Fairtax4me

ECU grounds the fuel pump relay in order to turn on the pump. ECU also grounds the igniter signals which tell the coil to spark. On the passenger side of the engine are a handful of electrical plugs, the largest (16 pins IIRC) has 4 ground wires across the bottom row. I want to say they're all black with white stripe but I don't remember exactly. Those ground wires are all for the sensor and driver circuits of the ECU. If any of those plugs is dirty or corroded inside or the plug is loose (not clicked together all the way) you get all kinds of odd problems. Check those for clean tight connection.

If the trans fluid smells like gear oil check the front diff oil for ATF. Possible someone put gear oil in the wrong fill tube. If there is ATF in the front diff oil the seals between the diff and trans are bad and mixing gear oil with the ATF and toast the high clutch.

They won't fry themselves if that's what you're thinking. The fuel pump should run for 2-3 seconds when the key is turned On to prime the system. Is it not doing that?

With that many mods you should look into getting it tuned. Add ons will bring up power output but at a certain point you can gain no more because of limitations with the stock AF and spark tuning. A better tune will allow the engine to make better use of those mods and you can choose a tune that opens up more power in the RPM range you want; Low/mid/upper. I can't speak to the sound since I've only run stock exhaust on my cars. I've had this set of cams in my 95 auto wagon and now my 96 sedan with 4.11 forester trans. In the auto the torque cams made a definitely noticable difference in off-the-line power. Mid range pull was much better until about 5k, then it wasn't much different than stock. Certainly made a difference helping that thing get out of its own way on the hills around here. The 96 I don't notice the difference down low so much, but mid range I can definitely tell, and I can feel a definite difference in part throttle when climbing hills, even with the Outback sized tires.

The common failure for the manual AWD is to lock up and cause torque bind. Basically 4wd all the time. Fine for offroad, but it makes the tires skip and chirp when turning on dry pavement. If you can confirm that the rear wheels aren't driving at all, the most likely issue is someone removed the rear half of the driveshaft, likely because of torque bind. It is possible for the AWD center diff to fail and essentially be "open", but its very uncommon. I'm not sure I've ever even heard of that happening. Try this. Jack up one rear wheel. Trans in gear, try to spin the wheel. You should be able to, but it should be VERY difficult. If it spins freely, something is missing (part of the driveshaft) or you have a very rare failure of the AWD center diff.

Idle is very slightly different. The torque cam isn't a high power cut so it doesn't make it lope any at idle . There used to be some dyno results floating around in interwebz land of a stock 2.2 vs one with delta torque grind cams. You really only gain a few horses, but the torque band is wider and peak torque occurs sooner . There is also more seat of the pants torque just off idle.

2.2 heads can be done in the car but it's much easier to clean the block with it out of the car. It's also tricky to get the final torque on the bolts with it out of the car. If you have an engine lift, it isn't that much more work to go ahead and pull the engine out.

Won't work as in won't start the car? The key turns the lock right?

Remove the cam timing sprocket. Remove the valve cover. Remove the rocker shaft assembly. Loosen the bolts 1/2 turn at a time until all are loose. there are 2 alignment dowels which can get stuck. Wiggle the ends to help loose them from the dowels as you loosen the bolts. On the drivers head remove the cam extension block from the front of the head. Passenger head remove the rear cam plug. Slide the old cam out. be careful not to gouge the bearing surfaces in the head. If the bearing surfaces in the head are damaged the head has to be replaced. Some machine shops can press bearings into the head, but it usually requires that all 3 bearings be done, and it costs alot more than a used head. Lube the new cam with assembly lube. Permatex stuff from the parts store works fine. Slide the cam into the head, install the end cap or extension. Make sure the cam spins freely. Install shims under the lifters in the rocker arms if you have hydraulic lifters, then install the rocker assembly. Spin the cam so the lobes are pointed away from the rockers to ease installation of the rocker assembly. If you have solid lifters do not make adjustments until you install the rocker assemblies. Put plenty of assembly lube on the cam lobes and rollers on the rockers. Make preliminary valve lash adjustments if necessary. A final lash adjustment should be made when the engine is assembled and timing belt is installed.

Plain 80w90 gear oil. I get the Walmart stuff for $12 a gallon.

Verify fuse isn't blown first. Its common for the wires to break right near where they go into the hatch. Pull the rubber dust boot back and check in there.

Low coolant would be my first guess. How old is the thermostat? Any idea if its Subaru/OE equivalent?

You can not remove the stub shaft on a manual trans. It's held in by a c clip which requires disassembly of the trans in order to remove. Knock the pin out and slide the axle off.

The ignter isn't powered. It grounds the coil circuit. I dont know the pinout offhand but you should have 2 signal wires from the ECU, 2 wires from the coil that should both read 12v with key On. These will change when ranking and will not yield a consistent reading on a voltmeter. The last wire is ground IIRC. Cam and crank sensors make AC waveform signals. Back-probe both pins on the sensor and check for AC voltage while cranking. It will be low voltage. The ECU isnt concerned with the voltage from these, it's the waveform that matters, and you can't see the waveform with a voltmeter. If both produce AC voltage then they're probably OK. You can also unplug them and check resistance but I don't know the spec offhand.

When the cam snaps off of the timing mark, it is because valve spring pressure is pushing against the cam lobe causing it to rotate, and the valves are closing. No chance of bent valves when they're pushing themselves closed.

Not necessarily. You can have a component that's right on the border show intermittent signs of failing for a long time before it finally does. Generally in order for a misfire to set a code it has to happen several times within a certain timeframe. Also not all "misfires" will be detected by the ECU. A partial misfire or multiple partial misfires may not be detected, but can often times be felt by an aware driver. Overheating throws a whole different set of issues into the grab-bag of problems that cause poor running. I'm inclined to agree, probably not worth doing anything with, though it may be necessary depending on how much longer you have to wait to do your swap.

Plugs and wires are a good start. Low rpm and part throttle stumbles are generally due to worn plugs or bad plug wires. Use NGK plugs and NGK or Subaru wires.

Resistance readings don't mean anything unless you totally unhooked the circuit you were testing. You can not check resistance on a live circuit and expect to get the correct result. 99% of the time the coil isn't the problem. Check for 12v at the center pin with key On. Ground one of the other pins via test light of jumper and the coil should fire once the ground is broken. Its best to use a spark tester or an extra spark plug stuck in the end of a plug wire. Crankshaft and camshaft sensors both need to work to get spark. Failure of either of those will result in no spark condition, and are much more common than a failed coil.

Check cars101.com. I'm not sure either but I don't think the legacy had them until 05. Cars101.com may have it listed in the equipment specs, but you'll have to check each year individually. Look in the archive section.

Lift, raise, tilt, all the same. Pics here of the general location of the lower engine mount nuts: http://beergarage.com/SubyOilPan.aspx It's the second or third pic down. You'll only need to remove the nut on the side you need to jack up. Loosen the nut on the other side. You'll also want to remove the pitch mount that goes from the top center of the transmission to the firewall. You may need to remove part of the intake tubing or airbox on the engine to get access to the pitch mout. Once you have those out/loose get your jack and cut a block of wood the right length to go from the jack head up to the engine block beside the oil pan. (Don't jack up the engine directly under the pan or the pan could be dented and obstruct the oil pickup inside. ) Jack the engine up about an inch or two if possible, then cut a small wood block to fit between the bottom of the engine mount and the crossmember. Then lower the engine onto that block. This keeps the engine from falling in case the jack slips.

Stronger springs really aren't necessary with this engine. The valves are tiny and close readily. If your engine has a lot of miles, just getting New springs will be an improvement.

Fuel and air filters new? Get a new Subaru PCV valve. Check all of the hoses that attach to the intake tube. Make sure all the clamps are tight. Make sure the other ends of the hoses are properly attached at the valve covers, and the ends are not split.

Probably head gaskets. How soon after starting are the radiator hoses pressurized? Shouldn't be any pressure until the engine is warm, after the thermostat opens. If there is pressure in the hoses after only a minute or so, that's a bad head gasket.

A/S would stand for All Season, which only means it passes certain criteria for traction and braking characteristics at a wide temperature range. "All Season" doesnt mean its a snow tire. Tirerack.com has some great articles in their tech section explaining the differences in tire ratings such as the difference between a "Snow" tire, and a "Mud and Snow" or "All Season" rating.

Thinking backwards again! Larger tires means the vehicle will be traveling faster than the speedometer reads. Example: Speedometer says 65, actual speed will be 68. Larger tire has a larger circumference, thus, travels a longer distance in one rotation. Don't get tickets!