idosubaru

Aftermarket are garbage. Avoid them at all costs. 20 year old Subaru axles all day long. You'll be fine. Reboot with Subaru boots and high quality grease. The 2000+ OEM subaru boots are high quality and last a long time. Aftermarket boots don't last as long particularly if they're seeing. When i started using Subaru boots I quit ever redoing boots again - do them once and they last the life of the vehicle. When I was using aftermarket boots years ago invariably I'd have to replace one here and there.

That doesn’t work on 2005+ legacy and outback’s due to changes in the ECU.

I assume no one looks at this subforum and I’ll ask my local welding supplier. But how do you get a small heating flame for rusty parts in tight places? When I’m torching a ball joint bolt the blue focused flame licks up into orange tentacles up the knuckle and catches ball joint boots and sway bar links on fire and risks the CV joints. Now I’m looking at some Tribeca rear control arms with bolts way up under the vehicle I’d rather not see wild flame-age. Am I using too big of a rosebud ? I don’t know the size. Can they make real small heating circles?

That’s a great price for that year and model Subaru with that maintenance history. Around here any old beat up subaru with no records and 200k miles would sell for $2k quickly. If it was local I’d buy that for a guy I know that’s looking. Id buy it and install a new Subaru timing belt, Subaru lower cogged idler and run it. Those are the two most failure prone timing components that lead to bent valves if they fail. 1. Headgaskets. 2003 is 10 times better than a 98 forester engine. Thats the single worst year forester engine by a long shot. 2. The 2003 original gaskets will usually start to leak coolant externally *very slowly*, gets worse over a long period of time (years), and causes no drivability issues. Sometimes oil, also externally, but usually coolant. You can literally top it off with teaspoons or coolant for many years and 100,000 miles usually. When they first start leaking it’s just “seeping” out, causing the metal to get discolored, not even pooling up or running or dripping. Most owners never notice it but a shop points it out. So these aren’t alarming head gasket leaks. * what you don’t know is if they’re original gaskets or how long it’s been leaking - but these are forgiving and not prone to catastrophic overheats or engine engine. 3. If it’s external coolant then immediately go to Subaru, buy a bottle of Subaru coolant conditioner and follow the directions. That stops every single initial leak of the factory installed headgaskets 99% of the time. We don’t know that these are original factory gaskets or if they’ve been leaking a long time, or even if it’s coolant or oil, but if it’s coolant (usually is), it’s worth a try for $5. Additives in general *suck* and should be avoided. And this Subaru conditioner should be avoided too on an ill running, questionable cooling system. but this one sounds in good order and a proper use case for Subarus coolant conditioner. bottom line these engines are very forgiving if it’s original gaskets or they’re properly replaced. And they usually give you many 10s of thousands of miles to plan a repair. Usually an owner wants to repair it because it’s dripping and staining garage floors or smoking off the exhaust, not for overheating, engine damage or getting stranded. Id wait to see how bad the leak is and wait to replace headgaskets until you have symptoms that warrant it. A 2003 with a seeping gasket is no big deal, if it’s worse then yeah start planning. Make sure it’s done right with Subaru gaskets but it sounds like you have that covered Valve covers are easier than timing belts so you can easily do those. Have a ratcheting 10mm wrench for the rear lower valve cover bolts.

Interesting. Was just curious as a data point if there was a “pattern”. Same side is interesting, youre right, on a Subaru valve risk is about zero here.

1.5" high on the dipstick isn't that much over filled oil and not a big deal. It's a 4.2 quart oil capacity, the shop probably added closer to the ubiquitous "5 quarts" which isn't enough to cause issues on those engines. You got .8 quarts of free oil, I would have just ran it. Why did you drive 20 miles then check the oil? Did you not want to check it before you left and be seen by them? It's not "bad gas" - that's such a ubiquitous saying, like "check your gas cap", that people think it's far more common and wide spread than it is. It's like assuming a hole in your yard was created by an asteroid instead of a squirrel, it's possible...sort of. Many CELs are ripe for "suspicion often creates what it suspects" or good old anecdotal thinking. They treat the gas, change the windshield wipers, or wait until the next fill up and the light goes away so they magically assume it was "bad gas" or the windshield wipers. When in reality the CEL was going to go away no matter what they did....and will likely return sometime in the next year. Just like yours will. It'll most likely come back if it goes out. They do this routinely. It's the norm. First - you're definitely not screwed - you can drive the life oft he vehicle with that code one with no issues. It's immaterial to reliability assuming the car isn't puking oil, rusted to scrap, and overheating twice a week. If you live in an emissions testing area or absolutely want that light off or need cruise control then you'll want to explore options but you're definitely not screwed. P0420 is tricky, no way to tell what tripped it. your assumptions that it's not the catalytic converter have a great chance of being true. First steps are: 1. Clear it and note how quickly it comes back - immediately, one week, a month? Of course this can vary - it would come back immediately now but not come back for 3 months next time. But I like to do that for my first easy note taking. 2. verify absolutely NO exhaust leaks anywhere 3. do a tune up - you're already doing that, good job!! After that the options vary depending on your objectives and goals but they can drive for the life of the vehicle with that code tripped. It's not a big deal.

Where they all on one side or all front or all rear? I almost never see intake valves out, they don't deteriorate fast at all and safely assumed to last the life of the engine, so I wouldn't worry about those either.

Stats are in your favor to skip it - Subaru doesn't routinely resurface and they have a low failure rate on replacements. Flatness is 1970's shop talk. Resurface for proper Ra/RMS for aluminum and MLS gaskets which are less forgiving as noted by their tighter surface finish spec's.

I resurface the heads myself and H6s have always had more high and low spots than H4s. The hardest parts to get right are all the timing cover orings. check valve clearance. I grind the shims to adjust clearance and put the ground side facing down so it doesn’t matter. No way I’m playing that shim swap measurement song and dance. Theres no big gotchas. It’s like an H4 but larger, heavier, more parts and therefore more cumbersome all around. The upper forward corners of the timing cover/valve cover interface have a funny bracket that kind of “goes one way” to get off and back on but it’s easy once you look at it and it’s a really small minor part. You likely wouldn’t have noticed even.

If there's rust around you it's likely rusted up. I've smashed them so hard the axle nut threads were compressed and unusable. It will damage the threads on the axles if you pound it hard enough. Are you taking it off to repair the axle? If the boots are busted, you could try rebooting it without removing it from the knuckle. Drop the entire knuckle/axle assembly and just reboot it. If it's got green inner cups then it's OEM subaru and will be more reliable than a new aftermarket anyway. I've cleaned ad regreased noisy originanl Subaru joints and they work perfect. It's like a house door hinge - you generally don't replace the door or hinge when it's noisy you just clean it and lubricate it. Unless of course it's old, rusty, warn, and sloppy. OEM axles often aren't though.

Yep - I've cleaned and regreased vibrating axles, not a big deal if they're OEM. They're usually just lacking grease or the grease is contaminated or pours out like liquid. One that I did shook the rear view mirror and is still running on a USMB members car after many years. Talked to him last month. No big deal if they're OEM. Good grief! Were you able to fix it - sometimes those aftermarkets use odd shaped parts that don't interchange with other brands? Stuff like your missing circlip might explain why i've seen a few blow apart within a 100 miles. I always wondered what physical failure can cause multiple brand new aftermarket axles blow to pieces, when i've never even seen quarter million mile OEM's do that. And i've seen and used far more OEM axles than aftermarket. I've seen terribly noisy, sloppy, and vibrating OEM's, but never failure.

Yep. I should look at what sub forum before I post, EA axle supply is an issue. Can't really lump EA and EJ axles together like I used to. Gloyale said in his shop they pull apart all new aftermarket axles and regrease them before installing due to inconsistent grease on the new ones. He said this noticeably reduces future issues.

“Extended” - how long? Oil analysis is the gold standard for determining extended (keeping in mind the ambiguity of that word) oil change intervals. Monitor AT fluid temps to see if you need a cooler. Or get one with a thermostat so it doesn’t overcool, for example in winter.

Clear code - does it come back immediately? Check timing belt for looseness/installation. Check that cam/crank sensor connectors are fully seated and clean. Check that the sensors are installed and properly tigthened down.

Oh you need enclosed. I was thinking an open trailer, they'd be less weight, less expensive and probably better at resale. I guess stopping at hotels is problematic but is an open trailer and tarps an option? An enclosed trailer is heavy and pulls like a parachute. Neither of which are good for Subarus. They have to work harder for the extra weight and the drag inducing cross sectional/frontal area. The car will pull a larger trailer, just tossing out some risk assessment and options.

Oh yeah, they'll be fine. There's room lateral axle differences and suspension geometry. You'll have no worries there. Good sign yours are trouble free, just keep in mind they're far inferior than OEM, and I have seen them blow apart catastrophically while driving. Some folks are prone to think a noise or vibration can't be the axles "because they're new" when in reality they're problematic *because* they're new.

I'd buy a trailer rather than use a uhaul. It'll weigh less than 1,000 pounds easily. Sell it when you get to maryland and it'll probably cost less than renting. My friend in Carroll County used to use them all the time and buy and sell trailers all the time. Let me know what you get and how much, we may be interested in a rust free trailer. As for the uhaul and flirting with weight limits: 1. Engine overheating is every Subaru's, 4 and 6 cylinder, first symptom. Usually when it sees steep grades, high heat, and interstate speeds. Seen it on many subaru's towing over the appalachians. 2. It's August - a terrible time for heat. Drive early and at night if she does it. 3. The CVT's are not forgiving. Change the fluid. It should be changed every 60k anyway. 4. Uhaul's aren't great for Subaru's. Uhaul trailers are very heavy, I guess they have to be for commerical/continual use and renter abuse. and I've had uhaul brakes dragging while driving. My guess it's either because they get beat to snot or the angle of them on a Subaru isn't typical and tends to load the system outside of expected norms. 5. Also keep in mine Uhauls widest uncovered trailer doesn't have a full open back tailgate area. So the 72" trailer can't fit something that needs the full 72" to load. Like a 72" lawn mower for instance won't fit through the gate even though it fits on the trailer. 6. Yes newer CVT's swap - I'm installing a 2017 into a 2013 now. Most are plug and play, some require just swapping some of the external hardware on top. I wouldn't want any of my relatives to do it, but I might be convinced to change the trans fluid, monitor engine/trans fluid temperatures with OBDII device while driving, drive at night and take route 70 with tolls rather than 68 due to it's steeper grades. ...which may be why I'm installing a new CVT into my 2013 outback right now. LOL

If you're not worried about aftermarket axles then your risk tolerance is plenty high enough to run axles that are 9mm difference. lol Manufacturers make one axle to replace multiple different Subaru part numbers. There have been a few EA82 axles, all interchangeable. There have been a few 90-98 EJ front axles, all (except one oddball!) interchangeable. If Subaru makes a slight change between FWD and AWD axles, or turbo/non turbo, or just a slight revision one year - aftermarket will just make one axle since they're interchangeable. This isn't intended to be research grade, but here's a quickly found illustration of this common reality:

I think the 95 is a 3.9 final drive and the 93 is a 4.11 final drive. So you changed your front differential final drive ratio and the rear needs to match. Of course you should double check since it's been previously swapped and still undiagnosed. You probably need a 4.11 rear differential. Do it now. That's a lot of straining buzzing down the road and screeching tires on bumps.

Oh yeah - the screech noise is binding. You need to verify final drive ratio and install a rear diff that's the same gear ratio as the transmission you installed. The stubby trans shafts may not be fully seated. They will drive a few miles then when a bump/turn pulls them out - WHAM WHAM WHAM car falls apart unless you're limping 5 mph. Check that those stubby shafts are fully seated and the circlips are intact. If that's not it pull the front axles and check the inner joints - they can pull apart during trans swaps and pull the cage past the retaining ring and exhibit similar symptoms.

1507. Did you blow out all ports in the throttle body leading into/out of it too? Doubt you need it but I had some 99 Phase II IACs that are yours if you want me to look. Sounds like you did but if someone else ever read this. If it stalls, all those codes could be meaningless. Reset and check again, more than once if needed, to see which code comes back first. My guess is the momentary loss of consistent power at shut down makes for dirty signals and falsely triggers codes

Great suggestion, not that I can tell. I'll pull it tomorrow and swap.

That’s too bad it wasn’t thr tensioner. that it’s been apart before with past valve work is suspicious. It’s usually the rear (#3 and #5) exhaust valves that are problematic or prone to resulting in a burnt valve. But if they’ve all been apart before that can expand failure mode stats Maybe look into the symptoms of a dropped valve guide?

Excellent - thanks for posting that. I just get low mileage OEM units, I won't install aftermarket on alternator on a Subaru unless i absolutely have to.

I assume I need to replace the oil dipstick tube. But I have two foresters sitting right next to each other and the curvature and spacing of the dipstick tubes are identical. And the dipstick will go almost all the way down in one until the last 4" or so no matter how i turn it. Deer impact - But the front damage didn't require the radiator support to be replaced, just bumper and headlight and all the airbags so I assume they were traveling at a decent clip. It pretty much has to be the dipstick tube but just wanted to make sure because it doesn't appear bent visually when comparing side by side. Much not take much for them to hang out internally on something.