Fairtax4me

Check out a few vids on the you tube on how to remove and install valves. Its not as hard as it might seem, but you do need a spring compressor. Craftsman sells one that's inexpensive and does work if you get it set up right. I made one out of a pair of wide jaw vice grips with a big washer welded on the end. The only thing to really watch out for is before you slide the valve out of the guide, feel around the groove of the stem for any burrs. Use emery cloth to get any burrs off before you remove the valve. Otherwise you can get the valve stuck in the guide and score the guide. If air was obviously flying out of the exhaust valves, good chance one or both of them are burned. Maybe they weren't before, but it sounds like they are now.

I don't do the water test. I use diesel or kerosene. Not as thin as gasoline, but they still have a low surface tension so any imperfection in the valve seat they will seep through. Gasoline can run through even the tiniest imperfection in the seat and can give a false indication. Water has a high surface tension so a small imperfection it may not leak through, or if there is carbon or oil buildup on the valve or seat, it might not leak through. Water works well enough of the valve is bent, or if it has a significant burn. A badly burned valve will show very low (under 30psi) or no compression though. Partial/minor burn or an improperly cut seat or incorrectly lapped valve can still hold back water, but will show medium range compression when doing a compression test. Remove the head, remove the valves from the head, and visually check the seats, valve faces, and measure the width of the contact area with the seat. IIRC the contact ring should be about 1.0-1.1mm. More will give a poor seal, less will cause the valve to burn.

What year heads are on it? I've heard of some of the late 90s heads having problems with the valve guides dropping and holding the valves open. Maybe weak valve spring on that cylinder was causing valve float and the valve burned between when it was checked out and now? Or the machinist just didn't give a .... and hit them with some cleaner and said they were fine...

With the rocker assembly out the valves will all be closed, so no danger of hitting valves on the 2-4 side.

There's also rockauto. I've used a couple of Gates thermostats with good results. 34012 about $10 compared to $30ish for the dealer part.

Repeat the leak down test with the rocker assembly removed to see if the HLAs are holding the valves open. See if your leak percentage comes up. Next would be to run a compression test and shoot some oil into number 4 to see if the compression comes up any.

Lol at your avatar! Check the coolant level in the radiator with the engine cold. What kind of coolant is in there? The Subaru blue stuff lasts a long time. Green stuff needs to be changed about every two years so it's probably due for that. Thermostat is possible if it's a non-Subaru stat or non- similar design to the Subaru OE type. That design is very important because it prevents constant opening/closing of the t-stat. The other consideration would be that maybe the heater core is partially clogged. A back-flush of the core could help with an overheating issue if it's happening in cool or cold weather.

If you still have the original alternator take it to a rebuilder and just have it rebuilt. Parts store alternators are junk and don't last.

Automatics don't have a center diff. If the front diff is toast it pretty much needs a transmission. No fuse or special oil is going to fix it. Worth it to check the front axles. Cheapo axles can break and cause lots of noise sounding similar to a chewed up front diff. Probably still a good deal either way.

It's amazing how little slop there is in the shifter when all those bushings are new. Give it about a month and they'll wear in a little bit. Glad to hear you got it fixed!

Subaru gets their parts from the same suppliers as every other vehicle. The plastic pulley isn't a problem limited to Subaru. Those are something that really has to be replaced every time the belts are replaced. The bearings in them are just not the same quality they used to be, and that affects everything on the road. Mercedes, BMW, ford, GM, VW (as I'm sure you know), etc., all have problems with plastic pulleys. I do agree on the head gasket problems, and especially the rod bearing problems. I've held out on buying any Subarus in the 05+ years due to those problems, and others. The interior quality in the mid-2000 years is pretty horrible IMO. Cheap plastic panels that rattle on every little bump. Uncomfortable seats, poor quality electronics, cheaper switches, window motors... The list could go on and on.

This sounds more like a sticking thermostat. But is also typical behavior of a bad head gasket > Air pockets causing a false temp reading. Radiator fans should come on at 204°F and turn off at 194°F. Ideally when moving even at 15 mph the engine should run around 195° without the fans. If the fans have to run while the car is moving, that's a problem.

Sometimes things like this happen if the battery is bad. Take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

Is the lock-nut missing from the adjuster? Have seen those fall off and the adjuster nut will just keep spinning loose. Other option is a hole worn through the cable sheath. Or cracked release fork.

Scan guage so you can see the digital temp readout from the ECU, or just hook up and old school mechanical guage. The temp sensor is the same as any other car, the guage is where the circuitry is that affects how the needle moves. The coolant temp really doesn't vary that much during normal operation. These engines warm up quickly and maintain a fairly even temperature regardless of load. In my experience, when they do run hot the guage reflects that, except if the coolant level is low. But if your having an overheating problem no guage is going to fix that.

The low coolant level is the issue here. Either you find a leak somewhere, (hose clamps, thermostat housing, common places for leaks) or your head gaskets aren't holding up to their end of the deal.

If the front pinion gear is chewed up you're almost better off to just get a used trans. It can be swapped but the trans has to come out of the car to do the work anyway. Changing a differential and pinion shaft isn't just a parts slap kinda job. Clearances have to be measured and pinionndepth and backlash has to be set properly or the new diff will just get chewed up and you'll be right back in the same situation in a few months.

Ideally you'll want a 95 2.2 with EGR. Drops right in and everything plugs in exactly the same. You can use a 96-98 2.2 if you get the single port y-pipe with it. Again, needs to have EGR to keep the CEL gremlins away. The hoses for the evap canister might hook up differently, but those are easy to modify to work.

Hate to say it but that sounds like the beginnings of a rod knock. Check the timing tensioner and idlers for play just to be sure.

The DOHC engines are kind of a pain. Sohc are much easier to deal with

Evergreen gaskets are junk. They were doomed before they even came out of the package. Get some Fel-pro head gaskets for it. The other gaskets you should be able to re-use. Just pull it apart, clean everything really well and put it back together with the Fel-pros.

Good chance that's just worn tie rod ends and those should be obviously loose if they're worn enough to exhibit play. Possible it's inside the rack, but before swapping that make sure the clamp bolt on the u-joint isn't loose where it clamps to the input shaft on the rack or on the steering column shaft at the firewall. Also check the bushings that mount the rack into the crossmember. They get soaked with oil and fall apart and the rack can move around a bit inside the mounts.

Your head gasket set didn't seal properly. What brand of gasket kit did you use? Did you have the heads checked for flatness? Did you follow the torque sequence for torquing the head bolts?

So it's a 96 engine? Should have hydraulic valve lash adjusters. I would guess one of the adjusters on #2 is clogged or sticky and it's hanging the valve open. Or if it has solid adjusters, possible the clearance is too tight, but normally that would just end up as a burned valve.

Kinda sounds like timing is off.