ocei77

The only issue you'll have is just doing the rear. The OB has an 18mm in rear and IIRC a 20mm in the front. If you do go to just a 19, you'll still have slight understeer, flatter cornering and basic controllability. A 20 rear will have neutral handling and can go into oversteer w/o warning. Be prepared. Larger will be instant oversteer. If you can handle it fine, if not, don't. O.

Tell them to look up the exception list. The 96 Impreza and Legacy were exempt from this test. Reason, this early version of Suby's OBDII reset all the monitors whenever the ignition is turned off. This is from the EPA. O. Subaru OB Exemption.pdf

Seems like classic air in the system. You need to fill via the upper radiator hose first, then when it starts to overflow, clamp it and fill with the engine idling. Do a search for burping the system. O.

Just clean the heads well with gas and blow the oil galleys out as a precaution, though I've never heard of bearing material migrating upwards. New head bolts are not needed or required. You can do the heads yourselfhttp://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122588-diy-head-resurfacing-or-post-apocalyptic-machine-shop-techniques/. Whatever you do, get a quality belt ( Gates/Mitsuboshi). O.

You are doing something wrong. Put breaker bar on so it will hit the frame near the battery. If its too long, angle it so that it will hit the floor. No way in God's creation that this will not loosen that bolt. O

Rest your breaker bar against the frame and blip the starter. Will break it loose every time. To tighten you can insert a flat blade screwdriver into a hole on pass. side of block. It will hit the flexplate. Rotate crank and it will slide into a slot and keep the crank from turning. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/boostedbug/Subaru%20conversion/valance019.jpg pic courtesy of JohnE O.

Read the instructions completely before you go out. IIRC about 19mm or so. Put cyl at tdc. Use a heavy grease on tap to grab chips. Go SLOW. Take a few extensions for the socket and a small hammer to set the insert. A few rags. And of course a spark plug. If I have left something out, someone can add/correct. O.

There is a helicoil specifically made for spark plug repair. It catches whatever threads you have, and cuts new ones. You then seat the threaded insert and use the same plugs. It uses a ratchet so you'll have enough room. O.

I helicoiled a 2.5 sohc in place on a 2008 Legacy. You can do the same. Follow instructions. Put cylinder at tdc .Use a heavy grease on the tap to grab any metal chips. You shouldn't have anything left, but if you want, you can vacuum. Still going strong over a year later, as a DD by a twenty something. O.

Find out which cylinder is not running/improperly. There will be a code. If no 4, the biggest possibility is a burnt exhaust valve. This will require a head job. If you can do the work yourself, then it's not fatal. If you have to pay someone, then it would be a deal breaker. O.

Alloy wheels are more porous than steel. Not a permanent fix but the tires can be removed, wire wheeled, sealed then remounted. Can't answer the tpms issue. O.

I have 225/45/17 on 7" rim with no issues on an Outback. O.

Don't know how much they cost from a dealer or scrapyard, but they prevent the belt from jumping when in reverse in gear as Texan stated. O.

Once replaced properly, the 2.5 dohc engine is reliable. As long as the block was not continually overheated, putting undue stress on the bearings. 2.5 heads on a 2.2 block just requires the special Cometic gasket that matches the cooling ports. O.

. Use your wife's phone. Like that idea. lol O.

7" rim. Though you could use a 7 1/2 What I found is that you have to play with the pressures to get the ride you want. Forget 30/32. Way too soft and lets the sidewall flex too much in aggressive cornering. I now have Continental Contact All Seasons, and have had Bridgestone KDW. I wound up with 38/36. Used Blizzak for winter on 16" rims and use 34/32 O.

The largest tire that will fit w/o rubbing or rolling fenders is 225/45/17. Keep the wheel offset from 48 -55 deg. Caveat; they will not give you great traction in snow. If possible, use your std wheels for a dedicated snow tire and either an all season for the 17 or a three season tire. The ride is good. See:ttp://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp O.

18.1+/- 1.4 ft lbs. No sequence listed but you generally do the inner two first. Snug them all down, then do the torque. Download fsm. Go to New Gen FAQ sticky, 2nd page under my name. IM is in the fuel injection section. O.

Wheel offset? O.

Look up the fsm first.There is a jdm site, but my link is not working now. Its not an easy job. The best is a lift , because crawling around under 14" of clearance is no fun. Haven't done a Tribeca, but this is what I had to do for a Legacy. Drop the exhaust. Removing any o2 sensor plugs first. Remove heat shield. Remove section of drive shaft close to ext housing.(Legacy is two piece) Remove rear diff. IIRC it took me two and a half hours. I have no idea what you have to remove to get to it. O.

No expert but I did do my heads from a 96 DOHC. I first had them hot tanked. Started with an 80 grit conical to reach close to the valve guides Used 100 grit afterwards. Used cylinders wheels as needed. Did final polishing with Al Oxide buffs. I basically worked on the seams ,splits between the ports and just polished the rest.. I did not port match. Just didn't see the benefit of all the work on a straight NA engine. I cleaned up some of the seams in the IM, but didn't go whole hog. There should be some roughness somewhere in the intake to get some swirl. I did a lot on the exhaust. Unfortunately I discarded the pics. There are some youtube videsos. I was more interested in what NOT to do. They are running happily as we speak. O.

Change the separator plate to the metal type while out. Keep your 96 intake (less restrictive). The only thing you'll have to work around are the evap lines. The 96 has the charcoal canister in the front. O.

What T Stat did you use? Did you fill system from upper hose first? The T stat sits in the bottom of the water pump. O.

Link doesn't work. The 2.5 doesn't take kindly to repeated overheating. The bearings go. This may be what you're encountering. BTW the 96 2.5 requires premium. O.

Air ratchet or impact gun with a continuous use of WD-40 and it will zip right out. Did one by myself and experienced this issue.(The threads are rusted some inside the bushing). When I had to do the other side, I was at a friends shop and once he realized that most of the threads were exposed, he had me spray it. A little back and forth and it came right out (using impact gun). O.