davebugs

Welcome to USMB. Lots of good info and folks here. I've edited out most of my response. But if it's physically loose its bearing, ball joint, or tierod end(s). Even a bad/neglected/dry axle shouldn't cause that.

That's it! I'd just wait until you do HG's if possible. Then reseal the engine, new plugs, idlers, belts, an be good for a long while.

I have those harmonic balancers used if interested. But when you replace make SURE the bilt was tight before removal. Because it may turn into a larger repair job if keyway and stuff is damaged. I'd bet it's the baffle plate and it runs down back of engine at meeting of eng/trans and looks at first glance like the pan. PM me if interested in harmonic balancer.

Did some searching. On the 2.2's and DOHC 2.5's I know we all seem to have the best luck with Diamond. Have a friend's sister in form out of town with missfires. If I need a coil pack (I don't have any for SOHC 2.5's) any specific brand(s) to buy or avoid?

Usually it's the cogged idler beside it or WP that fails. Search here. Do crank/cam seals, check oil pump screws, new oil pump Oring (no gasket - ultra grey), all new idlers, WP, timing belt, accessory belts. I prefer OEM seals and WP gasket and oil pump Oring.

First off I'd bet heavily that the cam sprockets AREN'T THE problem, but a symptom. Put the crank at TDC first to improve your odds. Then play with cams. I sell a lot of cam sprockets - and you will need them, but they are jsut part of the "crash". I've got used valves too if that makes any sense. And many 97 heads.

Get the idler kit. Most of us use theimportexperts.com and get a new tensioner(the tensioner basically costs the same as all the idlers). It could be piston slap as has been pointed out but usually it takes a while longer to get quiet on the cars I've seen with piston slap.

I don't believe it's possible to plug in the electronics. It likely will physically fit. Speed sensors and wiring are different I believe. One of the reasons the engine swap over that timeline won't work either.

And the easiest way to tell ABS is the light (or not) on the dash cluster or look behind the passengers headlight for the unit with 5 brake lines going into it.

Exactly. The usual oil leak is just annoying. Not aconsumption or fire issue. And another reason to pull the engine to do head gaskets or sometimes even the timing belt and fix that dang baffle plate drip.

Another thought. Occasioanlly the rubber part craps out. The insode is still good where it fots onto the crank. But the outer part that the accessory belts ride on is compromised. Only way I really tell is undo both accessory belts then try and wiggle the harmonic balancer. If you try and wigle it with accessory belts on you can't tell much. But if you can see it wiggle you've got problems. And continued driving is likely hurting the end of your crankshaft.

GET THAT FIXED ASAP!!! Small stuff it'll melt the TB cover. But it'll chew up the keyway in the crank, and I even had one ruin the oil pump. I believe I have a pic or 2 in my photo album here. Last person to have the TB off didn't get crank bolt tight enough! If keyway is chewed I pull engine to fix, some junk the engine.

Had the timing belt been done yet? Soemtimes the tensioner makes noise when they get old and you could be mistaking that for valve noise. Just a thought. Don't know if the oil pump screws back out still onthose later model 2.5's but also worth checking when timing belt is done.

Even just being larger like OEM would help stop folks from putting them in backwards. Another reason I recommended OEM was because they were hard to install wrong.

The pump(s) are at the bottom of the white tank. Sometimes they do go bad because I've sold a few. Test the wireing there by unplugging the pump(s). If it's a wagon there wil be 2 pumps, sedan 1.

Disassemble completely(well, leave the piston in the caliper), clean it all up, lube with appropriate lube, new pads (and shims if possible). And the collapsing hose trick I've seen for years on my old VW's from the 60's. A real head scratcher the first time you run into it.

Do you know what HG's were used or did the garage up the street do it with whatever the local chain parts store supplied? Hopefully the Hott's helps

VW's are notorious for grounding issues as they age and the ground wire connections corrode. So check the simple stuff first.

Subaru ECM's just don't go bad or be an issue. I have a VW diesel and a lot of those folks service their glow plug harness with that stuff and it seems to work well for them at that.

Search for something like "leaking baffle plate" (also called oil seperator plate). It' beside the rear main., Except it leaks and the rear main doesn't. So to fix the occasional aroma of burnt oil usually requires removal of engine or trans. Sometimes you're lucky and it's valve cover gaskets. Search for "torque bind" also. Basically it's like when you leave a 4 wheel drive truck in 4 wheel and try to turn sharp. It either pushes you forward increasing turn radius or tires churk, or other weird sounds are made. Some of this can be due to neglegence, some due to a solenoid failure.

Welcome. Do some searching for head gasket failure here. Partly to help you understand if they have been replaced, partly to know what to look for when they go bad. Also if you have an occasional burnt oil smell it's probably your baffle plate. And service the trans occasionally to help prevent torque bind. Everything you need to know is here. Search for old threads. Start a new one if you must when you have a problem. And keep all 4 tires the same size!

2 thoughts. What year/engine. The occasional smell is probably the baffle plate. Also the hose in the rear that comes out of the block (and there is a T in there somewhere too IIR) gets brittle and fills with crap. It's subjected to a lot of heat. You may want to remove it when the car is not needed immediately incase you break the hose or the T (I've broken both over the years).

I'd think it's one of the smaller hoses too. If you can't find it and don't just wanna start replacing hoses. If it's tough to see I'd spend a few bucks and get a kit at the auto parts. The one with the dye and black light. Helps a lot in situations like this and cheaper than a trip to a garage. If you were local you could borrow mine.

So the bracket is off there you can work on it then? Like I said now I keep a set of these around from cars I scrap. I bought 2 used for a very reasonable price at the time from a local JY I deal with very often. If you get desperate to know about the bolt I have a new one of two in the upper garage but I have little clue where. But they would still be in the Subaru bag and have the item# on it.

Last time I just bought new(used) caliper brackets. Since that's what the bolts had broken off in. The good news was that if I had wanted to mess with these atleast they weren't on the car and the work could heve been done in a vise. Perhaps we're not talking about the same thing though.