ShawnW

Or they will be covered in oil because your spark plug seals are toast too. I would do valve cover gaskets and seals, spark plug seals, spark plugs, fuel filter, timing belt, water pump, idlers, cam and crank seals.... In other words you are 4K overdue on the timing belt, likely working on a head gasket very soon.

This months winner is Jibs. I see at least a 5 Lug swap and I think theres a 2.2L engine in there as well along with a snowy patch of dirt to work on. It looks cold and the car still looks really good.

Nice landing for sure. Is Indy in the passenger seat laughing?

The bearing clearance might be too far out so it takes a little longer to fill the voids. I don't like that you are hearing noise before the light goes out either. That needs to be torn down and inspected in my opinion. None of the ones I rebuild do that.

I just bought a 4Runner this weekend at the auction by accident of all things. At the auction they had a 9 year old girl pointing at the vehicle you were bidding on. I thought I was bidding on the truck next to it and ended up winning the 4Runner. I ended up with a non running 1988 V6 MT one with 199K miles on it and it rather ruined my day until I put a battery in it and removed the 5 huge hornets nests from it. The silly thing fired right up and drove home without incident after sitting for at least 2 years. Temp tag expired in 2007, last oil change 2004! Lots to learn about this new to me beast. I had an 88 Landcruiser with the straight 6 but this is nothing like that so far except its the same color grey. I think I will fix it up and take it to Moab since that isn't a terrible drive from here in Denver. That or I will sell it and get another Subaru to go with the 4 I currently have.

Welcome. Yep that a RHD postal wagon. Getting quite hard to find and honestly I would recommend refurbishing it as much as you can and selling it. Thats a profitable car you have there if its not rusted out. Id probably put a low miles used or rebuild transmission in it, reseal the engine, upgrade the brakes to the Outback stuff at a minimum and go from there. Then sell it and get a LHD car with the money. I think refurbished that would bring 4500-5000 pretty easily as someone that does a paper route or mail route would love to have it especially up north in the snow belt.

Sweet ride! Its no surprise a 5 year old would love that car. Keep him interested the demand for good technicians is rising rapidly.

Looks like its a good thing you have the 5 year old to referee or will need that in the future. Kids are great but 3 little girls in the same house just sounds like a horror movie to me.

There are a lot of changes in the transmission I would get a 2006 as its the first year of the new fluid, the 5AT is available in that year as well. I wouldn't get an automatic trans with an h6 or a turbo car. I look at it this way. 1 high maintenence item per car. Either the engine with a turbo and a 5 speed manual which is durable, or an auto with the standard 2.5L SOHC engine which is great but plan on putting head gaskets on the car every 100K miles or so. Change the coolant every other year minimum, change the gear oil every 15K, change the oil every 3750....and well frankly your post count on the board won't amount to much if you do all that.

Have you tried calling the Subaru dealer?

Don't put stop leak stuff in that car. That engine block has oil squirters, a turbocharger, and a lot of other galleries that might not appreciate being clogged. Limp it the 30-40 miles after making sure its completely full of oil.

YES! A consistant coat of RTV on the engine block side surface like 1/8" thick at the most. Locktite the screw with the arrow. Im not sure why but thats the manual recommendation.

On the early 4eat like XT6, Gen1 legacy and SVX I remember seeing a gasket. The newer one, no gasket just RTV. Is the silicone they used an Orange/Red color? I use Fuji Bond Red for this and cure overnight which isn't necessary. The dripping is normal, annoying and only stops, kindof after draining for days. When I rebuild these trannys is the only time I feel I get a perfect seal.

I haven't seen him on here in years too. Is he doing well?

I cut a bunch of different oil filters in half a few years ago. I wish I had saved them but I will do the study again and put it on my website here soon. Basically it came down to how many pleats and how much filter media was on the filter, how well it makes contact with the engine block, and whether or not the filter had an anti drain back valve. The results were a little surprising. The K&N didn't score that high, the OEM filter was about 3rd best looking one if I remember correctly but at that time they had the black filters that were made in Japan. The new OEM blue ones are Honeywell made in Canada and pretty good but not as good as the older black version. Subaru had a white one for a while that was horrific and causing engine failures but it was short lived and ironically I think it was made by Allied Signal (Fram). As stated above size isn't even an indicator at all. Its what is inside the filter that counts. The winner back then when price, quality and warranty coverage are considered was absolutely Subaru. I don't care how many attorneys, labels on the box, etc say that an aftermarket is covered just as well as Subaru genuine oil filters when it comes down to it if you torque it properly and it comes apart interally I would sleep a lot better knowing it was a factory filter and that I could tow the car to the dealer and make them cover the engine.

You can open a new thread or reply here it doesn't really matter.

Absolutely agree I live 15 minutes from him. Out here the sun is intense enough in the winter its never that horrible like I am used to in Iowa and Chicago. Its not a horrible drive to the pacific coast, Vegas is real easy, LA not that much worse and the cars don't really rot here at all. The rusted out ones seem to be the ones that weren't washed or came from East. I moved here for a change, but also to get away from the road salt and harsh winter. The summer is pretty damn awesome here. Oh did I mention here are TONS of Subaru's here? There are. Not as many classic aged ones as Seattle,Washington area but still a lot of them.

I got one this week on craigslist that was broken for $200! I already have it fixed and working in my home shop and DAMN it works as well as the huge units I had used at my 2 previous employers. I can't seem to find a vendor or factory info line on the darn thing though as its a little older unit. "Water Works Cleaning Systems" on the front with a seahorse in its logo. No serial number, nothing on it. Oh well, I am still quite thrilled to own it.

Any of them that look fiberous on the HG I use copper spray. Any that are solid metal I never do. I don't think its absolutely necessary to use copper spray either. They are pretty good gaskets as they are.

Wow thats rather scary thought. I haven't seen it happen but here they don't corrode that bad either.

The slide pin on the caliper bracket might be different but the caliper seemed to be the same. I did both calipers from a Legacy when I swapped them on my 95 just in case there was something internally different. Worked fine but as I said I had to move the caliper bracket over too. Subaru part numbers don't always mean a whole lot and sometimes they are a terrific tool. Sometimes its the same thing just maybe installed or built in a Japanese factory vs US factory, etc.

Often you ditch the interior and then end up putting in a roll cage that weighs more than the interior you removed. Race seats can be had that are significantly lighter than stock seats, removing the passenger seat for another one, and removing the entire back seat adds up. Door panels, stereo, speakers and even removing cruise control can add up too.

While I fully feel that Nascar stinks I want everyone to remember that support for racing, racing venues, safety, insurance, the whole works come from a group effort on all types of racing. Support all of it and the whole ends up better off. We learn from Nascar, motocross, and everything else to make Rallycross better. Supporting SCCA, RallyAmerica and any other sanctioning body will help the other ones. People are taking our racing venues away far too fast. Being skeptical about what this company is addressing for safety and insurance is very valid. Make sure they join forces with the local Scca Rallycross group to make it safe, within standards, and insured so that it continues.

Im locking this thread. I normally wouldn't pay for information but once in a while something comes up that will change things for many people and I step up to the plate and spend the cash. I am starting my own Subaru shop here in Denver. Its called RetroRoo and it basically caters to people that love older Subaru's. I will agree, the information that is in this guide is already on the forum if you know where to look, trust the author, etc. Im skeptical, and have the privilage of living in the same town as Eric here. I have driven this car in the mountains for a very short time and was amazed with its capabilities and durability. I felt a guide on how to copy it was worth it to me. Most of you didn't and that is fine. I will likely be selling these hybrid transmissions at a very reasonable cost. Keep in mind it takes 3 trannys and if you want it exactly like Beefaru's unit you have to buy 2 gears from a Forester transmission to get the amazing 5th gear as well. A minimum of $300 spent in just core transmissions at the Pull and Pay yards plus the gears, seals, and my time. The price will probably be a little rediculous to some of you and that is fine with me as my time is worth something. Vendors that cater to our vehicles are few and far between. I see a need for it and can't wait to help those people that aren't equipped to rebuild a transmission on their own have one in their car. The guide may or may not be available for sale on my website later. Im still trying to decide if that is going to be worth the hassle. This thread has told me it may not be. Unfortunately that may be a case of a few people ruining a good thing for the majority. The only option I see other than these trannys is to get an EJ trans from overseas. Thats a good option for people that can get one shipped here, and already have an EJ powered EA series car. This gets expensive as well, and believe me I have done a lot of digging into it. I appreciate any comments you want to direct just do so via PM to me.