montana tom

Go check it out... could be a diamond. On your test drive run it up hard ,work it ,who cares if the salesman is sitting there. Then pop the hood and look on top and underneath to see if anything shows . If its nice and your serious, make the dealer write it up that any leaking that starts in a reasonable period will be repaired by them no charge. Try offering cash (if you can afford it) money talks. 13,000 is very high but 14,000 documented miles is low. Try to find out why its got low miles , could be a little old lady from Albany going to church on sunday. Or could have sat in a climate controlled garage... just as easy it could have been exposed to the weather. Worth a look.

Great site BB thank you for posting.

steel belt failing in one of your tires ? Bent rim ?

Well here in the backwoods my straight time is only $65.00 hr (things change slow around here). They are not saying, parts house is guessing $45.00. or pay my rate and challenge book time hrs 9.1 by my books for a head gasket both sides. We will see ... at least they are not saying its somehow my fault!

Torque converter should have stayed in the tranny, now you will need to make sure that it is seated completely before trying to reinstall your motor. Has to properly mate with the pump inside tranny. The face of torque converter (the bolt holes ) should sit just 1/4" or so in from the bellhousing. Must have room for the engine to completely bolt up tight to the bellhousing and be able to turn torque converter by hand to line up converter bolts. If it is not seated completely and you tighten the motor up ,you will ruin the front pump in tranny. I would take the time to reinsert this long before i was thinking of reinstalling the engine. Could take you a few tries. You might also consider replacing the lip seal on the tranny since you have the converter off. Standard practice is never let the converter slide off if your not removing the trans.

Recently I installed a timing belt and component kit on a 2006 obw. Simple job , went well.... Ordered parts from local parts house... first mistake.. should have gone to subaru. Parts that were sold to me were dayco ,(american made right ??) they looked good ,nothing on the box about being made in china.... new belt ,new tensioner ,new idlers. Cars owner was out of town for a few weeks, so her husband picked up the car and brought it home. 2 weeks later on a friday night I get a call , 50 miles down the road and her car looses power coasts to the side and now is cranking over "fast" ...classic broken belt. I told them to have it towed in and i would see what had happened. That night,I am going over in my head ,is there any way i forgot to tighten something ?? I've installed over 100 of these so I doubt it but.... maybe i was distracted. Sunday morning instead of relaxing, I'm at the shop popping the covers off to see what went wrong. As soon as i had the main cover off it was very apparent, the roller on the brand new tensioner self destructed in 50 miles !!! destroyed everything. what was left of the belt was melted to the remains of the roller, the other idlers and the water pump all had multi colored rollers from getting to hot. After talking to the parts house about warranty repair (yes they will cover it ) I removed the heads and yup bent all 32 valves . So now heads are off getting resurfaced and new valves and seals. My customer has several vehicles so she is not stranded and her car will be good as new when she gets it back .. even gets new head gaskets. I however had to bump scheduled cars out to fit her in . I wasn't allowed to replace the valves,parts house had to do it at their shop. I'm waiting however long till they send them back. They will pay my time but at the warranty rate (A real ripoff). While the steam was slowly venting out my ears I called over to the subaru stuff shop in Idaho, told them what had happened. They informed me that not only were dayco parts being made in china but GATES was as well ! I was shocked I have recommended gates kits to many people and installed more of them than subaru parts. They said gates had been good for years but recently started manufacturing in china!!! They will now only install original subaru or koyo (Japanese made) timing parts. I guess from this point on despite the extra cost that is all I will install as well .

I suspect your cam sensor is heating up. If possible switch one in from another car to see if it works. Knock sensor will default the computer but it will keep running. Cylinder misfires would happen if cam sensor is malfunctioning . Loose belt ???? Was it still in time when you checked ? Tensioner and idlers should have been changed but I have seen many that they were not.... until they fail its no problem. Loose tensioner will usually cause a knock, very noticeable at low speed.

Myself I prefer the 00-04 year group. They will need head gaskets at some point ,with the 03-04 slightly improved. I do a lot of heavy hauling and pulling with my 01 and the 00-04 year group seems to haul a load better than the newer ones.

Not your K&N , I run them on both my obw's with no ill effects.

I try to run non ethanol in my 2000 obw and here it is only sold as high octane premium . 20 mpg sounds way low .. mine is 23 towing a heavy load and 25-28 under normal conditions. Of course there is almost no city driving around here, so its 70 + unless we hit the interstate then its 80 +. I always run my tires at 40 psi all the time and I bump up the rears to 45 psi when towing. As far as the fuel making that big a difference with your problem... I doubt it. I think something else is causing your bucking and low milage. Plugs wires and fuel filter are always a good starting point for this kind of problem. Time will tell , you will get this figured out. As LT said try replacing your knock sensor , might not throw a code but could be part of the problem.

$ 2800 for head gaskets...must be a dealership ! Get another estimate or drive to montana and i'll do them for $800. After you repair your hg you should expect 200,000 + miles with nothing more expensive than timing belt / component replacement and regular maintenance. Keep the oil & air filters changed, never never ever ! let it get hot , and any subi should go 300,00+ miles.

I don't have one that new but , my buddys 2013 did that and it was the key ! The dealer did something and gave them a new key. There was a lot to be said for pre computer cars of the past.

Here's a few things to check. I assume that you have tried starting in neutral ? Jumping have no effect ? Look for the small power wire leaving the positive terminal. This should feed power to the underhood fuse box. Is there power at the fuses ? Excessive corrosion at battery ? In park if you know how...try jumping the solenoid at the starter.

Yes <$500.00 is a reasonable target, should be less. Piston rings, bearings , cam seals , subaru head gaskets . I wouldn't buy a full gasket kit just what you need ( especially the ones mentioned in my earlier post) , many can be reused. Not a lot of gasket material to clean up, hot tanking will be a luxury. Tube of ultra grey for the case. timing belt/ components ? have they been changed ? That would add cost. As far as keeping it clean, just follow common sense motor rebuilding 101. When you hone your cylinders, clean bores with paper towels and marvel mystery oil till the towel stays clean. Unless your humidity is so high that water drips off the ceiling, i would not worry too much. I cover everything with clean shop towels . If there is a lot of debri in the air (dust ) then cover over all with plastic.

Wow , you weren't kidding ! That shop took this guy for bunches. 109.98 to replace the alt belt !!!!

good that it has new coolant and you are correct about the fans and 70 mph. Pressure test the cooling system to see if it holds pressure, inspect the bottom of the heads where they contact the block , you're looking for any coolant seeping out. Borrow a laser temp gun and check temps in different spots on the rad. If that looks questionable then I would consider replacing the radiator. It should not climb in temperature so much that it has to cool off before the a/c will kick on. If you install a new thermostat ,buy a genuine subaru part, they are much better than the parts house replacement one. If you drain the antifreeze out to replace any parts always refill from the upper rad hose before filling the rad. This will fill the block behind your thermostat and you won't get any air pockets.

My 2000 obw with 275,000 miles on it ,will run all day with A/C on in the mountains at 100 degrees + at 75 -90 mph and never move the temp gauge. My 2001 obw will creep the temp gauge up on the long steep hills .... i flip the blower fan off when i see this start to happen , car has more power for hill climb and temp gauge stops rising. Both these cars have had the head gaskets done, the 2001 most likely has a poor radiator. Flipping off the ac for the time it takes to go up hill is nothing, but if it bothers you, then do the head gaskets ,(you did lose fluid) if it needs it, replace the radiator/ thermostat and confirm your fans are working. The 99 obw is a good car , should get you 25-28 mpg and last over 300,000 miles , before needing TLC. The DOHC engine is powerful but is known for needing head gaskets ... big deal ... fix them properly and carry on. If you have college kids then the last one in could inherit the properly fixed subi, you won't need it anymore.

Wow, thats a big project , and with an unknown ez30 with no heads , no exhaust , no intake ????? all because a water pump is failing ? And you're doing it to a postal ? You have toys already, this swap would be a large can of worms for you or anybody .Especially since you have no experience with engine swaps. I would fix your ej22...it's a great motor,in fact it's bulletproof ! OOPs just noticed yours is a 98 ej22 not quite as bulletproof as a 95 back but still a good motor. Much simpler and faster if all you need is a running postal. EDIT..Just looked at your photos ... you bought a long block not a short block, with heads and intake all for $100 BUYER BEWARE either you got the deal of the century or you bought somebody else's problem motor... did the seller say anything ?

Sunroofs and subarus seem to be nothing but trouble. On our 2001 obw limited it leaked , after much grief, it was the body seams under the headliner... good grief ! Now it does not leak but recently it started this new trick... front sunroof opens fine... just won't shut... SO if you keep trying to open it will now open the rear sunroof ... wide open, real rain catcher! .... then will not shut either of them , after both are open if you hold your tongue just so ...lift your right foot an inch... it will shut both properly GRRR Wife and I have learned to leave it alone but anybody else that gets in has to try it out. Point of the story LEAVE IT SHUT and disconnect the power to it !

Start with what year and model you have. Seems to me you unplugged or... broke something when shoving the tweeters into place. Only answer is take it back apart and hope it is just unplugged.

I would guess 96-99 obw but that is based on the body type.

On my 2000 obw , I had to buy a complete driveline, Unless i wanted a wrecking yard one shipped in for $$$ . On my 94 legacy I sent the driveline to a shop and they added greasable, replaceable u joints. Could be the same for a 98. Same driveline shop said it couldn't be done on a 2000 + I needed a new driveline. Give a driveline shop a call and ask , could be you could just repair your shaft. Highly doubt an impreza shaft would be the correct length. I don't believe a 2000 up would work either. Someone else may have direct experience with interchange. Good luck

Sounded like you are familiar with wrenches... if so you can do this yourself. watch a few videos to gain some insight. Tear down the motor yourself, fair chance the crank will be ok , rods may need resizing on the big end. Apx $100 or so. have them check your crank for sizing. buy correct size bearings for it. You said motor was fine other than pressure ... if you don't want to change them, chances are your rings are fine ,allowing you to leave the pistons in the bore. Some good new head gaskets, reuse intake & exhaust gaskets , same for valve covers. I wouldn't bother replacing the head bolts , just the sealing washers on the 6 large case bolts (they seal the water system from the oil) and as stated very important to replace the case O rings. Not all shops are truly familiar with subaru motors, if it were me I would do it myself.

It should be the rods not the mains.But change out both. Be sure to order half block o rings and case bolt sealing washers before reassembly . Here is the link for them on ebay 142038603617 and 131655496434 same company, subaru parts online. You will also want a tube of ultra gray for sealing the case halfs.

As somic said rock auto can send wrong parts. Look closely at your original connector ,compare it to the picture of the new one, if the connectors match you will be ok. I bought one for my 2000 obw recently... no problem with fitment, even got the cel to go off... 3 weeks later its back on, same code. Thank goodness montana does not have emission testing .