GeneralDisorder

Here, here! F the Honda's. GD

The alignment dowels on the EJ engines are in the form of tubes that surround two of the head bolt holes and are located on the block side. Decking (resurfacing) the heads would not have any effect on gasket alignment. When the block's are resurfaced the alignment tubes are removed and then replaced after the process. GD

Yeah - probably a clogged oil passage. There is a passage from the head to the cam carrier that uses an o-ring seal. That o-ring is specially reinforced with a metal ring to prevent it from collapsing and partially blocking oil flow. Also people over-indulge in RTV on the cam carriers and a peice of it could have lodged in an oil passage. I would clean them all out carefully and blow all the passages out with compressed air before resealing the engine - and remove the passenger side cam and carrier also and clean that one out too. Replace the o-rings and also reseal the oil pump. Get your oil pump and cam carrier o-rings from the dealership. GD

Nice DL! Congrats! That's a keeper with such low mileage. Wish I had got something that nice for xmas :-\. GD

When you say it "dies" - do you mean it dies like it's being starved for fuel and it's struggling to pull the car forward or that it dies like someone just turned off a switch? The voltage gauge reading low could be the gauge - you need to check it with a meter. Shotgunning parts at it when you haven't verified where the problem lies is costly and time consuming with no guarantee of results. Use Science. GD

Stant is now offering an "Xactstat" for Subaru. Part number 48457 (includes gasket). Looks exactly like OEM. Probably made by Tama. http://www.amazon.com/Stant-48457-XA.../dp/B001FFY334 And www.rockauto.com has them for $11.04. They include the gasket. With a discount code that's $10.48. I toss them in with my order and it doesn't affect shipping much. GD

I know people like that. You could give them a hamster ball to drive around and they would find a way to break or disable it. Then they bring it to you and claim it's the machine's fault or blame their tools/work environment or the alignment of the heavens. It's NEVER their ignorance or plain stupidity. GD

I understand the challenge. I'm becoming fairly well known around my area and here on the board for electrical stuff. I rather enjoy the challenge also. As Texan mentioned - there's all kinds of quirky model specific things that can go wrong. Honda has this "main relay" under the dash that likes to have the same problems as the older Subaru clocks where the solder joints shrink and crack. The fix is the same also - remelt the solder joints. Remember than the Pup is better known as the Chevy Luv. There are probably more forums for those. GD

When an ECU goes bad (and this is very rare) it's typically because of a wireing short or reversed battery cables. The other failures I've seen have been transistor amp circuit failures (mostly TCU's) and no amount of cleaning contacts will repair burnt components. I have many Subaru ECU's from the early 80's that are still 100% functional. They are of much superior quality to the German and Mitsubishi stuff :cool:. GD

Stant is now offering an "Xactstat" for Subaru. Part number 48457. Looks exactly like OEM. Probably made by Tama. http://www.amazon.com/Stant-48457-XACTStat-Fahrenheit-Thermostat/dp/B001FFY334 And rockauto.com has them for $11.04. They include the gasket. With a discount code that's $10.48. I toss them in with my order and it doesn't affect shipping much. GD

Square plug wires are the large combustion chamber heads/VC's and those have the hydro lifters. '96 is the first year of the EJ25D and they have hydro lifters so if the engine is original (sounds like it) then it does not require a valve adjustment. It does call for premium fuel though. GD

Easy-out's are not the answer. If that's the tool that gets somthing out for you then you could have likely removed it with your fingers. They will just break off and leave you in a bigger mess. Drill/heli-coil. If you can - cut the bracket off with a die-grinder so you can remove the rotor and just replace the bracket/bolt with a used one set. GD

Why exactly are you troubled by the oil? PCV systems are going to pick up some oil vapor. That's just the nature of how they work. They don't consume enough oil to really cause a problem or impact oil level between changes. PCV valves almost never fail. Changing it every 6 months is really overkill. Spray some cleaner through it if you like but that's all you need to do. Cleaning the hoses and passages - especially the main crankcase vent at the back, passenger side of the block - would be a good idea. GD

I disconnect the ignitor and the fuel injectors and crank till the oil light goes out (or the gauge rises on older stuff) then give it about 10 more seconds of cranking to insure I'm up to full oil pressure. Reconnect everything and fire it up. I do this on all engines that have sat for long periods or are brand new. GD

Just go change the Primary Place of Use address on the registration to show that it's outside of the testing boundary. There are three addresses on the registration in OR - your residence, your mailing address, and the location of the vehicle (PPU). ONLY the PPU is used to determine if the vehicle is tested or not. They will never mail anything there, nor will they ever look for you personally there because those addresses are different. Think of it like this - if you own a business and have a fleet of vehicles that are registered to you - they could be located anywhere but are not likely to be located where you personally live. I have owned dozens of vehicles and I've been doing it this way for over a decade. In that time I've been stopped by the police probably dozens of times. NOT ONCE has anyone from the police or from the DMV questioned my registration. They don't look and they don't care. It's just not on their radar and they can't prove anything anyway so they don't bother. Even if they could somehow prove that you weren't parking your vehicle at the address listed on the registration - at most they can only make you go and change it because they would have to assume you made a mistake or didn't update your registration, etc. Paying for testing, sitting in line, and waiting for these unfriendly, overpaid a-holes at the state run testing centers is not my idea of a good time. My vehicles run fine and they get to many of my tax dollars already. If they want to leave gaping loop-holes in their paperwork then I damn sure going to use them. 95 to 98 EJ's with EGR valves have compatible valves also. They are smaller and easier to work around. I would get one of those if you really want one. GD

The spring mounts are on that washer tab and then on the transmission side of the knuckle that bolt T3 goes through - the one that's roll-pinned to the tranny shift rod. If the knuckle doesn't have the spring tab on it then it's from a car that had an internal spring instead of an external spring. GD

Alternators are a problem on the 95 to 98's - but they had a recall campaign that corrected most of them. Sadly I see a lot of cheap reman alts that have been put in because people didn't know about the recall and the $65 alts from the dealer - this usually results in repeated failures and replacements with cheap aftermarket units. GD

SOHC EJ25's from your era need to have the Subaru coolant conditioner put in every time you change the coolant. If the leak is real bad you can use two bottles. Looks like you have classic drivers side HG weepage. Pretty typical. Put in two bottles of the stop leak conditioner and it should take care of the problem. Don't forget to add it every time you change the coolant. Either that or you have a pin-hole leak in one of the throttle body heater hoses. Since you are saying it's coming from the top of the engine that's a real possibility. GD

You need to add the coolant conditioner every time you change the coolant with the earlier SOHC EJ25's. It's $1.50 a bottle at the dealer. GD

Are the housings for the removeable bulbs made of metal and glass? They probably are..... This is creating the ground needed for the lights to bypass the switch. In the EA81 the lights receive a constant 12v signal and the ground is switched. With metal backed housings the ground goes through the bucket and illuminates the bulbs. GD

Yep. And it's important to point out that he doesn't have hard evidence that it actually ran out of gas. Only that it was low enough that this *might* have happend. It could be something else and it could be a combination of that and something else failing. GD

Define "short".... what's going on exactly? GD

Rear filter was changed. Front is not clogged. Fuel pump is working - he took it loose from the carb and cranked it to check for fuel delivery. Adequate fuel was delivered. The engine won't start but will almost catch. Pouring fuel down the primary with the choke propped open and the throttle to the floor doesn't seem to help. Plugs are not fouled and gap is correct. They are newer NGK's. Wires have seen better days but after a cleaning and tightening they seem to be delivering spark to the plugs - checked with a paper clip. Coil checks out good on a meter. Module is pulsing correctly on a test light check. Nice hot blue spark at the coil wire. I verified ignition timing is at or around 8. He tells me compression is around 150 to 180. At this point I told him to get a proper can of starting fluid, new plug wires and a cap/rotor. My feeling is that it's part fuel delivery and part ignition. It stubbornly refuses to fire up even when it seemingly has everything it needs to do so. Sadly the car is 30+ miles from my shop and in a cold apartment parking lot.... not ideal diagnostic conditions. GD

Cheap alternator. They usually last about 6 months. Sad part is that this alternator was part of a recall through the dealer and quality Subaru reman's are only $65 for the 95 to 98 models. GD

DOHC gaskets were redesigned 4 times. The latest gasket is an MLS turbo-style gasket and is quite good. They have also redesigned the SOHC gaskets at least once. To correct a problem with the sealant washing away from the gasket and causing external leakage of coolant and oil - primarily on the driver's side head. I have personally replaced gaskets as new as '06 with external oil leakage. GD