davebugs

Like I said - figure out which one you need - or did I miss it? I probably have a TB with 600 miles on it, drawers full of idlers that are used. Dave

I'd have the valves checked out. Or just pull the heads if you're due to examine/replace the HG's anyways and have a shop test them. If you need a pulley please specify. I should have one if you don't find one locally. Dave

If it hasn't had the two dollar bottle 'preventative maintenance' additive from Subaru it sounds like an excellent time for it. I think he's on borrowed time. Lets face it - he was on borrowed time before and this pretty much had to have speeded that up. As long as there isn't rod knock it's his call whether to fix this one or 2.2 it. Atleast he has some time to decide. Knowing the mileage and if the HG's were ever done would be nice. Hose the engine off while it's cold (I start it up before the water hits). Somtimes I take lunch to the carwash. Get there, prop up the hood, wait for it to cool. Spray my favorite cleaner on it with a foamy sprayer, then hose it down mostly without pulling the trigger and getting the high pressure wash. That'll cure the smell. Dave

I have luck with Advance's front end kit (not the balljoint kit). There is a nice little puller that works well. It's really like a pitman arm or tie rod puller or something in the set. Sometimes I need to grind the lip on the A-arm a little to get it on. If smacking the end of the A-arm with a sledge a few times doesn't do it - this is my next step. If it doesn't break loose easily when it does it wil make a reall loud snap when it does. Like ears ringing for 10 minutes loud snap. Pickle forks work well - especially if the old BJ is scrap. Dave

You could try http://www.sonnax.com. I need a Duty B solenoid and may just go new. I gotta refind the blowup of which solenoid is which. The Duty B is easy to get to with the pan off. Seems to me last time I looked for the Duty B at sonnax it was like 80 bucks. I didn't price it at the dealer. I was just trying to figure out if it was worth pulling from a car I was scrapping. These guys have many popular kits. Dave

Common complaint - search around here. Most say it's the IAC. I got one the other day and it seems further up front on the pass side - more like around the canister on a 97 OBW but I haven't really tracked it down yet. Harmless - what's a little humm?

That's been my experience.

I would hope that Harry's would get more hits. I know some Honda/Acura's take a 5w20 that is a spec that's a little hard to find. I believe Ford has a 5w20 as well - but I don't own or service any Fords. An old race engine builder told me long ago to run the lightest weight possible. His theory was that with thin oil it'll get everywhere. Thicker oil may lubricate 95% of the engine better - but that last 5% is what will kill it. Once it needs rebuilt it's the labor that kills you. Says he ran straight 10 weight in his Ford pickup he'd had since new and never had an issue. This was 25 years ago or so and the truck was probably atleast 10-15 years old. Long before I recall 5w30 becoming the defacto standard to help meet fuel effeciency ratings, etc. I have a tendency to not go to thicker oils on my high mileage stuff. And run it in Subaru's no matter the mileage (5w30). In the old days over 100k meant going 10w30 or 10w40 for me. If we're not careful this will become and oil 'brand' discussion. Dave

I've posted here that I've had good success with seafoam through a vacuum line. When you say Seafoam upper engine treatment exactly what do you mean? If you haven't run it through a vacuum line I highly suggest it. Just don't do it anywhere the neighbors will think the house is on fire. I usually only do up to '99's so perhaps it doesn't work as well on the later stuff.

Nipper, I had posted the same reply. Then I looked at 'similar threads' and it was someone else so I deleted my original post. Dave

I like the head bolts (non Subaru) that tell you to basically dip the whole thing in oil. And yea - often they still creak. Dave

Always seems to be a couple like that. I swear it doesn't matter how well lubed they are. I never tried a new bolt when that has happened to see if it's the hole or the bolt. Dave

First question. Is the baffle plate/oil seperator plate leaking? If you don't know what that is I suggest you do some research here. If it is leaking the only thing that makes sense is pulling the engine. I usually figure about 1,500 when I do a 2.5 but that includes head gaskets, getting heads checked, valve cover gaskets, cam/crank seals, reseal baffle plate,plugs,TB, accessory belts,etc. 2.2's don't need the HG's but if the baffle plate is leaking the engine will need pulled which adds a lot of labor. GG is correct - replace everything that touches that belt - the failure of any component leads to the same result. Although a lot of folks skimp on the first TB change it seems. I know - I buy them when they have a failure. I believe that engine has the cam O rings - do them too. I'd do plugs while I was at it. Cam/crank seals if leaking or not brown, etc. It's not that hard to do yourself if it's just the TB and components. Are you north, east, south, or west of the city? If north or east I may be able to recommend some places by PM. Dave

I've got a few here and probably getting another one today. If you'd like a Subaru used PM me. Let me know if you just need the motors or the entire tank - shipping may be a little easier with just the motors. Dave

GG is correct for my neck of the woods. I go 200 to 2k depending on the car. But with the few specifics you've mentioned I'm with Gary. Under 1k Dave

Probably aluminum. Based on the 99 Forester DOHC and 2 2000 Legacy SOHC's I just played with.

I wouldn't recommend doing HG's with the engine in the car anyways. I'd locate a 2.2. Pull the 2.5 and tear it down. Look at the heads and cylinders. Have the heads checked. If valves are bent you can decide whether to fix the heads or do the engine swap. If the pistons show any signs of contact I swap engines - some folks see how far the indentation is. I figure anything that gets that hot and has that much pressure on it doesn't need any indentations that aren't factory. Other folks here should chime in. Dave

Oops - sorry I read that as a Forester. In an OBW it should be easy. You may have some extra bolt holes left in the tranny (8) versus the 2.2's 4 bolt holes. Look around here. It's been done plenty of times. Only issues are very minor. No PS hose bracket, sometimes charcoal canister & related hose issues. I'd bet that some valves are bent in the 2.5 engine . Dave

Do some extra checking before considering the 2.2 swap. I've only done one 99 Forester but it was SOHC and the usual 2.2 swap wouldn't work due to the wiring. Perhaps your DOHC has the 3 clips at the engine/trans (like a 2.2 would) but the SOHC that I had only had 2 clips. I've done a decent amount of 2.2 inplace of 2.5's in Outbacks but haven't done that swap in a Forester yet. Dave

Link to Sears. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00910172000P FYI I looked at the gearwrench website and had my local parts store (that handles Gearwrench) see if they could get them for me and they couldn't. So Sears seems like the place for this - atleast for now. Dave

Breaking news!!!! Sears (and apparently Sears only) has a Gearwrench set of 3/8 and 1/4 drive swivels just like that. I had just paid 83.00 for a Snap-on 1/4 swivel that I like for torque converter bolts. The set appears to be only at Sears and is 59.99 - what a deal. Looks like the exact same as the snap-on that I have. Dave

I'm imagening that swapping the intake swapped most of the wiring and connectors that you speak of. If the sensors were already swapped guesses are getting scarce. I had a car just like this so I'm looking forward to a conclusion. Not as much as the OP - but still anxious to see it resolved. Dave

gg, I just had the same issue on a 99 Forester - and it was the radio. By that I mean Skip stopped in to help and put a legacy radio that I had in and it worked fine. I believe he even retried the Forester radio. As the saying goes 'the lights were on but nobody was home'. Heated seats - on the same car someone had taken the console up and left the seats unplugged. I was really looking for the shifter bulb (that was burnt out) when I discovered the heated seats wer eunplugged. Dave

I can confirm that a 99 Forester 2.5 SOHC takes a 304 and a 2000 2.5 SOHC takes a 307. When I recently installed the Legacy longblock into the Forester I was having difficulty getting the timing belt to fit before I finally called to see if they were the same and they weren't. By quick look the 307 is about 1/2 inch longer. Couldn't get the 304 on all the pulleys. I was getting VERY frustrated. BTW it's the only part that I noticed that was different. I did not swap cam pulleys, etc - left them all in place (actually new idlers and tensioner). For all I know if the cam sprockets were swapped the 304 may have worked. Gaskets(cam, crank, intake, exhaust), WP, plugs were all the same. I use Dayco belts. I didn't notice anything different about the belts (shape of the lugs) other than the lenght. I wasn't looking for lug difference however.

Entirely possible that they got confused. I see a lot more 98 2.5's than 2.2's. But then again I usually buy broken cars and the 2.5's aren't as reliable so that's what I see the most of. A lot of folks here recomment OEM only on the 2.5's which is what I get when I need them. But I do a lot of cars with non OEM plug wires on them that seem to run fine - 2.2's and 2.5's. Good luck