johnceggleston

i thought the coil was split front and rear, 1-2 together and 3-4 together. if this is right, i would not suspect the coil, but i'm not 100%, just pretty sure. 1 and 3 could be a slipped timing belt, but with it being intermittent and only 30k miles i doubt it. if elevation is a good symptom..... how is the wiring for the injectors split up, side to side or front and rear?? could you get a fuel delivery problem on just one side?

IIRC this is your first ej, but not your first subaru. do ea engines have confusing timing marks? i ask only because the most common cause for a 'no start' on an ej engine after the timing belt has been off is using the wrong timing marks. and there is more than one thread where the original poster swears up and down he timed it right, spending days trying to figure it out, only to admit later he used the wrong marks. (never use the arrows.) review the links below in my signature if you have any doubts at all, the one with pics is good, page 2.. having said that, check for spark, if you have fuel, and spark and not start it almost has to be timing.

congrats, i hope they last for the life of the car plus 1 day. do you remember what you paid for them??

we, my wife has put about 20k miles on it an the last year. it's not a problem for me, because i don't drive it much and she does not complain much, but she started talking about a tribecca recently and i'd don't think i want to spend the money. besides, they pay her $0.50 per mile to drive ~1500 miles for work each month. and i have less than 1500$ in the GT. that's a pretty easy math problem for me. any way, yes we can live with it. if my outback didn't have piston slap she'd be driving that. i swapped the resistors from the outback and the GT this afternoon, no change.

if i had an error code of some kind i would at least have starting point, but i have none. no engine codes, no trans codes. if it was a duty a solenoid i would think i'd get a code. on the other hand, it maybe could be an accumulator, maybe. it sounds like they are shock absorbers for the fluid presser, and unlike other auto trans of the 90s these are not spring loaded but fluid pressure loaded. so if one was gunked up or stuck maybe that could cause the problem??

i found skips thread and then found the resistor on my outback, it shifts fine by the way, and i unplugged it. i got a harder shift but not as hard as the GT which is at work right now. i also got the flashing AT TEMP light on the next start up. i doubt the resistor would fail and not deliver a flashing light so it is probably good. but who knows, o2 will give you headaches with out throwing codes. endwrench also said something about the TPS causing a hard shift. any thoughts on this?

thanks for the help, i'll check the resistor. no lights blinking and the fluid level is good, but i'm going to change the fluid just for grins. it can't hurt. the trans was replaced with a used one by the previous owner, i i have the paperwork but no mention of the mileage on the 'new' trans and i can't offhand remember when it was done. and during the swap i spent a good bit of time under the car so i know there are no dents in the pan. what i don't know is if a bad duty A would cause hard shifts in all gears? or could dirt / gunk cause a hard shift? time for fluid.

my 97 GT auto w/2.2L swap and 142k miles has a very hard, very hard shift 1-2. much harder than my 95 lego or my 97 outback. i have been reading the endwrench article, http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/drivetrain/Ft4EATTransmissionsW98.pdf, and i'm hoping it is caused by the "dropping resistor". since it is located outside of the trans. does any one know what it looks like, it is supposed to be mounted on the passenger strut tower, but i'd like a some confirmation before i start swapping out parts. if isn't the dropping resistor, it could be the duty A solenoid, failure causes max pressure, or the so called accumulators? they can cause max pressure. does any one have any experience with any of this stuff? if it is the solenoid is swapping the 'valve body' a good solution? any other solutions?? thanks ps: i never drove the car before the swap.

i'll take them if you're giving them away, i'll paypal you the shipping. pm sent.

legacy and outback tophats are the same. re: the forester springs. the taller spring causes the strut to be extended more, or whit load on it, compressed less. and logically it is stiffer, more tension. does this, or how does this, affect the ride, driving, handling, and tire wear??

i have read that there are differences in the cam sprockets for some years, but i don't remember reading that there are differences in the crank sprockets. but once you open it up you may as well check both before you put it back together. you don't want to do it twice. let us know what you learn and how it turns out.

+1, what he said.

i too will need to know. and from what i have read ... they are tightened in a similar manner as torque to yield bolts, but apparently the aluminum threads in the block will give up before you can over-torque them. nobody who knows replaces them, every one reuses them. this is the latest understanding that i have read and it sound reasonable to me so i'm going to go with it ..... you can reuse them. how many times have the head gaskets been done before on your engine? when i do mine i plan on only doing them once. if the gaskets fail again, i'm swapping the engine out, or scrapping the car..

you may have a break, the tubing goes up the driver side post, across the top and into the hatch. look for wetness behind the tail light bulb access on the driver side, or below the jack storage. use a safety pin to clear the nozzle and aim it.

what did you do about the crank pulley?

this is something that happens when the crank pulley bolt is not torqued properly. you are going to want to pull the crank sprocket off and check it. there is a pretty good chance that it is boogered too. and if so , your timing will be off. there are several threads about how to deal with this, basically you replace the boogered parts, set it up correctly and then torque it to 140 ft lbs.

or you can go and talk to the shop mgr. and explain that you don't mind paying a fair price for a job, but you won't stick around if he / they take advantage of you. then ask him if he wants the money you eventually spend on car repairs or should you look for another shop to spend your money. there is probably one in the next block and he knows it. if he acts like he did nothing wrong, move on. you will still have to keep an eye on them, but that is true of any shop unless it is run by your mother. and with a resource like you have here, you can get a good idea of what is fair and reasonable. anyone who has been in sales knows the temptation of charging a premium or over charging a customer. you can't always do it because you will lose out to lower priced sellers. but occasionally you can. but to keep a faithful customer, most will charge a fair price, especially if they know you are knowledgeable and checking.

hijak so what do you use on your rags, gloves, shirts and pants in the washing machine???? the cleaning service companies who do it for the professional shops can get them clean,. but i'll be damned if i can. i can get the grease out, but i can't get them clean, spotless. any advice?????

is this for a 53 ford pickup?? :grin: year, make and model, please.

rear diffs rarely fail unless they are run dry. if the fluid was clean, no metal in it, then i would suspect a rear wheel bearing, they make noise. but i've not dealt with one yet so i do not know if noise at certain speeds is normal. try putting in the FWD fuse to see if no power to the rear end makes a difference.

this is the most common cause of a 'no start' after timing belt change or head gaskets. check out the links in my sig below. the one with pics is especially good. check page 2 of that site. with the center timing cover in place you cannot see if the crank sprocket is on the correct mark. if you remove the crank pulley bolt you can see the key way, it should be in the 6 o'clock position.

you can use any outback trans 96 - 98 without problem. you can also use a 96 - 98 GT trans or LSi trans but your speedo may be slightly off. (the speedo gears in the trans match the stock wheel size.) so shop around. having said that, the 97 trans with 43k miles free shipping and a 6 month warranty is a pretty good deal. you may be able to find a cheaper one but if yiu have to ship it the price will go up, maybe 150$. have you looked here: http://www.car-part.com usually the torque converter comes with the trans. you have to unbolt it from the engine to get the trans out. and no one wants to swap a trans and not the TC only to find out the TC was bad. ABSOLUTELY, read up on seating the torque converter. there was a great thread on how to, but the pics have been lost. the write up is still good but no pics, search "torqueconverter". if you do not seat the torque converter properly you will need yet another trans. it isn't really hard to do as long as you know you need to do it. the folks who have had trouble are the ones who did not know.

the above will lift the car off the ground more and probably give you more room for a larger tire when turning, but it will not give you more room between the tire and the spring perch. is that even a concern?

it will lift your car over 1/2 inch. the top of that tire, 205/75/14, will be more than 1/2 inch taller / closer to the strut spring perch than the stock tire, 185/70/14. that's a lot. put your finger up there and see if you have that much room. i doubt you do.

if that is not the problem, rather than replacing the seals, i would suggest a used rack. they hardly ever fail and you can pick a good one up for 50$ - 60$, less from a member of the board. i bet mike, mdjdc, has one.. but since they fail so rarely, i bet the o-ring will fix it.