GeneralDisorder

The alternator is cooked man - what more information do you need? STOP running the engine. You are going to further cook your wireing and electrical system components. Not to mention damage the battery. GD

Just busy is all. Always busy. I'll get up there eventually Yes - the diagnosis is correct. Always verify gauge readings..... well shut down the machine you are working on THEN verify gauge readings. Faulty gauges are not an uncommon failure in any type of machine. GD

It's either the gasket or the freeze plugs. You don't need heads. GD

All the Subaru engines use an external oil pump. Either driven directly off the end of the cam (in the pushrod engines) or driven by the timing belt in the case of the EA82/ER27 and the EJ engines. All the EA engines have the sending unit mounted directly to the pump housing while the EJ engines have the idiot lamp switch attached to the oil gallery on top of the block - but they have provision for mounting sending units to the pump as well. I'm sure in other countries this is probably done but all US models have an idiot lamp only. Here the threaded boss for the sending unit is blocked with an alan plug. Right - but it's a differential pressure valve - it opens in response to the pressure created by a clogged element. If the element is not clogged then the pressure could be 1000 psi - as long as it's 1000 psi on both sides of the element the valve will still be closed.... so it has no relationship to the pressure being put out at the pump. No problem - you definitely should be taking the oil pumps off for a look - they can and do get really chewed inside. GD

Belt appearance won't tell you much. Timing the engine is very easy. There are three marks on the flywheel - you line up the center of the three. Then the driver's side cam mark points up (12 o-clock) while the passenger side points down (6 o-clock). The belt is installed and then the engine is turned over till you hit the compression stroke of the #1 cylinder (passenger side front) and then roll the flywheel to 20 degree's BTDC and the distributor is installed so the rotor points at the #1 plug wire tower. Engine is started and final timing adjusment is done with a light. GD

Being that the oil pressure reading is taken directly at the pump, the only variables that affect the reading are the condition of the pump, type of oil, engine speed, etc. Mileage and internal engine wear have basically zero effect on the pressure reading at the pump. It has been my experience with the EA81 that a 20 psi hot idle reading is possible on any engine providing the pump is within specified wear limits. They do wear - sometimes a LOT. Depends on how the oil and filter have been treated. My hatch engine has low compression on the #2 cylinder and about 260k on it. The oil pump was trashed when I got it and the first thing I did once I got it driving was replace the pump. The oil pressure went up to about 20 at hot idle which was at least a 5 to 7 psi increase and the cruise went up by about 15 or 20 psi easily. No - I didn't verify any of this with a seccond gauge but I'm very comfortable with the EA81's and their oil pumps. I know what bahaviour to expect and where the pressure should be - that coupled with what I saw when I dissasembled the pump as well as the differences in the readings from old pump to new tells me it's right where it should be now. I think you are refering to the pressure relief valve inside the pump - the one in the filter is a differential pressure valve and opens with very low differential - probably 5 psi or less. The one inside the pump is based on the calibration of the relief valve spring - I do not know what it's setting it but it's probably somewhere in the 60 to 70 psi range as I have never seen a verifiable reading higher than that. GD

No less than 20 to 25 psi when hot at idle. Cruise should be up around 50 to 70 psi. That's as read from a low-mileage EA81 hydro lifter engine in my wagon. New oil pump and Autometer gauge for oil pressure. And the gauge has real numbers calibrated in psi on it's face. GD

You have to have the front in the air and the parking brake off to check for bearing play - and even then it won't tell you much. There will be little to no play if only one of the bearings is bad. Best thing to do is remove the hub and take a look at the grease and the condition of the outer bearing. If it looks nasty, dirty, and gritty, or rusted and dry, etc. Replace them. Typically is the outer bearing that fails first as it has the highest loads in turns. GD

Unless you verify the gauge reading with a second reading from a shop gauge (mechanical would be the preference), anything you do or do not is based on speculation. TEST - then hypothesize. It may be nothing more than a bad sending unit or mis-calibrated gauge. GD

Front wheel bearings typically get replaced once or maybe twice in the life of the car (say 300k miles), while rear's often last the life of the car and then some. But it's entirely dependant on how the seals hold up. You should check you axle nut's and lug nuts to make sure you don't have a loose axle/hub spline making the noise or a loose wheel. Front's are 6207-2RS-C3's (go to a bearing supplier). 2 on each side for a total of 4. They are about $8 to $12 each depending on supplier and quality. Because I use the 2RS sealed bearings I often just carefully remove and reuse to old bearing seals since they basically don't do anything anymore with the 2RS bearings in place. If you are careful and they are inclined to come out easily they can be cleaned, greased, and re-used for extra bearing protection. I replace them if they are destroyed or badly damaged. GD

The cam tower o-rings and the cam spray bar banjo-bolt spring should not be ignored as possibly causes of ticking. And yes - at the very least the oil pump should be dissasembled and checked for tollerances. Pump, lifters, seals - might be a bit of each GD

You have probably cooked the poor 55 amp thing with all that stereo gear. Very likely. GD

You can install the tray where the original stereo was located. And one of these slim units would fit nicely below it without a spacer on the 4WD's - though that wouldn't help you power window switch issue unless you moved it. GD

That method (putting it below the old stereo location) is not as easy on the 4WD's. The console doesn't have as much room in it. You have to space the deck out about 3/4" to make it work. GD

Great! Glad that fixed up your problem. Oil leaks are generally valve covers or oil pan on these - they are cork. Coat the replacements in RTV and let them dry before installation to create your own rubber gasket that won't absorb oil and get cooked to shoe leather. Rarely a front main seal will leak but I've seen that too. GD

It's just complaining that it wants the oil changed. Add a quart of Rislone or ATF in place of a quart of oil. When the ticking gets real loud it often sounds like a knock. Chances are there is nothing wrong with the botton end and it will not be throwing a rod. That is a very rare occurance. GD

Yellow typically indicates the negative lead and red the positive. That's the usual convention. GD

Wish I could help - but I'm in the US. Free bump and hope someone can help you out. GD

Rust will not form in the presence of coolant - the glycol solution will inhibit rust formation so looking for rust marks is probably not going to tell you much. I agree - put it back together with dry head gaskets, and OEM manifold gaskets (torque to 12 ft/lbs). GD

1mm is INSANELY warped. But if you aren't using a machinist's rule that's been surface ground flat to measure the flatness then it's not a valid measurement. Most things we take as flat in daily life (even a metal machinists square for example) are not flat enough to use as measureing insturments. The allowable warpage for a cylinder head is about .005", which is about 0.125mm, or approximately 1/8 as much as you measured. If they truely are warped by 1mm then you will have to throw them away. You can't grind them enough to correct that. .020" is the max you can take off per the spec and that's only going to get you 1/2 of where you need to be. But again - I doubt your measurement and your insturments as I have never encountered one that warped. If I did I would throw the whole engine the scrap pile because the amount of abuse it took to get that screwed up would make it an unwise investment. The leakage was probably a bad manifold gasket although you say you used formagasket on the head gasket? . That's a no-no and also a probable failure point. Head gaskets are installed 100% dry on Subaru engines. Always. GD

West Linn, OR GD

The "design" is created by a man. Men are fallable. "operate as intended" assumes that there is someone other than you that controls the "intended" operation. It is not so. YOU control how it's "intended" to run as it is now your intention - if you stick with how it was designed your intention is to burn money and time and gain nothing. I submit that a better intention is to change the design to your needs. Open your mind to the greater possibilities of controlling your environment how you see fit. That is the greatest freedom a man can have and the spirit of America. Love it. Live it. Smog laws are fine. But the majority of cars on the road are less than 10 years old and under some kind of warantee. Let the numbers game win this one. Your personal battle with a single catalytic converter is less than nothing in the fight against smog. You care too much to see the forest for the trees my friend. Step back and get some perspective. Go for the big wins - don't waste time and resources on trivial problems that at the end of the day will only make you feel better because of unreasonably held beliefs that one man's car will make some kind of difference. GD

Don't replace the switch - just install some relays to take the load off it. GD

The light comes on because of AC current from the failed rectifier diodes in the VR - it glows dimly as the AC reverses direction and for a short time durring every sweep if the sine wave the voltage is lower than the battery. The VR is toast and it's not worth fixing on these units. It's a very common failure mode for the VR's in these. They fail to AC current and high voltage. The one in my GF's sedan did this same thing a couple weeks ago and that's probably half a dozen at least I have personally seen do this. I tossed in a Bosch reman I scored at the junk yard for $37 and it was on it's way as if nothing had happened. GD

The sump won't allow access to the bearings. But checking the pan for metal is a good idea. You should really pull off the oil pump, dissasemble it and inspect for damage. GD