1197sts

Thanks for the input, I have checked out a 2000 and a 2001 Outback and they both originally had the 4 stud style. I have a commercial parts source and it seems to indicate 3 stud style supersedes the 4 stud style, the question is does it fit the original crossmember and I am hoping it does. I was hoping someone had encountered this before.

I need to change the trans mount on a 2000 Outback, Auto trans. I see that there are two types available, it originally came with a 4 stud design, it appears there are 3 stud designs available as well. Anyone with experience on these, does it make a difference?

I have an 01 OB with 257K on it, 03 OB with 258K, 99 Forester with 205K, unfortunately the Forester recently hit a deer and isn't in driving condition. I agree with the other comments, the automatic is much superior in this generation of Subaru. BTW, I had an 02 OB a couple of years ago with 350K, still had the original transmission (auto of course). As others have mentioned you have to keep up with the maintenance if you want to drive a Subaru with lots of miles on it. Head gaskets, brakes, timing stuff, struts, radiators, etc. Keep you oil level where it belongs, be very careful with overheat issues.

Update, I performed a compression check as GD suggested and found the #4 cyl reading very low, and #2 somewhat low as compared to #1 and #3 which were identical. I decided to yank the engine back out, when I took off the head I discovered bent exhaust valves, the worst was on #4 cyl. To give some more background, previous to the headgasket job the water pump seized up and destroyed all of the timing stuff and bent a bunch of valves. After taking the heads off I found 7 out of 8 intake valves bent, some were pretty severely bent, so I replaced all of the intake valves. At that time all of the exhaust valves appeared to be seating correctly and passed a leak check. Also no valve stem problems. In retrospect I should have completely removed the exhaust valves to inspect them, maybe even replaced them just in case even if they looked good. I still don't know how it passed a leak check and then leaked when put back together. The other takeaway regarding the water pump failure, the previous owner recently put in a timing kit with new water pump, don't trust cheap no name timing parts.

GD, thanks for the info, do you think the map sensor could be bad on the 03?

The codes are not coming back, but for now I am only running it in the shop, not driving it. The car is not new to us, it was driven for about 10k miles with no significant issues other than an EGR code due a replacement engine that was non egr . Despite the CEL it ran great with the egr port plugged on the manifold. I just replaced the headgaskets with oem turbo gaskets, all new timing components, etc. As I mentioned I re checked the timing since this problem showed up and it was perfect. The heads were surfaced, leak checked, inspected, all good. No valve guide issues, a common issue on the SOHC heads. The cam gear and crank gear are correct, the timing belt is the same p/n I have used on dozens of these. The headgasket job went fine, I am 99.9% certain there is nothing internal that is causing the idle problem. I was really hoping that the new neutral switch would fix it, it seems that fixed a lot of the mystery 0519 codes on manual transmission cars, but no luck. I think I might change the cam sensor and crank sensor (one at a time, of course). After that I guess I need to wring out each wire going to all the sensors and the ecu.

I am having a similar issue, 2003 OB MT, it has a very rough idle and a lot of vibration at idle. it runs a lot better at higher revs. No codes now but at one point had P0519, P0302, P0304. I have verified timing, cleaned IACV, cleaned all the grounds, cleaned the electrical connections, swapped the coil pack, inspected plugs (fouled, looks like its burning rich), replaced the nuetral switch, replaced a couple of vacuum hoses, etc. I have a cheap bluetooth scanner, I compared some of the parameters at idle with my other OB, 01 Auto Trans, the throttle position looks ok, but I am seeing higher readings on the intake man pressure, and lower readings on the timing. I have not done a lot of this, not sure if the 03 will read the same the 01 Auto since it uses a different style map sensor. 03 OB Man Trans Press 6.2 Throttle 0.0 Timing 10.0 01 OB Auto Trans Press 3.8 Throttle 0.0 Timing 15 I also compared the two at higher revs, the discrepancy in the timing was a lot less, although the press was still different but not as much. How likely is it that I have a bad map sensor? Another thing I am wondering about, these cars also have a barometric pressure sensor I would guess this is sending a signal to the ecu, could that be fouling up the map calculations in the ecu?

Regarding the twin cup holder, it began in the 2002 model year. It is a nice and easy upgrade to the '00 and 01 models, you just need the armrest piece (console) and the piece with the cupholders, it installs in place of the original single cup holder. In my area they are getting harder to find in the pick n pull but they go for about 15.00. The brake upgrade started mid year 2001, I think the date is 10/01/2001.

Regarding the choice between an auto and a MT, I agree the Auto is the best choice. it is reliable and robust, just keep clean fluid in it and change the filter on a regular basis. I had one that had 350K on it and was still going. The MT is more fun, but it no doubt more prone to failures and higher cost of maintenance. In my area it is harder to find a used MT and they are more expensive, and there are differences between model years so you have to be careful to get the right one.

Yes, they are interchangeable. The 10 mm would be my choice, 11 is probably overkill, I think I saw GD make that recommendation as well.

Forgot to specify, I was referring to the EJ251 H4.

FYI, the 2000 & 2001 Outbacks have 9mm oil pumps, I think from 2002 and on they had 7mm pump. There may be some exceptions, not sure.

I just went through a bunch of problems with overheating that ended up being related to a bad radiator. I typically like used parts, but this time I bought a new one. It's a Koyo, looks to be good quality working great.

GD, do you recommend the 11mm pump for N/A builds as well?

Update: After my initial short test drives I wanted to take it on a long drive and give it a good test. I drove about 4 hours, highway speeds, large hills, pretty high ambient temps. The temp did fine, never budging from its normal position and the coolant level remained stable. Then the next morning while idling in my garage, the radiator sprung a big leak right at the seam where the plastic and metal are joined together. Possibly the radiator was my issue all along. I was pretty lucky it didn't blow out in the middle of nowhere.

The headgaskets have been replaced, I did them myself with OEM MLS gaskets they have about 45K since it was done. I have done lots of them with no failures but this could be the first. I'm curious, is there a reason they're prone to this kind of problem after HG have already been replaced? Thanks.

I've been fighting a similar problem, '01 Outback EJ251 auto trans. It only happens during very hot weather, 95 F and up, and usually only up hill with the A/C on, but the temp will creep up, I can control it by turning off the A/C and crank the heater full blast if needed. No external leaks, doesn't seem like a headgasket issue (fingers crossed). Both fans are working. Yesterday I replaced the t-stat with an new oem unit, removed the radiator and blew it out, particularly blowing out all the mud from my son's off road adventures. Blew out the AC condenser while there. Installed new radiator hoses and coolant, etc. Cap looks good, but I ordered a new one just in case. Took it for a test drive and all checked good, I don't really trust it until I've driven it more but so far so good.

I was talking about front, sorry for the confusion.

Update, a CV Axle from a 200 to 2004 Outback will not fit a 98 to 99 forester. They are the same length, but the 99 Forester does not have the ABS ring , when I tried installing it the ABS ring from the OB interfered with the housing on the Forester. Note , the 2000 to 2004 Foresters will interchange, they changed the ABS setup and its compatible with the OB from the same years.

Definitely agree overheating is a major red flag.

2k might be high, I typically pay about half that for a project car even in nice condition. Also with the car not in running condition you can't test drive it and check the transmission, suspension, steering, etc. Most likely you don't need new heads. Usually it's just bent valves, a decent machine shop can easily do the valve work and resurface the heads for a whole lot less than the cost of new. Its possible a piston could be broken but I have not seen a broken timing belt cause that on an EJ251. The lower end should be fine in most cases, if well maintained 95K should have lots of life left. I like to cut open the oil filter and look for metal just to be sure. Also if the insides of the valve covers and top of the heads are covered in heavy varnish and sludge the previous owner may not have done regular oil changes, that would be a red flag for me. While you're at check the trans fluid see how clean it is, another sign of how well it was maintained.

I found a bad vacuum line, I think it goes to the pressure regulator. So far so good, see how it goes. Sometimes it only acts up on a cold start. 1 Lucky Texan, thanks for the input. I threw used coil wires in just to see what it would do, I agree OEM wires are good, and I have had good luck with NGK as well. My thinking is, if I put in a different coil and wire set even if its used its unlikely I would get misfire on the same two cylinders. The plugs are NGK I think they're iridium, with the pointed electrode. They measured .036 pretty close to the same on all, and they weren't too fouled or anything like that. Similar to the wires, the combination of #3 and #4 misfire seems to not be random. I agree, lets hope the valves are good. Also, a while back the previous owner had the timing belt replaced, it could be out of time, but once the idle smooths out it runs good so kind of unlikely.

My son has a 99 Forester I am working on, it is new to us. It had the CEL on when he bought it, the codes were for #3 and #4 misfire. I took out the plugs and examined them, checked the gaps and they looked fine. I also put on a used coil pack and plug wires and cleared the codes. After a few hundred miles the codes come back, and there seems to be a rough idle particularly when it's first started. Other than the occasional rough idle it seems to run fine. BTW, this has the EJ253, I am mostly familiar with the EJ251, I don't know how much difference that makes.

Anyone know if a CV Axle from a 2000-2004 Outback will fit in a 99 Forester? It looks like the ABS is set up differently on the Forester, but if it fits it shouldn't bother the ABS?

Just for comparison, this is the other style, off of an "03 Outback MT.