uniberp

You may have overfilled it. A/C systems are generally designed to automatically shift off during heavy acceleration. I don't know the circuitry but it seems it would come from the ecu/tcu. The compressor may also be failing and you may be burning up the ac clutch. Old ac simply doesn not work as well as new, and rebuilt compressors and expansion valves never seem to be as good as new. I always go for the bargain ones, however.

I searched this thread for the word "waterpump". There is no reason to suspect it other than it is the main source of coolant circulation. Maybe the impeller got loose. IDK.

Seems to me it's rare to see a saggy subaru. Maybe your front struts are frozen or sticking, upward. IDK either if soft springs would measure shorter side-by-side. Seems like they woudl be. I'd say pull the oem springs off the other and give it a try. New aftermarket ("King" progressives, I think) are pricey.

Search for an old post of mine on the technique of pre-drilling the the pinch bolt before removing it. I've done it several times and not busted a bolt head off since I started doing it this way.

Why do they specify HP-ATF for the later model 4EAT transmissions? What changed? Is the engine torquier? Is it just the taller stiffer low-profile tires or suspension changes? I took my 2008 Forester auto in for a recall which was a trans ECU thing, and they didn't notice the fluid was turning brown, so it's not like the dealer here really gives a hoot about customer cars. The reason the fluid was brown is because the children at the quick oil change place which I used one-time-only drained the tranny instead. At the time I didn't know ATF-AT was specified. They just refilled it when I could not pull out of the bay. Idiots. It was a year ago so I had no reason to drain it, and on the dipstick it was not noticeably brown. I rotate tires every other oil change 6K. They appear evenly worn, although the fronts took a bit more wear this time on the inside edge. Eveything is evenly work. Yokohama Geolanders OEM. 55k miles so far. The 1999 Forester fluid is fine, but hten it is down about 20% on HP due to age, I estimate. Is the HP the difference in 4EAT stress, or is it just the typical tailgating brake-jabbing American commuter Subaru has come to expect?

Tuner and intake mods IS abuse. :0

are you sure the fans are plugged in and working?

Oh I see now. It was late. As long as the plate was flat I guess it's ok, but, also, maybe different friction disc compounds cause different wear patterns. Maybe slip the clutch a bit to let it wear in. of course when you do that it will heat up and change the grab, so it may take time. Just guessing. I've lived with a bad grabby clutch for a long time before, just adjusted my driving style to deal with it and try not to get too irritated.

No, car never overheated, got a pro-built-and-assembled engine with original shortblock and new top end. New PCV, new valves, seals, everything but rings and bottom end. Old engine had 2 burnt valves, which is why I suspect coke buildup in at least that one cylinder. No error codes, no other running anomalies. It only happens at lower temperatures and then only has happenned twice, but is visibly and audibly obvious. It is not a "rich condition". OK, I guess i answered my own question. I'm gonna maybe soak the intake immediately before the next oil change with techron.

I did not see any mention of having the flywheel resurfaced. Could that be the problem? A glazed/worn flywheel?

1999 forester auto ej25 SOHC, with 1999 forester ej25 SOHC rebuilt top end engine. Twice it has done this in 150 miles/10 days of driving since I put in the engine with the rebuilt top end. Normally it is clattery for about 5-10 seconds. No smoke. Twice it has clattered longer, and a sizeable cloud of blue smoke occurs, then is gone when the engine gets quiets. The engine had a burnt valve prior to rebuild. My thinking is that cylinder might have sticky rings as a result. The question is, do I do something, like techron or the unmentionable "Cee-fome" which I generally dislike for any decent engine, or just let it run it's course and wait for the healthy engine to clean itself up?

That bolt looks complete and ok. I have one out now. It has about 20 threads.

I have an engine, and now a local contact who may be a valuable resource in the future. Cleanest home shop I ever saw. He has only subarus there, and says he has done 20+ engines. "99-05 + Subaru Forester / Outback / Legacy EJ251 / EJ253 SOHC 2.5L Engine. Cylinder heads: Pressure checked, cleaned, resurface, valve grind, 2 new exhaust valves, and valve lash adjustment. Cylinder Block: Cleaned, ( remove, check bottom end, and reseal oil pan ), ( remove, check, and reseal oil pump ) , remove and reseal PCV plate. Timing and water pump: Pulleys, tensioner, belt and water pump replaced within 10,000 miles. Plus new thermostat and gasket. Felpro gasket kit HS 26170 PT-1 used in repair of engine. All remaining gaskets from kit are included with engine assembly. ..." Talked at length about bottom end and bores, and I saw for myself the original crosshatching in a 150k+ mile engine.

Great answers. Those gave me some hope, but I checked with that plug and the noise is that distinctive "hammer on anvil" banging regularly with each rev. It had an external HG leak anyhow, and used a little oil, plus the piston slap. I found a few engines nearby for <$1500. If I'm wrong I'l have a handy spare or make a few bucks installing it for someone else.

99 Forester L 2.5 SOHC Phase II 160k miles with a failed rod bearing, I'm pretty sure. VIN has "6" 6th digit, and the 1999 is MAF. Very very bad noises. But it starts and idles no check engine light, so I doubt timing belt tensioner issues or a failed cylinder. It has had piston slap since 90k miles, and we lived with it. My choices are a junkyard motor for about $1500, or maybe just repair the rod bearing, but if I were to do that, it would be a whole gasket set ($250), bearing set ($60), a timing set ($125), and then it would make sense to do pistons ($240), plus valve job, incidentals and machine shop and the rebuild time. Writing it out pretty much settled it, I have to go the junkyard route in order to get this done this week. Can someone please confirm that any 2.5 sohc up to 2004 will work? I know there are some swaps of crank pulleys and sensors and stuff to back-compatible-it with non-variable valve timing stuff. But I may just repair that bearing and save the old shortblock for a frankenmotor. Or if someone want to chime in and say just clean up the journal, mic it for size, slap a new bearing in and call it good. It would still piston slap though. Hard to sell a soob to a noob with even that noise. Sympathies or constructive advice only thank you.

The sliding surfaces, both piston and bore, have to be PERFECT, no pits, rust, or even bright shiny marks. They will catch on the littlest thing. Best to use new/rebuilt calipers, IMO.

I've had bad wheel bearings with no play, no variable noise, couldn't even identify the wheel making noise except by process of elimination.

The best thing you can do for this car (in my opinion and experience) is KYB struts for an Outback. The spring seats are 1.5 inches higher, so the car sits up a bit, but not enough to make it feel tippy. They will also improve (firmer) handling immensely. Feels like a much newer car after. Springs may or may not make a difference. I don't even think bushings make much difference. Change the balljoints while you are at it. The sway bars are already beefy enough. Heavy bars cause bad bangs on expansion joints. It's a legacy, not a short wheelbase impreza.

Thanks all. I went ahead and did everything. Used a kit from Miz******* off ebay. I had hesitated because I have had tensioners (new style) and new water pumps fail. BUT ONE WEIRD THING: the new-out-of-the-box tensioner pulley bushing was too short. It should protrude just barely above the face of the eccentric core, to allow the tensioner to push it freely into position. When I bolted the new one in it was locked in place and would not shift back and forth at all. I used the old bushing and bolt. I didn't like the bolt that came with it either; full thread. The part is a "Kabuki QB-26030 60219 Tensioner Bearing". Beware. (NOTE: The vendor gave me a generous partial refund on the defective part after I told them about it. Highly recommended)

1997 Legacy auto (Legato) 2.2 180,000 miles. I was going to replace both balljoints, timing belt pulley and water pump before I gave it to my neice, but after replacing the right balljoint and finding out it was still tight and didn't need replacing after all, and removing the timing belt and finding that the pulleys still ran well (not free spinning) and the water pump was cleaner than the rest indicating it had been replaced already, I'm thinking of buttoning it up and sending it on. I did the timing belt when I bought it at 135k, just to be safe, and I'm thinking it's good for a couple years more. Can you honestly tell condition of pulleys by spinning? How about waterpump? Is it possible to identify an OEM for this car? I'd rather not remove it if it's sealed. Car is called the "Legato" for a reason. Never too quick, but good gas mileage (25) at 70 all day. When it got there. Rusty anyhow.

I never hear about replacing Soob injectors, but in my history, injector wear makes for bad mileage. Try some Techron.

Either the control arm or the crossmember, to which the rack, sway bar and control arms are mounted, may be bent. Since there are no 90-right angles, it's hard to see what damage there may have been. What bolt fell out? If the rear of the control arm was loose, maybe the front mount got bent.

By the time you actually see uneven out-of-round wear, the tires are shot.

I have seen that wear before, and chances are your new tires will wear the same way. There is an alignment issue, and a worn bushing or balljoint somewhere in there. The new tires will feel fine for a while, but because cars generally require positive toe, they will start to press against the worn bushing, reach a limit, and pop back out to another position, scrubbing the tire off just at the limit point. Since tires are not absolutely perfect, it will start with a minor variation in the tire profile, and eventually scrub a consistent section of the tire off. And to compound the problem, since these can have 4-wheel alignment issues, it could be caused by the rear suspension as well. Weak bushings are hard to spot, since all arms are supported by multiple bushings. I'd start with an alignment shop. Take the old tire with you to show. It is possible that it is a faulty tire, but in my experience they are rare now. A tire scrubbed that badly will be distorted in addition to the wear, so it may appear off round or center but only possibly because of the scrubbed patch.