johnceggleston

this comes up every now and then. a good question to ask is, if you move the cam sprocket one tooth in either direction, will it be more correct or less correct?? if moving it will get it closer to the mark, then that is where it should be.

96 - 99 outback (legacy) 5 speeds are all the same final drive ratios, 4.11.

you can remove the HLA and then clean and re-prime them. if they don't ''firm up'' then it should be replaced. when it happened to me i just swapped in another rocker assembly. same work. the down side to cleaning / priming and re-installing is if the oil supply is blocked it will still be bad. but then it is just time, no money to find out.

but what happened to the EGR nut / pipe?

more often than not, if the key will not turn, it is a worn key or lock cylinder. a decent locksmith should be able to ''pick'' the lock if this is the actual case. (90 - 99 any way, i don't know if or when they changed the lock cylinders on subarus.) once the lock cylinder has been turned, removal is easy. i would probably remove all the plastic coverings and then get the car to a lock shop. if you can not get the lock cylinder to turn you will have to remove the ''ignition assembly'' from the steering column. i have done this using a punch and a hammer to slowly turn the ''headless'' security bolts, tap, tap, tap, tap. if you do this you can take the cylinder to the lock smith to have it ''fixed''. or just hire a car thief to use his slide hammer to jerk the cylinder out of the column. they do it on TV in about 5 seconds.

or maybe zip ties will help you use the ones you have. my 95 has only one factory bolt per side , i think.

so buy the NGK $2.00 plugs at the parts store and a set of Subaru wires, not cheap parts store wires. this may not fix the problem (if it is the coil) but the ones you are running don't owe you anything.

check you cam timing marks? 3 bolts for each cover. turn it over by hand, line up the timing marks and check all 4 cams. or if it idles fine but loses power at speed, maybe the fuel pump. i hear they can be intermittent.

the new TPS needs to be adjusted correctly.

when was the last time you changed the plugs and wires??

since you say you think it the trans control unit i assume it is an auto trans. i don't think a slipping auto trans is caused by the TCU. check the fluid level. heck, do a drain and fill to change the fluid. if the TCU fails the trans should go into limp mode, third gear only and locked 4WD if it is an AWD car. EDIT: if your trans is a FWD it could be a busted axle / half shaft. this would allow the busted axle to spin and the other one to just sit there.

manual trans, no. they have a viscous coupling in the rear of the trans which does the work of sending power to the rear. it is purely mechanical. it is the exact same design as the viscous limited slip rear diff. for the auto trans the answer is yes. there is a fuse holder under the hood, passenger side, near the fire wall in the corner marked FWD. put any size fuse in there and your car will be FWD only. (and before you ask, no it will not save you gas to run in FWD only.) with the fuse in you will have a red FWD lite on the instrument cluster and odd ball size tire will not cause problems. the fuse holder was not designed to run for long periods of time with the fuse in. it was designed for diagnostic / spare tire driving . but some folks have run for a very long time with the fuse in. long term it could wear out the duty c solenoid early. then you would have ''torque bind'' all the time.

your concern is understandable about the head gasket. and it could be bad. but they don't typically fail on the ej22 unless it has been abused. and the ej22 is very a forgiving engine. if you are doing the work your self and worried about it being a money pit, pull the water pump and look at it. plan on replacing it and the belt. (although the belt is optional if it is still whole.) and then drive the car. if the WP is the cause you should be good. you may also find the ''real'' problem in the process. the draw back to this is that at some point you will have to do the work again to replace the ''other stuff'' that you did not replace. but if you are doing the work yourself it's just another saturday afternoon. and you didn't sink another $200 into a $500 car with an engine with bad head gaskets. EDIT: i have never heard of a head gasket causing a coolant leak and rust spot on the oil pan. but, if it were me, based on my experience and my opinion of the reliability of the ej22 engine, i would buy a timing belt kit, with a water pump, from ''theimpotrexperts'' on ebay for, $125, and replace everything while i had it open. i would also look for oil leaks while it had it open and replace any and all seals if some are leaking. ( i would buy the seals from the local dealer before the job so i would have them just in case, <$50, but i doubt you could return them. but maybe.) there is a good how to on this job: http://lovehorsepower.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:1995-subaru-legacy-outback-timing-belt-and-water-pump-replacement&catid=10:subaru-legacy&Itemid=64 good luck. and let us know what you decide and how it turns out. folks here will help you through this.

well it sounds like the timing is right, or at least very close. you did the cam seals, double check the cam sensor connector. it controls the fuel. you would have to unplug it to do the cam seal on the driver side. i doubt the compression test will tell you anything, my guess the compression is going to be good. air, spark and fuel, you need all 3. get a can of starting fluid and see if that makes a difference. (use sparingly.) if yes, figure out why no fuel. if no, start looking at spark. water in the spark plug ''sleeves'' could certainly cause a problem. but i don't know if that would cause a no start situation. maybe if they were all soaking wet.

my rule of thumb is this, if you think you can get the timing right by just looking at the cam and crank sprockets you are going to get ti wrong. you need to KNOW what the timing marks are befre you set the belt. i haven't done a timing belt on any other engine so i only know what subaru timing marks look like. but i here a lot of people sy ''it is dead on the timing marks'' onlt to learn later that they used the wrong marks. you need to do your home work first if you have never done a subaru timing belt. hopefuly you used the correct marks and are only a little off with no damage. but usually if you are only one tooth off it will still start. you might double check that you have fuel and spark getting to the cylinders. a can starting fluid will help eliminate fuel as the problem.

they came with the funky, space / cost saving spare. the spare tire storage area will handle a full size spare (you may have to remove the tray, i don't know.) but you don't want to drive very far on mis-matched tires, full size or factory spare. you can damage the AWD part of the trans. your tires all need to be with in 1/4 inch in circumference. this means you have to buy all 4 as a set and rotate them regularly .

no virgin no more!! welcome to the party!!

so you didn't believe me when i said all TZ102Z.... trans are the same except for the diff ratio. there is NO wiring problem it will bolt in, plug in and run just fine. if there was a wiring problem i never wold have said it will work if you use the matching rear diff. good luck with your project.

no, if you pry in the wrong spot you can crack the case. drive out the roll pin that goes thru the inner cup. it attaches the axle to the stub shaft. this pic shows the inner cup and the hole the roll pin is in. you need a service manual. haynes has one that is a good intro to ''how to'' on these cars although not all the info is correct and it does not detail everything. but it will give you a start and pics on how to do most things. here is a link a subaru FSM: http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/

don't mess with the front diff, it is risky and not necessary. replace the reae diff to match your new trans if you decide to go with it.

obs2 has nothing to do with the trans. it is a non issue. there is one other difference between the 93 and the 95, the 93 has a cable driven speedo, the 95 does not. but i here this is an easy fix. but your rear diff does not match the 95 trans. that is more work, assuming you have the correct diff.

well, now i can help you. no, they have different final drive ratios. but that is the only difference. you can use the 95 trans if you use the matching rear diff. FYI: all TZ102Z...... trans are the same. but not all of the final drive ratios are the same. yours has a 3.9 ratio, the 95 has a 4.11 ratio. you need an auto trans from 92 - 94 legacy . you can use one from a trubo car or a non turbo car. there is a link (i'm not on my home computer) to 'a page at ''experiencetherave'' that will list the final drive ratios for the 90 - 94 cars. if you can find it, i'll post it tonight if no one else has, you can confirm that turbo and non toubo 93s have the same 3.9 ratio. i am 100% sure that a 95 lego has a 4.11 ratio.

are these mis - fires or back fires? in the old days, backfires could be caused by a timing/ distributor problem or an exhaust leak. with the computer controlling the spark these days i think the timing being off COULD cause back fires. maybe leaks too. back fires a pretty rare on computer controlled engines. i would recheck the timing marks. if the car is idling, do you hear any exhaust leaks when you use a rag to plug the tail pipe? isn't there a dollar bill trick at the tail pipe you can use to check for burn exhaust valves or something like that?

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/search.php?searchid=1289864

z102zaaaa this is a 95 legacy trans, the 'a7' on the end are meaningless. actually the next 3 'a' from the end are pretty meaningless as well. this a pretty good one. but i repeat, if you search tz102z* under my name you will find many to read. NOTE: on the thread below it mentions matbe needing the TCU with the trans. since i wrote that post, i have found no evidence of ever needing the TCU that came with the original trans. all of these 4eat trans are the same and for the most part the TCUs are programed for the car not the trans. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=71754&highlight=tz102z*