Ionlyhave3suubs

One thing to consider when choosing a non-factory tire size, is whether or not you ever intend to run chains, since you live in an area where snow and ice is likely most winter months. I know from experience you can run traditional chains on the front of the 2nd gen OBW without interference problems. If chains are not in your future, a good resource can be found below for locating tires that will fit. According to discounttiredirect.com these sizes will fit 215/65-15, 215/70-15 (on your factory rim) without interference. http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/assignTireVehicle.do?yr=1999&mk=SUBARU&vid=006485 Also consider, are you a float on top, or dig through the snow to solid ground kind of snow driver. The wider (lower aspect ratio) tires will be more likely to float, factory size more likely to "dig through". Next generation OBW did go to a 60 series 16". My '02 does quite well with these in snow. I am facing the same dilema on my 97 OBW. Post what you decide.

Hoodless for 200 miles shouldn't hurt anything but gas mileage. FT mentioned possibility of it being illegal in VA. I have worked law enforcement for 12 years in VA and have not run across any laws regarding requiring a hood. If there is such a law, it was not included in my training. The only law regarding hoods that I can think of right off hand is a restriction on how tall hood scoops can be. Re-alignment of the hood can be a challenge, make sure you mark around the hood bolts before removing them. It will make alignment easier when you go to put it back on. I would try to see if you can fit it in the back first. It would be your best option providing you aren't carrying passengers in the back.

What kind of car?

Thanks, to all, I got it figured out. Belt was not on correctly. :(:(I guess I got in a hurry when I shouldn't have. No damage done, just a time setback. Got it back on right and it fired right up.

Thanks, I'll go back and check my sensor connections. Fuel lines are correct (verified by checking against my Lsi 2.5D- that actually runs). Yes, this is my 4th 2.5D subaru timing belt job. I suppose it could have jumped a tooth at some point after assembly. I did not replace the tensioner. I have never replaced it on any of the other jobs.

Allright, So i just finished up changing out headgaskets on my 97 Outback wagon 2.5d engine. While I was at it, I changed out the spark plugs, wires (oem) intake, exhaust gaskets, cam seals, front crank seal, rear main seal, and temp sensor, timing belt. Now the engine won't start. The engine ran before the repair, typical 2.5d headgasket problem. The car was never ran hot to the danger level. This is my second headgasket job on a 2.5d, 4th timing belt job on 2.5d. I am 99.8% sure I got everything lined up right when I put the belt on. Anyone have suggestions on anything to check before I pull the radiator back out and pull the timing covers off again. I know I have spark. car cranks but does not seem like it is firing, or 180 deg. out. Is it possible to get these engines 180 out? If it matters, the car has 230K miles on it. I have had it since it had 34K. First headgasket job done on this engine. The other one I did was another of my cars.

Caution on the avgas (aviation gas) the lead levels in this fuel is much higher than the old automotive leaded gas. Low lead compares it to the older avgas, not to automotive gasoline. Use of leaded fuels in vehicles with a converter can damage the catalytic converter. This information comes from a close friend of mine who is an aircraft mechanic. Ps. Running aircraft fuel in street vehicles is illegal. Highway taxes are not assessed on aviation fuel. I would not risk getting caught with that in my tank.

Sounds like you are sure it is not the timing belt. Don't know what technique you used to check for vac leak. I like the spray around all hoses with carb cleaner technique. A change in idle while spraying an area indicates a leak. If you haven't tried it yet, try it. Keep in mind carb cleaner can damage paint though.

Your illumination problem is most likely bad bulbs. Not super hard to change, you will have to pull out the heater controls to change them. They have been bad in one of my cars (legacy) for a couple of years. I don't drive mine a lot at night so I don't bother. I did change them out in my other car because I did more night driving then. I have memorized where the buttons are so as seldom as I drive at night, combined with I already know where everything is, I tend to save my efforts for crucial repairs. If I have to take the dash apart for something else, I'll change the bulbs then. You mentioned a new axle in your parts list, you also mentioned a clicking sound when turning. Clicking or popping coming from the wheel area is a sign of a worn cv joint. If the cv boot is damaged and the grease has escaped from the boot, cv joint wear will accelerate due to lack of adequate lubrication, combined with the introduction of foreign material (road grime, moisture, etc.). Inspect your axles for damaged cv boots. If they are damaged, I would replace the axles. The boots and grease can be replaced, but if you are hearing a noise and it is coming from the cv joint, it has already sustained damage. Replacement axles are cheap enough that if even two boots on the same axle are damaged, it is not worth replacing them. They can be bought for about $60 aftermarket new or slightly less rebuilt. While looking around there, also check out your brakes. Especially look for worn, loose, missing, or broken brake parts and hardware.

There is a local shop in Roanoke,VA that rebuilds, but if you are looking for a cheap fix, you might do well to check with some members for an alt from a car being parted out. The rebuild is not impossible for someone who has never done one, but like with anything, it is much easier if you have someone helping you that's done it before. Not sure if you are ever near Roanoke, but if you are interested, they do good work, usually 2 day turnaround though. They have done a couple of alternators for me. Usually about half the cost of a rebuilt from Advance. PM me if you want me to get you their contact info.

Water pump been done recently? If it was mine, I would go ahead and put in a new timing belt. You have used up half of its life and they are not that expensive, and you will already have it off. If your machine shop is not providing valve stem seals, you will need them if your heads are being rebuilt.

A 32mm Socket works for this and doubles as a socket to take the axle nuts off! The PVC is less likely to mar your metal surfaces though. I use the 32mm, just because I already have it and don't already have the PVC. My socket is a standard depth craftsman 12 pt socket. A deep well socket is not necessary. Whatever you use, be careful not to drive them in too far. Look at the depth they are before pulling them out.

Are you doing any Legacy kits? I have a 97 obw, I have been thinking about lifting.

If you check it out but don't decide to buy it, let us know what you find out about the car. I might consider it as a parts car (if it is bad, but could bought cheap).

If you are considering going the ej25d route (25d is the dual overhead cam), there is a lot of information in the forum on this engine. If the headgasket upgrade has already been done to the engine (and done right) these are excellent engines. If the donor car is overheating, you may want to pass on that one. You are best off to get a complete car if possible (and keep it til the project is done). That way you can get all of your harnesses, computer, etc. and if you forgot something the first time, you don't have to hunt it down in the junkyard. If the engine is fine when you get it, but you don't know if the headgaskets have been done, go ahead and do them. Don't forget to do the timing belt at the same time. The belt isn't too expensive and you have to take it off to do the heads anyway.

I actually saw the same one on craigslist. I e-mailed him and he answered some of my questions, but not all of them. The description sounds pretty good as far as the rest of the car goes, but beware of a seller that would drive around on an overheating engine for a period of time. If they would do that, they would probably let other things go too. I think you are right on target if you can get it for around $800 (or less). My Dad bought a 96 LSI for a couple hundred bucks cheaper, nice interior (leather) sunroof, all power options, blown head gasket, a couple of minor dings. A forester? I had one of those for a little while. Pretty cramped for back seat passengers compared to a Legacy. Near impossible to find a rear facing car seat that fits decently (reason we sold ours). Don't get me wrong, the Forester is a nice car, just not right for my family.

Try this if you have the budget for new aftermarket ones. http://www.summitracing.com/search/Department/Wheels-Tires/Part-Type/Wheels/Wheel-Diameter/15-in/Wheel-Bolt-Pattern/6-x-4-1-2-in/?Ns=Price|Asc

Has anyone explored the idea of adapting a front hub from a 4x4 small pickup with manual locking hubs to use with the rear of a subaru with a welded diff? I was thinking if you changed out one side to a manual locking hub, it would have pretty much the same effect as pulling out one rear axle, but you could get the benefit of the welded diff by just stepping out and locking the hub, instead of having to put an axle back in.

Hmm, wasn't this thread about putting a V8 into a Subaru? Did I miss something? Hey, I get it. Maybe some are purists. The aluminum v8 buick idea was put out there earlier. I mentioned the ls series motors because they are available in an aluminum block and the aluminum buick motors are getting harder to find (and more expensive).

Food for thought regarding the GT 2.5. Pulling the motor to do the swap is almost half of the repair job to fix the 2.5. I know there are some members that say the 2.5d is a problem motor, but once the original head gaskets are replaced properly with the updated design gaskets, they are good to go. Granted the cost of all of the recommended parts (timing belt, water pump, gaskets, seals, etc.) can set you back a few hundred bucks, however the 2.5d powered GT is going to be a rocket ship compared to the Subaru you currently drive. Unless the engine got cooked by running it too long too hot, its probably worth trying to fix. If you can't tell, I really like the 2.5d engines. I have had 3 cars with them (one was a 97 GT 2.5 sedan which I sadly had to sell when money got tight), I still have 2. I bought one of them (96 Legacy LSI) with bad headgaskets, cheap. I fixed that one. Now I am finally having to do my 97 outback for the first time with 230K miles. Yes, I opted to fix the high mile motor that I knew (bought the car in 98 with 34k), rather than buy an unknown history motor and put it in. If you do the headgaskets right, you could have a nice sporty car. If you have to pay someone else to do the job, It's going to cost you a lot and you are looking at potentially putting near as much money into the car as its worth.

I personally would take it, but I'm into tinkering, pulling motors etc. From reading your posts I can't tell if that's your thing. I am in Virginia also. If you decide you're not interested, I would be. Even if the body is eaten up with rust, the engine is worth trying to save, possibly the rest of the drivetrain. If you want to see if the engine is something you want to mess with, take a battery with you and some starting fluid. Check the oil first and make sure it has enough and is not milky looking. Put the battery in and disconnect the intake hose at the throttle plate and spray in a little starting fluid. Put the intake hose back on and try to start it. If it cranks over and fires up briefly, it's probably ok. If not, the engine may need some work. If you get the car, try to get the title too. It makes disposing of/ recycling the body much easier.

Compression check you say? If you have a cylinder(or two) that is much lower than the rest, I would definitely suspect a head gasket seal has been compromised. The current owner has not tried to have the problem diagnosed at all?

That's a nice looking wagon. If it was close to me and you weren't already looking to buy it, I would. I had an 88 hatchback that overheated on a summer day due to water pump failure. I was young and dumb and didn't shut it down right away. Ended up warping a head. I fortunately had a parts car with a good engine (all but the weber carb that needed a rebuild). Anywho, I ended up fixing the car myself, loved that car.

I have read to check out the brakes a couple of times. The calipers on these cars are designed to slide back and forth on their mounts. A caliper stuck due to corrosion, rust, or other debris can cause the calipers not to slide as they are designed to. Next time you drive your Outback for a significant distance, especially with a lot of stop and go, when you park get out and check your wheel temperatures. Go to each wheel and feel the metal part of the wheel close to the lug nuts (your car should have alloy wheels if they haven't been changed). Compare the temperatures by feel. If one feels hotter than the rest, I would suspect a caliper problem on that wheel. The caliper could be either sticking (not fully releasing) or not properly sliding back and forth. If you have a hot wheel, start with that wheel. Pull the wheel off. Remove the caliper, clean the caliper flat surfaces where they slide against the stainless steel guides and clean those stainless pieces. Clean them by wiping off an grease, debris, then use a spray cleaner designed for brake parts. If rusty, using a fine sandpaper also may be necessary. After you get it good and clean, apply a thin coat of High temp caliper grease to the stainless pieces where they contact the caliper sliding area. Then reassemble. Your increased tire size could also be a problem. A 225/75-15 tire is large enough that it could be causing interference problems, especially with the rear struts. I have a 97 outback (same bodystyle, and nearly identical in design). The tightest tire clearance with the tires in the rear struts, between the back side of the tire and the part of the strut that faces outward. You could have rear tires rubbing against the rear strut (especially if you have an alignment problem). to check for this, remove your rear wheels if the tires rub, you will have areas just behind the top of the tires on the strut where the road dirt has been rubbed off. If this is not seen, you probably don't have a tire rub. Also tire inflation has been mentioned, but you have not mentioned checking this. I run 30 psi in mine all the way around. Uneven tire pressure can cause serious drivetrain wear and failure on these AWD vehicles. Improper inflation will also have negative effect on fuel mileage. The outback drivetrain was designed to turn 205/70-15 tires. Turning the larger tires causes the engine to work harder to accomplish the same distance traveled, not to mention you are traveling a longer distance than your odometer is measuring, thus throwing off the accuracy of your miles per gallon calculations With regard to your air/fuel mixture readings, I would look at your coolant system first. Verify your thermostat opens and closes at the correct temp. You can test the thermostat by removing it and placing it in a pot of hot water on the stove. Use a food cooking thermometer and heat the water with the thermostat in it until it opens and check that it is opening at the temp recommended by the factory specs. if the thermostat is opening too soon or sticking open, the engine can operate below proper temp (even in hot climates) causing the engine to run in closed loop mode. In closed loop, the engine will run rich (more gas than needed) which will increase fuel consumption. If it were my car, I would also bypass the heater core rather than cap it, so coolant can flow through. Ignition- Go ahead and buy SUBARU brand spark plug wires, order them online if you have to. replace them and replace the spark plugs with the proper NGK plugs. I love my Outback too, but fuel mileage is not what I consider its strongest point. I have gotten as high as 29MPG in highway driving by using a very light right foot. My 230k mile Subaru usually averages around 20 MPG in mixed city/highway driving. When mine was younger it got around 24mpg in mixed driving. AWD is great, but it uses a little more gas.

It looks like a cable wrapped around the right front axle. Could be some type of a spool attached around the area of the inner cv joint. I actually thought about trying something like this last winter when we had 2' plus snow drifts across our steep driveway. I never got around to it, and it became less important when a neighbor with a huge 4x4 tractor plowed the driveway. Looks like a cool idea though but probably only practical for a trail rig.