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I've had to put inserts in a number of subarus. I've probably done that particular plug. It's no harder than changing the spark plug. You put the tap on a socket, and thread it into the head as if it was a plug. Thread it out. Thread in the insert and then the plug. It's absolutely no harder than doing a plug job twice on the same hole, if your mechanic can't figure it out. That's pretty sad.

When I did this, it was the first major work I'd done on a car. Literally the only other thing I'd done was spark plugs and oil changes. I did have text message support from bratman, which helped. Not having to deal with drum brakes except to get rid of them also helped. Put the $100 toward two tanks of gas or something, you can figure it out. And as I mentioned, you don't need the special tool.

The eat part makes me think of working under my car with ATF, coolant, and oil dripping in my mouth. The breathe part makes me think about starting it up after said episode and breathing all the smoke of those fluids burning off the exhaust...

Sounds like rod knock to me, maybe even more than one rod. Drain your oil and see if it has gold in it. Sometimes timing belt idlers can go bad and make knocking sounds. This doesn't sound like one, but I had a belt idler I could swear was a rod knock. I was completely certain, as were other people. Both on a video and in person. In the OHM setting, OL means Open Lead. Ie. it's either not connected to anything, or the resistance is higher than your current range setting. OL means overload when you have it in a volt or amp setting.

100lbs is just a very safe suggestion. I've put hundreds and hundreds of lbs on the roof rack and never had an issue. Don't drive like ken block and you won't flip over. Don't be a general moron on the road, use common sense, and you'll be fine.

Definitely oil the threads. Not only does it reduce friction to reduce the chance of stripped threads, it'll make it easier to get it out next time. And if everything is a bit more grimy and dirty than the day it was new, it won't be tight enough. So yes, oil the threads. The don't oil lug nuts thing is crap. I always use anti-seize on mine. I hate seized lug nuts. It's fine to do that, what you really don't want is oil or whatever on the SEATS. It's fine on the threads. They say don't do it to avoid people being morons, just be careful and don't make a mess with the oil.

Because the EJ is WAAAY wider than an ea81. Therefor for the same amount of lift there's much less angle on the axles. It's simple geometry.

Well, if it's not a GT, then an outback trans will change you from 4.11 to a 4.44 front ratio. If your car IS a GT, then an outback trans will be a direct swap in terms of gearing. The 4.44 trans has a longer 4th gear to make up for the shorter final drive, so your overall cruising rpm will be about the same. I have no idea about how the computer will react to gear changes. I basically know my auto works, and when it stops I'll 5speed the car... I'd think the computer wouldn't like the gear change, but someone who knows more about it will chime in there.

When I was working at a garage, we had a lot of subarus come through for timing belts, head gaskets, whatever. I actually made a crank pulley holder tool one slow afternoon. I like tightening and loosening it that way since it doesn't put force through the crank by using the drivetrain. The other trick is to take an old alternator belt. Put it around just the alt and wind it into itself around the crank pulley. It will hold it good and tight both loosening and tightening.

All the forester XT (turbo) models. So I 04+ But yes, knowing what model of car, and what transmission the OP has would help considerably giving valid advise.

Assuming we're talking about manual transmissions here (it was never mentioned). The only 4.44 manual sold in the US was the forester XT. The outback has 4.11 gears, and if his legacy is a GT it will also have 4.11 gears. Personally I don't like the outback tranny because it has a really short 5th gear. I'd just swap the tail section to retain the longer 5th.

I oil the threads and crank it down to somewhere around 140. Never had one come loose, and you can get them off later if you need. I always oil the threads on high torque bolts, otherwise friction of the dry metal will give a higher torque reading then you actually are getting. In fact, I anti-seize most things. Or in the case of things like this that don't want anti-seize, oil.

Pretty kickass roof rack. I'd love to build one like that for my car. Is that a gunshot in the back door?

There's never anybody on the simplex calling frequency. But then I live in the boonies, but even when I'm in populated areas I'll call out, and never get an answer.

Ham radio license plate? Nice.

I don't think napa brake fluid is clear, either. I think it's a very light amber. It's silly they say ABS, disc, and drum on there. DOT 3 is a specification. Car manufactures build all their brake parts to work with that spec. What if my car has only disc brakes, but it says drum. Will it still work...? Anyway, be careful that the bottle stays sealed. Brake fluid is HIGHLY hydroscopic, meaning it'll absorb water as it's favourite pass time. If you leave a bottle uncapped overnight, throw it out.

Hah. I wanna get a CB in my car, too. Just so when I'm on long roadtrips I have something to amuse myself with.

Ya, but to run coverless you have to take the belts and crank pulley off. It's easier just to cut the hole... I guess you could try to break the cover away from the pulley, but that would probably be a pain.

That looks cool! My GF wouldn't like the whole thing sticking that far into the passenger seat area, though I'm looking for a ham radio to mount in my car, then I'll be able to play in this thread too

Disty cap is cheap and usually the first place to look when you have moisture related issues. It's an easy thing to check, whether you think it's the problem or not...

Does it run crappy when it's raining and really damp out? To me, it sounds like a distributor issue... I had a cracked distributor cap causing issues on me once. And another time had a badly routed wire that had almost chafed through. But only let spark out when it was damp.

The plastic ones crack. If yours is aluminum, you're fine. What year is it? We can probably be able to tell you what you have by what year/model.

A quick google, and here's a picture for you. Stolen from someone on NES. It's not really that much doom as long as you don't strip out the screw heads. Unless the rear main is really leaking, everyone on here will tell you to leave it alone. I've replaced a lot of them if they're only just wet, and never had one leak. I guess my method works well. My secret is the ring thing on the flex plate. I'll put the seal under it, and slowly bolt it up to the crank. It slowly pulls the seal in evenly.

Stock ones are too small, the wheels will (literally) eventually fall off. There's a picture somewhere on here of a white wagon off the side of a snowy road with a wheel missing.

It should be the same on both sides because the adjuster is installed in mirror image on each side.