SuBrat84

Black SVX. Donut on the right rear. I followed you until I turned in to Circle K. Made me miss my Emerald. Took a pic with my phone.. lol.. Anyway.. Just wanted to say Hi, if you're on here. Don't see many of them in town.. and usually it's Dale behind the wheel when I do.. lol.

I second that. However.. after breaking (twisting the drive off) a couple of Craftsmen 18" x 1/2" drive breaking bars... (trying to remove.) Yeah.. broken breaking bars.. heh.. Now, I use PB Blaster and my 1/2" drive electric impacting gun from harbor freight. (To remove.) Works like a charm. A 150 pound man 2ft away from the nut (2ft cheater pipe) would be applying "300 ft pounds" of torque. I know it's not accurate.. but if you're using the correct size socket and being careful this is a reliable method to get the castle nut tight.. I mean really.. it's not going to get much tighter than spec anyway.

Suzuki FTW! (I Ride a GS500!) Definitely would like to see pics of progress/completion though!

SERIOUSLY. I had a brat fall on me.. It was very unpleasant. I may well have laid there for a looooong time and possibly died if my friend had not been there to help. I hate to be the "worst case scenario" guy.. but it may be your catalytic converter on its way out. I had one go on an SVX and it made a nasty buzzing rattling noise. Let's just hope is a heat shield!

The pulleys and tensioner should be replaced every time the timing belts are. At LEAST every other time.. They dry out and go bad just like any other bearings.. It's possible your noise is coming from there.. but should be replicable at a stand still just revving the engine.. At 160k the pulleys and tensioner should be replaced if they never have been before.

Did you have the pulleys and tensioner replaced as well?

Well.. I was going to say carrier bearing.. but, as it's FWD and not AWD.. that rules that out. So, my next guess would be in agreement with the bad axle theory. ripped/torn boot tossed all the grease, dried up, and now it's "getting crazy" without load on it. Another possibility is a wheel bearing.. but you would probably get some pretty crazy vibration if that was the case. I do agree you should try to duplicate the noise with the car idling in Park or Neutral. I also agree that the "loud car" for a couple of years is probably a hole in the exhaust somewhere pre-muffler. Maybe a bad donut gasket.. hard to say without hearing where it is loud at..

This thread is worthless without pics! Maybe some audio/video would be good too?? (Not totally worthless.. good to know what it takes to do the swap!)

Sounds like maybe a bad relay or something.. like it's getting forced voltage when you are cranking the engine.. but then none otherwise. throttle position sensor? I would probably wire the pump to one of the 12v systems that comes on with the car (like the radio or something...) Good Luck!

I was going to say new pad/shoes might give you your "room to adjust" again.. John - tell your wife PULL UP and Push the button!

Sounds like alternator to me. Have it tested for voltage with the car running, if it will. Should be between 13.5v - 14.5v DC. (Try to test around 1800rpms if it will, if you have a helper.)

I was referring mostly to misfires.. I was having the same problem but mine was 1&3. Adjusting the knock sensor seems to have fixed it. As far as the erratic idle I would work on tracking down the P0440 code... Evap Emissions could be a lot of things.. vacuum leak.. clogged pcv system.. dirty sensor in the intake.. Check real close from as many angles as you can all the hoses attached to the air box.. (Below and behind especially!) Do a search on here about Seafoam.. cleaning up your intake might help. I'm not sure if these cars have a "fast-idle-air-control valve/sensor" like my honda (that had that same problem) does. Worst case scenario you can always pay a Subaru dealer $95 to tell you what the specific problem is. (Make sure you get them to agree BEFORE-HAND you want the problem diagnosed, and not just the code read!)

Knock Sensor! Make sure it's not touching anywhere other than where it's supposed to. (The plastic can touch other parts of the engine and mess things up.) Make sure the mounting surfaces are clean. Also, If you don't have one, find someone with a torque wrench.. DO NOT go past 17 Ft. Lbs. (I Set mine for 15 Ft. Lbs.) So far the problem has not re-occurred since I adjusted the knock sensor!

The closest vehicles I have to compare were my brothers 02 Impreza 2.5 RS (5MT) and my 98 Legacy 2.5GT (4EAT.) The MT I felt had better torque, acceleration, handling, and maybe even top-speed due to the 5th gear. I know the AT is going to be producing a bit more heat especially towing and/or wheeling. While it does make it a little easier to get over some of the "Bumps" especially with a camp trailer.. You're going to be replacing your fluid a lot more frequently.. and having to keep a better eye on the condition of the transmission to help prevent "Torque bind" that is a lot more common in an overheated AT vs. an MT. I say, if you're anywhere decent with the manual then stick with it. I would never have any automatics car if I could help it. I do think it would be a tough swap having to worry about wiring in the TCU, the Pedal cluster, the shifter cluster, etc.

Step 1. Get Truck Step 2. Build engine. Step 3. Get "ea81" hatch..... Need I say more?

That doesn't really look like it goes on the outback.. and if it does it looks superfluous. (maybe holds a wiring harness "in place" or something.) Looks older though.

I think you should start by letting us know what rules and limits you are bound by. Also, what your intentions are. A general idea of what kind of funding you have to work with (e.g. "On the cheap" or "Money is not a concern" or somewhere in between..) And then, be open to any suggestions that arise.

New radiator, "flush" the coolant system with a garden hose on low with the car running and the heater on full blast.. hose in the top.. just let it run out the bottom. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two until nice clean water is coming out the bottom.. don't want to overheat your car. Fill with car running and heater on full blast as directed, allowing t-stat to open, etc. If you have bubbles with a new radiator and properly filled coolant system you have exhaust gas sneaking past the headgasket. My 98 legacy did the heat up cool down thing like you describe but it was because I had an air bubble in the coolant system.. I never looked if the overflow bubbled.

I was going to say rod. Sounds like how my Legacy (2.5 GT) acted when it threw a rod. Except I goosed it and blew a hole in the block.. haha.. hope you get it figured out.

Reading a code should be: FREE (Some shops will charge you 1 hour for this!!!: $75 Knock Sensor from autozone: $75.99 One hour Minimum Labor: $75 75 75 +76 $226 Really should be about $150 to have a shop do this job. (Even some shops will do a half hour minimum labor and that would save you another 30 or 40 dollars.) I'm sorry my friend, you've been had. For future reference Autozone will read codes for free. For $100 I would have come up there from Tucson and done it for you. Even then you would have been under $200 (with tax.) Take a look at your invoice and see what they charged you for. Was this a dealership? They charge around $180 for the Genuine Subaru Knock Sensor at the dealer. Then $95 to read the code and $95 for an hour of labor = $370... ohhhh.

It is possible that the nut shells bouncing around on top of the sensor could cause issues.. It's more likely that your Rodent has chewed through a wire and when you blew it off you made the wire so it's not shorting out anymore. Look real close for bare wires.. Some electrical tape might go a long way in this situation!

How long were they driving it like this and didnt notice? What kind of issues would this cause? I have been worried that the guys that did my head gasket job didn't exactly know Subarus very well and I may be a tooth off. I just haven't had the motivation to open up the timing covers and find out for myself.

I was out today in the 110F sun driving across town and idling in the parking lots with the ac going with my son in the car and didn't have a single problem. I'm really really keeping my fingers crossed that my knock sensor was not installed properly and now that it is everything will be fine.

Here's my list of possibilities: (Since we've both done plugs and wires.) Knock Sensor; Make sure the mounting surfaces are clean, make sure the sensor isn't touching any other parts of the engine except where the mounting surface is at. 15-17 Ft. Lbs. of Torque. (I did this last night and went for a ~40 mile drive without a problem. But, it wasn't 110 at night either.) A Bad Knock Sensor should throw a CEL. But, I guess it being installed wrong can cause these issues. MAF Sensor; I guess they sell a MAF Cleaner. A dirty MAF may or may not contribute to this issue. A totally BAD MAF should throw a CEL. Alternator; Maybe still functioning enough to keep the system charged and running but not producing enough current for a GOOD spark. (Try turning off as much electrical stuff as you can and see if it helps. Headlights, stereo, ac/vent fans, etc.) Fuel Pump / Sending Units; May be clogged or dying, not providing enough fuel pressure / May not be providing good input to fuel levels? Fuel Injectors; May be dying and not putting enough fuel into the combustion chamber for a good burn. Coil Pack; Failing, not giving good spark. Did you say you replaced the coil pack? Basically I'm going to go down the list one by one doing the cheapest stuff first until the problem goes away and doesn't come back. Since cleaning/adjusting is the cheapest thing I can do I am going to clean/adjust as much of that stuff as I can before I start buying more parts. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that it was the knock sensor. (Mine was touching where the wire comes out of it so I think it was picking up a "ghost knock." It was also WAY too tight.. I could barely get it loose. I torqued it down to about 15 ft. lbs.)

I think you should remove it and clean again so you can get a good look at it and make sure you don't leave any residue in it?