johnceggleston

then why do the repair?. just drive it till it quits, buy a used engine and go again. i can't do it, but some people talk about pullling and installing an engine in a day. (i wouldn't even try) the timing belt will almost be that long. and engines are what 200$-300$???

I discovered a little trick; Subaru puts a VIN on their engine blocks... , Nathan also true with transmissioins. there is a rectangular tag on the left side about halfway back. has the vin printed on the tag, and if you remove the tag it's etched in to the case. this is for sure on 97's. not so sure about 95-96's. where do they put the vin on the engine??

in 95 -99 that location is for heated seats. is it possible that some one used a rear window defroster button to operate a heated driver seat?? also in 95-99 the switches were different for left and right, just a thought.

the best place to buy anything is the place you get the best price and service. duh!!!! but usually you need to do some business with someone befroe you get the best price. the internet has changed that a little, now everyone gets the same price. but still, staying in the same place for a long time, you'll be remembered / recognized. even if it's only as one of theose 'usmb people'. pick one and ask for their best price. internet is good, phones are good too. be prepared to place the order when you get a good price. no one believes you when you say you'll call back.

i'm sure you're not planning on reusing the belt next summer, so your real question is will the oil make the belt fail in the next 6 months. i'd bet not, but how miles on the belt and how many miles per month? i can't believe that they would make a belt that oil destroys radidly. just my guess.

yeah, but just wait until you do need to work on it in 50k 0r 60k miles. you'll be so out of practice you'll have to go online to one of thoses car forums and ask for help. i'm envious!!

besides, thinner oils like wd40 will wash away thicker greases that you want to hang around and work. that's why you never put wd40 on something like a bearing.

i had a 61 chevy pickup that i got stuck on flat ground in wet grass one morning. i just popped the clutch too fast and i was stuck. so mistakes happen!!

do you always drive over 80 mph?? i find it hard to believe you get 32 mpg @ 80mph.

also common for first timers who don't know any better, or when the shims are crappy and difficult to reinstall. live and learn.

welcome to the club, i usually get it upside down and backwards.

also doesn't hurt to check the wire connections to the o2 sensors.

when searching car-part.com for 97 impreza rear diff it asks the following questions: Carrier Rear, AT (4.111 ratio) Rear, MT, 1.8L Rear, MT, 2.2L (3.900 ratio) By clicking on "SEARCH" You agree to the Web Site User Agreement. Hollander ® Interchange ® is the property of and © 2002 ADP CSG, Inc. Trademarks owned by their respective owners, not affiliated with Car-Part.com © 2006 Car-Part.com

it was a coolant leak, but was dripping off of the oil pump housing. i had just gotten the car, noticed the collant was low for the second time, and started looking for the leak. i found the drip, but never confirmed it was the water pump. but at 98k miles with the t-belt due at 105k miles and posts here telling me to do everything on the front at the same time, i just replaced it. no leak after that work. i paid close to 700$ (labor @ 75$/hr) for the pump, belt, all the front seals and labor. others will tell you it can be done for 500$ or so. idealy there should be a labor savings by doing more than i tem on the front at the same time. but it would be best to isolate the leak before you spend the money.

how many miles on the water pump, when was it changed last? how many miles on the timing belt? miles on the car? the water pump on my 97 obw 2.5 was leaking at 98k miles, new pump, belt, seals, and i'm good til 200k. the leak was a drip from the bottom of the oil pump housing, center, front of the engine. the same car a year later developed a leak from the left side of the radiator. that was from the radiator cap and it dribbled down the side and drip off near or from the lower hose. it was only noticeable when the car was hot and sitting in on place. as the pressure built up in the system , the cap leaked. no leak when cool. drive the car till it reaches operating temp, 20 minute on the hiway. then let it idle in the driveway for a while. 15 min. then turn it off and look for the wet spot on ground and drip on bottom of car. you'll need a flash light. just in case the radiator fans are blowing the drips away, check it again after it has been siiting off for 15 minutes. good luck.

the y-pipe (shaped like a 'y' or a 'v') bolts to the bottom of the engine and extends back to the catatilic converter section of the exhaust (looks like 2 small mufflers). the long pipe then runs back to the muffler and tail pipe at the rear of the car. the bulky stuff mounted on the y-pipe is/are the heat shield in question. the pipes under neath (inside) the heat sheild are roughly the same diameter as the long pipe that runs to the muffler in the rear. the heat shields get loos and rattle on the pipe inside. the cat converters look like little muflers and are located in the middle section of the exhaust. they to have heat sheilds but less is talked about them on this forum, so they are probably not the problem. sorry i don't have a picture.

of course if the quality of the o2 sensor is giving you a false reading, you may not be running out of spec. so you need a good sensor.

the transfer case on typical 4WD vehicles is a direct mechanical gearing. every time the output shaft of the tranny makes a revolution, the driver shaft to the rear wheels and the drive shaft to the front wheels also make a revolution (assuming the transfer case is engaged). engageing the transfer case causes the front drive shaft and wheels to turn the same as the rear. this is much more work. the clutch pack on the subaru a/t is computer controlled. most of the time, most of the tranny output is sent to the front wheels, making it mostly a FWD car (not totally, if you put in the FWD fuse you can fell the difference in how the car steers and drives). when the cpmputer detects the front wheels turning at a faster rate than the rear, it sends more output to the rear wheels making it more like a 4WD, (not totally it still has a differencr in power output between the front and rear). and the joy of the AWD is that it usually adjust so quickly to the situation you don't even have time to think about it. you can also manually send power to the rear by shifting the gear selector to D1 or D2. not recommend when traveling 50 mph. when standard 4WD cars are in 4wd, there is a lot more load on the engine than when they operate in 2WD. therefore the MPG goes down. (not to mention that most 4WD vehicles were truck like for the longest time.) subaru AWD does not affect the MPG. there is not real difference between AWD and when you put in the FWD fuse. besides, the system was not designed to run in FWD only, for the long term. if i had to guess, and this is a guess only, true FWD subarus get better gas mileage than similar AWD subarus. (perhaps minimal.) also, subarus do have a differential for both front and rear wheels, the clutch pack is the power distribution unit on the tranny. it's always there , always turning, unlike the typical tranfer case. i hope this helps.

what does the TC lock up do? what would the TC unlocked do?

in VA they also issue 2 plates. but i lost one in the car wash 5 years ago and i put it in the trunk. i haven't gotten stopped because of it. as a matter of fact i got stopped for not having the correct "year sticker" on the rear plate, i had them in the glove box, and when he told me to put them on i showed him the no front plate... still no ticket. your front plate may be issued, but not required. ask the state police.

i have read wherer later cars, after 97 at least, they moved the fuse in to the fuse box on the left side under the hood. (it may have been 99.) but but all said above is true, no mpg gain, not recommended for long term use.

what about the fuel tank, i thought AWD was different than FWD?

if they are admitting fault i'd push for a lower price. apparently you did nothing wrong, and you paid for a good used car but do not have one. clearly their mistake is costing you money. not to mention inconvenience. does the car still have a warranty? at the very least you should get a discounted labor price. (no profit included). if they had done the work correctly, it wouldn't be cost them any thing now.

you have removed 2 screws at the top and 2 at the bottom. is the trim piece loose? but not removeable or still tight in place? if it's loose but you can't remove, you need to find the item that is stoppong it. if it's still tight, 2 possibilities, held in by friction use small screwdriver, or look for another screw. don't force it. there is a screw in the rear of the ashtray slide, loosen only not remiove then lift the bracket off, but my memory is that it's not required. you might try squirting some penetrating oil or spray cleaner to disolve the spilled coke and coffee in seams and joints all the way around the trim piece. john

suggestions: look for a wrecked car with matching engine and tranny, you can find them for 300$ to 1000$. maybe even less if you live in subaru country. matching car could be sedan / wagon, GT / outback. tranny is optional. check ebay. also check out craigslist: http://www.crazedlist.org/ i needed a tranny, got the whole car for 415$ plus 65$ tow. 96 leg 2.2L wagon good luck. also read this : http://remanufactured-engines.com/page4.htm