mdjdc

I agree with you dave. It was a flagrant act of deception just so the car could be gotten rid of. We both learned a lesson. Thankfully it didn't cost much to repair the tranny. He's happy now. Now we have one other question. His ABS light is on and we have looked under the dash and there is no connector there for checking the codes. Do we just have the codes pulled with an OBDII tester? Thanks Mike

As you all know, buddy bought a 98 forrester with a known blown HG. We got it home and resealed the motor only to find out it had torque bind real bad. We tore into the tranny and did the drum grinding fix and the problem didn't go away. He did some checking and the PO had removed several of the dash lights so that some unsuspecting soul (him) would buy it. Well, after he replaced the lights, we managed to get the transmission codes and last night we tore into the tranny again. This time, with the information we needed. We replaced the duty C solenoid and the speed sensor #2, put the baby back together and the torque bind is all gone. Needless to say, he is very happy. The moral to this story: when you are buying a used subie and the dash lights don't come on at start up, BEWARE. The bulbs may be missing. Thanks For all of your help Guys.. Mike

I have a manual and I used an off brand of axle. Te drivers side fit perfectly, but on the passenger side the inner joint was a little loose on the tranny output shaft. As a result, I had some weird shuddering in second gear. I replace both with a better axle and now the problem is completely gone.

If you are feeling the shudder from the front end of the car, I highly doubt that the VC is bad. The first thing I would do is put in a new CV half shaft on the side that went bad at 39k. It is very likely that the joint got crud in it before it was repacked and it is now worn out. I just had a very similar situation and I too thought that my VC was bad. No torn boots. I replaced both my half shafts and now I have no problems at all turning. This is a very easy and much less expensive repair and worth it to help to rule out an expensive tranny repair.

Personally, I like keeping cars stock, so i would repair the engine. others on the board are all for the swap thugh. I have done several 2.5 repairs and even with head milling it doesn't take very long. If the heads don't require milling I can do a head gasket replacement in about 5 hours. That means if you are new at it, you should be abel to do it in a weekend. not abad turn around. If you have any questions PM me and I'll get you my phone number and we can talk. Good luck Mike

glad you got it fixed.

It is going to be much easier to put a new/used distributor in the car. You can get one from a local junk yard or I have one you can use. I'm sure we can come to an agreement. Also, in the future, always take your old disty parts to the parts store and make sure they give you the right ones. They are notorious for giving out the wrong caps.

We did the HG's two weeks ago and the engine runs like a top. Once we got it running we realized it had torque bind and I took off the tail section and we resurfaced the drum. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the AT temp light wasn't working and the torque bind stayed. Now I am realizing that the duty solenoid is probably bad as well. We have one on order along with a new clutch pack, but I'd like to replace any other bad solenoids while we are in there. That is why we are trying to find out what the codes are. If need be I have a good tranny body that we can swap his tail section on to and we can throw that into the car. I just don't relish the idea of dropping the tranny right now as I don't have access to a lift. We'll see how it goes. I did find out that if you run with torque bind too long you will tear the drum right off the shaft. One of the cars that I just fixed had a supposed bad duty c solenoid and when I got in ther to fix it I found the drum ripped off the shaft. It was obvious that it had been in TB for a long time.

he took it to advance auto and they said that the obd11 scanner read Passed. that cannot be, he has a flashing at temp light and ABS light. We know for sure that he has torque bind and that the duty solenoid is probably bad. The previous owner took the bulbs out of the dash so he could sell it to someone with out any questions about the tranny. Nice Huh? Well, he got a decent car, even if we have to do some extra work on it.

I have a friend with a 98 forrester and his trans light is blinking constantly. I looked under the dash to find the diagnostic connector, but I don't see it. Does anyone know how to pull the codes on the forrester? Thanks

Something in your linkage is broken. Either the cable (hopefully) or internal to the tranny.

Yes, I used aftermarket. I guess I'll get some MWE axles this week and return these. Thanks Guys

I noticed that I had bad half shafts in the front end of my 99 outback wagon 5MT. I replaced them both last Thursday and now I am noticing a "shudder" under acceleration, but only in second gear. If I accelerate very gently it isn't noticeable, but if I accelerate with a little more force it can be felt. I'm wondering if I got a bad half shaft. I installed new, not rebuilt, but I'm wondering where the shudder is coming from. It feels alost like wheel hop, but I know it isn't. I can feel it in the steering wheel and from the vibrations I think it is coming from the passenger side. I checked the inner joint and it feels like there is some play on the inner joint on the output shaft. I need to check my buddies car and see if his feels the same. He also has a manual tranny. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I can tell you from experience that your problem is the HG's that you used. I too have used other than Subaru HG's and they failed within 300 miles. Same engine redone with Subaru HG's and no more overheating. All HG's are not the same. Unfortunately you will have to do the job again, but I bet the engine holds once you have the new gaskets in. Good Luck

He has the old style trans. The drum had very deep groves and I didn't take the big one apart to see what the inside looked like. Just gringding down the inner drum fixed about 80 percent of the problem. I am now wondering if the solenoid is stuck in full duty cycle. He isn't getting an at temp light, but I don't know if the forester does that. I also wonder if the clutches are sticking to one another. We are going to let him drive for several hundred mile to see if things lessen. If not we will tear into it again and do a little more work and repalcement. That is why I posed the original question. Wondering if the 2.5 and 2.2 tails re the same. I can get a ton of the 2.2's but 2.5's are scarce.

I am working on torque bind in a 98 forester for a friend and was thinking of replacing the tail section with a known good one. His is deeply scored. Can I use any tail section from any AWD vehicle or does it have to come from a 2.5 DOHC vehicle? I will be pulling the entire unit with the shaft and drum in the tranny. Thanks

Okay, here's the update. We got the motor back together and in the car last Thursday. She started up like a champ and ran nice and quiet. ost of power and no smoke or evidence of HG failure. My buddy loves the vehicle, but now we realize that it has torque bind. We sill be pulling the tail section and working on that problem this Thursday. He is very anxious to drive the car so he is pulling the rear drive shaft so he can drive until we can get to the tranny work. Wish us some luck Mike

There is a hose under the intake that preheats the throttle body. I had a very similar situation and that hose had broken. A real PIA to get to. From the front of the engine look under the intake and you can see the hos I am talking about. I'll bet you it is the culprit. The easiest way to replace it is by unbolting the intake and lifting it up. Remember to drain the system or you will get coolant into the cylinders and hydrolock the motor. The hose is small and I just replaced it with fuel line of the appropriate diameter. The other possibility is the cooling line to the turbo. It is on the front of the turbo, but if it is leaking on the bottom, it will pour coolant on the top of the block. Check that one too. It is on the passengers side of the intake to the turbo. Normal size hose. I'm thinking that it is most likely the first one though. Good luck

I did the same thing. The pistons were binding and I had to replace the calipers. Once I did that the problem was solved. The pistons weren't totally stuck, just very tight and therefore no very efficient in providing stopping power.

I had a very similar problem and once I changed out the front calipers it was toatally gone. Check the slides for sticking and replace any bad hardware on the front. I'm willing to bet that your booster is fine. If the booster has gone bad the car will run poorly due to a vacuum leak. The diaphragm cracks and that is why you lose power. This creates a vacuum leak and it is very noticable. Just my two cents\ Good Luck

Welcome to the board and the world of old school subies. you will not be dissapointed in your purchase. It looks like a nice clean car. I used synthetic in one of my GL's and was sorry I did. It started leaking and was still doing so when I sold it. I used to take some of mine thru the deepest mud and I NEVER got stuck. These are robust little wagons Enjoy

Don't be afraid of getting the timing off. Take your time and double check the timing marks before you release the grenade pin. I have dons at least a dozen DOHC motors and the only one I had troubel with was the one that I tried to use the special tool for. It literally got in my way. You only use it on one set of sprockets, the ones that are free moving. The other set yare held in place by friction. If you take your time and check your work you will be just fine.

The plugs now recommended as OEM are the iridium. I have used them on my 99 outback and they run great. When I did the work, I undid the motor mount on one side and jacked up that side of the motor. It really gives you alot more room to work and seriously cuts down on the frustration and cursing involved. The jacking process only add a few minutes to the job, but with the amount of convenience it adds, I think it is a time saver. Good luck.

I said to take it out of the control arm NOT the knuckle. Take the castle nut off and then hit the control arm with a BFH and you are done. It works like a charm.

I don't see what the big deal is with taking the ball joint out of the control arm and pulling it down. If you do the strut, you have to get the car realigned. If you do the ball joint you don't. Personally, I don't want to have the car realigned if I don't have too.