Fairtax4me

Was the vibration present before putting new tires on? I don't know how they do the belts on the 07 but the older cars you have to manually adjust the belts. If the belt is old go ahead and replace it. Another thing you need to do soon is the timing belt, since you're 5,000 miles overdue. Timing belt time is the best time to address head gasket issues, since all that has to come apart to pull the heads anyway.

Subaru OEM or aftermarket? I remember the damper/regulator do-hickes now. If you want to pull the plugs and check them it cant hurt. Next I'd probably put a fuel pressure guage on it and make sure that's up to spec.

Find the VIN stamp and run the VIN on google. Should be either on the top corner above the starter, or on the opposite bottom corner. If there's no VIN its probably a Subaru replacement, although there is supposed to be an EIN on it in place of the VIN, but you would have to get Subaru to run the number to confirm.

Possibly plugs. Does 05 have the fuel filter under the hood? I'm thinking in 05 they put the filter in the pump assembly. Did you change the whole assembly or just the pump motor?

Forester used the same trans but has 4.11 final drive.

In Nuetral the mainshaft is still spinning because its is connected mechanically to the engine via the clutch. Possible scenarios: Clutch disc is Fedexd. Center differential kersploded. Transfer gears wiped out. You really have to have some talent to chew the 1-5 gears out of one of these to totally keep it from moving, but I have seen pictures where people managed to do it. Usually its just first or second gear. How to tell which it is without pulling the trans. Clutch: Just listen around the bellhousing area while someone else works the clutch pedal. Or you can pull the starter out, or pull the boot off of the clutch release lever and look in with a flashlight. You'll see piles of fuzz everywhere if the clutch disc is shredded. Center diff/transfer gears: Jack up one front wheel. Put the trans in gear (engine OFF). Try to turn the wheel. It should only move an inch or two and stop. If it turns, and you hear a bunch of grindy rattly sounds from the back end of the trans, that could be center diff or the transfer gears. If it doesn't turn, put it back down, try the same with one of the rear wheels. Make sure the park brake is off. If the rear wheel turns, and you hear grindy sounds from the rear of the trans, that's most likely the transfer gears.

The solenoid is the oil control valve for the AVCS. Check opposedforces.com for part numbers. I assume you broke the bracket while trying to remove the camshaft sensor. Break the plastic end off the sensor and dig the guts out of it, then you can use a small screwdriver to start peeling the outer liner of the sensor inward, kinda like opening a sardine can from the inside. Clean the sensor bracket thoroughly with a wire brush and brake cleaner, and JB weld the two peices back together. Sand all the rust off of that dowel pin that's still on the head, and slather it in anti-seize. Be sure to coat the outside of the new cam sensor with anti-seize as well.

Final drive ratios vary depending on model: L typically uses 3.90. GT and Outback typically use 4.11. The big chunks don't usually make their way to the front half of the case, but the small bits are the ones that float around and get into the bearings and ruin everything. The major problems in these don't typically manifest themselves as shifting problems unless there is major wear. The mainshaft ball bearing is the most common failure, and tends to make a bit of racket on its way out. It can take several thousand miles for it to fail after starting to make noise. The thing is, you probably wouldn't be able to tell until you get the center diff and tailshaft replaced. You can try to move the mainshaft (the upper shaft in the main housing) fore/aft to check for play, but there can be damage to the bearing races and still show no play. I would just try to find a whole trans. Check car-part.com for used trans near you.

Rocker assemblies are the same on each side. You CAN swap ROLLER rocker assemblies. You can NOT swap tappet style rockers. Tappet rockers have to stay matched with the cam. As far as I know there isn't any difference between 22 and 18 heads. If you have a graduated cylinder(or liquid measuring cup), you can roughly measure the volume of the combustion chambers. Measure the valve diameter with a mic or fine ruler.

They have to be close. You're off a hair, but they're all off in the right direction. Crank turns clockwise. Crank to cam ratio is 2:1. The crank turns two full turns, for every one full turn of the cams. If you turn the crank to the right the 2 degrees that its off, it'll pull the cams 1 degree. The passenger cam will appear to be too far to the right, but its better that way. As the belt wears and stretches with time, it will come back to the left towards the mark. If you have all of the slack out of the belt starting at the crank, to the passenger cam, all the way around the bottom to the water pump, then the driver cam, and the only slack is between the crank and driver cam, nothing will shift when you pull the pin.

Looks good to me. If you did everything right there should only be slack between the crank and drivers side cam. Every where else should be tight. Wiggle the belt with your fingers to confirm. If the tensioner pulls anything it will be the cams. Before you pull the pin, grab a large flat head screwdriver and stick it between the tensioner piston and the pad on the tensioner pulley (the part the piston pushes on). Put the screwdriver in and push the tensioner pulley firmly towards the crank and it will draw all of the slack out of the belt. If anything moves, it was going to move anyway when you pulled the pin. Be sure to use the screwdriver to shove the tensioner piston assembly all the way towards the crank before tightening the bolts.

Tires will be within 5% which isn't enough to notice. Most of these read a little fast anyway, so the slightly bigger tires will bring it closer to actual speed. Axles are the same, just make sure they have green cups. If they ain't green just toss them in the pile. The only thing to look out for is the ABS tone ring, but I don't think they put those on the axle until 99 or 2000, and you can just knock the ring off to use the axle anyway.

05s leak externally and its usually very slow. Usually only noticeable as a slight seepage on the bottom corners of the heads where they meet the block. If you have an internal leak its because someone did the head gaskets wrong. "Using" coolant on the highway may be due to a bad radiator cap, or an aftermarket thermostat. Drain the coolant and put a Subaru T-stat in it, or get a Stant Exact-stat (there was a thread with the stant part number here somewhere). Put the coolant conditioner in when refilling.

I'd have to call it stem seals. Keep 1/4 - 1/2 quart of MMO in it. The oil control rings lands in the pistons have drain holes that do have a tendency to plug up with infrequent oil changes, then the rings get stuck. MMO or a high mileage motor oil may clean them out. Neither one will hurt so its worth a shot.

Does the fuel in the tank smell strange? Kinda wondering if somebody bleached your tank. Doesn't make much sense for a pump and the gauge sender to burn out at the same time, and then have a brand new pump burn out in a day. I know aftermarket pumps don't have the best track record, but you usually get at least a few months out of them. Might also check the pins in the connector for corrosion as that can cause the pump to run hot if it can't get the proper amount of current.

Did you ever remove the oil pan? There is a ring seal on the pan for a tube that connects to the bottom of the separator chamber. If the seal is broken or gone it apparently causes high oil consumption. High vacuum in the intake can pull oil past worn intake valve stem seals. Usually this is noticeable if you coast down a long hill in low gear that keeps the engine speed up and intake vacuum high for a prolonged period. Did you replace the stem seals when you did the valves?

It puts more stress on pretty much everything. Axles, front and rear diffs, suspension bushings, ball joints, tie rods. If the center diff fails it can fill the trans with metal or even crack open the case. I'm not 100% sure on compatibility for the phase 2 trans. What's the build date on your car?

I'm not aware of any aftermarket source for the VC unit or center diff. 99 was a transition year. I do know you can get the VC from a dealer and replace just that part on the older transmissions, up to 98. In 99 they changed the design so you couldn't replace just the VC IIRC. Some 99 cars had the new trans and some still had the old style, and I'm not sure the VC can be replaced without replacing the whole center diff. But like I said, these don't go bad very often, so you can get a good used center diff and pop it right in. Post in the classified here, I'm sure someone has one. I have one but its from a 97 trans.

Looked at the XV hybrid Friday afternoon and its a stretch to actually call it a hybrid. It's just a series hybrid with a "booster" motor between the engine and trans from what I could tell. Auto stop and start functions save you more fuel than the little motor does, but it does increase city fuel economy by 3-4 mpg, which is enough to earn points with the EPA and new CARB regulations. The fleet average fuel economy is what they care about now, so we're going to see a lot of series hybrid cars in the next few years as car makers try to bring their fleet averages up, and to do that theyre going to find ways to bring coty fuel economy up. This is also part of the reason for the demise of the Tribeca, why the new Jeep Cherokee isn't really a Jeep anymore, and why every other car and SUV out there is shifting towards smaller, rather than the previous trend of "Bigger is better". To Nyguy75, take the car to the dealer and have them treat the exhaust system with some Zinc based high temp exhaust paint. What you have pictured is only minor surface rust, but preventing rust now will prevent expensive repairs later.

Torque bind can be found in both auto and manual transmissions. The causes are similar in nature, but the parts affected work very differently and exhibit different symptoms. The general symptom is the car lurches or jerks when trying to make tight turns on asphalt, and you generally have to use more throttle to overcome the forces causing the bind and complete the turn. Manual transmissions generally have to be warm for this to occur, such as after driving for several minutes on the highway. In the manual transmissions the viscous coupling unit in the center differential overheats and locks up. This forces the front and rear driveshafts to turn at the same speed when they need to turn at slightly different speeds. Normally these differences in speed between the front and rear axles will be absorbed by the center diff. But when the diff locks it forces those differences to be absorbed by the tires, which they do by slipping on the road surface. On dirt or gravel its not noticeable, but because asphalt has a higher friction co-efficient the tires grip and cause the drivetrain (axles, driveshaft) to soak up the difference until it binds. Early stages could be described as a clunk feeling, or you may even hear a clunk if you have any worn out suspension parts like ball-joints or tie-rod ends. The primary cause is uneven tire wear, and mismatching tires front to rear. I.E. 2 New tires in the front, 2 old worn tires on the back. Or buying 1 new tire because of a blowout, and the other three are 50% worn. This causes the front and rear driveshaft speeds to differ ALL of the time, which causes the viscous coupler to have to work ALL of the time, and leads to overheating of the fluid in the unit. A difference in axle speeds causes the viscous fluid to heat up, which is what makes the unit work, but when the difference is too great it causes the fluid to overheat, which will make the unit lock up entirely. Fixing this first requires making sure all 4 tires match in size, brand, and wear within 1/4" of circumference from least worn to greatest worn. Sometimes just getting new tires will alleviate the difference in speed between front and rear axles and prevent overheating of the fluid in the unit, which will keep it from locking. This will only happen if caught at a very early stage of torque bind. The next step is to replace the center differential unit. The viscous coupler is not serviceable by itself, though the unit can be replaced. It's just much easier to pull the center diff and put a whole new center diff back. These don't go bad often so used is a good option. New units are in the $400+ range last I checked.

Pretty much 90-99 Legacy including Outback, 98-02 Forester, and 93- at least 04 Impreza, you can use your struts on. The sway bar will work on any 90-99 Legacy or Outback. I know they changed the end link design on the Forester and Impreza in the early 2000s. Your bar should still fit, but you may need to use the end links that match the car. 2000 and later Legacy, Outback, Baja, all use multi-link rear. 2003 or 2004 (don't remember exactly) Forester they changed the spring design so it tapers at the top. You can bolt in your struts, but need to use the Forester spring and top-hat. 2009 and later Forester uses multi-link rear. Not sure when Impreza switched to the ML rear suspension, but not before 2007. I'm thinking it was more like 2010. For more info look for posts by "Suparu" on here, SubaruOutback.org, and SubaruForester.org.

Ordered a set of the rear lines for an Outback today. Fronts weren't in stock, but hopefully will be soon. Also test fitted the front calipers, line placement is identical, but the WRX calipers are HUGE compared to the stock single piston calipers on the car. There is no way they're going to fit under my 15" outback wheels, (read about that before but forgot) which is a bummer since I don't have the extra cash to drop on tires for my 16" WRX wheels right now. Also discovered the right side inner pad is also quite a bit thinner than the others, which means a front pad slap will have to happen soon. I have some low priced ceramics on the way that should be better than the wearevers that are on it. I did also order Outback front brake hoses (regular rubber) since what I could find says they're about 2" longer than the stock L hoses. Will see when they get here.

The lo-down: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/116520-knock-sensor-101-and-replacement/

99 forester is known for having problems with the IAC valve. They're super easy to replace though, as long as you don't round the heads out of the screws that hold it on. Link with picture of the location of the IACV: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/159882-post7.html The link is for a 2000 Outback, but its the same engine as your Forester. These are available aftermarket, but I'm not sure of the quality of the aftermarket replacements. I've done two of these and replaced both with used parts from eBay. Before you replace the IACV, look into replacing the ECT sensor. Also replace the spark plugs and wires if they're old, the air and fuel filters, and the PCV valve. Also check over all of the vacuum hoses and the breather hoses that attach to the intake box. Make sure none are cracked, split, or loose.

There shouldn't be any difference in pan gasket shapes for the transmissions that will work in that car. You don't really need a gasket. Those are sealed with RTV from the factory, and should be resealed with RTV if its leaking. "The Right Stuff" works well for transmission pans. Pull the pan off and let the trans drip for several hours to let residual fluid run off of the valve body and case. This will help keep drips out of the RTV when putting the pan back on.