Fairtax4me

Reset the ECU, (unhook the battery negative for 10 minutes) and restart the engine but don't use the throttle to keep it idling. If it stalls just restart it and allow the ECU to learn to keep the engine running. Using throttle to hold idle speed up keeps the ECU from learning the parameters it needs to maintain on its own and can alter fuel mapping for part throttle running. Clogged cat is also a possibility but seems odd for it to clog while sitting unless it was overheated just before being parked.

Shielded wire can be a pain. Friend of mine cooked 3 ECUs in a Volvo 240 because of a sheilding shorted signal wire to the ignition coil. Lucky yours didnt turn out the same way. Glad to hear its running well now!

My biggest concern wih overheating an engine is possible damage to the head gaskets. The EJ22 is robust and head gasket failure is not common but still possible, and usually only due to overheating or poor coolant maintenance causing corrosion of the heads. Very doubtful that your issues with overheating are due to a bad head gasket. It certainly sounds like the workings of a bad thermostat. Just hoping that this problem hasn't caused a larger one. To avoid issues with air in the system, fill the engine block through the upper radiator hose before filling the radiator. Also just want to be sure, you're not filling with straight water are you? Antifreeze does play a part in slightly raising the boiling point of coolant to prevent boiling in the block at normal running temperature.

The 00-09(?) rear subframes are developing a reputation for being rusty as H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Seems to me there was a thread that mentioned a TSB for it. Not sure if there was a recall.

Search amazon for Polk Db651. Usually about $50 a pair but damn good speakers for the price. They will sound just fine with the stock head unit, and will sound even better if/when you finally do upgrade. Like the comparison to HF tools! They might work, but there's not telling how well or for how long!

There should be a sticker somewhere in the upper door jamb or on the rails that says. If not there look in the upper jamb of the rear hatch. The usual limit is about 150lbs, evenly distributed on the rails.

Subaru OEM or Stant Exact-stat are the only two that will work in these cars. Both are costly, but you'll never have to replace them again. What symptoms do you have that lead you to replace the thermostat to begin with?

Is there a banana in the tail pipe? How about the air filter box? Is it full is acorns or "fluff" from a mouse nest?

Doh! 2005 is when they changed everything. You are correct, that year has an electronic throttle body which controls idle speed without the use of a separate IAC valve. The throttle body can still be gummed up with carbon/oil sludge crud and need cleaning though. If the throttle valve is sticking to the bore in the closed position it can cause fluctuations in idle control when coming to a stop or slowing down. The EGR went all electronic that year as well, so there will be no vacuum hoses going to that. They appear to have moved the Evap solenoid to the front of the manifold in the center (maybe a little off to the left), so be sure to check the vacuum hoses leading to that. The PCV hoses are routed differently as well, but there will still be a hose to each valve cover that hook to a series of pipes on top of the intake manifold, and eventually lead into the manifold. Be sure to check over all of those hoses for proper connection. Also check the ends for splitting. The best place to find exploded views of the various engine components is opposedforces.com. Click on parts catalog and use the drop-down menus to select your vehicle.

P0506 Idle air control system, Rpm lower than expected. This code means there is a vacuum leak or other problem causing a low idle speed condition for which the IAC valve is not able to adjust far enough to correct. This could be because of a faulty IAC motor, or the valve for the IAC is clogged. Since this code occurred after changing spark plugs you should inspect the hoses for the breather system that attach to the intake piping. There should be one from each valve cover and one that attaches to a Y next to the hose from the PCV valve. The PCV valve should be next to the throttle body on the passenger (right hand) side of the intake manifold. Also check all of the small vacuum hoses that attach to the intake manifold. You may have one that is broken or split, which could be causing the shuddering issue. There are a few that loop under the intake manifold on each side of the engine that go to solenoids for the EGR and Evap systems. I would also recommend removing the IAC valve and cleaning it as well as the ports in the manifold. While you're at it, clean the bore of the throttle body as well as the back side and edges of the throttle plate. I just use a rag soaked in Throttle body and Air intake cleaner (Can be bought at any auto parts store) to wipe the crud off. Spray the cleaner into the IAC and let it soak for a minute or so to help dissolve the crud in there.

Intake and exhaust manifolds for the 2.5 heads won't match the 2.2 heads. If he wants to do 2.2 heads he would be better off using 95 dual port heads. Also need the intake manifold from a 95 with EGR. Try timing it correctly first and see if it starts. If he was only a few teeth off it may be fine.

How many miles on the car? Auto or manual transmission? Did the shuddering occur before replacing the transmission? Any other details you can give about the problems? Does engine temperature affect either symptom?

Those screws not only set preload but also change the ring and pinion backlash. If you tightened the one side more than it was before you took it apart, you may have inadvertently altered the backlash clearance between the gears, by pushing the ring gear closer or further away in relation to the pinion gear. If the whine is faint, just keep driving it and check the fluid every now and then. It may have just worn a new wear groove into the ring gear, and it may whine for quite a long time even though no harm is being done.

They could be giving you the wrong driveshafts. Lengthwise an Outback and a base or L model driveshaft are the same. Only the center mount is different and may not appear so unless careful attention is paid to the mount. With the correct driveshaft the u-joint angles are near 0 degrees. If you look at the driveshaft from the side of the car, it will appear to be parallel with the floor pan the entire way from front to back. An incorrect driveshaft, in your case, would appear raised in the center, because the center mount is designed to place the driveshaft about an inh higher in the tunnel. This causes the u-joint angles to be excessive and will cause vibration and, there-fore, wear in the u-joints, leading to early failure. Check to see if the driveshaft that's in the car looks straight, or if it raises toward the floor pan in the center.

When you get these replacement driveshafts are you getting them from Outback models?

+1 Exedy. Exedy Daikin makes the factory original clutch. Gates makes a good timing belt kit, though they're usually a bit pricey. Look for The Import Experts on eBay, or you can go to their website. They sell timing kits with everything you need at competitive prices. Be sure to replace everything while you have it apart, belt, all of the idlers, tensioner, water pump, replace the front crank and camshaft oil seals, and the o-ring behind the oil pump. You should also check the screws on the backing plate of the oil pump to make sure they are tight. When reassembling be sure to get the crank pulley bolt VERY tight, about 140 ftlbs, otherwise it could loosen and cause damage to the end of the crank.

Spring height does not affect the driveshaft. The biggest factor leading to failure is u-joint angle. Usually because the center joint is either too high or too low in comparison to the front and rear joints. Does your car have any lift blocks or spacers on the sub-frames? If so you need a spacer of the same height on the center driveshaft support. The driveshafts also differ slightly between models. A legacy Outback driveshaft center support is designed to sit about 3/4" lower than a driveshaft from an L or GT model.

The removal part is the most difficult part for wheel bearing replacement. I used a similar tool to replace a front wheel bearing on my car and it took some grunt to get the old bearing out of the knuckle. The impact wrench could no longer turn the forcing screw, so I had to resort to the good old fashioned breaker bar. Once the knuckle bore is cleaned and the outer race of the new bearing greased up it will slide in easily. You'll have to come up with a way to pull the hub out of the bearing before you can remove the bearing. The bearing is removed from the knuckle by pulling it towards the car, which is impossible to do with the hub still in it. Then you still need a cutting tool or a bearing splitter and press to remove the old inner bearing race from the hub.

To keep it FWD you'll want a spool made for the center diff and a cover for the tail shaft. There is a company that makes both for custom jobs such as this. I forget the name offhand, but shouldn't be too hard to find. They do a lot of VW stuff, even reverse cut R&P gears. Honestly I think it would be easier to build the Saab motor and put a huge turbo on it (they can hold up to quite a lot of abuse), but I'm always interested to see what people can manage to stuff a Subaru engine into. You'll have to build a subframe to mount the engine and trans though, and you may have to cut out a bit larger tunnel in the Saab floor pan so the trans will have room to sit. Saabs strange oddness has the transmission placed entirely under the engine in those years (as I'm sure you know). Good news is it will be MUCH easier to change the accessory and timing belts when you're done.

You're thinking the 90-94 tappet style vs 95-98 roller style rockers which, are different, and do use different cam profiles. But the two types of roller style rockers, solid lash adjuster and hydraulic lash adjuster, are interchangeable, and use the same cam profile.

The head gasket has failed. The compression ring seal has failed and is allowing compression to blow out into the oil drain passages at the bottom of the head. If you put RTV on the head gaskets, that is the reason. RTV on head gaskets = No no. Other causes could be: head and or block surface warped, incorrect torque sequence, or surfaces were not clean enough.

That's not broken. What I mean is, the metal was not cracked to cause that failure. The shiny parts you see are where the cam lobe ground into the rocker. The center bearing shaft (standing up on end in the background) slid out of the rocker arm and allowed the roller to fall out. This could be due to lack of oil to the bearing of the roller as Ivan said. I think it's more likely that the set screw or shear pin that holds the roller shaft in place fell out. The type of lash adjuster had nothing to do with the failure. People interchange solid and hydraulic lash adjuster roller rocker arms all the time. The cams used for these style rockers are the same regardless of the lash adjuster type.

Nice! That stayed in the new trans correct? Vice grip the end, smack the vice grips upward with a big hammer.

The engine is not seizing, it is hydro locking because the cylinders are full of fuel. The injectors are either not seated properly or the o rings are not sealing the lower section of the injectors. You need to remove the injectors, pull the spark plugs out and crank the engine to get some of the fuel out of the cylinders, figure out why the injectors are not sealing and correct it. When you put the injectors back in you need to turn the key to ON for a few seconds to allow the rails to prime. Turn the key off, put the gas pedal on the floor and hold it, then turn the key to start. With the pedal on the floor the injectors are disabled, so the engine will not flood again. After a few seconds the fuel that's already in the cylinders will clear and the engine will fire. Once it is running take your foot off the pedal and it should stay running on its own.

Yes you should remove the torque converter with the transmission. Search here for how to properly seat the torque converter (there is a good thread with pictures somewhere on this forum) before trying to install the transmission. You need to get the converter seated properly first, otherwise it will damage the fluid pump in the transmission, and your "new" trans will be a boat anchor. Also do not drop the converter when removing it from the flex plate! It is only partially supported by the pilot stub in the center.