mdjdc

If you broke the drivers side timing belt the car will just stop. I would first check to see if that is what happened. Pull the cover on that side and I will bet you that the belt is broken. The other way to check it is to pull the cistributor car and crank the motor. If the rotor dosen't move you have a broken belt. Repalce the two belts and you will be good to go. this is a non-interference motor so you won't damage any internals by breaking the belt. Good Luck

The motor is out and the heads have come back from the shop. The machinist liked the looks of the heads. We will probably get the motor back in the car over the next few days. I'm looking forward to seeing how she runs with the proper gaskets in her. my buddy is excited to be getting her on the road in short order and has plans on taking her on a road after a short break in period. We will test her out close to home first.

I had one motor that had bad bearings following an overheat. The rad hose went and the lady continued to drive it for a little while. Once I got the engine back together I heard the rod knock. Oops, time for a replacement engine. This engine started and ran fine, with absolute no noises from the bottom end. That is why I decided to go ahead with the rebuild. I'll let ou all know haw she is once back together.

Got the engine out today and tore it down to the block. The HG had been changed once before and the mechanic used non subaru HG's. They looked just like the ones I tried before that blew within 400 miles. The heads didn't look bad, but we sent them to the machine shop to be resurfaced. The block itself looks very good. I had my mechanic look at the heads and he agreed that the gaskets didn't hold. I have to wonder if the last job was done by a mechanic that knows subaru's. We should have the car back together next week. I'll let you guys know how she runs once the vehicle is back together. For right now it looks like my friend is benefiting from a mechanic's mistake. I feel sorry for the owner who only had it for a short while. I really think he was sold a car that had a known problem.

I think the latest owner only had it long enough to have this one incident. The title shows less than 1500 miles since he bought it. It looks like someone tried a "quick fix" and unloaded it on him. We'll see how it goes.

A good friend got a great deal on a 98 forester witha blown HG yesterday. The car is in excellent condition except for the engine and he got it for 900.00. Now we have to put new gaskets in the engine. He won't go for the 2.2 swap so don't mention it. When I got the car started it was blowing coolant out of the overflow immediately and white smoke out the tailpipe. I only ran it long enought to get it up on the trailer and it sounded fine. No bearing noises. My question is how bad this motor could be? I have done several of these, but I have never had one that was spewing coolant like this one. Anyone think the heads might be cracked. The previous owner said he had it towed as soon as it overheated. Is this much of a HG failure common? I will be checking the heads for flatness and having them machined if necessary. That is not an issue. Thanks Mike

Thanks Guys. I'll probably get to it in the next week or so and i'll let you know what the outcome is.

Trust me, I am going to replace the VERY old half shafts before I even think of getting into the diff. Thanks Mike

how much do you think a viscious unit would be? If I did the tranny thing with you I would buy the whole thing and make a road trip to come and get it.

I've never felt torque bind, so I'm at a loss. The axles are the originals and as far as I know the boots have never ripped. It feels like a popping in the CV's as iff the ball bearings are binding up due to being dry. My next question is where to find the viscious center to replace? You don't have one gary, do you? Didn't you have an entire tranny for sale a while back? Did you end up selling it? If not, maybe a road trip is in order. Thanks Mike

I have a 99 outback wagon 5spd and lately when I make hard turns I get a front end catching with some popping in what seems like the CV's. The car has 215k on it and everything is original so I am assuming that my CV's are going bad and I need to replace the front axles. The feeling I am geting is much like I would get on my old loyale when the front axles were going bad. Am I on the right track or am I experiencing torque bind. I didn't think torque bind was a real issue with a 5 spd. Thanks Mike

I have several rear mains laying around my shop. If you want one just let me know and I can ship it to you.

That is the suggestion that i made. I am sure the headgaskets weren't done properly in the first place. Won't know if you don't ask.

I would use the RTV or "right Stuff" Tthe Krazy glue dries to a hard finish and will crack very quickly. The others will remain soft. My preference is for the Right Stuff as it is very pliable and impervious to oils and solvents. It is about 12.00 for the can at advance, but well worth it. Useful for any seals you need to make as well. It is all I use now.

It sounds like your front tranny seal blew out. A friend of mine had this happen and it just dumped all of the fluid on the pavement and left her stranded. Pull the engine and put in another seal or pull the tranny and do the D/R swap. Personally, I'd do the swap. The D/R is much better for off roading.

I'm going to pressure test the system today. I'll let you guys know what I find. I'm hoping it's a simple problem rather than a HG. I can do a HG in about 5 hours, but I'm getting tired now and if this wasn't for a friend I'd be resting from any car work for a few months. Alas, the extra money never hurts.

Do you have spark? Is it getting fuel? You may have a bad fuel pump.

Pull the cap and make sure the rotor set screw hasn't backed out. I've had that happen and the car acts the way you describe. Also check to see if the rotor is turning. If not, you have a belt problem.

There has to be more than just two opinions. I know you guys too well. So here's a bump.

I just picked up a 96 outback today for 1000.00. It is in good shape and I have to ask for your opinions as to what might be wrong with it. The owner said that it would lose coolant austensibly from the resevior bottle. I automatically assumed the headgaskets were bad and decided to take the car and fix it up for a friends daughter. He explained that he would drive the car 47 miles each way to and from work each day and have to top off the coolant. He said that the car never ever overheated and he decided to park the car as he was tired of paying for coolant. With that information, I decided to drive the car the 75 or so miles home from his house to mine. The car never waivered from midpoint on the guage and I had heat all the way home. Once I got home I checked the bottle and the level was not even up to the top, but the radiator was low on coolant. Also, when I removed the cap there was no built up pressure. Now I am questioning if the headgaskets are bad, but I', not sure what to do from here. I will pressure test the system, but I wanted your opinions as to what to focus on to solve the loss of coolant problem. I'm wondering if this could be a simple problem or am I looking at bad HG's just letting me get home? Could this be just a bad water pump or a slow leak in a hose? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all of you experts.

If that stuff works and lasts more than a few thousand miles I will be very surprised. Did you try to talk with the mechanic? Keep us informed.

Thanks guys. Let me look at the files in the morning.

I agree. If the heads got hot enough to crack, then you also have serious damage to the block. If you don't have any rod knock, then it didn't get hot enought to crack the head. The bearings fail when the block gets too hot. Just let me know if you want the gaskets and I will order them for you.

Don't waste your money. That product is for head gaskets that are leaking into the cylinders. Your problem is that the cylinders are venting gasses into the coolant and forcing it out of the system. With positive pressure from the cylinders you are not going to get a seal. If you want a quality set of gaskets I can get you subaru gaskets for 60.00 for the two and I would ask the mechanic to replace them again since the originals didn't last. Tell him that if they fail again then you will pay him for his time, if not then the repair is on him. That way, if he thinks it is a waste of time he is going to get paid if he is right and you get the job done right if you are right. Also, make sure he follows the subaru torque sequence. It is as follows. first torque all bolts in sequence to 21 ft-lbs then again to 51 ft-lbs. Back off all the bolts in reverse order 180 degrees and then another 180 degrees. Now torque bolts 1 and 2 to 25 ft'lbs and 3-6 to 11 ft-lbs in sequence Torque all bolts in sequence 90 degrees Again, torque all bolts in sequence 90 degrees That is a confusing pattern, but it is the required sequence from Subaru. No matter what he says stick by your guns and get him to replace the gaskets. If you were down in Richmond, I'd do it with you and then you could get some hands on experience. Let me know if you want me to get the gaskets for you. I'm sure shipping wouldn't be much Mike

When you say that the gasketw wer OEM does that mean that the mechanic got them from a subaru dealer. I ask because I recently did a few headgaskets with some OEM certified (but not from a dealer) gaskets and they all failed within 400 miles. I ended up doing the jobs again and this time I used subaru multi layered steel gaskets and the cars are all running perfectly. I found out the hard way that not all OEM certified gaskets are the same as the dealer supplied ones. When I pulled the failed ones and put them up against the Subaru ones I could actually see the design differences and why they failed. Just asking. If the gaskets didn't come from the dealer, I would have the job redone with Subaru gaskets and I'll bet you will be golden.