GeneralDisorder

Outer lip of the seal needs to be dry or it may tend to squirt back out. They go in with a fair amount of force (compression) and any lube can make the job impossible. Dow Corning Molykote 111 for the lip. Should be installed just on the inside edge of the chamfer. With the Viton cam/crank seals we don't touch them unless we need to take apart the head or replace the oil pump. If you do - same procedure, just find a socket that fits. GD

I would try a normal seal puller..... maybe a large flat blade screwdriver.... I hesitate to make these suggestions because it does require a good amount of force but a gentle touch as to not mar up the crank or seal pocket. It's a bit like a game of Operation but with less buzzers and more consequences...... Yeah you shouldn't have touched it. GD

Throwing away full synthetic after only 3-4k is a waste of money. Go with longer intervals and spend the savings on proper synthetic like Amsoil. Mobile is consumer grade and OEM specified - not the best you can get. Don't even bother doing the HG's. Just get a JDM engine. Not worth the labor to do it. And I would highly recommend dumping the Tribeca and getting an Outback or similar after you "fix" it. Those were limited production and were not an economic success. They never worked out all the bugs and they discontinued the platform. It will not be a viable platform long term. GD

Yeah - I figured a bad MAP sensor was probably what you would find. The AAIS is really inconsequential as the engine will run fine even with that removed. Glad you found the problem. GD

Haven't had any problems with excessive lube (and we use quite a bit) causing any gasket contamination. Yeah - that's an OLD machinist who doesn't understand or believe in gasket technology of the last 30 years. Even my Fel-Pro .015" shim gaskets for my Vortec come with BIG BOLD instructions that the surface finish MUST be better than what was originally required even at the factory for the composition gaskets. I have to deck the block and the head to get a proper seal with the single layer shim gaskets. And both my machinist and my cylinder head shop use a CBN cutter to accomplish this. NEVER go back to that guy. I wouldn't even surface a tractor head on a belt sander. That's not going to yield a true surface - in fact those heads might be junk. Need to check them not just for flatness and Ra but also for the surface being square to the head. Have to check it with a height gauge on a granite surface plate. GD

04's do not leak coolant from the HG's.

Where are you long term and short term fuel trims? What's your idle MAF grams/second? GD

Nice. The guy resurfaced those on a belt sander. It's probably borderline for surface Ra. A proper surfacing should have been done either by lapping or with a CBN fly-cutter. GD

Definitely due for timing belt. It's 105k or 10 years whichever comes first. Doubt that's the cause of the misfire coding though. Probably has oil leaking head gaskets too. Par for the course. GD

Yeah time to find another machinist. Although heli-coil kits are generally something stocked at the mechanic level. All the machine shops I use make these things happen without them being my problem. I dropped it off so I could go back and do what *I* do - if I wanted to figure it out I would just do it myself. I have a lathe, and a mill, and I'm not afraid to use them. I just don't have the time. GD

5.5 seems too low to even be possible - I've never seen an engine pull that much vacuum. Remember that the absolute sensor reads ~29.92 at sea level and the most the engine can pull would be about 22-23 if it were absolutely perfect and new and idled smooth. So that's about a theoretical minimum sending unit reading of around 7. I would be suspecting that sensor or the wiring/connector with that much variation in the readings. Use water to check for vac leaks. Take a water bottle, poke a hole in the lid, and sprinkle it around. GD

It would be pretty hard to screw anything up using those. You are just polishing up the surface a bit and removing any old gasket residue. Put rags in the cylinders. GD

Probably noise in the cam position sensor. Unfortunately that's a real tough one to diagnose over the internets. GD

Timing belt tensioner. Must use an NTN.

13.8 at idle means you have about 16 in/hg of idle vacuum. Acceptable idle vacuum range is typically 18 to 22 in/hg and a non-turbo Subaru EJ engine will usually be around 20. Given that the KOEO sensor reading coincides with barometric pressure I would be looking for why the engine vacuum is low. Obviously there can be many reasons for this - possibly a vacuum leak or retarded valve timing comes to mind at the top of that list. GD

Skip NO steps. Regardless of bolt newness. Repeat each of the ft/lb torque sequences till they do not turn any further. If that takes three times or 50 times - once you run through the sequence and they no longer turn you can move on. Obviously this does not apply to the angle torque values. If you get creaking (stick-slip), STOP and take it apart. Yes chase the threads with an old bolt. And then you need to lube them with Amsoil Engine Assembly Lube. Lube the bolt threads of one bolt, run it in and out of each hole with the head off a couple times - relubing between each. Apply assembly lube LIBERALLY to each bolt and between the bolt head and top of the washer (not between the washer and the head). Make sure you use the small washer bolts in the corners and the big washer bolts in the center. You must use something like the Amsoil lube. Regular engine oil won't handle the load and will creak. Once you achieve ZERO creaking you are doing it right. Creaking means false torque readings and in all likelyhood insufficient clamping. My point was your machinist is a hack. I bought an Ra meter (used) for about $350. It's a neat little tool and a proper machine shop would own one (maybe several) in order to ensure they achieve proper specified surface roughness for any given application. This doesn't only apply to cylinder heads - lots of things need to have specific surface qualities. GD

NO SEALANT. Pull it apart and check everything. You have done something horribly wrong. I can measure Ra finish. I bought a meter for it. And I'm not even a machinist. Use the Subaru head gasket part number ending in 770. GD

You just clean it with the white 3M bristle wheel. That's all you can do without complete block disassembly. GD

18" steel wheels with studs for the winter. If she accidentally slides into a curb the steel wheels will save her suspension. Alloys will DESTROY the under carriage and bend EVERYTHING. Steel wheels will just flex or bend in half - saving your suspension and cradles. And really - the salt will just eat the hell out of nice alloys. Anyone that rocks nice alloys on salted winter roads is just stupid. You can't go any smaller than 18 without hitting the calipers. GD

No - looks like a hack mounting job. Redesign it. GD

If you believe the marketing claims of lifetime fluid (who's lifetime anyway? The lifetime of the transmission? LOL), then I've got some amazing (magical even) bean investment opportunities for you. Regardless - the manual lays out what conditions the fluid should be changed under - and 90% of all the drivers out there fall under one of the "severe use" conditions - at least in part. And under those conditions the fluid needs to be changed every 25k. So no - it is not lifetime, and really never was. The marketing people got their fingers in that pie and inserted very narrow conditions under which the fluid should last a "lifetime" (the lifetime of the powertrain warranty anyway - 60k - LOL). What a crock. It's sad that people still fall for marketing after being beaten down by it for hundreds of years. GD

True. But generally they are working fine when we do this and if we suspect it's not or see an abnormal amount when we drain it then we will go through the procedure. It's not rocket science and these are really just fancy automatic's with pusher belts and variable pitch pulley's in place of the planetary gearing systems of old. They still have the same basic hydraulic systems, torque converters and clutches of the old conventional auto's. GD

Front lower rear control arm bushings. They are always bad by 75k. Causes wandering and floating. OEM strut mounts. GD

Other than removing the big block plug that's been in there for over 20 years, it's very simple. GD

We just drain it, measure what comes out, and put that much back in. Much easier than all that messing around. GD