johnceggleston

so, you removed the t-stat from the bottom of the engine and re-located it . in doing so did the coolant drain out of the radiator? did you re-use the same coolant or put in new? was the new coolant a 50/50 mix? maybe it was the coolant and not the t-stat location.

if the part numbers match, (except the last 3 charactures) then the final drives will match. in the 95 - 98 auto trans, the characture after the second Z indicates the final drive, a letter meant ej22 + 4.11 and a 2 meant ej25 + 4.44. by 2001 the ej22 was gone so everything was ej25 + 4.44 .

there's no way that engine will fail in the next 20k miles unless you run it without oil. i'd bet the price of the car on it, which is exactly what you are doing. it's a safe bet.

the only way to know for sure is to do a lot of research. or compare the numbers on the bell housings at the starter. if the numbers begin the same, something like TZ1A4ZM....... and only the last 3 letters are different then the trans will fit. all of these trans are the same, typically the last 3 letters refer to the model of car the trans was installed in. there are some TV1A4... trans for that time frame, avoid those, unless thats what you have. i read a wikipedia page recently that said basically the 4eat auto trans (made by jatco?) has been used by subaru since 1988 (loyale?) with very few changes. you just need to be sure it will bolt in, wiring connects and final drive matches. the part number match described above should make that happen. good luck and let us know how it goes. http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b12/type_8/automatic_transmission/at_transmission_assembly/

the manual should read 100k miles or 100 months. the 2.5 is an interference engine, if your timing belt breaks, you will suffer valve damage or possibly more. read up on what other maintenance to do with the timing belt like seals, pulleys, water pump? invest 500 - 600$ now and drive for 100k trouble free miles.

how many miles a year, 15k, 30k, or more? i wouldn't touch the hg unless it is blown. depending on the t-belt you use you'll be good for 60 or 100k miles.

if you don't have a haynes manual you will regret it. top of engine, passenger side where the engine meets the trans. right next to the throttle body.

different on GTs, late 90s: 2.5 engine (sane as outback) trans (sane as outback) wheels, different look but tires are the same diameter as legacy sunroof power antenna bumpers, front and rear (and rocker covers ) rear sway bar same on GTs: struts axles seats interior maybe different: tach cd player roof rack Vlsd was available around 02-03 in outbacks and canbe bought from salvage yards for ~100$. if you put GT wheels on a brighton, it will look like a GT. it will not drive like a GT.

have you removed the crank sprocket to see if the key way is good on it and the crank?? interference engines will 'interfere' by definition, what is screwy is this one is interfering when supposedly 'lined up' for a new belt. what if you turned the cams 180 degrees and the crank 90 degrees, hang the belt and then turn it over by hand looking for interference.

i've never taken one of these apart, but from the diagram in the haynes manual there is supposed to be a "ring clip"? on the end of that shaft. it either popped off or pulled through whatever the shaft fits into. i can't imagine the clip bears a lot of force when driving since the inner doj has 'slip' (inboard / outboard) built in to it. but if the inner were to freeze up then the outter may in fact slip out while driving. loosing power in one front wheel at speed would probably not be fatal, but certainly inconvenient and maybe damaging to nearby stuff if the half shaft was flopping around under the car.

my only comment would be not to condemn the car or the alignment based soley on the ride home from the dealer. i assume you have 'test driven' this car extensively, and find the car lacking. so be it. when ever i get my car back from an alignment i'm always skeptical of the 'pull'. but when i drive it on the interstate, it pulls to the right in the right lane and to the left in the left lane, due to the crown in the road. that's as good as it gets. good luck with the car. i hope you can find a good solution.

maybe the 96 2.2 was really a 97??????

i'm going to play dummy here, not hard for me. the nut may not do any thing to set the bearing properly, but it certainly does do something to protect the bearing when there is a load on it. what's the difference?? there must be a very fine line between the two.

you can't do it unless you use a rock. seriously, the window can't go down any more because of the 'cut out' for the wheel well. the door is narrower at the bottom than the window is at the bottom.

i think the outboard CV joint came apart.

i don't think i'd do this. you know now roughly how much you drained, i'd fill it with 3.5 - 4 qts and see how it does. you do not want to risk running the car with the fluid low again. i'd get it as close as possible w/ cold fluid and the car off, and then check and adjust it with the fluid hot. you can always drain and fill again next week. if you read the dipstik before you fill it, and it looks like it's full, ignore it. it is low regardless of what the dipstick says, they are hard to read. add fluid. i ruined a trans because the idiot who replaced the rear trans seal failed to add fluid. he said "the dip stick read full". i added 4 qts the next day and i lost the trans, reverse first. i have read here that ATF is one of the few fluids that will improve functionality even if you only change part of it.

i doubt the timing cover gasket is critical, at least i hope not since i'm not using one. the crank pulley bolt should be easy to find, some one here should have one or even from the dealer it shouldn't be too bad. ( part number - 800213030, $3.50 online plus shipping; retail at the local dealer - $4.50) but someone has one.

the dip stick for the ATF is about 2 feet long, the dip stick for the front diff is about 2 inches long. the diff is on the passenger side and the ATF is on the drivers side under the ac lines. check them both.

how much fluid drains out depends on how high the front of the car is. if it's level you get one amount, if the front is higher, you get more. where did you add the ATF? check the dipstick on the other side of the trans. this really sounds crazy.

i think the manual said 2.75 gals, that's 11 qts, but when you drain it only 3-4 come out. check it when it's cold with the engine off just to see if you are in the ballpark. you are probably low. low can cause damage. add some to get it close and then check it hot engine running. the dip stick is really hard to read when the car is running.

valve cover gaskets and spark plug grommets, this is pretty easy to do. cam shaft seals, crank shaft seal, and cam cap o-rings aren't hard, but you have to remove the timing belt to get to them so you do all of them together. the oli pump seal/o-ring and backing plate screws, if these are leaking there would probably be a puddle under your car, do this with the t-belt as above. oil seperator plate on the back of the engine behind the fly wheel / flex plate, you have to pull the engine to do this one and you buy a new metal plate and NEW screws and replace the old plastic plate. where is your oil coming from, the front, the bach, up high, down low?

i had one do this, there is a clip on the splined end of the shaft that slides into the outer joint thingy? i couldn't get the axle out of the hub and i was removing the hub to take it to be pressed out, and the axle shaft popped out of the joint thingy. i swapped the axle out. the boot was torn when i bought the car and i saw no reason to reuse the axle. better safe than sorry. i guess if you cleaned it up and put it back together it might be ok.

i took 2 broken mirrors and made 1 good one, but i don't remember how i took them apart. i think there is a screw or screws near where the wires come out, undo it and the works will slide out of the housing. or maybeyou have to remove the glass to get to the works/screws... i can't remember. if there isn't a screw, then use that diagnostic hammer you keep in your tool box.

there should be another fuse panel under the hood near the drivers door.

i'd start by posting a 'wanted' ad here on our classifieds. and then i'd look here: http://www.car-part.com sort your search by distance, you might get lucky.