porcupine73

'97 should have solid lifters. Not sure if the adjustment is the set screw type on that engine or the shim type. '96 was the last year for the hydraulic adjusters. The timing belt, water pump, seals, etc., all seems like reasonable work. If I'm remembering correctly that engine is interference so make sure the idlers get replaced too. I would pass on having the HG's done, that is going to add a lot to the cost and unless the job is done properly it might not even last as long as it would have if they were just left alone.

It's possible it's the propeller shaft.

Hey if you want to upload the pics to http://www.porcupine73.com/upload I can make them show up in the thread. Or if you click 'manage attachments' when posting (you have to be in the 'advanced' view) then you cna upload them there too.

I'm not familiar with that specific model, but an auto trans Legacy of the same year cannot be towed with any wheels on the ground. Unless you have a transfer case that you can disengage the rear I would not do it. Because if the propeller shaft to the transmission is turning that will be bad for any distance.

Really it goes to 100% duty cycle with the FWD fuse in? Interesting, good info I hadn't seen that before. Just that the solenoids were driven around 50Hz 5% to 95% duty cycle typically.

You can also add grease to the bearings for the front if desired. I was working on this job on my '94 today. Both front springs were broken near the top, so I removed the strut nuts before lifting the vehicle off the ground. Then the tension was all off the spring so I didn't have to mess around with the spring compressors for disassembly. I checked the springs very carefully before messing around with it. I think if the springs hand't been broken already, this method would have been too risky to attempt.

If the existing mounts aren't too rusty they can be reused, especially the rears. Usually I replace them because my soobs are rusty and I am in it for the long haul. The fronts especially since there is that bearing in there for the steering. The genuine bumpers are expesnive, like $25 each. But I did see rockauto had some including new boots I think for less than that. I'm about to do this job on all four struts on my '94, but I am planning to reuse as many components as possible on this job so save $. Hopefully the mounts aren't in too bad a shape.

Well first you have to figure out where it is leaking. That can be tricky if trying to go by sound while driving. Generally I pull up on four ramps and then with the engine idling I look underneath the vehicle. It's much easier to pinpoint the source of the sound/leak when you can see it and your ears are near it. Then once the source is found the owner can determine the best course of action. Muffler bandage can work on some of the gaskets. Because on rusty soobs, replacing the gasket usually doesn't work because the pipe mating surfaces for the gasket are so rusty the new gasket won't seat right anyway. If it's the donut gasket with the springs right after the rear cat, that is fixable if the flange isn't completely rotted away (it's fixable even if the flange is rotted away if you use a split flange).

Hello and welcome to the board! That's a nice Subaru you have. No, putting the FWD fuse in will not improve fuel economy. Why? Because you still have the friction and windage of the rear drive shafts, rear differential, propeller shaft, etc. Even with the FWD fuse in, those items are all still going to generate friction and windage losses and the weight of lugging them around. Also the handling of the vehicle can be different in an emergency manuever when in FWD mode. So if on rain or something there might be benefit of the AWD in a slippary turn but with the FWD fuse in it will be lost. What that FWD fuse is actually for, is if you get a flat and are running the spare tire. Then that fuse should be installed (because if the tires do not all match within 1/4" circumference as measured by a tape it can cause premature AWD wear at the least and damage at the worst).

Wow that is hard to see. That's pretty much how buried it is on my 2000 Outback too, starting that year there are those wiring harnesses that run right above the stick that didn't used to be there. Yours isn't yellow for some reason either which makes it harder to see. The others I've seen the stick always has a yellow end. If you do need a stick just post in the parts wanted section on here, there's people parting out soobs regularly and you could probably pick one up for a few $. Since it's a small part shipping wouldn't be very much either.

^^ that's also why any 'free' service is highly risky for the customer imho, such as free tire rotations, etc. It's all a chance to 'find' things that need attention. Now granted in some cases there will be an issue the consumer isn't aware of that needs attention. But lots of those shops can spot issues the second a car pulls in the parking lot hahaha. Didn't Sears get in trouble many years back for these sorts of things too?

You could still have carbon buildup even if the heads were off and cleaned 15,000 miles ago. It doesn't necessarily take all that long for it to happen. There was an article on endwrench about this happening with some gasolines iirc.

It can be a beast. Just make sure to start that engine up after sitting overnight and pretty much put it right into drive and see how long it takes it to engage. If it's more than a couple seconds then you need to check it out closer.

The 2.2L is nice. If by chance that's a phase II 4EAT you should be aware of the potential slow to engage to drive issue on those early phase II 4EAT's. Also not that it's a huge or complicated deal to fix but some of those '99 Legacies had flaky speedo gauge clusters. If they're doing the timing belt, make sure to get new timing idlers while they're in there. That 2.2L is interference.

In general it seems that should fit 2000 to around 2004. A big thing with soobs is the drive ratios. The rear diff must match the trans or it causes big problems after the swap. One way out is to just sell the rear diff with the trans.

You might be assuming that the dipstick is there. Previous owners sometimes take them out and forget to put them back. Or the o-ring shrinks on them for the front diff and sometimes they will jump out if you hit hard bumps. The drain plugs take just 1/2" breaker bar. You can get 1/2" pipe plug socket if desired; this is mainly helpful if using an impact wrench on the plugs since impact wrenches tend to have a rounded end with an e-clip or similar on them. 22mm sounds correct for the MT/front diff drain. It's the same size as the crank pulley bolt.

You also need to look really closely at the point where you are planning to connect your new exhaust pipes too. For example if you're going at the springy flange point after the rear cat, those things rust pretty good too and I wouldn't be surprised if yours was just about ready to let loose at that point as well. I had an exhaust leak where the muffler pipe joins the next pipe up. I tried to replace the gasket there with a genuine new gasket but it was still leaking. So I put a lot of jb weld over the gasket and it is still holding up thankfully.

Hello and welcome to the board! That sounds like a nice setup. Question #1 would be the gauge. Is it working properly? If it's an electrical gauge maybe you lost a ground to the engine or something like that and that is also making the engine run poorly now. The oil pump is driven right off the crankshaft, so it's pretty hard for the engine to run without the oil pump operating. I don't think that part of the crank even has a keyway. Maybe the suction strainer fell off or something if the gauge is actually correct and it has enough oil in it. Or maybe the pressure relief valve on the pump opened and for some reason got stuck open. I'm assuming you've got a normal Subaru oiling system, unless you have a dry sump setup or something like that.

Glad it's working. Does that have drive by wire throttle? If so those idle air control valve details don't apply; since the ECU is controlling the throttle in the drive by wire it simply uses that to control idle air as well. Also you might want to see if there are any ECU reflashes available. It seems right around the time drive by wire came out the number of ECU reflashes began to increase quite a bit.

The timing idler would explain it. Was it one of the smooth idlers, or was it the geared/toothed one near the water pump? The crank pulley will just slide off the crank..........on a brand new Subaru off the assembly line perhaps Otherwise if there is even the slightest amount of rust between the crank snout and the pulley it will be more difficult to get off. I always put antisieze in this area now on reassembly, and on the crank sprocket, so that in the future the job will be easier.

A chain wrench will work, but you need a big one, and you need to put old belt around the crank pulley to protect it. If you gouge up the crank pulley it will chew up your accessory drive belts. If you have an MT try the 5th gear method. Or look for the flywheel access hole and jam a screwdriver or something down in there. That's usually what I do. When putting the crank pulley bolt back in you need to get it tight enough. If it backs out on you later it makes a mess. Get good penetrating oil such as Kroil on your timing belt cover bolts. If you're gentle with them you can usually get them out without damaging the covers. I usually end up cracking the cover in one or two spots even then because of the rust belt area here, so I repair the covers with JB weld before reassembly.

Could be any number of things, but a really easy one to check is the timing belt. Just remove the outer cover near the coolant overflow (it's only like 3 bolts) and you can see if the belt is broken. No harm no foul on that non-interference engine if it is, just replace it. Probably a PCI timing kit would be the choice since it has new idlers and such as well.

Good talk about the ethanol. Interesting how things play out like that time and time again. Your soob might benefit from a good thorough induction system cleaning. You may have carbon buildup and such in the engine at this point, and that can result in pinging.

Oh I am seeing you said the oil pump was replaced. In that case make sure the oil pump to block o-ring was new, genuine Subaru, and the proper sealant was used. Otherwise I am thinking it could possibly allow oil to move along the crank and push out the crank seal. Also inspect the crank snout and make sure it is even and doesn't have any scratches. It must be smooth so it doesn't damage the seal.

Yes, the oil pump needs to be removed and the screws on the rotor cover tightened and loctited in place. When they loosen it can allow oil to flow along the crank and then push out the crank seal. The crank and cam seals should be genuine Subaru seals. They are not expensive and sometimes the aftermarket seals have issues. Obviously if the crank or cams got scratched during the R&R of the seals that can rip/damage the seals too. These are the rotor cover screws: The good stuff: If you want genuine seals ShawnW on here can probably hook you up.