johnceggleston

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.

which side head??

different strokes for different folks. my son is dating a girl whose father does not believe in buying used cars, only new. that's not me, but if nobody bought new, who would we buy used cars from???

the key to figuring out if it is the harmonic part of the pulley or the keyway part of the pulley is to look at the pulley bolt head. this may not be possible on the 2.5L but i could do it on my 2.2L engine. if the bolt wobbles, it is loose and probably the keyway is damaged. if the bolt doesn't wobble but the pulley does then it is the pulley. i have had this symptom on both my 93 which failed and my 95 which i caught before it failed. once they fail, the damage may be pretty significant. prior to failure the damage is not too bad. good catch on seeing it before it failed. i think you can find a way to brace the flex plate even with the intake in the way.

i had a 93 that did this. my mechanic "glued " it back together with a "permanent" loctite product. he also replaced everything possible before he put it back together which meant i would get at least another 60k out of it.i ended up wrecking it a year later. i'll bet the shop doing the repair didn't torque to the required 140 ft lbs. fix it and drive it. it's cheaper than buying anything else.

first you need to know that the mwchanics make money on selling you repairs you did not ask for when you first took your car in. you may need brakes, but you may not. he may have just been trying to sell you something. second, whjat are the brakes doing? are they making noise, or vibrating?? noise could mean you need both pads and rotors, vibrating could mean rotors. but if they are making noise or vibrating you may only need pads. i've been replacing pads on my 90 nissan pickup for years, and only now at 180k+ have the rotors started to warp and vibrate. i usuualy use a c-clamp, but i have done it without. in that case i use a large screwdriver, inserted through the holes in the caliper into the vent openings in the rotor, at first, to pry the caliper toward the outside of the car. when i have enough room, i reposition the screwdriver between the outside pad and the rotor, and pry again. it does not matter if you mess up the pad, it is being replaced, but try not to scratch up the rotor too much if you can help it. (ps: do not add brake fluid before you change the pads, compressing the caliper pistons will push fluid back into the master cylinder, if it is already full it will over flow.) you should re-grease the slide pins. once you have the caliper open enough to replace the pads the rotors are just 2 more bolts on the caliper bracket, but there is a good chance they may not need to be changed unless you have a braking issue. when you are finished, be sure to pump the brake pedal several short strokes until firm to refill the brake lines with fluid before you drive it. then check the fluid level in the master cylinder.