GeneralDisorder

You can pull codes on any year that this sub-forum is applicable to. Some systems on some years don't require a scan tool. Some do. And in any case "codes" are only part of troubleshooting - sometimes a big part, and sometimes they can lead the unwary down rabbit holes that go nowhere, or straight point you to a part that the computer thinks is the problem because it doesn't have enough information to tell you what the real problem actually is. If your skill level is only relying on codes to repair problems you are going to get into real problems and get stuck in a hurry - especially the older the vehicle. Short story - I wouldn't worry about it. Buy something in good shape with good history. If your goal is DIY then get educated on real troubleshooting and don't worry about the computer. The older you go back the more primitive the computer and the more likely it will be to send you down the wrong path anyway. GD

Sounds like an exhaust leak to me. Which would be hard to correlate to fluid servicing. But it's hard to tell from that video. Just sounds louder. Doubt it's going to be a front differential. In my experience it would likely take more miles to fail than 20-30. Had a tire shop not a fill a front diff on a Tribeca about a year ago. It drove about 1200 miles before it ate the diff completely and seized up. They did say it sounded a bit louder when they picked it up but not alarmingly so. The tire shop denied having drained it despite them replacing an axle (which will cause the gear oil to leak out, thus you drain it first). Don't be an ignorant customer and demand it has to be their fault. That's not how machines work and regardless of mileage - the car is 13 years old and things like exhaust are subject to rust and corrosion based on age and driving conditions. I've fired a few customers over ignorance like that. Correlation is not causation. GD

idosubaru is absolutely correct. That's why I said the XT is terrifying to drive. Every other vehicle looks like a skyscraper driving past you and the roads are absolutely full of morons on their phones and screens built into their cars. This is part of why my daily is a lifted K5 Jimmy on 35's and my recreational vehicle is an Army LMTV that weighs 21,000 lbs. I'm not about to get taken out by some soccer mom in a Suburban. GD

Wow. Had no idea about the taxes in the Netherlands. Crazy! Especially since that kind of legislation would never fly in the USA, China, India, etc - economies where it might actually do some good for the environment. Good luck with the new ride! GD

Well if you want Mad Max then you need an F150 chassis to stick it on. GD

I virtually never see one of the 360 optical units fail. They are extremely reliable and have needle bearings for the shaft. I've seen plenty with 250k+ on them still working great. In many ways the optical unit is simpler. It's just a chopper disc with 360 slots and an infrared emitter and receiver. It produces a really nice clean square wave that you can use to fire the ignition on the falling edge. The added reliability of the shaft needle bearings vs. the bronze bushings of other types makes them a lot more reliable long term IMO. GD

I only know that I've done fuel injection every way you can imagine with pretty much every stand alone option out there and the LINK stuff saves a lot of time and frustration. Adding trigger wheels and all that to an engine incapable of using the additional resolution because ultimately it's red line is low, it's horse pucker potential is laughable..... just use the parts it came with - the optical distributor is quite reliable. GD

Can't really get the parts to rebuild the EA's anymore. Best bet is used. GD

Certainly could also be valve stem seals, slipped guides, or PCV issues as well. Since you did the rings they are likely fine. GD

Pistons look pretty black and wet. I would be doing rings. NPR rings are cheap. DO NOT hone it. Just clean the pistons and install new rings. Machinist is correct - once the engine fires up the valves will lap themselves in pretty quickly. We will often drop in new valves and stem seals in cases like this and just do a light hand lap on them, resurface the head, inspect and stake any moving guides and send it. GD

KING raised height springs will raise it about 3/4". A lift kit from ADF, and some stock height KING springs is as much as I would do. And you are going to eat axles. H6 swap isn't in the cards. That's under the heading of "If you have to ask......." Keep it the way it is mechanically. Mild lift, KING springs, and some nice tires. GD

Yes we are seeing more and more FB's with oil and coolant mixing. More junk...... GD

Exactly. If I can't buy it outright I don't buy it. Same philosophy with my business. Only debt I have is my commercial property and I'm paying that down as rapidly as possible. And to heck with all the new stuff - anything made after 2004 (in terms of Subaru) is dead to me. Just watched a video of some guy that bought a Tesla and saved about $13k in fuel costs over the 75k miles he's had it..... no mention of the cost to purchase said Tesla, or the environmental cost of manufacturing said Tesla. Everyone wants to Recycle and forgets entirely about the REDUCE and REUSE that is much more important. We can't just keep making things and replacing them every year or two. What happened to durable goods you could hand down to the next generation? GD

Haven't seen one on the road in recent memory - probably been 5-10 years. Haven't had one in the shop in 5+ years. At one point we had an XT6 hanging around that was basically an albatross that no one wanted even with low miles. Did a lot of sitting and had electrical problems. GD

WRX is pull clutch, and the Forester is push clutch. But yes it can work. Must have matching rear diff or the same final drive. Most WRX's are 3.9 and the Forester is almost certainly 4.11 GD

Exactly - without the turbo it's a low compression 1.8 and probably has about 75 HP. GD

Not when you consider the benefits and the multiple levels of frustration and time you will save. GD

They are not available. Pretty much hens teeth at this point. No longer manufactured and VERY sought after by those looking to maintain their EA82. Virtually impossible to find. That said - no engine low oil pressure problems are ever solved with a replacement oil pump. If the pump is shot then the engine is close behind. Re-seal the pump and check your pressure with a known good mechanical gauge. If it's still low - start looking for a replacement engine. Oil pressure is a function of resistance to flow. Oil pumps produce flow - not pressure. If there's no resistance to flow (to create pressure) then the clearances inside the engine are irreversibly large. GD

You will be much better served for this purpose (overland camper) by selling that 25D garbage and buying something that's actually suitable for off-road (and can keep up with that Jeep). There's a ton of options in that regard - I would suggest the venerable Toyota Land Cruiser. Or if you really want to stand out in the crowd - an ex-military LMTV or similar is quite a bargain considering what the government spent on them. There are no upgraded axles. You can't even get OEM axles for that chassis anymore. You could modify OEM axles for a newer model. If you can get them they are about $400 each. The engine in that chassis is a dead end. You can't really fix the HG issue, and the plastic cam sprockets (which are an absolute must change if you open it up for HG's at this age) are no longer available. I bought the last set for a turbocharged 25D cylinder head build (with 257 bottom end) going into an auto-gyro a few months ago. You can replace the engine with a '95-'98 2.2L engine. But those are hard to come by and just make the problem of being underpowered for your desired tire size even worse. Gearing is your enemy. The larger you go on tires, the more gearing you need, but cannot have. There are no options in this regard. Ultimately you will want the little Outback to do things it will never do and for this reason I would suggest you find a different chassis more suited to your needs. GD

Should not be a problem - never encountered that before. I would inspect the orientation of the sway bar and links. Might be backwards or upside down. In any case - if you want it lifted then I would assume you want articulation - take the sway bar off. GD

OLD. These days you just get a LINK Monsoon. The Nissan 360 optical trigger pattern works with the EA82 optical distributor - no need for any of that trigger wheel foolishness. LINK is out of New Zealand - should be pretty easy for you to find a distributor. https://dealers.linkecu.com/G4X-MonsoonX-ECU-V3 GD

It is not uncommon to go back and do the same sequence a second or even third time. This ensures that bolts earlier in the sequence are brought up to the full specified torque when bolts later in the sequence may have caused gasket crush, etc that resulted in the earlier bolts being under torqued. In the strictest sense it's not a mistake as it will not result in an incorrect assembly. And we don't know if it was intentional or not. I would just do as the manual states. GD

Nope. That's not a compatible engine. You need to use the intake manifold from the 25D if you intend to use the 99 engine computer and wiring. You can install the 25D heads and manifold onto a 2000 to 2004 short block assembly - the compression will be higher but if you run premium it will be OK. GD

As long as you find a 2.2 from a 99 to 01 it is a direct swap. These 2nd gen 2.2's have issues with oil consumption and aren't at all close to the 98 and older 2.2's but that's not what you asked. Older 2.2's will be challenging to install. Possible, but you need advanced knowledge to circumvent the intake manifold fitment, idle control, and potential crank/cam sprocket differences that are expected by the 2.5 computer. Easier to just install a replacement 2.5 and get the benefits of increased power and torque. GD

Factory catalytic converters for the 04/05 PZEV are currently almost $10,000 from Subaru. LOL. GD