hooziewhatsit

Hmm, I guess I need a breaker bar to get them off... further searching shows that they should be 'really tight', so apparently the 58 is correct. Thanks.

Awesome. That makes it easier. I've found conflicting information for the torque needed for the cam sprocket bolts. One page says 58 ft/lbs (sounds WAY too high). Another says 28ft/lbs, which sounds more reasonable. I'm going to assume it's the lower value unless corrected.

Ok, hopefully one last :derp: question. Where are the shims I'm supposed to be checking? I took the cams out, and now have 16 'buckets' that were between each cam and the valve (I kept them in order), but I don't see anything that resembles a shim? No flat discs like I was expecting?

thanks. Now what's the trick to getting to the lower engine - transmission bolt on the drivers side Can you tell this is my first time fighting with working on a 2.5?

Ok, I'm finally up here working on this thing and have a couple :derp: questions: 1. What's the trick (or is there one) to aligning the flex plate and TC with the intake still in place? It would be easier to do with the intake off, but doesn't make sense to have to install the intake only after the engine is back in. There's barely enough room to see in there, let alone get proper torque on the bolts. 2. Is there a factory lift point on the front left of the engine?

He has driven it for just over 1000 miles since he got it, and had not experienced any overheating. Hopefully it was a new thing. The main problem with troubleshooting is that the car is 4 hours from me, and he's not too mechanically inclined. The suction cup is just to hold the glass while working on the block surface. Ok, I'll definitely get the 610 gaskets. Do the timing cover gaskets really need replaced? They seem pretty spendy by themselves.

A friend bought a 96 Outback a couple months ago that only has 134k on it. Surprise surprise, a couple weeks ago on his way home from xmas, it overheated, blew coolant out the reservoir, and filled the rad hoses with air. He had it towed home and it has been parked since. Head gasket(s), right? Hopefully since it was only overheated once, it should still be in pretty good condition internally? So, now I get to fix it, but I have a few questions first. 1stsubaru has a gasket set for $300. He emailed me a list of included part numbers, and it says it includes HGs #11044aa112. Punch that number into their site, and it comes up with 11044aa114. Then I read here about the 610/633 gaskets. Which ones are the latest & greatest for a Phase 1 DOHC? edit: did he send me the gasket list for an EJ22? I'm planning to use GDs head resurfacing technique. Is there anything special needed to prep the deck surface on the block? Suction cup with the glass/sandpaper used to do the heads? Head gaskets go on dry, right? No copper spray? Was thinking about this timing belt/tensioner set: http://www.ebay.com/itm/96-97-SUBARU-LEGACY-2-5L-DOHC-EJ25-HP-TIMING-BELT-KIT-/300682808894?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ASubaru&hash=item4602178e3e Thought for discussion: I recently read on a different forum an old trick for hotrodding V8s. They would chamfer the edges of the headbolt holes, both in the head, and in the block. The idea being it would help spread the pressure farther out on the gasket. Kinda similar to how skis are built with a bow so that when you stand on them, your weight is distributed over the entire ski, and not just under your boots. Would that provide any benefit here? Thoughts?

Thanks for the replies. I'll have him bring it over sooner rather than later, and probably end up replacing the hub and the bearing. Local place has everything in stock, which is nice. I found a guide on nabisco to building a bearing puller to avoid using a press. I'll probably try that route. I'll post again with what I find.

This is my BILs '98 Outback Sport. 200k-ish miles. Jacking up the front end, we have too much play in the drivers side tire by putting our hands at 12 & 6. On the inside, I can see the axle joint moving with the wheel. The wierd thing is, he doesn't have any of the typical bad wheel bearing noises - no howling or growling, and nothing that changes during turns. Could the bearing still be bad, or is this more like a bad hub and/or knuckle? He's a couple hours from me, so I can't exactly take stuff apart and go from there. I'd like to have at least some idea before I tear into it so we know which parts to have on hand. Thanks

When it doesn't want to idle, thump the IAC with the butt end of a screwdriver. See if that changes anything. Just because the IAC works fine when you apply 12v to it, doesn't mean it won't stick when it's hit with the fast PWM to control the idle speed. BTDT. Took a while to find one that actually worked.

Turns out the clunking was bad sway bar bushings.

This is my brothers car. ~170k miles on it. He says it just started clunking from the front when he goes over bumps, especially when turning. I was thinking this would be the strut bushings, but then he started poking around, and made this video of the freeplay in the axles. It seems to me like there's too much play in the axle stub? None of the axle boots are torn, and it got new tie rod ends in 2011. It did just go through it's first Alaskan winter though. So I guess I now have two questions: Is that amount of play bad, and is the most likely cause of the clunk the strut bushings?

Haven't checked it out yet. He's gone for a month, and I might have a few days with it at the end of August. Basically trying to see if it's worth tackling at all, so if it is, I have all my ducks in a row. Is there a way to see if the seals are bad before taking everything apart? Although now that I think about it, I did see some oil drips coming from the HG seam, so they may as well come off. Then there's just the shortblock left, so I may as well pull everything and make it easy on myself But that's only if the leakdown test shows the shortblock as being in any kind of good shape. I love old cars

Is this possible/recommended? I know the cam towers have to come off. Then it's finding a way to keep the valves in place. Probably threading rope into the cylinder and bringing the piston up against it would be easiest. Then using a tool to compress the springs and knock the retainers out. And finally I presume the old seals slip off, and the new ones slip on. Unless of course the ends of the valves have mushroomed just a little Or is it one of those things that's easier with the head on the bench? I'm not really interested in doing a complete valve job. I just want the car to stop drinking so much oil (1 quart ~300 miles). The car is going to get replaced in a couple years anyways.

I was actually going to ask about that for another one of my cars... How hard is to do the valve seals without pulling the engine? I know the cam towers would have to come off, and enough compressed air in the cylinders *should* hold the valves in place. Otherwise it's just compressing the springs, removing the retainers, the replacing the seals. Or is it easier to just swap it for another engine