montana tom

we need a little more information . better pictures. Your first one is very clear of your fingers ... the next i'm not sure what we are supposed to see? I do see the wire going down to the o/2 sensor ... is that the one ?

yes , its an oil cooler, as far as your leak ... start at the oil pressure sending unit and go down

The price is right..... O/2 sensor is a common code to cause a check engine light to come on. Unfortunately there are many things that can cause that particular code. Changing the O/2 is basic enough but may not fix your problem. Check for posts on this forum about faulty O/2 codes po420 . For me, if the car is clean ,with reasonable mileage I would buy it.

Why are you changing the head gaskets? Hopefully your knocking is the tensioner. Don't see how head gaskets could give it a knock.

I prefer the one bolt style, but others may like the 2 bolt better. Since your block is set up for the 2 bolt, may as well stick with that.

no need for a plunger. And no, home depot will not have the copper contacts. If there is a starter / alternator shop in town they may have a set ,or could order what you need, otherwise use solder , i always use silver solder but others have used regular flux solder. Clean it, flux it , melt a layer of solder ... let cool , use flat file to smooth and flatten. Bolt it all back together making sure that you reinstall everything exactly as it was removed.and your good as new.

helecoil or another brand like it.

LOL; be careful of everything... yup filler neck hose and breather hoses will be stuck , have patience... with luck you may be able to just lower part of the tank leaving some connections alone ... make sure you support it so its not pulling on 20 year old rubber lines. Figure out which brake line is leaking and where it goes, apx measure the length add plenty of extra ,then... if there is another line that is not leaking ... replace it as well ! Remove the old lines before going to the parts house... that way you will have the correct size fittings. When installing new lines work by hand only until threads are started, using a wrench will almost always cross the threads (you don't want to do that) If you do not have one you will want a flair nut wrench for the fittings , most likely 10 mm, they will be tight and frozen . its OK to break the old line in half to aid removal if necessary. Use of vice grips on the old lines is common. Try not to use on the remaining original line. Replace all the lines and you will never have to do this again... just do the one that leaks and you will be experienced when you do this again next winter... As a note, you buy brake line in generic lengths at any parts house , measure long and coil up the extra .

You don't want to create a union. Track the line till you find a factory union and replace the line to there. You may need to drop the tank ... or determine start and stop points and feed a new line into place, with the fuel tank in place. Its a knuckle buster of a job , not hard but in tight spaces.

Repair what you already have. Look on page 2 on this forum for a post from speedwagon called "starter or relay" in it I describe how to check and fixed the solenoid on your starter.

Clean at the throttle body, no sense cleaning a plastic tube. Will it set a code ? maybe... just clear it. Disconnect the battery for 30 minutes , go to parts house and have them clear codes or.... spend 20 bucks and buy a cheap reader and then you will have one of your own.

I'm confused; car starts good runs 3-4 seconds goes click pop and now it shake rattles and doesn't roll out of your driveway ? Then you "fix " the timing ??? what exactly are you doing ? then it starts fine again one time for 3-4 seconds ? then shakes again ? There is no timing adjustment on EJ motors ... is the belt off time each try ? If it is then its amazing it hasn't bent the valves yet. Try to identify whatever is going click pop that may help narrow it down.

Mine had a bad tensioner ... the noise came and went but was very loud and obnoxious when happening. Very diesel sounding. When / if you change it ... Buy only subaru or Japanese made parts. I recently did a maintenance change of timing belt / tensioner and all rollers on a 2006 obw. bought reputable parts (i thought) american made and what i got was an american name on china parts... the roller on the tensioner went apx 50 miles before self destructing and bending every valve in the motor !

my 2000 outback 2.5 sohc hood sticker says intake .010 or .025mm , exhaust .015 or 30mm that exhaust # is odd as .015 is 38 mm ..., .012 is 30 mm Hastings says .007- .009 on intake & .010- .012 on exhaust.

Nothing wrong with an oil pan heater, combine it with a heated battery blanket and your subi will be fine to well below zero. Another option would be a radiator hose heater, but space could be a limiting factor with one of them. Warm oil and a warm battery and your subi will start in any temp. One advantage to the horizontal boxer motor is that the oil gets out to the cams quickly even in deep cold temperatures. With your oil pan heater that oil will think its 30 above zero ... not 30 below !

The cover plate for the solenoid is held on with 3 screws . Remove the cover pull out the plunger and look inside..., there will be 2 copper contacts that the plunger connects when you energize the solenoid. If the problem is your solenoid then you will see one copper contact on the left is in pretty good shape ... the one on the right will have a plunger size depression worn into it ... this keeps the plunger from sending power to the starter side of the solenoid. Either remove and replace that contact or remove it and use silver solder to build it back up , then use a flat file to smooth it off. I have made the silver solder repair many more times than replacing the contact and I have never had one come back.This style starter solenoid is in subis, , toyotas , Mitsubishi and many more. On a subaru it is very easy to remove the starter. MUCH MUCH cheaper to repair it then replace.

Hi Griz; Legacy 90-95 2.2 non interference motor , great first car 96-99 2.2 is an interference motor still a good car, 96-99 dohc motor used in outback, interference and bad head gasket issues. . Outback 2000-2004 good car has seeping head gasket issues (not bad) Foresters have same motor with same issues, some people love them... I think they are too boxy.

shelly; We need more info. What year / model car do you have ? What engine? You changed the fuel pump yourself in a parking lot ?? was the fuel tank full of water ? crud ? Did the old fuel filter have anything in it ? If not you could have a cracked fuel line that is sucking air. Have you had the engine codes read ?

+1 on daves post. I have never heard of head gaskets going "dry" Put it back together and run it.

Never had this happen on a subi. I would definitely suspect that " new" off brand oil pump. Especially if you never removed the oil pan and pick up tube. Open up the front again and inspect , maybe even install the original pump instead. You don't want your main/rod bearings running dry or you'll be splitting the case.

Call foreign engines -1-800-552-1595 they are located in coeur d alene Idaho and lynwood Washington, they should be able to help you, and they ship.

Call back ,arrange to talk to the guy who diagnosed it. He may have good reason.. but really have you seen a subi yet that lost a valve at 145,000 ? Maybe under race conditions but a go to work car that has been properly maintained ? If I read your post right , it was running normal and her check engine light came on so she took it in to see why ? Or was it running like xxx ? I understand your hesitancy to say drive it 6 hrs. She could try another shop locally to get a second opinion... but if it was/ is running normally and you would like a visit, then after her tune up tell her that you'll grill steaks if she buys the beer.

wow, now I've heard it all ! Need a new engine at 145,000 on a subaru...... All for a check engine lite ??? A misfire! A few drops of water getting by the filter will throw a misfire code. Sounds like they want to make money from your friend, not fix her car. Shops like that are why people hate mechanics.

Stevo; Replace the rubber line to the slave cylinder. Subaru had some issues with the line and the slave cylinder, in the 00-04 model. Your 05 could have gotten left over parts. You already replaced the cylinder , the rubber line should take care of it.

The thing is if it breaks....it won't be cheap! That said, if it was me I would pop off the easy belt cover and inspect the belt. Any checking ,cracking, all the printing worn off ... all are signs that its better done sooner than later . If you belt looks good chances are you have another year.