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Good call dave. Maybe two of us telling him will help him out. I had seen your post, but I guess by the time I wrote that I had forgotten what you had said.

make sure you are using a high quality socket. I use a craftsman socket and have never had one slip off. If you are keeping the engine flat, I would suggest that you turn the side that you are working on up so that the socket is pointing down. you may have to have someone hold the engine steady and then I use one hand on the socket to keep it down and one pulling at the end of the bar. They should come out as these don't get corroded like the 2.2's do. I wonder if someone else did the HG's before and used locktite on the threads. If so, you may be screwed. Never use an impact on the head bolts.

Wow, I didn't even know you were supposed to move it after the belt is on. I always assumed the tensioner was supposed to be all the way to the left before you tighten down the bolts. I always do it before putting on the belt ans\d I've never had any trouble putting on the belt. I guess I've just been lucky. Glad I've been doing it correctly though.

If this is a 2.2, then the bolts can be broken. If it is a 2.5, I've never broken one. They are in there tight and you will have a hard time with a 3/8 bar. Spent the money and buy a 1/2" bar and get a good socket. You will be spendingsome real money if you mess up the bolt heads. The bolts are not, I repeat NOT torque to yeild. They do not have to be replaced. Many parts guys will tell you they are because the torqueing procedure is a torque to yeild procedure. Subaru dose not use replaceable bolts. Above all, make sure you use the specified torquing procedure. If you do not, you will be doing a HG job again. Not fun. Good Luck

I had a friend that I built an 89 GL for and he knew that it leaked oil. (I gave him a running engine for free and installed it too) He was vey bad about checking the oil. One night he was on the highway and his wife told him to stop and check the oil..He didn't and a few miles down the road they heard a loud "BANG" and the car screeched to a stop. Thankfully he thought to push in the clutch and coasted to the sie of the road. He had it towed to my house and I check the oil. The dipstick was dry. When I looked at the engine I could see right in the top of the bolck to the rods. Later I took off the intake and I was able to reach into the block and grab the crank and move it a little. It was at that point that I saw that two of the pistons had exploded when the engine locked up. Tow of the rods wer in the shape of a lazy "s". It was the most amazing thing I have every seen. I dropped another motor in the car and sold it to another friend of mine. The guy that blew it up gave me the title because he had sucessfully blown up three subie motors in nine months and I asked him to stop killing cars that I was building for him for nothing so he could get to work. My msiion to keep him working was done and I moved on to people that appreciated the work I would do for them.

It sounds like the tranny is failing. You can use a tranny out of another outback 96-99. That way the gear ratios will match. You should also be able to use a tranny from a forrester as long as it also has the 2.5 DOHC motor. Good Luck

How much do you want for the car as it sits?

Hey: If you watnt to repair the engine, I have a set of heads off a motor with a bad lower end. Let me know. I can let you have them cheap. Mike

As Gary said: You'd be smart to try putting a belt on it and see if the engine runs fine. If you want a used tensioner to work with let me know and I'll let you have one for 25.00 shipped. Just to help out another subie owner. In my case, all of the timing components were replaced at the same time. I suspect that when I put the belt on it may have been one tooth off. It ran good, but idled a little off. It was a cool morning and I started it up, it revved and I shut it off right away to get something in the house. I think that it was just right for the belt to jump. Now the care idles better than before and that is why I think I may have been one tooth off and that precipitated the jump at cold start. Anyhway, let me know if you want to try the timing belt. I may even have a used belt thatyou can have for testing purposes. I keep them around for lifting and pulling stuff, but I know I have one I would trust for a test run. PM me and I can get it out to you this weekend. Mike

I found the duty c solenoid at www.subarupartsforyou.com They are a seller of genuine subaru parts and the savings is immense. At the local stealersihp the solenoid was 350.00 and at the website it was 120.00 Good Luck

All of the tin=ming components were replaced at the same time last year. All new not used or rebuilt.

The belt and Idlers have less than 10k on them. Maybe I'll change out the belt anyway.

Nipper wins the kewpie doll. The exhaust cam jumped three teeth. i pulled the cover and it was obvious. Reset the belt and all is well now. Thanks for all of the suggestions. Gary: You are right, I do have one on a shelf, but my mechanic suggested the belt check, so i did that first. Just glad to have the car back up and running

I'm open to all options. Thanks guys, I'm off to tame the beast. I'll let you know what I find.

This car only has one belt. I hope it didn't jump timing, but I will check that too.

Here's the scoop. I have a 99 outback 2.5 DOHC with a manual tranny. This morning I went outside to start the car and she started up just fine. I realized that I had left something in the house and I shut it off to go back in. When I restarted the car it ran like crap and did so all the way to work. I stopped at my mechanics during lunch and he found a code for the 1 and 3 cylinder misfire. He said it is acting like the valves are not right. I am going to do a compression test in the morning, then check the plugs for fouling and maybe even test the fuel injectors. It is so weird that the car would have a failure in both cylinders at once. Any other suggestions? I'm open to all advice. I need my car back. Right now I am driving my 90 loyale and boy I already miss the cmforts of the outback. Thanks Guys Mike

You went at this the wrong way. Your rim is bent and all of the other stuff was unnecessary. Replace the wheel and the problem will be solved. For future reference, a bent half shaft is extremely rare and if you bent the suspension, you'd have a tracking problem, not a wobble. Good luck

I hadn't thought about the starter. I'm thinking of throwing another starter n there, but we will fully check the battery first. Thanks Dave Mike

Here's the scoop. I rebuilt a 96 outback, replaced the motor and it runs like a champ. The issue is that it is slow to start, almost like it has a weak battery. The battery is a brand new interstate, so I don't think that should be an issue. The family that bought the car says that as the car gets warmer it is slower to start. ??Do you guys think I got a bad battery or is the starter going, or is it something else. I need some direction to look in. Thanks mike

Hey patrick, welcome back to the US. If you want, I have a block that is good coming out of a car with a cracked head. You can have the block for whatever shipping would cost. You can then put your heads and wextras on it and have an engine for super cheap. I know that the block is in fine working order. The head cracked at the exhaust port. PM me if you want the block and I can get working on removing it from the car.

I just got an update from my buddy. He decided to take the forester to Pa. ans see his mother. He said that the car ran flawlessly and he even got 28mpg on the first tank of gas. He is truely elated. He is a tall mena nad he wanted the forester for ease of entry and exit. Thanks for everyones help along the way of resurection. It is a very nice car.

John: I have the full install book and It will show the wires you need to reconnect to restore the system to normal operation. Get me your address and I will send you a copy. It is too large a file to email in PDF Mike

Did one about 6 weeks ago and it was really easy. Make sure you get the mating surfaces clean and you will be fine.

I'll have to look again.

I have checked the harness thouroughly and all of the connectors under the dash are plugged in. All of the harness that is taped up is smooth with no connectors underneath. In order to get the tranny codes we had to go thru a very specific set of steps and they popped right up on the light. I am thinking that there is a similar protocol for the ABS system.