Olnick

Welcome to USMB, erin. Nice car--nice pix. Love the reflected warm cloud coloring you captured. Many happy miles to you.

Try checking or replacing the Engine Coolant Temp. Sensor--as mentioned above by Adventure Subaru. It's on the coolant crossover pipe under the intake maniforld, passenger side. The one with the brick-red plastic top IIRC. If it has failed it can really mess up engine operation by feeding bad info to the the ECU. Good luck.

May I change my vote, karuri? I've been thinking about it since yesterday and I agree with your mechanic buddy! The EJ engines are fantastic. I drive a '95 Legacy with EJ22--at 140k miles it's smooth as silk, just nicely "broken in." I would assume the EJ15 to be of the same high quality. And being a bit smaller the fuel economy should be great. So I'd say "go for it!" Before putting it in be sure to replace the timing belt and seals, check the tensioner, re-seal the oil pump and replace the water pump. You're going to have a very nice car there my friend! Good luck.

Welcome aboard, karuri! And congratulations on your great find--looks to be in pretty good condition. What year is it? How many miles on it? Personally I'd overhaul the EA82 before jumping into an engine swap (but that's just me!) All the best on your project--and do keep us up on your progress. BTW your pictures are great!

Don't know about newer models, but I never trust a Subaru fuel gauge! Use your trip meter--reset it every time you fill up. Keep a super accurate log of miles vs. gallons.

Hey 808--maybe it's just an island thing! I had the same problem here in Honolulu awhile back. Finally took the AC belt tensioner out to check the idler pulley--thought the bearing had failed. Turned out that the mounting nut was a bit loose and for a short time at start-up the pulley would go kapakahi--it was "off-axis," not perpendicular to the belt. Reinstalled the mechanism, adjusted the tension, tightened the mounting nut and it's been quiet ever since. Good luck. Aloha.

Way to go, Marco! She looks beautiful. Keep us up on your progress.

"Brand isn't such a big deal on an older car with the non-interference engine." I think that's what you meant to say, right?

Hey, looking gooood! Nice job on the headlight & fender.

If I were you I wouldn't drive the car with mis-matched tires. Sure way to ruin the viscous coupling that connects the front and rear diffs. And that is a very expensive repair. Search "torque bind" here on USMB (or Google "Subaru AWD torque bind") and read up on it.

Welcome aboard USMB--you found a great place to help you with your Subie. Good looking wagon. Love the rims. Is it FWD or AWD? Auto or manual? Just a word of caution--if it's AWD make sure your (used) tires match within 1/4" circumference (not diameter) or you could suffer torque bind and eat up your center diff. Good luck--and keep us up on your progress.

Laurie--Yes, you should replace the axle(s). Yes, you should avoid aftermarket junk and use genuine Subaru axles. No, don't have a dealership do it, it'll cost you an arm and a leg! Find a small independent shop and get an estimate for labor only to replace axle(s). Then consider good, rebuilt Subaru axles. I recommend this guy, Marshall Wolf--he does quality work and is a straight shooter: FW Enterprises LLC. Formerly: “MWE Axles”. 6401 N. Broadway. Unit D Denver, Colorado. 80221 Phone: 303-522-8070 Email: mwolf1303@juno.com Good luck.

The general consensus here on the board is--don't touch the rear main seal unless it is really, obviously bad! You'll do more harm than good. But do reseal the oil separator plate at the rear of the block (if it's plastic, replace it with metal one.) Good luck!

Eva--279,000km is about 173,000 miles, no big thing to most of us here. Take care of the car and it should serve you well for a lot longer. Please do us a favor and add your country (Australia?) after Malanda in your ID. Sometimes it helps us offer assistance if we know where you are. Best of luck, hope your mechanic buddy can help you out--and do let us know how it's going or if you, or he, have questions.

I wasn't sniping at you, Nbe1210! You asked a perfectly good question. I just wanted to make sure the "rule" was stated correctly at least once in the thread. Don't give up on your search. My son, in Seattle, found an excellent set of matched used tires when he moved up to 15" alloys for his '92 Legacy. 'Course it took us nearly a year watching Craigslist to find 'em! And I wouldn't rule out "budget" tires either. Years ago my tire guy found an orphan set of "made in Indonesia" tires in the back of his warehouse and I took a chance. Best tires I've ever had on the car ('95 Legacy L wagon) and they still look good! (But I never run them in the snow!!!) Good luck.

All tires must match circumference within 1/4". Forget diameter--none of us could measure diameter with any relevant accuracy anyway! Sorry, this one is a pet peeve of mine. I hate to see such an important fact misunderstood and misstated so often.

Welcome, Jerrad. Congrats on the WRX! So what do you do in Gainesville? I'm an old Gator--was at UF from '59 through '64.

Hope you got your problem solved, kenathena. Please add "New Zealand" to your ID--most of us have no idea where "Rawene" is.

Technicality, yes, but the southernmost drivable point in the US is South Point on the Big Island of Hawai'i--almost 400 miles farther south than Key West! In fact every habitable point in the State of Hawai'i is south of Key West's latitude. Welcome aboard the USMB--happy travels with that lovely Baja . . . and the dog!

Congrats, Trident! Happy wrenching!

Isn't timing belt replacement recommended at 105k miles on "newer" Subarus? If so, don't panic--it's probably not going to break just because of milage! But don't put it off too long. And while they're in there do all that mikec03 mentioned above.

Stick with it, Trident--don't give up. Go to county officials or even state legislators if you have to--there's gotta' be a way. It's worth the effort! Good luck.

Have you checked the condition of your headlight sockets? Here's a problem I had many years ago: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/39122-headlight-connector-go-poof/?hl=headlight Good luck!

I'd say it's definitely worth a try. Car looks pretty straight in the pic. Give it a thorough looking over--any Subie can be fixed. Then offer him less than he's asking (obviously it's of no great value to him!) Good luck--let us know how it goes. And welcome aboard USMB!

You're talking about an '07 EJ25, right? I know nothing about those "new-fangled" engines but it sounds like: #1 The throttle cable needs adjusting (do they even have a cable?) #2 The IACV may need a good cleaning. Good luck!