johnceggleston

i learned recently that an alt will make a whinning noise when it is charging. if the noise ''changes'' with demand, it may be normal. there is a shop here that will rebuild an alt. for 28$ , i think, plus the parts needed. if you are really concerned, take it ot a rebuilder and have it tested. if they a reputable they will tell you the truth, rather than '' oh yeah, good thing you brought it in. it could go at any second.'' from the labor fee, it does not sound like it is too hard to do. but then lots of things are easy the second time. you may have to ask around to find some one who rebuilds. most big electric motor shops don't mess with automotive stuff. at least not around here.

when did it start using the oil? soon after the separator plate was done? did you replace it or reseal it? did you torque the knock sensor to spec? did you replace the rear main seal?? have you looked under the engine to see where the oily dirt is, front or rear? did you reseal the oil pump, o-ring / backing plate screws, when you did the timing belt?

the 2 i've seen were mounted on the fire wall or strut tower, passenger side.

if you do this on a c ar with an alarm, it will sound the alarm !!!!! holding both buttons on a car with the alarm part is like pressing the ''panic'' button.

my 97 GT has remote entry, without the alarm part. it does not chirp when activated and there is no ''red'' indicator light on the dash. (near the fog light switch.) my 98 obw has the alarm part and the red indicator and it chirps. if you have the red indicator, either the alarm part of the harness has been unplugged or the ''horn'' under the hood has been removed. the alarm horn is different form the car horn. the alarm horn is shaped like a PA system speaker, ''horn'' shaped.

if you are sure the engine is toast, you may try to ''bust'' the engine bell housing where the bolts are to gain access. if not, you can carefully pull the engine with the torque converter attached. just slide it forward a few inches until you can reach the spring clip that holds the shaft on the back side onto the TC. this is a little difficult because the shaft / trans will be at an angle, and you may need to change the elevation as you pull it forward to make it happen. once the TC is disconnected from the shaft, (hang on to the shaft by the way, both of them, you don't want it sliding back into the trans if you can help it.) you can have your way with it. the simplest, if not the easiest may be to get a left handed drill bit the correct size and drill out the bolts from the trans side. or if you have a dremel that may work some way.

is there some magic to belts. my first 3 subarus i drove over 225k miles and never touched a acc belt or had a problem. (wercked one, gave one to my son and sold the last.) my last 2 have been ej22 swaps which i put on new acc belts and i have had trouble with both. the first started making noise and i adjusted it. when it started doing it again i went and got a gator back? belt to replace the one o got with my timing kit. it started making noise after a while and i adjusted it too. still chirps a little at start up. my latest, i started out with a quality belt and it too makes noise at start up. (i'm learning.) so what is the secret?

there's a 95 in c'ville FWD for 1500. you might drive by there on your way north. http://charlottesville.craigslist.org/cto/2095866880.html

when i did my most recent ej22 swap, i started my car with the maf unplugged. i was trying to isolate a different problem. but the car started and died, threw CEL and started the AT Temp light flashing. once i reconnected the maf everything went back to normal. the tps can also cause a TCU code and flashing. several things will.

check out this thread, it may help: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=117189

there is a procedure for checking it with one side jacked up off the ground. search ''diffcheck''

if the duty c fails, the most common condition is binding which means your cars is locked in 4wd. so drive with the fuse in untill it snows and then pull it. when the snow is gone, put it back in.

it does sound like the duty c is bad, but there could be other issues. is the trans oil pan dented? a dented trans oil pan could have pinched a wire or maybe worse. it sounds like the AT Temp light DOES NOT flash 16 times at start up. this is unusual if you have a bad duty c. you need to get the code, it maybe worth it to take to a subie shop / dealer. i hate saying it, but if you do not know the code it will hard to fix.

on 97s at least, the alarm part was an optional add on to the remote opener. the box was the same you just had to add the siren and the alarm part of the harness. so the opener may be there even with out the alarm siren.

then the tube is disconnected where it jumps from the body of the car to the hatch. just a guess. the pump is bad , check it. that is the weak point.

then look at http://www.car-part.com for anew part. the tubes have nothing in them unles it came through the pump.

swap the tube from the upper washer pump, the rear, to the lower washer pump, the front, on the tank. iof the rear squirts when you activate the front washer control, then it is the pump mounted in the tank under the hood.

how right you are. this was on a car i bought with bad head gaskets. it is now a car with a 2.2L swap.

OFF TOPIC: nipper, did you see this thread? "Power mode" for 95-99 4EAT TCU's i thought this might eliminate the need for the ''driving in 3'' in the hills. i also wondered if having it on a timer so it came on with the car an stayed on for 15 minutes would improve the performance of the car, but avoid possible bad gas mileage. of coarse an on/off switch would be good too.

search for low mileage outback struts from a 96 - 98 car. for that matter you can use non out back struts 90 - 98 maybe 99? however, i think, there is a slight difference between pre 95 vs. post 94. not major but a difference having to do with the rear mounts.you need to use the pre 95 mounts in the rear. if yours are different that may be an issue for you.

if you ever replace a ''dirty'' air filter in one of these cars you will see that the dirty are is in one circular area, offset from center. even when they are dirty, there is perhaps 40% of clean filter still unused. this leads me to believe that the box and filter are not the limiting part of the system. stick with what you have. if you want to spend money on your car, i have a bottle of "SPECIAL"" winter tire air that i will sell you for cheap. just let me know if you are interested.

i did my timing belt and i am not a mechanic. i am however a relatively smart guy with an aptitude for mechanical stuff. the hard part for me is the unknown, stuff i have never done before. when i do something for the first time i never move on to the next step until i completely understand the current step. this makes me very slow on new stuff but it tends to avoid fatal mistakes. the timing belt is very straight forward as long as you know the timing marks you are supposed to use. using the wrong marks is an common mistake for first timers. the oil pump re-seal is not hard. it is a $3 o-ring from the dealer and a check, possible ''threadlock'', on some screws, and a tube of ultra-gray sealant. all the info you need is right here on this site you just have to search and or ask. reguarding the drive shaft, i hope you are planing on using a used drive shaft. they rarely fail and the new ones are off the charts. drive shafts are really easy to replace. more so than timing belts. look for parts here: http://www.car-part.com

be sure to do your homework and KNOW just what the timing marks look like.

asking folks who do their own work about a price is likely to be disappointing. look at it from your own perspective, how many miles will you have to drive the car to be satisfied that you made the right decision.? 50k miles for 2500$ would make me happy, of course 100k would make me happier. happy motoring, enjoy!!

let me be the first to say that the leak at the oil pump is likely the o-ring behind the oil pump or the screws on the backing plate which may be loose. if resealing the oil pump is not part of the plan i strongly suggest you add it. or it may still leak.