Fairtax4me

Does this car have a MAF sensor?

For future reference silicone is NOT a good lubricant for door handles and hinges. It dries quickly, and doesn't protect against rust Lithium grease does. If you need to free up something rusty, use plain WD40 or some type of penetrating oil to loosen the parts, then follow with a shot of lithium spray grease to keep them lubricated long term.

Only other thing I can think of is to just make sure the wiring is all ok. No pinched or chafed insulation. Permatex has a new RTV out that's specifically for transmission pans. I've used it a couple times and so far it seems really good. It seals really well, and seems to be fairly easy to remove. I haven't yet removed any of the pans that is sealed with it. I just used it to glue some coins to a peice of aluminum to see how well it would pop loose and clean up. It's easier to remove than ultra-grey or Mega-black, and haven't had any leaks yet.

You did remove both bolts right? There may be an o-ring around the seat of the solenoid that is causing it to stick. Try giving it a little twist as you pull.

They should have part numbers on them somewhere.

Your idle trims look ok then. Try taking it for a drive and see what the trims change to, then once you stop see if they come back to those low numbers at idle. Look at the fuel trims while driving at a constant speed. (careful quick glance, or have someone else drive while you watch) Under heavy acceleration or going uphill you may see them jump up. When going down hill or decelerating they may go down. A steady speed gives an idea for a the baseline trim that the ECU is following while the engine is under steady load.

https://www.subarupartsforyou.com/clutch-transmission/transmission-solenoids/31939aa191-solenoid-2-4-brake-or-line-pressure-red-item-c-or-h.html These guys say the 2-4 Brake solenoid and Line solenoid are the same part.

Most of the time idle issues on engines from those years are due to a dirty Idle control solenoid. If it has the cone style valve, (round can that screws to the side of the throttle body) those are known to be problematic and often simply cleaning them does not fix the problem. Those generally require replacement. The type that bolts to the top of the throttle body is generally more robust and cleaning usually will restore them to normal operation. You will need a new o-ring gasket when re-installing that type of IAC. This could also be due to a bad O2 sensor. When watching Live data at idle (engine at operating temp) your fuel trims should be around 0%. Anything more than about 5-8% consistently (+/-) indicates the ECU is adding or removing fuel in order to compensate for a perceived fuel mixture problem. A high positive fuel trim number indicates a lean mixture reading from the upstream O2 sensor. A negative number indicates the ECU is reading a rich fuel mixture.

Yes, the phase 1 gaskets are slightly thicker to accommodate for the piston height. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Its basically a light tap, and they're probably only touching on the exhaust stroke when there's no load on the piston or bearings. Valves are closed when the piston is at the top of the stroke so no worry there.

Cargo light wasn't working in the 2012 Outback that belongs to the bosses wife. Pulled it down and the bulb was fine, but the socket housing was charred and the terminals in the socket were all black and crusty. Not fire crusty, just looked like they had been really hot. Forgot to get a pic of it. Cleaned them up, pinched the pins together tighter and put a new bulb in with some di-electric grease and its working. I informed her not to leave the switch in the On position. Wondering if this is a common thing, but I did search the google and couldn't come up with any complaints about this. I remember a few years back there was a recall on certain years for the lights in the door panels. I don't remember ever seeing anything about cargo lights though. Anybody else have to deal with this at some point? I might expect this to be normal on a 20 year old Legacy. But a 3 year old Outback that is for the most part in very clean shape, this seems out of place.

Ahh I gotcha. Like Bratman said. The pistons crest above the top of the block deck on the 25D. Have to order thicker head gaskets or use the 25D gaskets.

Any chance you can post pics of the timing marks? MAF sensor could cause that sort of issue as well. If it s a MAP sensor it would be on the right strut tower. Some of the 95s had both MAF and MAP. Some just had a MAF.

You put the 253 block between the DOHC heads? The 253 blocks are known for having piston slap. Make sure the timing belt tensioner isn't bouncing around. Those are easy to damage when re-compressing the piston.

Clean the threads with a chaser or tap and try a longer bolt. Often the threads are tapped further in than the stock bolt can reach. Stick a small screwdriver into the hole to guage the depth, then find a bolt that's just a bit shorter than that. If the longer bolt won't hold, a helicoil kit will work fine. Getting enough room to fit a drill in the car can sometimes be a challenge though.

It will, but that's a bad thing. That constant up and down change in temperature causes major problems in aluminum engines. Cracked heads or block, warpage, head gasket failure. Severe Cylinder wall wear. The thermostat and cooling system in a Subaru engine are designed to prevent rapid temperature fluctuation, but it only works to a certain extent. If the radiator is full of cold coolant all the time, it can actually cause the engine to overheat because the themostat is constantly being forced closed by the cold coolant rushing in.

What car is it in or going in? Yes it is possible to get a radiator that's too big. If it has too much cooling capacity that can be a just as big a problem as having too little capacity. But at some point, the radiator won't actually fit under the hood of the car, so the cooling capacity is somewhat limited in that respect.

The 98 2.5 was a DOHC engine and will not work in that car without some creative electrical engineering. Look down on top of the block behind the alternator and see if the block stamp says EJ25. There should also be a VIN number stamped in the lower right corner of the bellhousing.

Auto or manual trans?

Yes, slide the seat forward, then feel for the cutout in the corner of the carpet. It should be fairly evident once you look under there.

How long since it last had a tune-up? Spark plugs and wires and filters? It sounds like its only stalling when you push in the clutch, which is usually a symptom of a dirty Idle air control valve, or a vacuum leak, or an air leak into the intake tubing between the MAF sensor and the throttle body. Make sure the intake tube is clamped properly at both ends, and all of the 1/2" diameter hoses are properly attached at both ends and none are split or broken. Any air that can get into those hoses without being metered by the MAF sensor will cause a lean idle fuel mixture.

Yes you do need the grille. The scoop where the grille fits in the top of the bumper is about 1/2" deeper on the outback. You need the whole bumper reinforcement and cover. The reinforcement is different on the plain Legacy. Edit: meant to also say the outback grille is about 1/2" taller than the legacy grille because of the deeper scoop in the bumper.

Does your engine harness have the big connectors where it joins the body harness? Or did you cut those out? I don't remember there being any ground strap on the manifold.

The canister has nothing to do with EGR. Its for the evaporative emission control system, which uses the charcoal to collect and store gasoline vapor from the fuel tank. Vapor in the tank is pushed out through a vent valve and to the canister as the tank pressurizes. The canister has a vent hose that runs to a filter, after vapor is run through the charcoal, the left over air is discharged through the filter. You need to have a vent system in place or the tank will pressurize while you are driving and will force more fuel into the engine and cause running problems. It can also pressurize the tank in hot weather and cause liquid gas to be pushed out of the filler neck, or can cause the tank to rupture, especially in rusty places on the tank. The easiest thing to do if you don't want to fix the canister is find the purge hose at the canister (it runs to the front of the car to the engine), and connect that to the vent hose from the tank. Disconnect the purge line from the purge solenoid on the engine. Find the vacuum supply hose for the purge solenoid and cap that off at the manifold.

98 legacy 2.5 was a DOHC. That engine won't run in a 00 unless they just swapped the short block. How did you find out it was swapped? Why does it need another engine again?

I would also guess rodent damage. Vent control solenoid should be visible without removing the canister.