GeneralDisorder

It's a Turbo - The newest iteration of the Akebono (OEM) ceramic pads seem to do this. Get them hot and it will stop. If you didn't want performance brakes that need to be USED and get hot to function optimally, then you shouldn't have bought a performance car. Just the nature of the beast. We have a saying - "Because race car". And that's exactly what it is. The turbo versions of the various Subaru models are very little different from the STi "factory rally" cars. With extremely minor modifications your vehicle can EASILY put over 300 HP to the wheels. It has brakes that are commensurate with this performance potential. Get them hot, or turn up the radio. GD

The piston is shaped like a cone, and the distance from piston top edge to cylinder wall varies - the piston will rock a little if you push on it..... all that is normal. The fire ring pitting is more of a concern. You can either have the block decked (requires disassembly - I wouldn't suggest it) or...... I have had occasion to "fix" this for a budget limited customer with a 25D,etc. They only needed it to last a year they said. I filled some pretty deep fire ring pitting with JB weld, and block sanded it. That was in the neighborhood of 4 years ago and they still own the car - which is running fine. YMMV according to your skills. This is definitely NOT the right way to do it. But it has worked for me at least once. GD

Out here where nothing rusts - it's poor maintenance, and eventually minor repairs that catch up with the market value or the owner is unable to generate the cash flow to repair. I have had people basically give me cars that could easily be fixed (water pump for example) because they haven't got the $800 to do the repair - but they can get a new car loan. GD

The automatic is more reliable, less maintenance, gets the same economy, and it's computer is light-years ahead of the manual in terms of traction control. If you just like playing with sticks - I get it. Johnson Rod's can make fun toys. But don't denegrate the auto - it's an EXCELLENT transmission. GD

It's ALWAYS better to plan and budget your downtime rather than wait for catastrophe. But obviously I'm not the majority here. That said, those engines don't just need HG's, and you can't assume that they won't be thunderf*cked inside when you open them up for said repair. Too old, and too many variables. Contemplating what you may or may not have to do with a car that's potentially 20+ years old - cross that bridge when you come to it. You are going to have to work within the confines of what is available but I would strongly suggest moving into the Phase-II engine, and if you can into the AVLS version starting in 2006. With some careful pre-purchase inspection, etc - you can find something that's untouched by amateurs and do the HG's proper. GD

Better skirt design, but not the reason. They have a different compression height, and without them you can't use the head gasket. The newer gasket is 2/3 thinner and allows for greater cylinder wall rigidity to prevent fire ring failure. The 25D gasket is too thick and has the head too far away from the block - allowing cylinder wall movement and fire ring abrasion and eventual failure. You can't use this gasket without a piston change as the original pistons will physically hit the cylinder head at TDC. GD

Correct - sort of. Rover/Sterling changed a LOT of things. One of those is the fuel tank. It's 1 gallon smaller than the Legend. In any case I couldn't find a viable Legend tank to attempt fitment anyway. It becomes a time vs. money proposition and ultimately *maybe* I could have found a Legend tank with a more exhaustive search, and *maybe* it would fit. But the cost of purchase + shipping, and then the risk..... not worth it. Just sent it to Mac's Radiator and it came back better than new. It's not badge engineering unfortunately. The entire body, interior, electrical system, and most of the ancillary mechanical components are Rover. Basically Honda supplied the engine, trans, and some of the other chassis/suspension components. Even the drive axles are different. Radiator, HVAC system, etc. It's more like they took a Rover chassis and engine/trans swapped it with Honda parts. GD

Honestly a good radiator repair shop can fix it - I recently had no choice but to repair a 1989 Sterling fuel tank that had sat undriven since 1998 (17,000 original miles) and looked like the inside of the titanic. You can't buy them, and these cars were sold in very small numbers so used isn't a viable option - they are all crushed or in the same condition. The shop charged me a (very reasonable) $320. They removed several sections of the tank, media blasted it, repaired all leaks, sealed, and painted the tank for me - also replaced the roll-over-valve with a generic valve/bung combo. All this for only $320 is a steal and now that the tank is epoxy lined it can't ever corrode inside again. GD

If you remove the 10mm nut, the cover slides off and you can remove one of the spacer washers to accomplish the same thing with no modifications required. GD

Someone put a 96/97 engine in your 98. This is super common with the 25D - they blow head gaskets and throw rods from being overheated. In stock form they were a problem and considered junk by many. To fix them (assuming the rods haven't been beaten out of them from overheating related detonation and oil breakdown), you swap the pistons for 2000-2004 pistons and use the 2008+ STI head gasket. No - you can't use a 4 plug integrated-ignitor coil pack. That's a phase-II engine coil pack. GD

The exhaust JIS flange nuts are stainless from the factory. I haven't really found a good source for those. Wurth does all my hardware and I carry a full cabinet of Subaru style JIS fasteners. I don't have the stainless exhaust nuts, but here in Oregon we don't have the rust problems anyway so it's never been an issue. We just coat them in copper anti-seize and call it good. GD

You can't. There is no distributor drive on a 2.5 GD

Probably. 96-99 are compatible where the harness plugs into the chassis, but 98/99 use a difference coil pack and wires than 96/97 GD

JIS flange nuts can be bought online. As for burping out the air - get the Lisle funnel that attaches to the radiator fill and with the coolant level higher than the system, rev the engine to 4k RPM a few times (after warmup) to get the water pump pressure up. This will help drive the air pockets out. GD

Pretty sure.... no. The guy's a complete tool. And a hack on top of it. GD

AVLS pressure switches always leak from the wiring connector. They are now a standard line item on our head gasket jobs. GD

The tray catches oil sling and directs it to a lubrication point. The crud is pretty typical of what we see in these. Not really detrimental but can be avoided with more frequent changes. It's relatively easy to split the case and clean it if you choose to do so. Change the rear input shaft bearing if you do - those fail all the time on the phase-1 trans. GD

Who are they getting these CHRA's from? We only use Melett CHRA's when we do rebuilds. And I have not had a single one come back. It is possible that one of the housings is impinging upon the turbine or compressor wheel at speed? That is - the natural radial shaft play inherent to journal bearing turbochargers is allowing one of the wheels to graze the housing once it spins up. I would get a CHRA and do the "rebuild" yourself. It's easy - takes about an hour. I do about 2-3 a month. Depending on the condition of the housings, you may want to swap those out for a different used set at the same time. I have a whole shelf full of dead TD04's if you need housings. I probably have 20 or more. We almost always just upgrade those to VF's or 16G's. ALL turbo replacement's due to failure get an oil pan pull. Typically we just replace the pan with a new STi pan, Killer-B pickup, and matching dipstick. That 04 is going to have the inferior flat-bottom pan. Also ALL turbo engine have ALL the banjo screens removed if we are anywhere near them or during a turbo swap. GD

Your Baja is just a 2003 Outback with no roof. It is mechanically identical. Use 2003 Legacy suspension - it will drop about 3". You will need smaller tires, and an alignment. Subaru's have factory camber bolts in the front. They will adjust to the lower suspension. And yes - $1000 is cheap and on the junk side for coil overs. Good one's start around $1800. GD

You need to go to a proper tuner shop. Any old shop is not going to be able to diag that car. Off the top of my head - change the plugs and coil packs. But you may have other issues. What code specifically is it throwing? GD

New pulley is $200 from Subaru. When they break we don't install used ones due to the obvious liability of having the exact same failure. I can't guarantee that it won't happen again with a used one and I warranty all my work..... Of course this means we *should* be recommending replacement at a certain interval but you just can't justify jacking up the price of the timing belt job when the failure rate is so low and no one else is telling their customers to replace it. But I'm not going to actually *sell* a customer a used one - that puts me on the hook for it being a good part. Nope. Depending on what else got damaged - belts, AC idler, possibly front timing cover, etc. It could get to $435 pretty easily. GD

Operation of the Alpine system is detailed here: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html#alpine Did you try and rapid on/off cycle multiple times? GD

They might just be pitted and need to be lapped. Try to lap them - you'll find the bent one's in the lap pattern if there are any. GD

If you're pulling the heads anyway - it would be silly to not install some new rings. They are cheap. Don't hone it - just ring slap it and drop the heads back on. GD

Should be about .006" for intake, and about .008" for exhaust. Otherwise they make noise. If the engine has been sitting then it's fairly typical for them to have low compression from the rings being dry. Squirt some oil in the cylinders and crank it a bunch. GD