Phermenter

Thanks all. After further inspection, the front crumple zone has several crumples. There's a busted motor mount, the tranny was shoved back quite a bit, into the sheet metal. It's all messed up. I am, kinda, looking for a replacement body with a blown motor. And I'll go that way if after I pull the engine and all's OK there. Thanks again, Mike

Well, sorry for the title. We bought the 2001 LL Bean OBW for our 17 yr old. It needed a head gasket job, so I did that. Plus, it needed other work, like control arm bushings, a front hub, fluids, etc. After doing all this, and after driving it for maybe 6 weeks, the boy rear-ends a Murano. Everyone was fine, except the Subie and the exhaust on the Murano. So. Most of the damage is, of course to the core support for, and the radiator and AC radiator, the front bumper and the lights. Those kind of things. I also noticed the top cover for the air box for the air cleaner was askew. I assumed this was due to the intake being smashed rearwards. While removing the radiators, I also noticed that the covers for the front part of the exhaust were damaged. Then, I checked the dogbone, and it's busted, too. The engine seems to be shoved back about an inch or so. Now, here's my question - What are the un-obvious things I need to check, to make sure to fix. I'll look at the cross members, motor mounts, the stuff around the tranny, like the linkages and cooling tubes, etc. What I don't know, and I'm asking for input on, is there something else that might be a gotcha if I don't correct it. I'd rather not right it off as wrecked beyond repair. I'm retired, and I can do most of the work. I can get some, if not most, of the parts from my local wrecking yards. Thanks in advance, Mike

YAY! She started right up! Crankity-crankity, then running with a clickity-clackity and then the boy turned her off. In a panic, he asked, "What's that?" I told him it's just the upper end, and the engine needed to pump oil up there. So we started her, with the EXACT same results, from the engine and from the boy! I told him to start her up, and stop turning her off! He did, and 3 seconds later, she's purring. With a HUGE fuel leak! Seems, I buggered up an o-ring on the #2 injector.... Off to get o-rings tomorrow... But this validates the link counting! Thanks all for your input. Mike

Here at the link counts. And my caveat, I haven't started the engine yet. When that happens, I'll know if I've installed the chains correctly. Remember. I found the gold and dark links, so I really believe this to be correct. But we'll see! All shafts are up, in the 12 O'clock position. On the left bank, starting at the crankshaft gear mark going clockwise, the intake mark is the 28th link. Then, from the intake mark, the exhaust mark is on the 12th link. The chain is tight across the water pump and the lower idler gear, and the dark link is on the lower right side as one is looking at the gear. Then back to the crankshaft gear. I didn't have the upper idler or the tensioner installed yet, so all the slack is between the crank gear and the intake gear. On the right bank, from the intake mark and going counter-clockwise, the exhaust mark is on the 15th link. Then from the exhaust mark, the dark links align on the lower idler at the 28th link. Most of the slack was between the exhaust gear and the lower idler. The guide on the top fit with almost no slack. So that's what I found. We'll see. Thanks all for your input! Mike

Yes. Sorry. I'll reply to the whole thread..

Yup! I did all that. Especially the check, and check again, and again... It's all together, and before I put the front chain cover on, I turned the engine over several time and didn't feel anything mechanically bind, or feel like something was hitting something else, like a valve and a piston...

Yes. All I found was a good image to count them myself.

Hello all, So I'm rebuilding our 2001 H6, and I'm re-installing the, used, timing chains. I found the dark links, and the gold links, and I have them all lined up. I believe they are correct. And then I had this thought that this would have been so much easier if instead of colored links, that we just knew the number of links between marks. For example, on the left bank, say that from the intake cam timing mark there are 13 links, and that 13th link is the link on the exhaust cam timing mark. Then, the chain is tight across the water pump, and the idler, and there are X number of links from the exhaust cam mark to the mark on the crank shaft, and then X number of links back to the intake cam mark. Same kind of thing on the right bank, the a number of links between the intake and exhaust, indicated by the two gold links, and then so many links from the exhaust mark around the lower idler, and up to the crankshaft. Thoughts? If I can, I'll see if I can get a look at new chains and count them. Mike

When I worked on VW bugs, people would over tighten on the cork gaskets, then wonder why they leaked. I'm following the manual here, but I think in a few hundred miles after shes running, I'll check a few bolts..

Thanks, and yes, new gaskets almost everywhere.

Hi there, As I'm going through the efforts to reassemble the H6 in our 2001 Outback, the manual says to torque the cover to a whopping 6.3 N-m, or 4.6 ft-lb. Which was just barely enough to make the 55.2 in-lb click on my torque wrench. That's just a tad tighter than hand tight, it seems. OK, so I'm new to Subaru, and I've dealt with 'hand tight, plus a 1/4 turn', in the past. Will they really not leak? The instructions didn't call for locktite. They didn't specify dry or lubed bolts - so I just cleaned them well... And installed them. Is it me? Is this just a feature I'll have to get used to? Are the gaskets really that good??? Or are leaks in my future....? Mike

Thanks. I'm not familiar with metho, but I can GTS, and find out about it! OK, denatured alcohol. Correct? Mike

Hi there, I'm getting ready to assemble the engine in the soob after taking it apart to replace a bad head gasket. Is it a thing on Subarus to run a tap down bolt holes, and the bolts through a die to clean them up? And, I was taught to wash parts with a solvent first, then wash/rinse with a water based degreaser. What do you do? Of course I'll coat all the parts with oil as I reassemble. And I understand it's really important to keep the mating surfaces on the chain cover really clean to get a good seal. Is it really clean, like wiped down with alcohol clean? Or degreaser, like brakleen, clean? Mike 2001 Outback, LL Bean H6

I tried that, didn't work so well. I ended up using a 12mm tap, and a bolt. I used a small lead weight and made a small slide hammer. They came out fairly easily. Mike

Thanks. I was headed in that direction, but it would have been a last resort option for me. I ended up using a 12mm tap, and a bolt. I used a small lead weight and made a small slide hammer. They came out fairly easily. Mike

Hello all, I'm having difficulty removing the pins. I've tried grabbing them with vise grips, and wiggling, and only managed to tear pieces off the pin. I've tried taping them, screwing in a bolt, and wiggling, and split the pin. I used a tap that was just slightly larger than the bolt hole, but didn't tap it in even as far as top the block. I'm thinking I'll go buy a more precise tap, smaller than the hole, larger than the pin, and try again. They have been sprayed with PB Blaster. Any other tricks I can try on the other two? And tips on how to remove the broken pins? If it were a cast iron block, I'd heat them up and pull them out. But I don't think I want to do that with aluminum. Mike 2001 Outback LL Bean H6 3.0 ps - I'd swear someone in the past used a sealant, as I've never had this much of an issue removing a freakin' pin...

Thanking you!!

Hello all, Simple question, how does one go about removing the front seal on an automatic tranny in a 2001 Outback? Does it just pull/pry out, cause it looks like it does? Note: I tried to search, but found about every thing else Outback, but not how to remove that seal.. TIA, Mike

I got this car with a blown head gasket. And I've already found helpful peeps here! Thanks! Mike