johnceggleston

auto trans - my understanding is that 90 - 99, AWD have 2 and Fwd have only one. the ecu will uses th front one for info unless it dies and then it will use the rear. (i don't know how.) usually the rear is used to control the power transfer to the rear wheels. phase 2 auto trans (99? up) added speed sensors to the trans and wires to the harness which makes it difficult to swap phase 1 and phase 2 trans. there is also a limp home mode which i would think would kick in if the ecu wasn't getting any data at all, but i don't really know. generally speaking, if the car runs alright, i would suspect the front seed sensor or the speedo. but checking the wiring is free so do that first. i just do not see how the speedo is reading correctly? and the ecu has '0' unless it is a connection problem between the two. either the output from the speedo or an actual wire connection. i guess it could be the ecu, but that is pretty rare, i think.

Thermostat - ok, cheap fix Knock sensor - if you need it. Oil change (filter locally, oil as well.) - always a good idea. ATF flush/filter I did with the transmission swap so not needed. - check in 30k, do in 60k. 02 Sensors (front&rear.) front is more important than rear and should be subaru, rear can generic / cheap. Rear driver speed sensor (need to fix it, someone cut the damn cable!) - easy. Brakes (rotors/pads) this one I may toss off to a mechanic for sake of it being done right. - if you can the rest of this stuff you can do the brakes, pads are easy and rotors may not be needed, but only 2 bolts each side once you have open for the pads. get a haynes manual or a better one and read up on it. you can do this and save 200$.

from what i have learned swapping out a trans and a speedo, the data moves from the vss directly to the speedo, and then from there to the ecu. actually i do not know it moves from there to the ecu, but it gets to the ecu some how and i have seen no indication that is goes there first. especially considereng that the 94s had a speedo cable from the trans to the speedo. no way did the speed data go to the ecu before the speedo in 94. so trouble with the ecu speed is probably the speedo. the speedo jumping around, i think, is usually the vss but it could be either. re: the ecu speed, maybe the speedo outputs to the ecu are dirty. speedos and instrument clusters in general are a dime a dozen any legacy 95 - 98 will work. avoid the GT (and maybe LSi) if you can, that swap is a headache. outback will probably work, but lego L or LS is a sure thing.

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in the correct timing position, the driver side will have tension on it , maybe try to spring to a different position. the passenger side will be relaxed. but if you rotate them each 180* they should feel the same, tight and loose. if one is loose all the time then yes pull the valve cover, there is some thing wrong.

depending on the code, which we do not exactly know, it might be the fuel filler neck. lots of cars in the salt belt that have to replace them due to rust.

you probably know this and it may not even be your case but, a fast blink is due to a bulb being out, less load on the blinker? relay? so it cycles more often. do all your bulbs work? maybe some bulbs are too small?? IDK

kirby, bring us up to date, what have you done on the car so far? how does it run? how many miles? i can't remember.

it always looks like the oil pan is leaking but it is never the oil pan. leave it alone. it is probably the oil separator plate on the back side of the engine behind the flex plate / fly wheel.

some one had a thread a feew years ago, his wifes subaru, lego?, would not start when hot. he showed her where to dump a cup of water so it would hit the ects. that way when she got stranded she could get herself home until he found time to fix it. worked like a charm. the coolant temp sensor is on the water crossover pipe under the intake on the passenger side, accessible from the rear i think.

ditto it always looks like the oil pan is leaking but it is never the oil pan. leave it alone.

start spraying it now, every day, fix it in a month.

in theory it is not hard, search a little and you will find several post detailing it and a couple with stories of rediculous attempts to remove the axle nut. my stumbling block has always been removing the axle from the hub / knuckle. if it has some rust in there it can be a beetch. the debate is usually over what to undo on the knuckle to have enough room to remove the axle. i prefer to MARK FIRST the upper strut / knuckle bolt and remove both. at re-install just set the top bolt back to your mark and you do not need an alignment. these are large bolts and take some umf to remove but rarely a problem. others prefer to remove the pinch bolt / ball joint on the bottom or the tie rod end and swing it out of the way. but the pinch bolts are notorious for busting. i have never seen or heard of a strut to knuckle bolt busting. use lots of pb blaster.

and i would think it needs to be above average, or least not below average. i stripped one i borrowed from autozone trying to remove an axle.

on my old avalon, the clunks went away when we replaced the struts.

thanks for th input, it's good to know in theory how it works. piece by piece i'll learn. from some of the pics it looks like the accumulators might be accessable by removing the valve body. but i'm not likely to open up the trans unless i 'know' what is wrong and know how to fix it. even then i'll be very reluctant.

so you want those magic tires that do everything for only 49$ each. i'm running touring TAs by goodrich ?? i think. the are good tires, and capable in the snow, we had a lot this winter for the first time in years. but the are not the hiway tires like my wifes michlens. and based on your need you are going to have to find a compromise.

the most likely severe oli leak locations are the o-ring behind the oil pump, the crank seal, the oil separator plate on the back side of the engine or the valve cover gaskets. lots of places leak but these can leak the most, in my opinion. oil pump first, sep plate second. valve cover are the easiest on a ej22.

no spark means either the crank senor, the coil or the igniter are bad or disconnected. ( maybe the ECU but i would think that is a very very long shot, but never say never.) very odd for both sides of the coil to go bad at the same time, but...... who knows. if the timing / crank were off you would have spark but at the wrong time. the igniter is on the fire wall on the driver side of the dogbone. make sure all 3 are plugged in, the crank sensor may be hard to see with everything else i n place.

a timing belt kit on ebay with a water pump and tensioner is over 200$ (you will need to spend this money on the replace eng as well.) machine shop valve job is going to run $200?? if you are going to replace rings and crank bearings....... i think, you are going to spend a lot more than 400$ on parts before it is all done. but suit your self.

96 ej25 needs higher octane gas. that might cure your pinging. i would address the things you need now, or the things that will prevent engine damage, like all t belt components. then work through what you want and preventive maintenance,

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from what i read on the endwrench link, they are pressure charged by the fluid system, if that makes any sense. (i don't even know the right terms.) i say this because they made a point of saying something like 'not springs that can weaken like other transmissions'. my thinking was that one of them is gummed up and not moving as it should or the seal is bad and it's not holding pressure. but i'm not at all sure how it works.

i used that kit and 20k later all is fine. i just bought their lesser kit for another car, no seals, and the water pump gasket was paper instead of the metal oem style. i think i went to the dealer and got one there. not a big deal, but it is a corner that was cut and the price is the same. i did not use the 'mousehead' gasket. i did not know, still don't, what it was for. apparently i didn't dismantle far enough to uncover that one.

cam sensor, crank sensor, coil, fuel injectors, and maybe the map sensor will all keep it from starting. double check the connectors at trans bell housing, check to see if any pins are bent inside. the cam being one tooth off will not keep it from starting. what timing mark on the crank sprocket did you use?? keyway at 6 o'clock is correct.