AdventureSubaru

You can also try the coolant temperature sensor. These can fail and cause that sort of problem. I keep a couple junk yard ones on hand just in case. I think it's on the passenger side rear of the intake manifold. Whatever it is, should be a simple fix. Just a pain sometimes figuring it out. The actual code may help. Autozone has been good to me in printing them out after a scan.

If the tires were the same size (matching numbers) you're okay. a little tread difference wont do anything to the trans. If they are different size tires or if you can take a tape measure to it and find a different diameter then it's time to get them matched up. The AWD system is not as sensitive as some think. If it were, we'd all destroy the drive train every time a tire gets low on air or we get a flat.

Yah. Been there. Drove myself nuts for about a week trying to diagnose an engine not running right after a swap. Tried sensors, IACV, cleaned the throttle body.... finally realized that I left the O-rings when I swapped the fuel rails over from the old engine. DOH!

Unless you're having issues with steering, I would ignore those for the time being. Put a good T-stat and rad hose in there and see how the engine does after a few weeks. Steering racks don't regularly fail on these cars. I've personally never seen one go. And driving without power steering is no safety issue. If it's not life and death, worry about the rack at a later time. They can be had at a junkyard for about $50. and can be replaced in a few hours. Cam seals - ignore them for now. Just check your oil levels periodically and top it off if it gets low. If the engine is A-ok after the T-stat and all - no bad head gaskets - then think about doing the timing belt and water pump. Focus for now on being sure your engine is healthy. Doesn't make any sense to pay what the car is worth in repairs when headgaskets are still a concern/possibility. Also - you can do any of the repairs listed with fairly basic tools in your driveway/garage and save lots of $$$$ in the meantime. Don't rush into it and blow a bunch of money on a mechanic.

I love when it's just a face-palm and an easy fix. So much better than some obscure difference in parts and a bunch of modification. Congrats!

Grew up traveling to the pocono mountains! My grandparents still live in pocono lake. Welcome to the board. Wish it were under better circumstances. There are a variety of engine years and even models that will swap in to your car. Do you know a little more about the engine with 59k as the year and model it came from? Assuming it's a compatable EJ25 or similar the Intake manifold and assosiated EGR etc. can usually just be swapped to the "new" engine if it's not identical. intake manifolds of those years were either single or dual port. Yours should be a dual port. Some of the late 90s subarus had single port. If your engine is dual port though, it should be bolt in and go. Only extra part may be new intake manifold gaskets if they have to swap that to the replacement engine.

Try not to be too offended by a few of the comments here. Generally speaking, Subarus are beasts in the snow. But they can be easy victims under the right circumstances since they are lighter than most 4x4s and are often equipped with street tires whereas bigger 4x4s usually had more options in a more aggressive tread. Street tires will spin easily in snow. I would guess that was your biggest problem. But seeing as you're located in California, is no surprise since snow is less frequent than many parts of the country. The fact that you have an open differential would make this problem more noticeable and has you seeing front and rear single wheels spinning. Lastly, (If I'm wrongly assuming here, I'm sorry) but there is a whole different set of driving rules in the snow. If you haven't had a bunch of experience in it, it's fine to be learning now. But hills in particular require keeping forward momentum going - crawling is for rocks - accelerating is for snow. Accelerating before a hill, zig zags when necessary to gain traction if the wheels are spinning. A lot goes into it that you'll best learn by just driving in the white stuff and getting a feel for your car. We've just about all been stuck in the snow at some time or other and learned from it. Grew up on the east coast and dealt with snow for 6 months out of the year. Got stuck a few times. Spun out a few times. Learned a lot from it. Couple years ago my brother and I road tripped from Chicago area to Pennsylvania and back it late November for hunting season. Hit lake effect snow both times. About 1500 miles mostly driving on white stuff - in a 95 Honda civic coupe with street tires. On a few steep hills, we passed a large number of 4x4s and AWD vehicles stuck in the snow and spinning out without making it to the top and we made it over without issue. Point being - experience will add as much capability to your vehicle as modification. The same way many Subaru equipped off road guys on here will regularly pull stuck jeeps out. The jeep is probably more designed for that sort of thing, but wheeling a subaru required that they gained a ton of experience.

Yeah, looks like you got a great deal on that car. Get it running well and enjoy it. You've got a classic on your hands.

I also hear that bad transmissions make a great boat anchor!

Check the gear oil and maybe replace it if it hasn't been done in a while. The 5MT is kind of a growly transmission to begin with. They are usually pretty tough. I'm finally replacing mine at 277,000 miles which has included lift/big tires, towing several cars and boat, light off roading and driving through rivers. It finally started popping out of gear. The downfall of many of them is that kids tend to drive them hard. Any of the more "riced" Subarus seem to have more issues - especially on the drivetrain. Even the 5MT will only take so much abuse. If you can find a trans that has been maintained and not abused, I wouldn'tb e concerned on mileage so much. The trans I'm putting in has about 180k. Replaced the trans in my wife's car with one that had 170k about 2 years and 55,000 miles ago. Still going fine.

Sounds like a big gamble to pay a shop to do it. For the money you'd pay them, you could buy a used trans or two from a yard. You could follow the write ups on here to replace it yourself and just see. If it's a dud, you're only out the cost of a bearing and a little time, but you'll learn along the way.

And will any Phase 1 4EAT work with matching diff? Or just 95-early 99?

Safe then to say this tranny is on it's way out? Shifts fine. Drives and accelerates as it should. Just doesn't like to go into gear until it's warmed up. No biggie. Should be some in the pick n pulls. Is there a chart for 4EATs? 98 Outback should be a 4.44 phase 1 right? Should apply at least to the outbacks with the DOHC. Any others?

Yeah. the avatar pic is an EA81 Hatch.

Good choice. The Audis are nice cars but the Subaru has the reliability. It's way easier to work on. And it won't cost you nearly as much to maintain. Welcome to the board!

The heat comes from your warmed coolant. When the coolant gets low, the first thing to go is your heat, shortly thereafter, the engine will run hot. Replace the cracked radiator and you should be ok. Make sure you get good coolant in there that wont freeze in your low temps. And go over everything a few times while the car is running to be sure no other hoses or anything cracked in the cold.

That's what I figured, but if it were that sort of issue, the trans X should make a difference right? I used trans x with great success on the old trnsmission in our 2000 Outback. Or was there a difference between phase one and phase 2 transmissions that would require a different fix?

Two different body styles there. The EA81 style - early 80s wagons and early-late 80s brats and hatches. EA82 style - 85+ wagons, coupes sedans and Loyales. Any EA81 will fit another EA81. Same for EA82, but they wont cross over from body styles.

Looks good. What are the future plans for it?

Forget option E. I like option D and E. And yeah, I wouldn't worry about swapping a Subaru engine yourself. There are plenty of resources here to guide you through the process. A straight swap will take 3-4 hours. Maybe a little more on your first one. But they are super simple. If you've got an automatic, look up how to seat the torque converter before the swap. if a manual, now is a great time to put a new clutch in there while you're at it.

A friend of ours recently asked for help/advice on her outback. (98, EJ25 DOHC and 4EAT with about 95k) As explained to me, the transmission wont shift into gear on it's own when it's cold. If she revs the engine a little bit, turns it off, then on again, revs a bit more, it will go into gear. First order of business was the Trans-X fix. I drained 4.5 quarts of ATF out of the trans, Color was normal, smell was good. filled it back up with new ATF and a bottle of Trans-X. A few days later now, and it doesn't seem any better. I'm not very experienced with automatics. Replaced a couple, but the functions of them are voodoo to me. What could be the cause of this? And then of course, what's the likely fix?

Sounds like a plan. I remember the back roads up your way. I can imagine they could be a nightmare in bad weather - particularly all the drifting of the snow.

YEAH!!! Good looking Impreza you've got there. Welcome to the madness.

http://www.picknpull.com/check_inventory.aspx There's a link anyway.

They now keep an online inventory. Just the cars, not the parts, but at least you'd know if there's even an EA series car in there. Another option is to put an EA81 in. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it's a simple enough swap. A little less power, a little more reliability.