porcupine73

Well that is good news indeed! Otherwise the job gets expensive fast.

The mechanic might be thinking there is no risk of the intake and exhaust valves colliding on the sohc, which is true, but on Subaru 2.5L's and any interference type 2.2L's (97/98+?) there is risk of valve to piston collision.

Hi. Check for the usual. Torque bind, tires matching, etc. Might be near time for a timing belt. With that kind of 'body mileage' check everything, wheel bearings, cv joint boots, hoses, etc. Make sure it really is an AWD vehicle, not an FWD. Anything you find just makes a good case for getting the price down. Not sure if the price is good; I'm not good with prices.

Size 34 will fit into Subaru, at least they do in my 2000 Outback. Pics are in post #3. However, the + terminal needs to be extended by a few inches to reach. Some size 34 batteries might be available with reversed terminals, then no extension would be needed.

Here's the Odyssey web site in case there's any interest http://www.odysseybatteries.com/ Says they use "Absorbent glass mat (AGM) technology", not sure what that means. The largest odyssey that will fit the Subaru is the PC1500T (with extending + cable a few inches). It's a group 34. SummitRacing has the PC1500DT, it has both side and top posts. Don't need the side posts for Subaru of course.

You can find the NYS inspection requirements on the NYS DMV web site, just do a google search. Then go to the nys inspection program for dealers and it lists the requirements in detail. I print this out and check everything myself before going in that way I know its good to go. Bulbs are an easy thing for a shop to find and make a few bucks on replacing. After you reset the cel, you will need to make enough trips to get all the readiness monitors set. Oh actually I think that might include the test where you can't have more than 9.6 gallons gas so maybe thatt won't work. You really need an odbii code reader so you can tell if all the readiness monitors are set otherwise you will notbpass NYS inspection.

I think the hsoes just pull off the canister. I've never had to do it. You have to figure out if your canister is underneath the vehicle, pretty much right below where the fuel filler hole is (it's a black square box with what looks like 482 hoses routed into/around it) (this is the 'enhanced' system). Yah it's a little funny how that article says to just pull it off at the pump since you'd have to be lying on the ground probably on your back to get under there. Or if you have the charcoal canister under the hood, usually near where the ABS hydraulic unit is. This is the older system.

Is the intake tube just not long enough now?

Hi Hooked4Life and welcome! For the pump click off issue, check out endwrench Vehicle Won't Take Fuel Hard cold start cold be engine coolant temp sensor. ECU thinks engine is warm and doesn't inject enough fuel to run. Before the next cold start, put the key from acc to run, wait three seconds, back to acc then to run wait three seconds, a couple of times BEFORE cranking and see if this makes any difference. Each time you do this the fuel pump will run for a couple seconds and repressurize if you are losing pressure. However in the Sub's I've seen they loose pressure after about 4 hours, and they repressurize within about 1 second anyway.

Hello f0t0grafer and welcome! I think the attached diagram is for a '96; not sure how close it will be to yours...

afiak at any given point in time the ECU either thinks it is detecting knock or it isn't. I don't know if that decision is based purely on the amplitude of the knock sensor signal. If it is based purely on the amplitude, then clipping the signal to below that point would simply mean the ECU would never detect knock (even if knock were present). Not sure if this is helpful but here is the descrption endwrench gives:

Amsoil has a line of non-oiled air filters, including those conical cold air intake styles. Maybe you could hook somethign like that up to the intake with some flex hose. I used this 3" id flex hose stuff from mcmaster.com for intake air tube and it's been working great and is real easy to just flex to fit. It also has a smooth inner diameter; it's not corrugated. 3" id is a little big, but 2.5" I didn't know if it would fit my tube. It's 5915T181 from mcmaster.com catalog page 200, I have some pics at home if interested.

Apparantly the ECU doesn't mind not seeing any signal or just a little noise, as long as the circuit resistance is roughly correct. You might be able to reduce the amplitude with a voltage divider. If the knock sensor impedance is 500k-ohms, put a ~500k-ohm resistor in parallel with the knock sensor, and a 250k-ohm in series to the ECU. Then the ECU still sees the same resistance, but the signal amplitude should be 1/2. This might not be enough amplitude for the ECU to detect knock if there is any though.

It sounds like this will a fun problem to try to figure out. One of the criteria in that article for the test to occur is "The fuel tank must contain less than 9.6 gallons of fuel." So it might be possible, by keeping at least that much fuel in the tank, to reset the CEL and make a few trips until all the readiness monitors are set.

Another possibility is carrying a spare battery with you. When I start to worry that my battery might let me down, I buy the new battery and carry it in the vehicle as a spare. If you get a sealed type battery such as the Optima or a drycell such as the Odyssey there is no risk of leakage. Of course the battery must be secured in the vehicle since you don't want it coming to visit you in an accident. However, load test the battery when you get it to make sure it's good. The Optima I carried as a spare for 2.5 years then failed the load test and the cell under the ground terminal gets hot. It could have been bad when I got it, but since I didn't test it I don't know and of course now the warranty is up.

Engine oil bypass filters take a small portion of the oil flow and pass it through a separate filter that takes out particles much smaller than the full flow filter. They're very common on diesel trucks. I do it to help with extended oil change intervals.

Possible causes could include cam and/or crank position sensors or engine coolant temp sensor.

Well it is quite possible it is the head gaskets. It could be other things, such as if the thermostat were not opening properly, but that would be the phase I engine so HG issues are not out of the question.

Looks like a sharp car. Are these electronically speed limited?

Consumer reports (depending on whether you like them or not) has battery ratings. Different battery brands sometimes scored differently depending on groups size. I think in general autozone gold batteries were good, napa was rated pretty well....hm..have to find that article again. Yes, load test is easy to do. I got that load tester in my optima pic from Harbor Freight for $10 on sale, it's a 100 Amp tester. You just pop it on there, hold the switch for 10 seconds, and then read the voltage. But the unit gets HOT so be careful. Unforunately the Optima had been sitting for about 2.5 years and failed the load test so had to be replaced.

They can be removed. Just don't park on hay piles. I had several rattles and just today finally got rid of the last one. It took a number of worm drive hose clamps and nuts and bolts. The worm drive hose clamps work pretty well to stop the rattles.

Odyssey PC1500 drycell works nicely. Optima D34 works too. In either of these cases, the + battery lead needs to extended a couple inches to connect.

I haven't ever had to remove one; the throttle body cleaner spray in the intake there is all I've ever needed to do. If you do decide to remove it, make sure you get a new gasket first. Another idea might be to get a shop vac down in near that hole and see if it'll suck out any particles or chips. I'm guessing, that if it wasn't making this noise before work was started, and it is making noise now, that something might've gotten down in there.

It sputters because although the throttle body cleaner is flammable, the engine doesn't get enough air with it to run properly, so it sputters. Nothing to worry about really. If you already gave it a few squirts and it's still doing it, then I either wouldn't worry about it or you may need to take the iacv off to examine it (but beware it has a gasket that needs to be replaced if you remove it). Some chunk of dirt or a flake of something might've gotten down in there and is acting like a whistle or reed for a musical instrument.