GeneralDisorder

Those are used only on manual transmission cars. Auto's never have them. It's to prevent a belt skip if the car is bumped while in gear. They serve no purpose on an auto car. Regardless, the guide is not supposed to touch the belt - there is a clearance spec and if it's adhered to the belt will not touch the guide. The problem isn't the guide, it's the improper assembly, and if you want to get completely technical it shouldn't have been added to an auto car where it performs no function. I very likely warned you about those gaskets...... GD

Well these take about 8-9 quarts so 2 quarts over might not be all that bad. Also they ARE atmospheric vented so pressure shouldn't build up to any significant degree. For sure it's not a great idea to overfill it - not ideal by any means. The most likely result being aeration of the fluid leading to cavitation of the pump and possibly noises and lack of proper lubrication. GD

No. That's not what these do. The timing belt is designed to last well beyond it's replacement interval. 105k and 10 years is the replacement interval. The design life is at least 50% more than this..... probably 100% more. GD

Check the fusible links and all the fuses. GD

Yes the single range transmission were considerably simpler because the dual range is done on the input shaft BEFORE any of the gears. And the linkage coupled the 4WD and the low range together in such a way as to preclude the use of low range while in 2WD. Although if you change the interlock or disable it, it actually IS possible to put the transmission into 2WD Low. GD

The ECM has no effect on a Weber. Does it start on starting fluid or brake cleaner? GD

Yes. It's also nice on toast. GD

DOW Corning 111 valve sealant. GD

Low mileage is actually a bad thing with the 4 speed. Matt who I previously spoke of has an absolutely MINT, garaged, all original 83 GL wagon with 52k original miles on it and 3rd gear is shot in that transmission already. Grinds and pops out of gear because it never had the retrofit done. That's why he is considering potentially doing the retrofit on it at some point (likely with my help). Since he works at the parts department I think he has hoarded enough parts over several years of searching that he might have a chance of getting it done. But he is leaning toward a 5 speed swap because they are so much better. If someone truly wanted me to attempt the job........ I'm going to charge double what a modern 5 speed rebuild would cost due to the effort, difficulty finding parts, R&D, substantial learning curve, custom tooling that will likely never be used again...... So about $5,000 GD

Why did the timing belt break at 95k? That never happens. Something fishy there. Asking price is too high for a ho-hum 12yo 2.5 outback from the rust belt. That's a $1000 car if that. GD

Honestly at the age of these electronics and with their inability to deliver real time diagnostic data...... if you really want to run that hot garbage I would just wire up a stand-alone to it. A LINK Monsoon would run that no problem and make diagnostics much easier. Not to mention you can just re-calibrate for any sensor drift issues, etc: https://dealers.linkecu.com/G4X-MonsoonX-ECU Also the CTS, etc testing should be done at the ECU connector, not at the sensor. Need to do both but it's what the ECU see's at the other end of the wires that's important. GD

Make sure it didn't just overheat and dump fluid out the vent or one of the lines you installed didn't rupture or pop off the nipple. Replacement 4EAT's are cheap, and labor is about 6 hours. I don't know what you consider obscene but when we replace automatic transmissions with used one's, it's usually less than $2k GD

Trust me - you don't want to pull apart the 4 speed. It's a NIGHTMARE inside. The parts are NLA. And the 3rd gear grind problem wasn't entirely the synco's, it involved an entire retrofit kit with shifter forks.... several sizes depending on what was measured once it was opened up. Last I checked not all the sizes were available and that was probably more than 5 years ago. If you want to know the gritty details you can talk to Matt at Lithia Subaru (parts department) in Oregon City. He owns several EA81's, has all the parts books going back to 1980, and has "investigated" doing the 3rd gear grind retrofit..... I trained him on transmissions but neither of us has ever actually done the 4 speed shift fork repair..... I took apart a 4 speed once - after making a special thin-walled 35mm socket to get it apart (had to turn it down on a lathe). There were so many shifter rail check balls, bullets, and springs in those units it will make your head spin right off your neck..... I literally *poured* the parts into the recycle after they sat there for a bit and I determined it just wasn't worth the effort.... I bet that was close to 20 years ago. I would toss it in the dumpster and install a 5 speed..... and I'm probably the ONE person on this forum that has come closest to actually fixing a 4 speed and has the capability to do it...... It's not worth it. The 5 speed was SOOOO much better in every way. Bulletproof at the EA power level, virtually never has syncro issues, it's shorter, smaller overall, and weighs less. The 5 speed shift linkage is to the 4 speed linkage as the Saturn V rocket is to a brick of moldy cheese. GD

All thread with nuts - then you have studs which aren't going to be as much of a problem in the future. GD

Make them yourself. All-thread, nuts and washers. Easy. GD

Charcoal canister is just a red herring. It can be deleted - even if it weren't flooded with gas it's still well past the age at which they are essentially useless. Unless you must have it for inspection reasons - just delete it and cap the vacuum lines to the intake. Check your CTS as Dave suggested. GD

I've never had to replace NA injectors. I wouldn't start there. And yes - check your fuel pressure. GD

2001's don't have immobilizers. Immobilizer key's started in 2005. GD

Don't discount the possibility of a plugged muffler. I've seen it. GD

Reliability was not that great and is worse now that there's no parts for them. A few were AWD - they are rare now. The heads crack and they have head gaskets issues. And they are a total b1tch to work on. The biggest issue is there's NO parts for them. So they really aren't feasible drivers. GD

Plugged exhaust is what it sounds like. GD

Have you checked fuel pressure? GD

Because they are junk in stock form. We can fix them and make a LOT of power, but in stock form they have problems. If you find one that's in good shape you can address the issues before they turn into major failures but it's not particularly cheap. It's about $4,000 to bullet-proof an EJ255/EJ257. That's fast approaching more than the car is worth. GD

You don't need a spring compressor for rear springs. Just have a friend push down on the top hat and start the nut. Rears don't have really strong springs. And yeah quick struts are typically garbage. If you can't do it then just pay a reputable shop. Primitive racing sells King raised height springs. We use them quite often to combat rear sag. Call them and get a recommendation and a quote. GD

Hands down the 91 to 94 Legacy Turbo. These are REALLY hard to kill. With even reasonable maintenance they just go forever. No banjo filters, no up-pipe cats, hydraulic lifters so no valve clearance exhaust valve damage..... and not enough power to hurt themselves. The 02 to 05 WRX EJ205 is a close second. With the up-pipe converter being the only real design flaw. It's easily removed. That is in 100% stock unmodified condition of course. With excellent maintenance. I have seen 250k+ from both (with original turbochargers). After those you get into turbo oil starvation, ring land failures, and oil pickup tube failures. These can be addressed before or (more often) after they fail, but if not addressed one of these will generally claim the engine at some point. GD