Dickensheets

I was perusing some thresds and "grossgary" i think mentioned deactivating the shift resistor. Does this reduce wear? And how do you do it. Just curious. Ryan (waiting for snow)

Thanks guys. But the code has not resurfaced. Fingers crossed.

Good answer - I'm gonna give it 6 months to fix itsself.

97OBW 135,000 miles Autozone read and cleared the code. Didn't come back on drive home. Anyone have this symptom?

I had this problem in June. Same symptoms. I replaced the the gaskets with OEM and had the heads checked/cleaned by a machine shop. Yes the engine has to come out but I have 2 cars so...... I spent a total of about $500 with parts and shop time. It's November now and 7500 miles later. I figure even if it blows tomorrow it was cheaper than a car payment. The rest of my car is solid so that played into my decision to fix it. 97 OBW 135,000 miles to date.

Update: After setting for 30min with the neg term off it fired right up. All units stand down. False alarm. But at least I got to tow something with my Jeep finally.

Update: I have fuel pressure and spark at all 4 leads. The air filter is clean. The car will fire but not run unless floored and then it's rough as hell. I'm letting it sit with the neg terminal off for a while to see if it needs to think about what it did and why good cars don't act this way:) . I'm stumped after that. Anyone want a gently used Outback?

So the car stranded my wife at the store. I go in the Jeep and jump it. We drive in formation to Autozone. I buy a new battery and replace it in the lot. Car cranks but wont fire unless it is floored. And then the RPM are less than 1500 with it floored. It sounds like it is missing badly. No codes appeared on the scan tool. I towed it home (about1/2 mile). It sits in my drive. What am i missing? all I did was replace the battery. 130,000 miles on the car. Runs strong till today. Ideas gents?

The shop should have done this. If they did u just put the cams in and leave all the buckets EXACTLY where they are.

The brand of oil isn't nearly as important as the brand of oil filter. Get a premium filter. I use Castrol GTX with Wix or Napa gold or Bosch. Whichever is handy at the time. Drain and fill the diffs. Drain and fill the trans. New sparkers all around.

he's right. just make sure the crank is on the timing mark. I just did this job 5 weeks ago. I'm curious, did you have the heads inspected, pres. teted, machined or just putting in a gasket? I say this because although my heads were ok the shop did a good cleaning job and a valve adjustment.

I used Napa axles and am happy. The price was right!! That was 20,000 miles ago. 97 OBW

besides being 11 years old with 130,000 miles, what is a good indication of strut wear? I prob need them but ?????

Yeah those were my general thoughts. I keep imagining less wind resistance due to the thinner air but it probably all evens out somehow. Anyway I'm enjoying the scenery - can't wait till it snows!!

You can't swing a dead cat around here without smacking a SOOB! I'm driving along everywhere and it's like I see my car at every stoplight. It's cool. There were no SOOBs in TX. BTW I drove 1100 miles from TX to Loveland 3 days after my DIY HG job. I must say I was a little nervous zooming across west TX in the 100 degree heat with an overloaded 97 OBW running hard with the AC on, but it made it and got 27mpg avg!!!! I'm not used to the elevation yet, the car and I are noticeably more sluggish (5000 ft plus 90 degrees this week). Do NA cars get better or worse or same MPG up here compared to sea level?? I'm an airline pilot and was trying to think of the car like an airplane but I'm not sure that is appropriate. Anyone have any thoughts on that? Anyway i'm guessing there are some awesome junkyards around here for SOOB parts, anyone have a favorite in the Loveland area? Ryan now in Loveland, Colorado, formerly Houston

Mine did too. But all is well.

well my engine is/was sound except for the head gasket. So in my case a complete rebuild would be overkill. I have only 130,000 miles. I am by no means an expert though. I can tell you that the valve adj was worth it because I don't have anymore ticking when cold. It runs super sweet.

97 OBW 130,000 2.5DOHC Well my motor is back in. Took me the better part of the day. The only thing I screwed up is I forgot to plug in the knock sensor, and the fuel lines were swapped so it wouldn't start at first. I almost fainted. But I figured it out and now she runs like a champ. The machine shop had the heads for 8 days but they were shiny new with valve adjustment and new valve seals when I picked them up. Cost was $285 for the full works. My car is like new again. (I hope)

I don't agree. Either leave it parked or drive it long enough to get it up to operating temp. Short runs introduce water into the crankcase. Full temp runs are needed to dissapate the moisture. Do you have a trusted to friend who can drive it once every in a while?

Thanks, I would have screwed that up. Isn't this fun?

Correct me if I'm wrong but the seals have to go in after the cam is back on the head. So I would take them the head and the cam/caps? edit: but the head bolts can't be put in with the cam in place. How can they replace the seals? edit: ok i'm an idiot. You guys are talking about the valve stem seals.

Thanks. I still want a compressor though so I can do the assembly/disassembly of the valve components.

2.5 DOHC Can anyone suggest a style or a link. Thanks guys. I decided to get the heads surfaced/cleaned.

130,000 miles. Not overheated because I caught it when it happened I think. I will use a machine shop if necessary, that's no prob. Just wondering if anyone has had good results with just cleaning and replacing.

Ready to pull heads tomorrow. I have the new style headgasket ready to go. Any tips on preparing the surfaces other than clean and dry? Ryan