Numbchux

Agreed. The non-turbo 5 speed has excellent gearing. Cruising at 80ish, even on stock tires, is no problem. The RX 5-speed that I had in my Loyale for many years wasn't so great. Even with the oversized tires (215/45r17, usually) and EJ22, it felt like I was pushing it at 75. The 3AT that was originally in my Loyale (and for the many many years that it was my dad's Loyale) wasn't great. IIRC, we tried to keep it to 65 or below for cruising. We lost 3rd gear in the original trans in that thing, but we were pretty heavily loaded at the time (IIRC, parents, me, dog, clothes, tools, bed on the trailer behind, and 20ft extension ladder on the roof headed to the cabin).

Dealerships are basically a franchise of Subaru corporate. So they're connected, but the dealership has a lot of freedom to do things their way (to some extent, of course), and corporate will not look at every transaction. This means there can be some serious variation in service quality from one dealership to the next. So yea, it sounds like you need to go over their heads, and get corporate involved. You could go to a different shop, and start over. But they started this mess, and didn't fix it, a good shop should fix it with a considerable discount (if not for free) moving forward. But you might have to put some pressure on them from above to get it done.

This! It is completely possible, and understandable, that a mechanic would have trouble with something like this. Intermittent issues can be a complete nightmare to diagnose. I work in parts at a fairly large dealership, the one mechanic that was around when first-gen Legacies regularly came in is paid extra as a trainer for everyone else. It costs the shop considerably more to have him working on something. So either they had someone less experienced working on it (to try to save them, and therefore you, money. Or because they don't have a master Subaru tech), or they did have their most experienced guy on it, and that's expensive. The OE parts catalogs for those are very different than we are used to (Not too bad, if you've got a parts guy who's been in Subaru since the '70s, and still has the old paper catalogs, like we do. But without that, yuck), and the parts are less available. So it's very possible that it took multiple tries to even get the right parts, and/or the right part might take a week or more to arrive. Which could explain for a serious delay. Obviously I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, that they really are trying to do right by you, maybe that's not accurate, but I'm certainly not comfortable trashing a shop from across the country based on one side of the story. BUT, they obviously have not communicated this stuff to you. Maybe they've spent a lot of time/money on it, and aren't charging you for it. It's certainly possible that the huge bills you've had are still only a fraction of full price. But they need to be clear with that, and it doesn't sound like they have been. So yes, get in touch with corporate, and get someone looking over their shoulder.

Yep, and I know a guy who bought a Nissan SR20. He pulled the valve cover upon arrival, and found it packed with sludge. The supplier said he voided any warranty by removing the cover.... JDM engines CAN be a great option, but be very aware of the source.

Copart won't help much, but www.car-part.com probably will.

Many different catalogs list them differently. But technically, Legacy is the model, and Outback and Limited are trim levels. This page is already linked here, but this will take you specifically to the section that refers to the Limited, VDC, and LL Bean option levels. http://www.cars101.com/subaru/outback/outback2003.html#03features For the purpose of finding front body parts, 2000-2004 Legacy Outback stuff will all fit. It wasn't until 2010 that they made the Outback exclusively a wagon, and Legacy exclusively a sedan. 99 as well.

No, forget that wheel selection, it's terrible. Loosing an inch off the width doesn't change the almost 5" change in offset. Find some used 15" Subaru wheels, and use them. I think 235s on stock Subaru wheels will clear the strut, but it's close. And with just a strut lift you may have to cut the body.

The local offroad park had their annual open-house last weekend. Pretty cool event. I went early and rode along for some gnarlier trails, then after lunch my wife brought up the Outback and our 3 month old daughter to ride along. We rode some mild trails for several hours, and she slept away in her car seat (we used a halo head support that we don't normally use). Obligatory group poser shot: 20170520_142939 by Numbchux, on Flickr

Correction, Impreza got the FB in 2012, but Legacy and Outback didn't until 2013. That would have the 4EAT.

Yea, your wheel/tire selection is way out of whack. 265/70r15 is a pretty wide tire, I probably wouldn't recommend that. But that calculates to a 29.6" tall tire. That could probably be done with stock-backspacing wheels. 225 or 235/75r15 has been done hundreds of times with just Forester struts. You're going from a +55 offset, to a -69.8 offset (-19 + 50.8 for the 2" spacers). That means you're moving the center of your tire out over 4.5" from stock. Holy chit. The outer edge of the tire will be 6.5" further out than stock. When people talk about mild extra bearing wear, we're typically talking about a change of 20mm or so, not 124.8. So yes, bearings are a huge concern. Scrub radius is an even bigger concern, the distance the tires travel front-to-back will be a huge problem with fender clearance, and will put huge load on your steering system. For comparison. Here's a Legacy with Outback struts (slightly shorter than Forester), plus about 4" lift, stock Outback wheels (same offset to the stock 14s), 2" wheel spacers, and 31s (I don't know the width, probably 10.5") IMG_13875 by Numbchux, on Flickr at full lock: IMG_13867 by Numbchux, on Flickr

With the fronts on the ground, the driveshaft will not be able to turn (by hand anyway). If the rear diff is a (functioning) LSD, you won't be able to turn either rears by hand. If the rear diff is open, turning one rear wheel will spin the other one the opposite direction. BUT, this means that if one rear wheel is locked, the other one will not spin either, as the drivetrain will lock it. I've had it happen once (one side) on a Legacy several years ago. My Celica has a functional drum parking brake (drum-in-disc virtually identical to the EJ Subarus), and I took it out of winter hibernation only a week ago, and everything is still working just like always. I'm not saying it's impossible, just unlikely. And might warrant a couple other things to narrow it down before disassembling brakes. In fact, knowing that it's a manual transmission, my money is on the left rear brake seized, but I still would do a couple more things to verify that before tearing into them. If the car has a blown transmission, the driveshaft has to come out anyway, so disconnecting it to isolate the drivetrain isn't any work that doesn't have to be done anyway....

Power steering pipes, going from one side of the rack to the other. There are 2 of them, one of them has a rubber section in the middle (which can also be seen in the picture), and the one you have circled is metal all the way across. In the box marked "34190C*B" in this diagram: It looks like there is a support bracket pictured there, but the only way Subaru sells it, is with both of those pipes (part number 34190AJ000, MSRP $69.28).

both locking up in 2.5 months sounds very unlikely to me, unless it was sitting in water up to the hubs... Manual or automatic transmission? If it's an automatic transmission, there shouldn't be any resistance on the driveshaft, and I highly doubt it has a LSD, so the drivetrain should all spin freely (i.e., one locked brake should not prevent the other from spinning). In which case, my money is on rear diff. If it's either an auto with very thoroughly ruined transfer clutches, or a manual, having the front wheels on the ground would prevent the driveshaft from spinning. This means that if one wheel is locked up, the drivetrain will prevent the other from spinning too. This would explain why you can turn one side a bit by hand (a little slop in the 4 axle joints, and the spider gears in the diff is normal), and not the other. Either way, I think my next diagnostic step would be to get all 4 off the ground, and transmission in neutral, and try again. If it's an auto, then I'd disconnect the driveshaft and try again. Then the brakes (starting with the left adjuster).

Not much to update on the Outback. Still a fantastic car. All-season tires/wheels back on a few weeks ago. In case you're wondering. 4 33x12.5r15 mud tires will fit in the back: 20170517_191936 by Numbchux, on Flickr But the spare will have to go on the roof: 20170517_191941 by Numbchux, on Flickr

Only you can decide if it's worth it to you to repair it. From what I've seen of Bajas for sale up here, they seem to command a premium. I've been casually watching for some time, as my wife wants one something fierce, and I'd love to swap the 3.0 VDC drivetrain and such from our Outback into it. Definitely more people looking than selling. Even if you're paying a shop to do it, it would probably be cheaper to repair it than buy another one, but depending how you do it, possibly not by much. There are a few options for engine replacement. Junkyards get a premium for those SOHC 2.5s. When you call a yard and tell them you need a Subaru 2.5 engine, you can almost hear they're eyes light up into dollar signs. I have occasionally seen private party used ones going for $500 or so, but not very often. In Japan, they got a 2.0 SOHC non-turbo engine that was much more reliable. And due to their emissions or safety inspections, many of these cars get parted out with very low mileage. I can reliably buy a 50k mile engine for less than $1000. These are basically a direct drop-in. But talk to the repair shop your thinking of using first, as they may not be willing to deal with that. Or, Subaru sells remanufactured short blocks. They tend to be about $2k, and come with an oil pan, oil pump, water pump, and thermostat. Another $300 or so, and you can get a complete OE engine gasket set. Make sure the heads are sent out to a good machine shop to check the valve seals and guides (if it hasn't overheated, they probably aren't warped), and you'll basically have a new engine. It's also possible to rebuild the engine if things aren't scored to badly, but this relies more heavily on the skill of the mechanic, and I probably wouldn't recommend that unless it's a Subaru specialty shop.

You're putting the WRX engine in the RS? If that's the case, the transmission bolting up is the least of your worries. Swapping a turbo engine into a non-turbo car is a big undertaking. Engine crossmember and sway bar have to be swapped. Radiator, exhaust. Most of the wiring (which requires removing the dash). If it's a manual transmission, you'll certainly need a new clutch. If it's an automatic, you'll have a nightmare of getting the electronic transmission control working.

The wheels will bolt up. The tires are a bit bigger, the stock Legacy size is 205/55r16, which calculates to 24.8" tall. 215/60r16 calculates to 26.2" tall. Also 10mm wider. They would probably work, but they might rub when loaded, or turning sharp.

Yea, maybe with some serious documentation differentiating this as a Subaru-modified demo car, not just another SUS. But even then, I can't imagine there's much of a market for such a thing. If so, Ebay is probably the place, but even then, I'd be surprised if it would sell for enough extra to justify the ebay fee....

A fan is generally more efficient as a puller, but it's a fairly minor loss to switch it to a pusher. Check the instructions for your particular fan, some of them have directional blades, which has to be removed from the motor and flipped.

That should be fine. Almost everything is identical to the EJ251, so you should be able to look up parts based on your old motor/VIN, only common exception to that would be the head gaskets. IIRC, the JDM SOHC 2.0l head gasket part number crosses to the EJ205 WRX head gasket number. I know we've used that before here.

IMO, if you're going to make an adapter, go to a more common bolt pattern. 5x114.3/4.5 would be perfect.

Yea, you can do that. Due to the design of the center diff, there are a couple places where you can safely weld it up. But yea, just like a "Lincoln Locker"

SOHC non-turbo engine? If so, it's very straight forward. Usually easiest to swap the intake manifold and all wiring/vacuum stuff from the old engine, as sometimes there are differences there.

I don't believe anyone makes a RWD coupler for the phase 1 center diff, so yea, you'll have to weld it. Then you'll want to get some spare transfer gears, and get good at changing them. Or convert to a phase 2 center and get some beefier transfer gears, although it might be cheaper to go to a real RWD transmission.

The challenge will be finding wheels with high enough offset/backspacing. The subaru wheels are very high offset. I ran 17x8 +48 wheels on my wagon (5-lug) without any trouble, but I think you'll be hard-pressed to find anything close to that in a 6-lug. Since most 6-lug I know generally speaking the Japanese 6-lug applications tend to be higher than the US options. I've seen several late model minivans with 6-lug wheels and look like high-offset. I think I remember looking one up and it wasn't the same bolt circle, but there might be others worth looking into.