lstevens76

190k is no big deal as long as maintenance has been done. Even when it hasn't you can usually DIY (if your willing) almost an entire car for less than a year worth of cheap car payments.

Ok, I hope to pick up the WRX struts and put them on tomorrow. I'll take pictures/video and show people what was done and how it was done. I'm also going to work on getting my garage empty this week. I want the OBS in the garage on Saturday and I think I'm going to go ahead and pull the engine and tear the heads off. The thing runs really good, almost too good. I can't hear any internal engine noise form it (not even lifter ticking). If I pick up a low mileage engine I still won't know the history and will have to get into it on top of the cost of the engine. Tearing into this one is my best option and since I won't have my son next week (starting Friday) I figure this weekend I can tear it down and spend all week working on it, getting parts, etc... and have it back together by the following Friday.

It's probably your valve cover gaskets leaking oil down onto your exhaust.

What exactly is wrong with the engine? Sometimes you can do better with just repairing what you have. Even a low mileage engine you won't know the history on.

that is your air conditioner compressor and the second radiator is the condenser for the air conditioning.

Do you have a picture of where the leak is located? Are you sure it's not just a gasket?

Besides the connectors themselves look for any grounds that may have been disconnected or broke.

Depending on where you live a bottle of heat or fuel stabilizer in the tank is always good for extended parking. You might also consider an oil change before parking it.

Yeah, I was thinking about it all wrong. I know the struts are bad and assumed the top hats are. But I probably won't know what else is wrong until I get the struts replaced. I think this is one of those cars I need to take it one step at a time. Unlike my Durango the guy didn't seem to care about this car. I don't know what I might find next because the guy did work just here and there partially doing things but not doing anything fully.

That was my point. I would pay $90 to $100 + a core for one already done.

This may be one of those with a VSS in the transmission as well as the speedometer. Also, there is an electronic one in the dash as well with the speedometer (although I hear that one rarely goes bad). Honestly it looks almost like someone unplugged a couple of things and forgot to plug them back in..................

You know, I was BS'ing with a friend the other day thinking someone should make a full knuckle swap assembly. Essentially something like this: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4785570&cc=1269019&jnid=523&jpid=0 but with the bearing already installed for us DIY guys without a hydraulic press.

I would go back to the person/company who did the head gaskets. It sounds like you have exhaust gases escaping into the coolant. One fast way to find out is rent a kit + buy fluid at Oreilly's and test for hydrocarbons. Do you know what gaskets they used to do the head job?

I was hoping to use those top hats. I guess I can get the Monroe ones from Amazon for $25/each. Bluntly I'm trying to do the struts as cheap as possible since most of the money is going to go into the engine. I can deal with a rough ride (although I know it's reaking hell on my suspension/steering) but if it won't go then there's no point to struts. lol

Parts would be: Head Gasket kit (OEM is around $250 online) Timing Belt/Water Pump + idlers (unless you know exactly when they were last replaced) around $180 on Amazon/ebay for a Mizumo/evergreen kit with an Aisin water pump. You'll want to have the heads checked for true. I would also replace the upper/lower radiator hose and the bypass hose (OEM is only a bit more than aftermarket online and fits better) about $40/$50

I've been on di, nasioc, and rs25 besides here. Asked on DI about it but no response yet. I did find that some newer springs will fit and vice a versa but it seems the 05/06 are a mystery no one has tried. Those measurements would be a help. Specifically the circumfrance. Thanks

Ok, love the advice and it's always nice to see people trying to help me make the right decision. But no one has yet answered the most pressing question. Will a '96 OBS (gf) springs fit on an '06 WRX (GD) strut and for the fronts will the '06 top hat work with my OBS springs?

Well I believe my OBS is over 200 (odometer is wrong because speedometer stopped working before I purchased and fixed it) on original struts. So 60 OEM struts are going to be immensely better than mine. lol

Do you have a check engine light on? A rough idle will usually cause one. Also, what plugs/plug wires? It is possible that with a bad etc and pcv you could have fouled a plug.

Ok, to update this I am looking at two options but running into a lot of "lack of information" or where people have tried it and never updated.............. Options: 1.) Full set of '06 WRX Struts without springs or rear top hats for $50 w/ 60k on them. The question I can't find the answer to is will the '96 OBS Springs fit on an '06 WRX Strut? I know the top hats for the front will fit, and I would want to replace the rear top hats anyways but the springs is the question. 2.) Full set of '98 Outback Strut Assemblies (springs and all) and I can probably get the trailing arms as well. Don't know cost (haven't asked yet) and they have 120k on them.

Ok, this engine has been hot at least 3 times I know of (by me). First was when it blew the cap, and I didn't realize it, before I did the thermostat. Next was when I was testing it after doing the thermostat and it blew the cap again. Finally it got hot on my way home after doing the blew devil from blowing the cap, this is when I realized the radiator neck was the problem and it would seat the cap at the halfway point but not the full point. I then got it hot again when I checked coolant and moved the cap just a hair to far and it popped. The difference is everytime this happened I pulled over and let it cool down before going and added water/coolant if I had it. The engine makes no noise outside of the noisy power steering pump and skateboarding idlers. So realistically I might be able to just do headgaskets and be ok. But this is what it comes down to, peace of mind. At the moment I'm on Disability working on some issues so I can get off. My income is very limited and I have a choice of 2 vehicles to drive, the Impreza or my Durango. Every other week I have my son and I commute 50+ miles per day on those weeks taking him to school and picking him up. That's 250+ miles a week, closer to 300+, on those weeks. Basically 1 full tank in either vehicle with the Impreza being 11 to 12 gallons a fill and the Durango being 20 to 23 gallons a fill (basically twice as much gas). If I go test out a good used motor and pull it, put it on a stand, then order parts as I can I will be in better shape if something happens to the motor in the Impreza. Regardless of what I have done on the used motor, if I do a full compression test and get good results I should be able to toss it in for an emergency fix if need be. Plus I believe I can pull the motor with the harness and it will have the TB Covers (which I don't currently have due to PO) and it will have the camshaft sensor which would either be low mileage or hopefully replaced. The current one is causing an intermittent no-start issue. The harness is due to a FUBAR harness mess the PO did to the alternator because it was supposedly shorting at the nut on the alternator. He put an extension on the alternator nut to raise it and cut the harness and reconnected it to make it fit. I could probably correct the harness, but if I can get a replacement with the motor.......... This also gives me the ability to go through an engine with my son and take my time doing it so he can learn, and there are some things I haven't done that I wouldn't mind learning to do but I that takes time. If I'm rushing to do a head gasket job mistakes get made and I can't do everything I want to.

I guess I should update this. Blue Devil sort of worked. I no longer have White Smoke nor am I pouring water out of the exhaust. I can drive over 50 miles and not overheat, but it seems I'm still pushing combustion gases into the coolant. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it seems like it. I'm also not going to bother testing for it. At this point I know I need to do something so I'm putting together a parts list, etc... It needs to get me by through the week and seems like it will do that then I will have this upcoming weekend to go spend at the pick-a-part and find a good engine, pull it, and get ready to work on it and swap it in. If you have combustion gases in coolant, the pour'n'go is not the solution and I already knew that in the back of my mind. Basically you need to use the full product, with water, and the thermostat out. You idle it for 50 minutes and then shut it down, let it completely cool off overnight, then run it again. The reason for this is to give the product the opportunity to get into that spot where the combustion gases are coming out. The reason I'm not doing that is because a used engine is $230 at the pull-a-part, a head gasket kit is $60 for a cheap one, etc.... Running Blue Devil is $100 roughly by the time it's said and done. Since I will be doing the work myself I would rather put that $100+ into the parts.

Ok, that blower motor was much easier to get out than I expected. Funny part is, I bench tested it right there in the car and worked upside down so I put it back in, and it didn't work. It doesn't work when in the correct position to be installed. lol And the air bubbles are out of the coolant and no more white smoke. It appears Blue Devil bought me time. I think due to that I'm going to replace the radiator and blower motor first. Then I can put together the parts to either replace the engine, which is what I am looking at primarily, or repair this one (or both?). Either way it bought me time so I can fix other things. The big problem is I got myself into one hell of a project with the engine issues. I really didn't expect major engine issues based on the test drives (both at good temperatures). Right now I need to fix things as I can so I can trace down other problems. Problems like the struts and the missing cargo area flooring/grommet are creating a lot of noise/vibration issues making it harder to trace down other issues. There's someone with a '99 Outback and has all 4 struts (complete assemblies) and another with a full set of '06 WRX Struts (without springs). The Outback struts would work, not sure about the WRX struts, and both options would be less than $100. I'm considering both options, but the outback struts would require the trailing arms and I don't think the WRX Struts will.

You're in the US so hop on Rock Auto. A full set of KYB GR2 on rockauto is about $250 + shipping and then you get a $40 rebate when you buy all 4. This does not include upper strut mounts or boots/bellows but I suspect advanced wasn't including those either.

I just did the upper/lower's but first they didn't fit worth a damn, even after cutting to fit, and the upper got covered in coolant/blue devil due to the cap so I was t hinking of replacing those with OEM anyways since I can get the OEM's fairly cheap (few dollars more than After market). I wasn't sure about the rest of the cooling hoses though, are any of them prone to failure? Yes, it's an auto which is why I bought it and I'm fixing it. I have shoulder issues and although I love a standard, I can't drive it daily without pain. I read somewhere else on that breather cover (maybe on your website?) but not sure where I'm looking for that at. Thanks.