Fairtax4me

Slow leaks will lead to overheating when the fluid level gets low enough, even if the guage does not reflect that the engine is running hot right away. If the coolant is above normal operation temp when the engine is turned off there's a good chance it will boil over. This is also when coolant is most likely to push out of a crack in the radiator, since the system pressure spikes and pushes the crack open. Not saying the radiator is definitely cracked, a pressure test would confirm. Some vehicles have to have the computers reset anytime a component is disconnected. Your Subaru is not one of them. The fans are easy to test. Find the two green plugs under the dash on the drivers side. Connect them and then the key ON. There will be a multitude of clicking as the ECU cycles all of the relays and solenoids in the car. The ECU will cycle the fans on in both speeds for roughly 1 second intervals.

99 forester uses the same trans as the 99+ outback. It will work with the same mods as mentioned above. I meant to include that in the list. There was no GT option in 95. The 95 Outback was not a "True" Outback. It still had the 3.9 FDR which is the only reason that trans won't work. Your clutch is hydraulic right? The symptoms you just described indicate a hydraulic issue. Either air in the system or a leak in the slave cylinder. The slave cylinders tend to fail after being removed from the trans because the piston extends all the way to the end of the cylinder, past its normal travel, where there's a bunch of scale and crud that cuts the seal on the piston. Fluid leaks out under the dust boot on the pushrod, air gets in. Causes clutch actuation problems.

Popping out of 4th gear is not a synchro issue. That's a worn mainshaft bearing. The trans won't make it another 10k miles anyway. 96-98 Legacy GT, or Legacy Outback are your best choices. 98 Forester will also work. 99-04 Legacy Outback and GT use a phase 2 trans but it will bolt up work just the same, you just need to tap threads for the lower starter hole and run a bolt into the bellhousing. But for that trans you have to have the speed sensor that matches that trans. The phase 1 trans has a larger speed sensor that will not fit on the phase 2 trans. Per the clutch question, give it a few weeks and the feel will return to normal. When everything is new and freshly greased the clutch actuation is very easy. That goes away after a few weeks as the parts break in and that new grease on the release arm pivot and the release bearing squeezes out of the way.

99-07 are the same setup and same basic SOHC 2.5 engine. Head gaskets are an issue but they just leak slowly externally. 98 had the old DOHC 25 which is prone to internal head gasket leaks (pressurizing the cooling system) and rod bearing problems. These can be fixed cheap and easy by dropping in a 2.2 from a legacy 95-98. The EJ22 engines are a dime a dozen and bullet proof.

Phase 1 trans has 4 bolt holes in the bellhousing. Phase 2 trans has 8 bolt holes in the bellhousing.

Dropping the tank is a whole other can of worms. Plenty of room to re-route new lines around the front of the tank. Cut the old ones off and let them Rust In Peace.

The mating surfaces on both the heads AND the block MUST be perfectly clean and have the correct finish for new gaskets to seal properly. It isn't rocket science, but if someone got carried away with a rotary clean-up wheel the block surface could be worn down too much for any new gasket to seal properly. Need to get your money back from the shop, or take the car to a different shop and have the first shop pay to have the job done properly.

Pretty sure its exactly as they are on the car. Left line goes to the left side, right to right side. Cut one off inside the car, then disconnect that side at the wheel end and see if you can blow air through it (use a short section of vacuum hose). Cap off the line after you cut it to avoid letting the lines and master cylinder run empty and fill with air. Much less of a paint to bleed brakes if the lines don't to empty.

Buy sensors for the new wheels is the only way to turn the light off. Too difficult to pull the bulb out on the new ones, plus they put in failsafes to detect the bulbs. If the bulb is gone or burned out some other light will start blinking rapidly, and a beeper might ding incessantly whenever the key is on. The shortcut is a piece of tape over the light. Just don't try to get it past state safety inspection like that.

Hard to say if the ECU fried. Usually you'll have some codes for random stuff if that happened. Depending on what was disconnected/removed during the axle change you could have a loose ground connection for the ECU and that would cause major problems. A test light won't hurt the coil or the igniter (ignition control module on the center of the firewall), but it may hurt the ECU if connected to wiring between the ECU and igniter. How have you tested for spark? Have you checked with a spare spark plug or spark tool stuck in the end of one of the plug wires? Ignition coil should have 12v on the center wire. The other two wires will pulse to ground which causes the coil to discharge the spark. You can check these with a test light by probing the center wire and connecting the other lead to either of the outer wires. The test light should blink quickly as spark is commanded by the igniter. If the test light stays On that indicates the circuit between the coil and igniter is shorted to ground. Camshaft sensor will also prevent spark, but you would have a code for it especially if the engine will not start.

Plugs and wires are always a good place to start. Easy and cheap and many times will take care of random misfires. The symptoms you describe don't scream burned valve, so for the time being a tune-up is probably all it realy needs. Plugs, wires, filters, new PCV valve. If it does have a burned valve you can put a new valve in it for under $100 in parts. Of course that is doing the bare minimum, pulling the head off and replacing just the valve, and that assumes you do the work yourself. There's certainly NO need to rebuild the entire engine over just a burned valve. Pull the valve cover off the passenger side (easy side) and see if it has adjustable rocker arms. Those need adjustment from time to time to keep the correct valve lash clearance. If valve clearance is too small it can lead to a burned valve.

Very uncommon for these diffs to fail. I also suspect it was either run dry or damaged in some way prior to install. Thanks for for the update on the resolution. Glad to hear its fixed!

Kinda sounds like the car was losing electrical power altogether. Check and clean battery connections.

Yes, there's a well known issue with the 99 speedometer. I won't really have time to mess with them for a little while. Was hoping someone might know of something specific off-hand. I've never had a speed sensor fail intermittently show any signs of odd signal while on its way out. They've always just gone from working to not. Ill try to hunt up a sensor in the junkyard in a few weeks and give it a try.

ATE used to have slotted only rotors for these. Vented rear rotors will need bracket and caliper to match, but the brackets are interchangable between many models so should fit. Mix with EBC RedStuff pads for good cold bite and high fade resistance. Trailing arms are tougher than they look, and there's a reason they aren't fully boxed. Those are designed to bend in an accident to avoid damage to the frame of the car. Detonation is much less of a concern at higher altitude. Lean A/F mixture causes detonation. Less air at high altitude means less detonation. Franken-motor with Delta Cams will need a tune to make it run right at low RPMs. Either one by itself (Frankie w/ no cams, or cams in current engine) will not require tuning.

You don't have to remove the radiator, but some people do for the comfort of knowing they won't put a hole in it if the wrench slips. You will need to remove the intake manifold, and at least unbolt the exhaust y-pipe. Last time I did one in the car I pulled the exhaust studs out of the head and didnt drop the y-pipe at all. You may need to unbolt the lower motor mounts and lift the engine on the side where you're pulling the head. Also need to remove the front timing covers and the timing belt.

Compression numbers look promising for jumped timing, the hard stop when turning the engine is kind of concerning, but if the starter is able to make the engine turn its probably not indicative of major damage. Not much point putting a bore scope in it. It's hard to see bent valves with one of those anyway. More fun to pull the head and have a look at what happened. Those heads aren't too expensive to rebuild, but it depends on how many valves you need.

Those engines aren't that heavy. Flip it onto some blocks so you can bolt the bracket part to the bellhousing, then just pick it up and put it on the stand. As far as a build. Delta cams are cheap and add a few ponies for daily driving. Thats not a great block for a turbo setup. It can be done with enough work but you're talking full-on build with low compression pistons. Otherwise you're limited to about 5 psi. The way I see it a turbo just isn't worth it if you can't run at least 10. The main thing ill stress with any build: cleanliness is key. Make sure your parts are clean, and your work area is clean. These engines have very tight tolerances, and making sure everything is clean during assembly goes a long way towards reliability.

I have two separate 95 Legacys, both have some odd things going on with the speedometer. I'm wondering if there was a common issue with these that I haven't yet heard of. GFs 95 LSI has been strange for a while. When slowing to a stop from say 30mph or above, speedometer needle will come down smoothly til about 20mph, then it will drop from 20 to 0 and jump back up to 20 a few times. I've tried to make a video of it, but it never happens when I'm trying to record it. My 95 L I noticed just a few days ago, while driving on cruise at steady speed at 70 mph the needle would drop randomly back to about 65 or 60 just for a second or so, then to back to 70. Again, tried to record it, then it wouldn't do it anymore. 2 days later I'm slowing to a stop at an intersection, and I notice the needle hangs at about 25mph until the car comes to a complete stop. Once I start going again, the needle didnt move again until I got up to about 20 mph, then it jumped up to 20. Next 2 stops it did the same thing again. Haven't noticed it since then. I'm thinking poor connection somewhere or loose ground, but wanted to see if there was anybody who knew of a common issue with these.

Yeah these things are pretty much like Legos with suspension parts. For the most part Springs control your height, struts control the ride. Some of the Impreza springs were shorter and will give you a little bit of a drop. I don't know exact details but there is lots of info out there. I'm pretty sure LegacyCentral has a big suspension thread that covers options for lifting and lowering.

The old strut is going to the scrap yard anyway most of the time, just grab the strut rod with a pair of vice grips.

It's a black connector. 6 pins. Pictured in the first picture in this thread: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/80-electrical-electronics/27938-lets-play-game-called-what-did-i-break-diagnostics.html The black plug. The two bare pins with black wires are the ground pins you need for the diagnostic. Look for the 9 pin yellow plug and the black plug should be nearby. These are usually more towards the center of the car. Between the column and the air control box behind the center console.

There's no reason they should be telling you that. You would have had a serious power problem if there was damage being done to the engine. Don't worry about it, Drive and enjoy!

Crank timing probably means broken or skipped timing belt, which on that engine means bent valves. Sometimes you can hang a new belt on it and catch a break. More than likely you have to pull the heads and put some new valves in, but that process covers all of the common issues with that engine, so its not a bad thing, especially if you can do the work yourself. When the timing belt breaks a $7,000 car becomes a $2,000 car that can often be repaired for under a grand. If the rest of the car is decent and they don't want an outrageous amount for it its usually worth the gamble to fix the engine.

The valve cover bolts can be pretty tight if they've been in there for long. Possible it was cross-threaded when the head gaskets were done. One trick you might try. When all of the other bolts are loose/removed it puts more strain on the last bolt. Try tightening all of the other bolts back down to take some load off that last bolt.