GeneralDisorder

Input shaft bearing. Put in a 5 speed. The 4 speed is garbage. GD

No. And that's incredibly stupid. The 2.5 in the 2008 is a great engine. The 2.2 hasn't got the torque to pull that pig. GD

Center diff could have fragged, or it could be in multiple gears at once.... or the trans is just toast. Going to have to open it up and see. GD

Honestly I couldn't say. In 20 years of working on Subaru's I have changed only one heater core. They last almost forever, and once they fail the car has so little value no one wants to pay to change it. They scrap the car instead. The cost is about $1500 when you figure the labor, heater core, coolant, and hoses. It's more than your 95 is worth at this point. If you do it yourself it's not too bad, but it's an ugly job. The coolant conditioner is worth a try. GD

You have to pull the dash and then pull the HVAC box out of the car and split it in half. Yes this requires disconnecting the AC. It's a 10 hour job. GD

It's a combination of 2.0 and 2.5 parts.... thus a hybrid of the two. Cost is typically $6k to $8k depending on many factors. Of course that's "typical". I have customers with over $20k into their drivetrain. Usually making well beyond 500 HP of course. GD

Flatten them a bit to increase their OD. Use some loctite 609 for retaining. Pound them in with a socket. GD

It's fairly normal to not go all the way to 5v on TPS sensors. 4.5v is typical. Also you can't get 5v if the 5v supply isn't putting out 5v. Check the supply voltage from the ECU. GD

I have 30" swampers with 6 lug on my 10" t-case lifted hatch and have never had a spline failure. The cone washer is a mechanical shaft locking device. Properly installed it carries the load. GD

When it goes, you do a hybrid with a 2.5 bottom end, and hybrid forged pistons to use the 2.0 heads. GD

Yep. Stolen. Happens all the time. GD

Stripped hubs are because of improper installation and bad cone washers, etc. Has nothing to do with the lift. Everything to do with the quality of the mechanic. GD

Turbo models don't have head gasket problems. Never have. Those engine often go about 250k. Then they are just shot. Main line journals get too out of spec and they throw rods. GD

Yeah that is the state of demand for Subaru engines in the PNW. Our cars don't rust at all (seriously - AT ALL) so you can have a car that's 15+ years old and just needs an engine but is otherwise perfectly fine. So the demand here is very high, and the supply is very low - since they don't rust out. We basically have to wait for them to get wrecked to get good low mileage engines worth having. There are high mileage ones out there where the car just was at end of life but no one wants those. GD

We knew it was coming. I've been telling people for years. 10 YEARS AGO Subaru of America was sold out on EA81 oil pumps, and was ordering them in batches of LESS THAN 10 a few times a year. That means they were only selling at most 20 units in an entire year. And I was buying them 3 at a time to have on hand. I told people this was coming. No one listened. If properly maintained with synthetic and quality filters the oil pumps will last a long time. But these engines were subject to 1980's oils when synthetic was almost unheard of, and decades of abusive ownership with $hit filters and irregular oil changes - most of these engines need a new pump by now. And if they don't get it (and half the time even if they do) bottom end damage will (has) been done. I've personally thrown rods on several EA81's due to poor oil pump performance. GD

Depends on where you get the used motor. Around here if you want a runner they run about $1500 for the complete engine. They are in high demand in the NW. Then you need to do head gaskets which is $2250 including all parts and labor with new timing, etc. I can get you a short block from Japan for about $1200 with 40-60k on it..... the Subaru reman short block is $2350. So could save about $1150 or so there. So with a JDM short block, all parts and labor.... looking at about $3450. Add radiator and hoses for another $250. All would be covered by our standard warranty including the short block so 12 months / 12,000 miles. GD

Yep we are. There's a fair few still around. If you want to collect a bunch of parts cars. But it's an uphill battle that you're one the downhill losing side of at this point. 20 years ago was the time to start collecting parts and parts cars. I was buying these cars for $500 or less running and driving back in the early 2000's. I finally purged the majority of my EA parts a couple years ago - had to make room in the shed. I had a mountain higher than me (and I'm 6' 2") that went to the recycle because no one wanted them. GD

No. You need a 1999 to 2004 Legacy engine or an engine from a Baja. If you are considering new, we are usually doing Subaru reman short blocks. They are 3 year/36k warranty from Subaru (when professionally installed). We do these all the time for about $4800. Call the shop if you are interested in having us do it up right for you. You can buy those engines yourself but the warranty doesn't cover non-professional installation. GD

+1. But you aren't going to find any OEM CV's that are still worth having. I haven't seen one in more than a decade. EA81 factory CV worth using? You would have more luck unicorn hunting. Seriously that's an impossible request. And he's absolutely right - all the aftermarket offerings were Chinese and weren't worth owning when they were new in the box. It's OVER for the EA chassis. There's way too much stacked against driving them. I OWN A SUBARU SHOP and have been driving these since I was 18 (I'm 39). Parts were hard 21 years ago. Now it's impossible. GD

All newer models are considerably wider. The EA82 shafts are also not available. So you are talking about going to an EJ shaft. That's like 4" wider stance, and uses completely different joints on both ends requiring different knuckles, wheel lug pattern. The list goes on. It's really not feasible. You may as well just go to the entire EJ chassis. All that work isn't worth doing and the results of engineering your own suspension geometry will be a mess. Just. Don't. GD

There aren't any. That's what I've been trying to convey. You can't buy them. No one makes them. Period. How large of a market do you suppose there is for early 80's Subaru parts? Yeah think about that for a minute. No manufacturers are going to support a product they sell a few tens of a year. Not going to happen. You can't even find brake calipers. Go ahead - try! GD

The 3AT auto has some serious flaws. Oil pump driveshaft splines.... none of which can be fixed. Again no parts. And even the EA82 dual range transmissions can hardly be found anymore. It's just not worth messing with any of the EA platform cars anymore. They are nothing more than occasional drivers curiosities now. Aircraft aren't really using them anymore either. Most are going with the EJ engines. The timing belts are extremely reliable if maintained properly. It's not worth bothering with the EA81. last one I built.... customer went through at least 6 used engines to find a viable starting point. It took 2 years to collect the parts to make it happen. It's going in a low mileage family keepsake. Not going to be driven daily. And the cost was far in excess of the value of the car. I think it was just shy of $4k for an engine ready to drop. I do this every day. For a living even. If anyone can do it I can. And I still don't. Last summer I brought my lifted EA81 hatch back up to driving/wheeling status for probably the last time. Once the engine or the dual range is done that will be the end of the EA drivetrain in it. Not just the engine either - critical parts like throttle and clutch cables are in extremely short supply and will never be made again. Subaru doesn't care anymore. They used to. Now critical parts for 05 to 09 Legacy platforms are already being phased and going NLA... forever. GD

No, and you can't enough parts for the EA81 anymore to make it viable. Don't bother with it. Subaru killed it off now that you can't get oil pumps, valves, and a host of other stuff. It's a dead platform. Get a Legacy. GD

In my experience, freeing them up like that will only last a few days then they go back to seized. I've tried that a couple times. Get it on order. GD

Yep. Easy. Two bolts, slide it up and pull it out. Jus get a new one from Subaru. They fail - its not uncommon. GD