johnceggleston

that does not qualify as a leak in my book. leave it. lots of other stuff will give you problems before that does. besides, it could be the valve cover gasket, maybe.

when looking at a used car, never believe what the seller says. if they do not work on the car themselves, they probably do not know. go look at the car, but unless the bellows are torn and oil soaked, it may not be the rack leaking. valve cover gaskets are much more common, or CV boots or cam seals, or steering pump, or .......

unless your current engine is un-drivable, why not get the new engine, do the head gaskets, $70 water pump and all timing components, $135 replace ALL the seals on the front , $35 valve cover gaskets, $30 and the rear oil separator plate, $35 and then install it in your car. this way you only have to pull the engine once. there is almost no real difference in power between the 2 engines, and the 95 is non-interference, and it has HLAs so there is no need for valve adjustment, ever. so resealing it and then installing it will give you an engine that will go 60k, if not 100k, before it needs to be worked on. then sell the old engine for $150 ??? needing head gaskets. just a thought. but i would confirm the head gasket is bad first. i think some over heating ej22 engines get caught up in the ej25 head gasket epidemic.

he may have charged for a rebuild, but he actually did a replacement. good luck with that.

this link shows the TZ102Z2AAA trans was used in the 96 LSi. http://opposedforces.com/parts/legacy/us_b11/type_30/automatic_transmission/at_transmission_assembly/ it also shows it was used in the 96 GT. (click on the part number and then ''usage info'') there is a 2.7% tire size difference between the GT and LSi. this means one one, or both of them, left the factory with a speedo error.

the trans code on that plate on the strut tower says TZ102Z2ABA - this is the 96 outback auto trans TZ102Z2AAA - this is a 4.44 final drive ratio trans, but not an outback. it is either a GT or LSi trans, probably an LSi. this means that the speedo is geared for smaller tires. the GT tires are 205/55/16 which is about 1.5 inches smaller in diameter than the outback 205/70/15 tires. but iirc, the LSi tires are are the same size as the lego L and brighton, 185/70/14 (or probably 195/60/15 on 15" alloys) this tire size difference (LSi to OBW) explains 8.6% of the speedo error (79 / 72 = 10.9%). so i think you have found your error. the best way to calculate your actual error is to clock 100 miles with the odo and the GPS during a long trip. what ever the difference is when the slow one hits 100 miles is the error. the next time you need tires you can buy slightly smaller ones to reduce the the error. it will also reduce the height of the car. another solution is to remove the needle on the speedo and reset it to 65 when actually driving 65. this is very complicated, and can be very dangerous. i posted the tale years ago of my experience . i was putting a 96 lego speedo in a 97 GT. if you search you should find it.

make sure you KNOW what the correct timing marks are. do not guess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES, there is a difference between a manual trans starter ans an auto trans starter. there is a good thread / link for a parts source, contacts and plunger shipped for less than $15. but i would buy a used starter from www.car-part.com (put in your zip and sort by distance) swap the contacts and install it in your car. another solution is to add a relay to the circuit. this will send power from the battery to the starter solenoid through a MUCH shorter, cleaner, newer circuit. i did this on the 97obw and drove it for 40k miles until i sold it. it work great, never failed again. both of these solutions are documented, do a search for ''starterfix''. contacts info: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/need-help-car-wont-start-196939.html?p=4177757#post4177757

the problem is either the speedo it self or the trans . does the speedo go up to 120 or 140? the outbacks usually have a different ''face plate'' then the lego. in my experience, the legos go up to 140, and the outbacks only go up to 120. this is a function of using the same speedo for both models, but adapting it to work correctly for the different ratios and tires. if the trans was swapped (rear diff too) with one from a lego L or brighton, the speedo drive gears in the trans do not match the tires or speedo. this MAY be correctable by swapping in the matching speedo. (EDIT: i don't think so but smaller tires may help. or a combination of the two.) or if not absolutely correctable at least making the error much less. to check and see if the trans has been replaced, read the trans ID# on the bell housing at the starter. it is a a 10 character ID#. please post all 10 here. it will start with TZ102Z....... please be accurate.

can't really say how long, but what ever it was, it is much longer now. just make sure you have the right amount of fluid.

me too!!!!! when was the timing belt last done?

the pistons are probably fine. it is not very often that a busted belt causes piston damage. a valve job will probably put it back on the road. but you do what you think is best. there may be a slight difference in the new vs. old engines. use the existing intake, cam and crank sprockets and you should be good. the 00 engine does not have EGR. and they added it in 03 , i think, so that should not be an issue. but even if the 02 does have EGR, it will not be an issue.

direct swap, 99 - 00 ej22 probable swap, 00 - 03/4 ej25, use your intake, and cam / crank sprockets. (some one just did this on some forum.) another possibility, use a 90 - 98 ej22 short block and your heads, intake, and cam / crank sprockets.

the trans will swap. they are the same.the C vs A (in bold) simply indicates a different, the next, year in the series. the odd ball outback trans that i am familiar with is in the H6 outbacks. they have a 4.11 ratio instead of the 4.44 that all other auto outbacks have.

i do not know, but why do you want to remove it? what year?

the simple answer is, the flex plate MUST match the trans / torque converter. the engine is a non-issue. and i cannot think of a good reason to mix and match a TC and trans.

i take it the EA engines are not like the EJ engines where the T-stat housing bolts to the water pump?

it does sound like a bad front axle, but it would have to also have a bad AWD transfer clutch or rear axle or some part to eliminate power to the rear.

short term there will be no problems. but i would not drive with it long trerm. subaru is very specific about the circumference of the tires on an AWD car. make them correct the issue.

the 97 outback SHOULD have the canister in the front, under the hood, like the 95 ej22. (right next to the ABS pump.) so no changes are necessary. unless you have an odd duck engine / car.

it sounds like a large vac leak. look for the large hose, about the size of your thumb, that runs from the intake manifold, passenger side, to the bottom, under side of the black plastic intake plenum. it mounts on the bottom and is very hard to see.

doing the water pump, AND the TIMING BELT components with the engine out of the car is easier. but i would not pull the engine for that unless you are SURE the rear plate is leaking. fisrt i would replace all fo the timing belt parts, water pump, all idlers, and t-belt. (maybe the tensioner depending on year.) i would also replace ALL of the seals on the front of the engine, 2 cam, (2 cam cap o-rings) 1 crank, and the oil pump o-ring. i probably would also check the valve cover gaskets and replace if leaking. then i would drive the car. see what happens. you will eliminate most of the leaks with the above work. if there is still a substantial leak, i would pull the engine and address the rear plate. but this is just me, doing it outside in my shed. if i had a shop, i might do it differently.

checking the timing on the 99 - 04 forester is a little harder than the earlier years. you can remove the driver side timing cover with no problem, 3? bolts? but to check the passenger side you have to remove a round plug in the cover (no bolts) and look inside the cover. i say this is harder since you have to look inside a small hole. but having never done it, i guess it could be easy. check to make sure both cam sprockets are in the same relative position.

what exactly did you do to the car when you worked on the trans?

do this. if you paid $8, they paid $2. and they do not want you telling all of us that you got bad parts from them. the bad press is not worth the price of the part plus shipping. call them. if you find that the first part they sent was right, you can always pay for the second one. but the bottom line is, something is not right and needs to be corrected.