Gloyale

If you've got a hoist, pull engine. If you've got just a jack and stands, pull tranny. I personaly hate unbolting exhaust, but you may have to either method. Neither is too hard.

You're local dealers just don't work on or carry parts for 20 year old cars. In rust areas where cars don't last that long the dealers just stop carrying them. I'm in Wisconsin(rust belt) but I order all my parts from a dealer in Oregon just for this reason. There are still THOUSANDS of old soobs runnin round out there so the dealers keep stuff in stock. Oh, and no you can't fake it. That link from Caboobaroo looks good. As long as it's reinforced and not just a rubber ring, you are good.

Biggest thing I'd say if this is you're first HG job on these, is be ready for the rockers. As soon as you unbolt the cam case and start to seperate it they will wanna fall. I ussually try to hold them with my fingers as I seperate the case slightly. then lower them slowly down onto the ledge of the cam case and take them out sitting there. That way you can keep track of them. At least hold the middle 2 and don't have a pan of oil underneath or anything. If the end ones falls it's easier to determine which is which. Don't worry too much though. I completely mixed up a set and put them in randomly with a prayer and they lasted 25,000 more miles for me before I sold it.

You're thinking of the Timing belt tensioner, if you bought a "set" There is only one pulley for the V-belt

No that is the seal for the cam end caps, under the timing pulleys. you need the Cam case O-rings for between the head and cam carrier. part #13089 AA010 I believe. Also you need 2, one for each head/cam case

I would not replace the core unless it was leaking. Blend door can be checked by simply listening for it closing while operating hot/cold lever. you can kinda feel if it's screwed up too. If your running normal temps engine wise I wouldn't think thermostat but it could help. Flushing does wonders. And BTW, heater hose inlet is the innermost one, comes from intake. outlet is the outermost one, goes into tube under intake, through elblow hose into top of Water Pump. The prestone flush kits are real good for the whole system. If your core is plugged you Radiator is probably sludgey too.

Same size is not enough. They really need to be the same tires. Same manufacturer at least. Can you find some Gravel, sand, mud, or snow? If you can get the tires to slip a bit, you may unlock them. The other thing to check is the vaccuum connections to the two solenoids that operate the 4wd. They are in the engine comp. right by wiper motor area, drivers side. There is one hose comin from engine that should have Vacuum all the time with engine running, a good pull. follow all the other lines down to tranny and look for cracks, leaks. You can try bypassing those solenoids by hookin the vaccuum straight through each one. Not sure which is the engage/disengage. If all else fails try moving the lever on the side of the tranny by hand to disengage the 4wd. Try the slippage thing first, that's the most likely thing. Then check vacuum, If bypassing the solenoid works then it's that solenoid. If it comes down to moving the lever by hand then it's probably the diaphram that operates the lever leakin.

I'd like to know how much meat is between the deck and the passages behind. I have been curious about using 9.5:1 NA pistons in a turbo motor. Then "domeing" the heads above the cylinder to bring the compression back down slightly. How thick are those shoulders around the valve recess. Seems like you could mill a nice dome out and smooth out those angles at the edge. I hope I am being clear or that you get what I'm saying even If i'm not:lol:

Have you checked the condition of the rubber intake plenum. Is it attached welll to airbox and TB? Just a wild guess. As the engine torques it tends to pull away from the pass side of car.

I have a general rule about 87's. I don't own any. It seems to me that 87 was an, how should I say, "off year?' for Subaru. I have seen too many stange problems in this crossover year. Just my own Sooberstition.

No this goes on for more like 10-15 minutes. 2 or 3 if it's warmed up already. The pressure has ussually dropped to warm levels by the time it goes away, so I think it is perhaps a flow issue through the crank and rod bearings when the fluid is thick(pressure high, slow flow). Once enough volume of oil starts flowing they quiet down? I'm building up a fresh motor already, so I guess this one will continue to be an experiment. I threw this motor toghether to get it home after buying it on ebay. It had an engine fire and all the wiring and plumbing and most of the sensors were toast, Literally:Flame: The heads AND Turbo charger were cracked. Failed Wastegate on the Turbo. car must have been severely overheated till the up-pipe and turbo got so hot they lit the cv boot up and it burned from there. I scraped everything but the Block. I knew it was burned up so I brought everything rubber under the hood with and all the sensors and seals as well as T-belts. I bought an old XT motor from a J-yard for 150 bucks and scavenged the heads. That was about all I could use from it cause it had sat for X# of years outside in Oregon:( The heads needed a thorough clean up on the valves and new seals, I skipped the guides. They have big "crack of death"between the valves. O yeah the Turbo sucks and has "too much" rattle. So you see, I don't really plan on doin anything but drivin this motor til it dies. New motor will be bottom end on up rebuild with new turbo.

I've worked on 20 year old subies here in Wisconsin. Our rust is worse than you're rust! maybe... Anyway, with lots of PB, WD, or Liquid Wrench you'll be fine. I'll stress again the 6 point socket to loosen the bleeders. Flare nut wrenches are good, for brake lines but it can be done without them. especially if they are not badly rusted. If you can afford it though I'd get a set.

To touch on the compresion issue. Subaru FSM state that the maximum diffenence between cylinder is 30 psi. That is more than 10% I know. But that is what Subaru says. The fact that the readings are so close on each cylinder bank is another good sign. Are you SUUURE you've got a good radiator cap? have you tested it? replaced it? If it was bad you're coolant would bubble out, then as it cools the suction would pull it tight. it may not be presure releasing in the morning but a vaccuum. This is only excacebated if you run weak coolant or just water:eek: so be sure you've got good coolant. If it is SPFI triple check you're CTS and it's connections. I can't explain it but i saw an 88 DL doing this. Was doin it for weeks, replaced rad, hoses, WP, themostat. no change. But after cleaning the crap out of the CTS connector it stopped. BAD CTS=incorrect timing?

After reading your first post again I agree with cougar. check the ground wires that are bolted into the intake. that is where your main ECU ground comes from. You may want to check all grounds to and through the ECU. I'll look up wire colors and pin locations tonight for ya. You could try connecting the ground terminal of MAF straight to body ground. THAT, may throw a code however.

Replacing the master shouln't be too bad. It's up off the road so there should not be too much corrosion on it. in my experience with many makes of cars, Subarus are some of the best when it comes to brake fittings. They ussually screw apart real easy if there is still a decent shoulder on the nut. The week link is the bleeder screws. They can rust in place. and they snap easy too. Make sure you use a six-point socket 10mm front, 8mm back, over them to do the intial loosening. NOT A WRENCH OR 12 POINT!! Spray them with penetrant at least an hour before workin on em and you should be good. I'm sorry to here you hate your XT6 so much. I wish I could give him a good home. If he is a Conneticut car it may be his time to be parted out and put into something without rust from the west coast.

Anyone ever had intermittent rod knock? My engine has been making the "tick of death" pretty bad from the lifters for quite a while. I know that my oil pump needs replaced, as well as a few really, actually, bad HLAs. You can hear 3 different HLAs tickin. But lately it seems as though the sound, or another sound, is deeper and heavier. Much more like rod knock. BUT... it goes away after warmin up and driving a bit, just like the HLA tick. comes in and out sometimes at idle. Just like the HLA tick. I would think that a rod bearing with slop would have slop always, and not really change with driving. Also I just put 5000 miles on in a month.(cross country road trip:headbang: ) it was making this sound for awhile before the trip and the mileage didn't seem to change it. I would think running 70mph+ for days on end non-stop would kill an engine with a rod loose. Or at least make it worse or change. What do you guys think?

Check to make sure there is a gap between the inductive pickup magnet and rotor pieces inside the disty. If it is a new disty it should have been set but check it. If your coil was good before, it seems as though you have no pulse from disty to trigger coil firing. Did you get an excact replacement disty? If you had a Hitachi and are replaceing with ND or vice-versa you may be having probs. People say they interchange but I think one requires a resitor. Or each requires a different resitor. something of that nature.

As mentioned, changing the joints requires precise alingment and centering. There are no grooves for circlips. They are pressed into the yoke from factory, very tightly. It would be hard to get them in, and hareder to get them centered, AND THEN to get them properly staked in place. I've never seen a subie U-joint fail except those that are exposed to salt.(or majorly off-roaded/abused. And then only from beefed up engines putting more than stock power through em)

Even worse, as they try to cover every model in one book and succeed in covering about 10%

You can just use a wire, connect it to the solenoid term then touch the other end to + side of battery. No unplugging nothin. If you have someone crank it with the key the fuel pump and Coil will be energized. If you do it that way then all the unplugging mentioned is required.

In the "image_00020.JPG" You can see the CTS, it is barely visible, right below and to the left of the radiator hose. Look at the bottom end of that black connector that's parallel to the RAD hose. Quarter sized little metal knob with a yellowish plastic seal, and two wires. It is half obscured in the pic, and you can't see the wires but that's it.

You need to see if it has trouble codes. The ECU is under steering column. It has a small hole in front with a light in it. Turn the key on and look at the light. If it blinks a steady 1-4 blinks, you have no active codes. You may have stored codes that can be output by connecting the single pole black connectors under the ECU. If it blinks a series of long an short flashes those are a trouble code/codes. Long flash is the first number, short flashes are the second. I.E: 2 long, 3 short= code 23. see if you get any codes and then come back and tell us what they are. The dumb mechanic was probably looking at the crank pulley for timing marks. They are actually on the flywheel, visible by removing spare tire, and then the little rubber cover at back of engine. There is a green connector under the dash by the ECU, near the black one mentioned earlier. It should be connected while setting timing. Also disconnect the Vaccum line from distributor and plug it for timing. The green check connector is also used for reading codes and diagnostic. more on that later.

Your SPFI MAF should only have 3 wires. Red=12v (10v min) White=signal 0.1-0.5v Black= Ground Resistance between Black wire and body= no more than 10 ohms Measure voltage between Black and white wires=0.1-0.5v Blow compresed air through MAF from aircleaner side, voltage should increase You can repeat these tests at the CPU by probing the crresponding red,white, and Black wires at terminals 17, 8, and 9 respectively. They are all three at one end of the 18 pin plug going into the ECU, there are three plugs, the meduim sized of the three. Black and white wires are right next to eachother in the corner, red wire is right below White. hope this is clear enough to understand. Poncho is right however, you should look at the ECU and see if it's giving you a Code.

The one prong connector is your coolant temp sender. It's only job is to send signal to the gauge. Your true CTS, the one the computer uses, has two wires about 4 inches long coming off it ending at a green(probably) plug. it is right below thermostat housing on outer side of intake manifold. Cracks in the bellhousing? I cant see any. +1 for casting lines. It is VERY unlikely the bell housing is cracked and even if it was it is VERY VERY VERY unlikely it would shatter. your 90 hp motor doesn't have the mustard for that kind of crazy Drag race style action:lol: That plug with the jumpers in it? I can't tell what I'm lookin at. can we get a better picture? the connector looks like one of the vaccuum solenoid connectors. Maybe someone substituted a different solenoid in there hence the Jumpers? update. I think that unkown plug is your EGR solenoid valve.

Order a whole driveshaft and carrrier bearing from a wrecking yard in California, Oregon, or Washington. They have ton's of them out there. And they don't salt road so the shafts are ussualy in great shape(ZERO rust!! . I had one disintegrate here in Wisconsin(rust-belt). I got mine from a yard in Corvallis OR. B+R wrecking. Also look up SSK recyclers.(Subaru, Suzuki, Kia) They are in Rancho Cordova, CA and have ACRES of Subaru's WITH NO RUST!!!!. They would be a likely source of justy parts.