davebugs

Don't wanna clear the codes on a car I'm looking at. I may drive it tomorrow. So far I've made a lowball offer. All those codes sound like a fella could spend significant amount of time chasing them down. And parts could get expensive quick. Impreza's aren't worth all that much. And I haven't had time to do cars lately.

kits usually are about the same cost IIR. Just a different timing belt. I['m guessing around 125.00 for all idlers and generic timing belt. I always get accessory belts too. While they are off, why not replace them. Seals, Orings, etc and you're hopefully done for another 100k.

Looking at buying this car. 125k. Says timing belt was done. On 3rd clutch (wow). Some research shows the usual PITA P0420. Could be O2(s), cat(s), etc. The rest seem like IAC or Neutral safety switch, and then grasping at straws. Told him I'd give him a price in a few hours - I'll be tied up until then and largely off line. I did not drive the car yet. Seemed to start and idle fine. Only weird thing I noticed was that it almost seemed like the drivers side fan ran WHENEVER the heater fan was turned on at all. I made sure it wasn't on an AC setting. Don't think the car was really hot enough for the fan to be running due to that. Thoughts on this combination? Owner also stated that cruise no longer worked. I'm thinking NSS could be one of the potential causes of this.

A LOT of us get them from theimportexperts.com. GMB bearings. Some use their WP as well. They normally ship MitsubOshi timing belt - supposedly OEM. I usually buy Dayco (which they used to have and probably still do) and Now I believe them have Continental and another name brand as well. I got assessory belts as well. They were Continental. I wanna say one was 5 bucks and the other 6 bucks? Hard to beat kits for value really. I get OEM WP gasket, local sourced metal WP, and OEM crank/cam seals and you're good to go. I believe some have even used their seals. For the price of OEM I've never had a problem with an OEM so that's what I use. YMMV

IIR rotating it a bit helps. You just need to "finesse" it out.

Drain, then fill through the top radiator hose, reconnect it, then fill the radiator. Then start the car and continue. If I have a car that's a problem I often pull it up on rhino ramps to get a little elevation to the front.

I posted recently (like a week or so ago) about this. I jsut installed the "laser Platinum" second set in the GF's car. They are called double Platinum on the NGK website - which also calls for the wrong plug. Website calls for a 10, Dealer and old paper manual call for an 11 - which means wider electrode it seems. In that late model of a car I'd bet you want the "laser platinums" I know a 2006 calls for them. The regular old green writing BRK's I use up to 2001 or so. Unfortunately I have a gap in experience between 2001 and 2006. If you want the info on what I got just PM me. I have the documentaion on another computer and can look it up.

Bad burp job. Or you used generic head gaskets.

IIR the new parts are under 30 bucks. Common problem. Not hard to install.

The headlight lens kits I've used are actuall pretty impressive. They come with a sealer/clear paint/whatever. That's what makes the difference in my opinion. It helps make them very, very clear and helps stop them from getting crappy quickly. Getting crappy quickly happens if you jsut use buffing compound, fine wet sandpaper, etc. Since you never put a sealer coat on. But they will look better for a little while.

The Forester is basically an overgrowm Impreza rather than a Legacy. That said there are still a lot of common parts. Engines are interchangable, rear stubs, etc. Biggest obvious thing under the hood is simple. It has an Impreza rediator (cap on passenger side).

I've redone and sold a decent amount of Subaru's mostly 95-99. The only one that was very unpleasant was a 99 Forester - first year for the 2.5 SOHC. 2 replacement engines later (including a total of 4 engine pulls, several sets of head gaskets, seals, etc. Considering how many Outbacks and Legacy's I've done, less Imprezaa's and maybe a handful fof Foresters. The Foresters ave always turned out to be the biggest problems themselves, parts, etc. Their owners seem to be the most difficult to deal with for some reason as well. Doesn't seem to be the market for the Foresters for me. And that's fine with me based on my experiences with them.

oil. I assume that you are aware that the PS pump leaking is a common problem. Stick your finger into the liquid. Green - coolant (and I can't believe that's what it is if it's the sensor I'm thinking), brown/black oil (most likely if it's the sensor, red or redish black it's power steering fluid (ATF).

If it's directly above the crank, it's the crank sensor. The only thing that comes to mind with the description that you gave.

What you have and olnick added. Only other thing that comes to mind is if you'll pulling it to reseal the baffle plate. I do it at any opportunity. I'm assuming new fluids(oil, coolant) and filters(oil, air, fuel). Fuel filters never seem to get changed much, so when doing the timing belt that's when I do them.

I work on a lot of SUbaru's and drive a VW TDI (diesel) as my daily driver. I'd LOVE to see a Subaru diesel. Neither VW or Audi has a 4 motion/AWD in a diesel without getting a SUV. I don't want a SUV for daily driving. A Subaru diesel would be perfect. I gotta believe there is a market for a decent priced, simple AWD diesel car. Then the possible disucssions about probably only coming in automatics can be the topic of dicussion. Man, I hope we get to the point about arguing over tranny's because a Diesel Subaru is coming.

When you pull the engine reseal the real baffle plate or "oil seperator" plate. I recommend NOT replacing the rear main seal.

Make sure the crank mark is set. Then you should't hurt the cams on either head by turning it. Yes the drivers side is under load. I have clamps that look like pliers - 3 of them. One goes on the splined pulley on the crank to hold the belt aligned there, the other 2 on the cam sprockets with the belt aligned on those sprockets. Helps to get the belt on and keep things aligned. This way you can install the belt WITHOUT the drivers side cam right at the top where it wants to roll on you since you've "pinched" the belt to the cam sprocket. Often I leave off the bottom idler until I et the belt on. DOTS AND DASHES!!!! Not arrows, etc or you'll screw yourself. Poke around here. Lots of good writeups and links. Gotta run.

Welcome to the USMB. There are 2 sensors for coolant (I know because I accidentally left one unplugged one time). The one I had forgotten was a spade terminal located under the #3 intake. Kinda hard to see. I believe it was for the gauge but could be mistaken. SOmeone here will know where the other one is and for sure which one does what. IAC - I've only ever had troubles with one and I believe I just swapped it out. So I'm actually of little help.

Yep. 2 minor things come to mind. I believe the lifters are different (and that the 96 wants premium gas) but even then if you swap the whole engine you're o.k. Depending on when the 98 was built the EVAP charcoal canister may be in the rear by the filler tube, and it's in the front on the 96. Catalytic converter/O2 sensor layout may be slightly different. Also I believe sometime in 98 they changed the headlight/turn signal lense setup. But really they are the same car. Very minor tweaks from 95 to 99 really.

If you don't hear from him by end of tomorrow PM me and I'll give you some contact info that I have for Tom. He's in Fleetwood, PA 19522 - but he definately travels.

Welcome. Don't know where you're really located - or the car is located. But in that end of PA PM subaru360 on here. I'm unsure how many other folks cars he works on. I do know he buys them and fixes them. He comes to mind. There may be others.

I ALWAYS replace the clips. Infact I just picked up a set for a local garage that did a clutch job and now has troubles. Not positive they are the problem in this case but I have seen them be the problem, along with a cracked fork. I'd get new clips at the dealer (like 5 bucks) and inspect the clutch fork closely. No sense in needing to possibly repull the engine/trans for a couple of bucks in parts and forgetting to examine the fork.

An update to this. My ex girl friends car is due for the timing belt so it'll get new plugs, idlers, accessory belts, etc. The water Pumps are double the cost of the SOHC's so it'll stay on this one - she's tight on cash, the tensioner will be re-used as well. Anyways based on my notes I installed NGK FR5AP-11's last time. The NGK site calls for FR5AP-10's and the website says the factory gap is .39 and my notes indicate .44. Haven't checked them yet but typically NGK's are good to go out of the box. A little apprehensive about gaping an exotic plug. But the real reason I'm powsting here is that my local parts place has an old NGK book. It states that the -11 means wider electrode (or tip - I forget). Which may be sort of the answer since they aren't grooved like the cheapies I use on the 95-99's. So while I haven't checked the gap, or decided whether to gap them if they are .39 and should be .44 atleast the -11 is somewhat explained if someone searches for this in the future. One further note. What are listed as "double platinums" on the NGK site actually say "laser platinum" on the box. They are what came out from the factory last time and what I installed at 51k now the car is pushing 100k. The original plugs looked good to the naked eye but had started to get tight due to galling(sp?). I anti-seized and dielectric greased them so we'll see how they are this time. I'm thinking that if the factory would have used anti-seize they may have lasted 100k. I'm thinking the recommended replacement frequency had more to do with the ability to remove the plugs than wear - YMMV. For science if anyone wants one to put under a microscope or anything PM me because I'll try and save the old ones for a while. It may be valuable research for other members to help them make replacement frequency decisions.

Just ordered 2 timing sets. One for a Subaru, the other my first try from these folks for a 2003 VW 2.0.