MilesFox

loosen the nut before removing the timing belt

felpro indeed national seal made in mexico or canada. The NOK brand can be found by an oem supply such as NAPA altrom. The cam retainers can come off and do the seals on the bench separate than the motor, if you wish. Don't forget the o-rings if you have it apart. Open belts ok. spill fluids, wipe it off. Open belts sling off contaminants. Othersise, you can inspect the belts any time you open the hood, and keep a spare in the trunk. It only takes 2 tools and 10 minutes to change open belts if you are good. 20 minutes if you already know how to do timing belts. put a dab of ulta grey between mickeys eats and on the end of hus nose to keep the gasket in place during install. Rotate the pump sprocket. If you have room to chuck it in a drill, you can prime the whole engine before installing the belts. At least prime the oil filter. Coat the rotor in oil when you install the pump

You may find a plug that fits the egr oprt on the head, otherwise, vut the hose and crimp it over. The EGR cab be blocked off as a plate. Perhaps the EGR is plugged, whuch would on its own accomplish the same as being blocked off. The solenoids are just there, leave them plugged in so the ECU sees them.

Are you putting the kids on the roof? How and what are you loading in the car?

In regard to FWD to 4wd swap, I have made a few and fabricate up a mount from flat bar. My 86 3door was a fwd 5spd to 4wd d/r swap. The subaru maintenance vids show a loyale from automatic, but was already 4wd. Here is my build thread if you would like to see, and a slideshow vid. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/115300-86-3door-runaboutfwdft4wd-4-lug5lug-ea82-carbej22-or-er27-swap-rust-removal/?hl=%203door%20%20runabout%20%20coupe

This can be done. Recommended at your own risk only. A spray paint cap fits in the tail and a rubber glove and a hose clamp will keep the fliod in. It may leak enough eventually. The trans can run in lo range as a FWD. The spinning shaft may wear thru the cap. Drive it in FWD. It's best to get the trans and all the hardware and diff from the same cqar, if possible.

Perhaps there is a loose harness or hose. The car would run without the temp sensor connected. If the fans default on all time, this would be the case. Otherwise, check the engine harness connections on the bellhousing for loose pins or wires pulled out of the plug. Check all the PCV hoses runningt ot he bottom of the iarbox.

Google, Youtube or USMB search "The art of Subaru Maintenance" videos. These vids explain ea82 service, but are centered around an AT to MT swap as the example in the vids. Good luck

Welcome. I am not in michigan, but i grew up around Coldwater. Happy Subaru from Wisconsin (and a hoosier native)

In my experience, an belt kit from NAPA under the 'ALTROM' brand supplies a gates timing belt kit. I would imagine there would be AC Delco branded kits as GM had a 20% stake in subaru before they sold it to Toyota.. With auto parts, the same manufactured parts can be packaged as different brands depending on their retail outlet. Here is another tidbit regarding GM and AC delco: the engine temp sensor for 2000-2004 legacy outback cross references with chevy malibu

A fluid exchange machine can be simulated with a jug of fluid, a hose, and a drain pan. If you can determine the inlet and outlet hoses, you can siphon from a jug of new fluid while the engine is running, and collect the old fluid id a drain pan. This will maintain the trans initial fluid level as long as no air is introduced. It would be wise to cycle through the gears while you perform this. A professional machine moves 18qts thru the trans while idling, and when connected, the internal valving will allow the fluid to move one war regardless of which lines are connected which way.

yes, glasspack = 'cherrybomb'. I would have used cherry bomb, but sometimes that is confusing if no one can make the correlation between a brand name vs type of muffler. I suppose brand names can be used to describe in general, just as kleenex means facial tissue, or u-haul means moving truck

This vid should give you an idea, although it isnt the one i was trying to find. For the tensioner, the forester should have the 'flapper' style tensiner in the ej25d and the ej251 engines, which have a higher failure rate than the log tensiners on ej22e and legacy ej25d engines. Something to consider. For the mileage vs the age, it would be worth servicing the timing belts to see if that cures the noise

The park lamp switch on the steering column is a different circuit than the headlight circuit. The headlights ground through the switch. Even when not on or not working, you will get voltage at the headlamp socket. Do you have an aftermarket stereo? At least you are not having the park lamps come on with the brake pedal (mine does this) Check the fuse links in the black box mounted on the overflow bottle, 2 green, one red, one black. Check your fuses. The fuse link can be replaced with 'J' fuses

if the master cylinder reservoior bled out, it would have introduced an iar pocket that would have to be bled out again. Here are a few tips for bleeding brakes with subaru: 1. Dual diagonal procedure stating with wheel furthest from the MC 2. Avoid bottoming the brake pedal. Perform shallow strokes until you build pressure. Avoid rapid brake strokes. 3 strokes at a time will suffice. 3. Watch the reservoior level and do not let the level get low enough to introduce an air bubble. 4. Flush till you have clear fluid. With manual transmission and a hill holder, depressing the clutch while bleeding the rear will be most effective.

I agree the 0w20 oil is part of fuel economy standards where a 5w20 or a 5w30 could substitute for a 2% hit in fuel economy. All in all, a subaru is limited to fuel economy by its overall gearing. Personally, i would run 0w40 in a late model soob calling for 0w20 or 0w30. I advocate that 5w40 should be used over 5w30 in any of the ej or ea engines. I run 0w40 in both ej25d and ej22e.

my perfect combo is a glasspack just after the mitpipe flange and straight pipe out the bumper. 1-7/8 or 2 " If you read my posts in searching i am always barking about 'backpressure' being confused with scavenging. Throw all that old man common convention out the window with these cars

Although this is true in general, subaru engines before the FA engines call for anything from 5w30 to 20w50, depending on climate.

Orient the dipstick so the symbol is upright facing you. Read the higher side of the dipstick in this manner. There are 2 full mark. The top mark is at rest, cold engine with all the oil in the sump. The lower full mark is warm engine, with volume of oil in the upper engine and filter. Assume the higher side of the dipstick to read regardless of dipstick prientation. The ring in the oil pan gasket is a likely culprit. consider 5w40 oil

Torque converter lockup is electronically controlled. 2700 rpms is right as you will be closer to 3000 rpm past 70 mph. With electronic controlled shifting, everything you knew about trans doesn't apply with the subaru. a fluid exchange thru a machine is the most efficient way to perform a 100% flush. Thhere is nothing to gain by removing the trans pan, as you will find its just wires and solenoids and a screen, and reinstalling may risk a leak. Best to leave it be if it is not leaking. That is what the drain plug is for! Stay tuned as i made video of doing a trans flush in a professional environment on a subaru, once i can load and edit the video. Good luck

I would guess inefficient or corroded water pump or radiator from the first instance, but now it has boiled over suspect a HG. LEt the engine cool down, burp out the air pockets. Then inspect for bubles while it is running. If no bubbles, go ahead with inspecting the WP and rad

Does the car run ok? Sounds like the diagnosis for the cats is part of the TSB update as the new tune is not parametered to the current condition of the cats, as the cats have degraded with the prior tune http://www.carcomplaints.com/Subaru/Legacy/2008/tsbs/

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/142723-art-of-subaru-maintenance-vol-2-ej-series-video/

Good luck. You will find you will have several options as Subaru is like a big box of Legos to put together however you like.

What year and model is your car. I am presuming later model withthe ECU update. There are TSB updates for these. I would imagine that the reflas needs to learn the car and meter itself to the sensors' outputs thru several drive cycles. I would imagine clear any codes and let the new ECU tune work itself out. For the mileage on the car, it may be necessary or recommended to change out a knock sensor or engine temp sensor or o2 sensor if they are worn. The dealer should have the ability to measure or monitor the sensors to make sure they are within range. This kind of thing would come down to the skills of the individual technician that services your car. Perhaps get a 2nd opinion.