heartless

there are a number of likely suspects for oil leaks from the front of the engine: Crank and/or Cam seals are the most common - oil will seep down through the seams of the timing covers - if these are leaking you run the risk of the timing belt being saturated in oil and causing failure. Also of note is the oil pressure sensor at the top - under the alternator - when this goes it generally makes a pretty big mess, however. sides of the engine: valve cover gaskets are the most common, but head gaskets can also be suspect rear of the engine: oil separator plate - most common on mid to late 90s models that had a plastic plate (yours should be metal), rear cam seal (passenger side) these are the most common oil leak areas, there are of course other potential areas such as the oil pan itself, oil fill tube, etc, but not all that common.

I have owned multiple Subaru's since 2000 and have tried all sorts of different methods. This one works for me. Don't go into it thinking it is going to be a cinch, it isn't, but it is easier than trying to get that darn toothed idler to bolt up straight over the belt.

what's to learn? Put all pulleys in place except that last smooth idler - tensioner properly compressed and pinned, all bolts properly torqued. Thread the belt across the upper section, lining up the marks on the belt with the correct marks on the pulleys as you go. Thread over the water pump and under toothed idler as a pair - yes, it is tight, but it can be done*. Just make sure the belt does not slip from position on the cam pulleys (small spring clamps are very helpful here - clamp the belt in place on the cam pulleys). Install last idler pulley and torque to spec. Verify everything is in the correct positions before pulling the pin on the tensioner. Done. * start just the edge of the belt around both pulleys - about 1/4 inch worth - pull the slack from passenger side and line up on the edge of the toothed pulley first, then push the belt up over the waterpump pulley, once the edges are started over both pulleys, simply push the belt fully into place. these two have to be done as a pair or it wont work. I am not saying it is easy to get both started, but this is the easiest way I have found to install the belt around these pulleys. I have tried installing the toothed idler after the belt is over the water pump and had a heck of a time getting the bolt started correctly - as you have also found out.

when I do mine, the toothed idler pulley is already in place before i install the belt. in fact, ALL pulleys except the one smooth idler are in place before the belt goes on. I typically start with the passenger side cam pulley - using a spring clamp to hold it in position, then i feed it across the upper end to the drivers side cam pulley, taking care to keep it tight and making sure the marks line up correctly, then water pump and toothed idler... then install that last smooth idler. I have only had a hard time getting that last idler in place once - it seemed like the belt was just a hair too short, making it difficult to get the bolt started, but i did get it.

you are welcome. Be aware that the site does go down from time to time, so I would recommend downloading the files relevant to your vehicle and saving them on your computer.

you dont need to spend money on a digital FSM... http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/

I had a similar situation with a transmission. the JY insisted it was a good tranny - drove 3.5hrs one way to go get it, paid way too much for it (imho) and brought it back to a reputable shop to install...had a 30 day exchange warranty (similar to what you described). During the test drive after installation, the tranny had a major failure - completely locked up. Called the JY to find out how to get an exchange, or refund, or whatever - the JY owner insisted the shop must have done something wrong to damage the tranny... We played phone tag and games for 2 weeks on this - they insisted on seeing video of fluid flow (which they got, it was fine), and other BS...all the while insisting the shop was at fault for the failure. In short, they were not going to honor the so called warranty. I finally gave up (after the 30 days was up), ate the damned cost of that one, bought another from a member here at a fraction of what the 1st one cost, had it installed, and have been happily driving the car for a couple of years.

ok, Thanks for the info regarding the cabin air filter, guys - will be checking into that this weekend. In the meantime - coolant overflow bottle is a bit low - not super concerning as yet, but will be keeping an eye on things. Upper radiator hose feels full.. have not had a chance to pull the floor mats yet (super busy with a major project for a big show coming up soon - so much to do, so little time kind of thing) but will do so this weekend.

Living in Wisconsin, I have seen, and owned, a lot worse looking cars. yours is not really that bad... yet

there is a huge difference between 1 year and 14 years... 1 or even 2 year old gas is most likely not going to kill the engine. If the tank is low, add fresh gas to it and fire it up. Yes, it will probably run rough initially, but it will smooth out. I have had a couple that sat for a year or more that started and ran fine. 1 had sat for nearly about a year and a half - brakes were locked up but the engine started and ran with no major issues. I did have to baby the throttle a little to keep it going initially, but after it was running for a couple of minutes it held idle on its own fine. The car was put back into service after cleaning up the brakes and doing a little basic maintenance (oil change, check other fluids, etc) another one sat for just over a year, the kid I sold it to brought a couple gallons of fresh gas, a fully charged battery, and it fired up with no problems. He drove it away.

Agree with the breaker bar and pipe approach... for some reason it generally does work better And no - they are not threaded into the knuckle, although they are a tight fit. I suggest putting the upper bolt back in place temporarily to take some of the spring pressure off of the lower bolt. Use a 6 point socket, minimum 1/2 inch breaker bar (bigger if you have it available) and the length of pipe as suggested above. For stubborn bolts/nuts we have several products on hand besides the general purpose PB Blaster CRC makes a product called Freeze-Off that does pretty well when used as directed - available at most auto parts stores http://crcindustries.com/auto/?s=05002 When that one doesn't do the trick, we break out the Corrosion-X - not cheap, but it does work quite well http://www.corrosionx.com/corrosionx.html

it has a bottle of the coolant conditioner in the system - it was added when I did the timing belt/water pump/etc. Thank you for the information.

Yes, AC worked pretty darn well when it was 97 degrees and about 70% humidity (air you could wear) I need to pull the floor mats and make sure the carpet is dry... does the 2002 Forester have a cabin air filter? If it does, that is something else I can check.

my sniffer isn't as good as it used to be (too many years as a smoker) so I cant really tell what it smells like. it only does this in defrost mode and there is a slight film forming on the glass down low. I have run the AC and have seen the condensation puddle under the car - but that does not rule out a partial clog (as in not draining completely)... Not sure about cabin air filter, however

so with cooler weather coming the mornings have been a bit on the chilly side lately. enough so that I have turned on the defroster a couple of times to clear early morning fog... only problem is, the car seems to be creating it's own fog.. 2002 Forester with over 220K on the clock... I can actually see a light vapor blowing across the inside of the windshield when I use the defrost setting. If this is a heater core failing, I want to try to get it fixed before the real cold weather sets in. I know it is not an easy job to do, but if it needs doing, I would rather do it now, with warmer temps than later in the cold.

actually the most recent one was in my 95 Legacy L (ruby mica pearl) but I have used the Sony head-units in several vehicles over the years with no major problems. That one has bluetooth for hands free calling, a USB port and aux plug in as well as a CD player (that never gets used, lol). For your Legacy, pretty much any single DIN unit will fit, and even a few double DIN if you dont mind giving up the little pocket underneath. the only one I ever really had to modify to make it work was the old 89 GL - very shallow space. I had to make a surround that allowed it to stick out further than the stocker.

i have always had pretty good luck with the Sony X-plode systems - relatively cheap, but they work decently. Installation isnt that difficult either - if you get an adapter harness. Crutchfield.com is a good source for pretty much everything you would need. You can specify your year, make & model, and it will give you a complete list of everything that would be compatible and if it needs any modifications, items needed will be specified. They also usually provide detailed instructions with purchase.

Pulling a Subaru engine is a cakewalk compared to most others. and I have pulled a couple... most notably - 460 big block out of a 77 Lincoln Mark V - now that one was a bear. Seriously tho - you can start with the easy stuff - valve covers & cam end caps, and it is worth the effort to replace those, but there is a very high probability of the separator plate being the culprit of the oil leak and the only way to fix it is to pull either the engine or drop the tranny (engine pull is easier, btw) it may only be going through a quart in 5000 now, but it will get steadily worse over time. Come on - if a girl can do it, so can you!

Oops - sorry - missed the reference to 2010+

either outback or forester struts - gains 1.5-2" of clearance the following pic is of my old 1990 Legacy on stock suspension (left), stock wheels/tires and my 1995 on Forester suspension (struts & springs), stock wheels & tires (right)

from the 2002 Outback FSM... it shows the location near the center of the vehicle

i turned a basic 95 Legacy L into a sort of Outback with the installation of Forester struts & springs and Forester wheels - gained a good 2 inches of height... That said - the other half has an '06 Outback - LL Bean Edition with the H6, 5spd auto - it rides nicer than my lifted Legacy (the suspension was designed for the car), and is quite comfortable for longer drives. He is getting upper 20's to about 30mpg out of it on his 30min commute (mostly country driving)

if you can wait until this weekend, I can test fit a stock forester tire/wheel (the 205/70-15) on a stock legacy for you. My 95 has the forester struts under it, so I know it will fit that car - but the stock setup may be tight. just as a comparison - the 205/70-14 is an inch smaller in diameter than the 15in size... https://tiresize.com/comparison/

FWIW - i am running 205/65-15s on the Legacy - no rubbing and they are very close to stock diameter (no issues with speedo/odometer that way) Stock Forester size is 205/70-15 and I do believe those would fit the Legacy with no rubbing problems, but it would throw the speedo/odometer off a little