly where the oil is coming from.

pretty much nothing. you will not ever achieve that kind of hp on an NA EJ22.

do not use stop leak products in your Subaru. See my post above...

do not use stop leak products! If that tube is leaking, you will want to replace sooner rather than later - that small leak will turn into a large one very quickly on you. the tube is bolted down in a couple of spots. Yes, you have to pull the intake to replace it, as well as the main coolant crossover - not difficult but make sure you have new gaskets/o-rings handy. I think I also had to move the AC compressor/bracket out of the way as well.. you do not have to remove the timing cover - i didn't, but it can be a little bit of a pain to get the end down in there and facing the right direction.. has a couple of odd bends... there is a short hose that goes to the water pump at the bottom end - be aware you WILL get coolant out of there, even after draining the system. I did this job on my 02 Forester a while back.. you can read about it here: https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/166852-coolant-leak-2002-forester-ej251-heater-hose-stub/

it is far easier to just replace the top hat - KYB makes these in addition to struts for Subarus and they are a great fit.

also needs to be fully warmed up and preferably each gear gone thru (ie: short drive) before checking while parked on a level surface and idling...

possibly jumped timing?

aftermarket axles are notorious for being junk, so it could very well be the axle itself... unless you bought a genuine Subaru axle...

when you say "back right" are you referring to the passenger side of the car, or the right as you are looking in the engine bay (drivers side)? If it is on the drivers side, yes, there are a couple of coolant lines in that area that can leak. I actually had to replace the one on my 2002 due to rust causing problems. Kind of a pain in the rump but it can be done without pulling the engine out. There is a main cast crossover line that runs from passenger front to drivers rear, then there is another metal tube that runs solely on the drivers side - from the water pump area, up the front of the block to the top rear of the block called the "bypass pipe" - this is the one that likes to rust out. It has a couple of rubber hose connections toward the rear... one small one that goes to the throttle body, and a larger one that runs to the heater core

Interestingly enough, my 2002 Forester has very suddenly developed an issue taking fuel.. and of course it happens right when the weather is turning cold.. Have to wonder if a critter has tried to make a nest somewhere it shouldn't have...

have you had the tires balanced lately? from your description, it sounds very much like a tire out of balance.. get them checked out if they have not been done recently.

bookmark this page for future reference... http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

yeah, triple check all vacuum lines - if any are are "hard", replace them.

yup, pretty much. You wont actually hurt anything by using the smaller tire, just be aware that the speedometer and odometer will be off a little because of it. https://tiresize.com/calculator/ if you enter the different tire info (try to use the stock size in the 1st spot) you can see the difference the slightly smaller size has.

if the wheels are the same size, it should be no problem to mount the correct tire on it. going to a larger wheel size, you would want to figure out a tire size that will be close to stock size in rolling diameter to keep the speedo correct. of the two that you have mentioned, the 2nd one will be slightly smaller in diameter, and would throw your speedometer off a little (read too fast) - this also affects the odometer.. quick breakdown of the sizes you listed... 205 = tread width in mm 60 (55) = aspect ratio of sidewall to tread width (think of it as a percentage of...) R = Radial construction 16 = wheel size

you haven't heard mine in the dead of winter, LOL When it is 10 below, on a cold start, the damn thing sounds like it is going to blow up it rattles so bad. Give it a few minutes to warm up and it sounds much better. but in all seriousness.. the number of miles on it makes little difference - if that is what it is. oh, and for the record, I have over 253K on the old girl now and still going strong.

honestly - to me, it sounds a bit like my 02 Forester (EJ251) which has piston slap.. the colder it is outside, the worse it sounds on cold startup, but goes away once fully warmed up.

#1 - Worn out struts and/or strut mounts. #2 - other worn suspension bushings.

have NEVER used anti-seize on spark plugs - there is no need to. you are not supposed to torque them in that damn tight.