heartless

a few more pics... another view of the hole in the AC condenser... looking downward - hole is bigger around than my thumb, and about a 1/2" deep or so - doesnt go all the way thru, but darn close.... and some more of the lovely burned wiring... Chassis ground... one of the fan connectors - both wires were (very poorly) wrapped in fresh tape... repairs in progress... Spent pretty much all day yesterday working on fixing the burned wires - about 2/3rds of the wires in that harness sustained enough damage to require repairs - including 3 of the 6 shielded sets...so much fun trying to repair those... and just for fun - the remains of the front harness wrapping - not much of it left, is there?

Thanks for the update matt! gonna try to get the 2.2 yanked out this weekend - between rain showers, lol. also waiting on a timing kit to arrive, but I can get started on cleaning things up and resealing a few things without that.

yup - go to your local auto parts store - look in the "help" section - there should be a package of various sized vacuum caps - should only cost a buck or two find & use the one that fits that metal line snugly (dont want it falling off)

a little dielectric grease wouldnt hurt either to help keep moisture out.

sorry to hear the problem is back - it was basically a shot in the dark anyway... for the location of the lines mentioned - look at drivers side - there are 3 "fuel" lines clustered together attached to metal tubes that distribute the fuel to the motor (follow the fuel line coming off the fuel filter toward the motor to find the correct location) - 2 of those lines will have the SS screw clamps on them - these are the actual fuel lines, the third one will just be a spring type clamp - the kind you can remove with a pair of pliers - that is the vent line that Presslab is speaking of - disconnect it from the metal tube at the engine, put a rubber vacuum cap over the metal tube, and just leave the rubber line free - see what happens with that.

the original was the dohc version - so I should be ok - if I am reading you correctly. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I dont have a problem with swapping things if I need to, but why make more work unnecessarily. Guess I will find out for sure when the harness gets here. Off to get some burned wiring repaired now...pulled the main engine compartment harness - from passenger side front to under dash - out of the donor car (the one that runs thru the left fender) to make sure I had enough wire for repairs. Funny how there is like 6 or 7 times the wiring in the front of the Forester than there was in the 1st gen Legacy.

Ok, I am confused now - getting the above mentioned 2.2 harness from matt167 - should be on its way already. the original 2.5 is history - it is going away, along with upper the harness - too much fire damage to bother with it... 1990 2.2 going in, using above 96 upper harness - I will still need to swap the injector connectors from the 90 harness to the 96 harness?

Ok - so I have a "correct" year 2.2 upper harness on the way - do I still need to swap the connectors?

depends on the sticker - some can be removed with a single edge razor without damage, others cant. Who issued the sticker? company? city? I would contact whomever it was and explain the situation (do not admit fault, tho), maybe you can get a new one with little/no cost. doesnt hurt to at least try anyway.

So, Ivan - I have a dohc 2.5 sitting here just waiting for someone to "like" it enough to give it a new home....

Ivan - from what I have seen the so called "mechanic" that had his hands on this car - he is sloppy, careless, and obviously didnt give a darn about other peoples property. One more reason why I prefer to do things myself if I can. I admit, there are a few things that are beyond my capabilities, but not all that many things.

Thank you fairtax - I will check length between the two. Supposed to have some nice weather for the next few days, so I am hoping to make a bit of progress on this project.

And you would probably shatter the glass you were trying to save - unless you cut far enough away from it that the vibrations to the glass were minimized

two rows of the core are petty destroyed/deformed - I have zero faith in it not leaking (that picture doesnt show how bad it really is). also found a major gouge in the hard line that runs along the passenger side from the condenser to the canister by the firewall, so that is on my "wish list" as well. (friggin sloppy, careless people!) Granted AC is not an absolute necessity, but it sure would be nice.... for the upper AC hose, yeah it does have some outer damage, but it appears to be only the outer protective wrap - the damage does not appear to go beyond surface melting of that. the low pressure cap is melted pretty good, but does still screw off/on ok. Thinking new o-rings in that area should take care of any potential leaks there. Throttle cable - altho it looks really nasty, the cable does slide in/out pretty easily - may just go ahead & change it out anyway tho, just to be on the safe side. The cruise control cable, surprisingly, shows absolutely no signs of damage other than a tiny bit of discoloration of the outer protective wrap - figure that one out... Question: Will the throttle cable from the donor car work (length wise) on this? (1990 Legacy to 1998 Forester for those that dont want to look back) And how much of a pain in the backside is it to do? Cant seem to find any part numbers anywhere for cross-referencing. Can find it listed for retail sale on several sites, but no part numbers are shown. Currently trying to put together a shopping / swap checklist - would appreciate any input on anything i may have missed/overlooked? New Items - EJ22/Legacy related Full Timing kit (eBay) Spark Plugs / wires Oil Filter / oil Knock Sensor Various gaskets (have 2 partial sets on hand w/most available) New Items - EJ25/Forester related Radiator (maybe - need to inspect thoroughly - was tossed in the back of the car) Air filter Fuel Filter Throttle cable (possible swap from donor car?) New Items - Misc Heat shrink - various sizes (for repairing burned/damaged wiring) Wire Loom/wrap (plastic) various sizes Fuel Line Vacuum hose Washer hose Berryman’s carb cleaner (2.5 throttle body pretty dirty) Used Items Upper 2.2 wiring harness (necessity - in progress) (wish list) 98 Forester compatible AC Condenser (wish list) 98 Forester compatible AC hard-line - passenger side, from condenser to canister (existing is damaged) Misc Swap Items Throttle body from 2.5 to 2.2 (have - gasket? check sets) Flex plate from 2.5 to 2.2 (have) Battery cables (obtain from donor car) Wiring for making repairs to fire damaged areas (obtain from donor car) I will be going through the 2.2 and resealing things as needed - rear seperator plate, oil pump, oil pan, cam covers, etc. Which brings me to another question: is it worth changing the headgaskets on this motor while it is out and easily accessible? it does have a bit over 200K on it. Or should I leave well enough alone until/if it needs them in the future? I know the 2.2 is not generally prone to HG issues, but if it is worth doing while it is out...

Great looking Wedge, twitch! very nice score. (jealous!)

getting thru the urethane, without breaking the glass is going to be the hardest part. There are special tools made for doing this - not too terribly expensive either, but do take a little practice to use effectively. Like this: http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/windshield-removing-tool-p-12480.aspx I have read that a lot of people use something like piano wire to "saw" thru the stuff...has to be threaded thru from one side to the other, then worked around the glass. Something similar to this: http://www.gtglass.com/urethane-knives-and-blades/auto-glass-tri-wire-starter-kit When i broke the cargo area side glass on my old GL, I happened to have a parts car on the property - had Auto Glass Specialists come out and do the job for me - $50 out (x2), $50 in

Ok - did not realize this, never having done one ... thanks for the info. matt167 - if that harness has the main plugs going towards the firewall, I may just take you up on that offer - would only have to splice in one connecter vs. several... Wish I could afford to just pick up an entire low mileage engine from the appropriate year, but at the prices I have seen ($350 to $750), plus shipping costs...yikes! (nothing available locally) Seems like some junkyards think these things are made of gold, even with 200,000 plus miles on them! The only nice thing about using the 90 donor - no need to swap exhaust headers - the early ones were dual port.

Well - got the 2.5 yanked out of the Forester - didnt take much since everything was already undone. In the process I found that there had been a fire in the engine bay that was not mentioned when we bought the car - burned/melted wiring/loom/tape and various connectors. (some pics posted in my thread in "members rides" area, but not as much traffic there) Contacted the previous owner asking when it caught fire - was told it happened at the shop while the guy was supposedly doing a compression check? Is it possible to start a fire doing that? Not too worried about repairing the burned wiring - I am good at that sort of thing - can pull wiring from the donor car to repair/replace burned sections. what concerns me are the melted plugs...specifically the injector plugs on the drivers side - one is very melted, the other isnt too bad, but the wires going into it sustained damage. there are a couple of others as well, but those are the major concern. So can I just splice in the injector plugs from the 2.2 donor? they look the same, so it shouldnt be a big deal, right?

Update - Got the donor car pulled out to drier ground on friday evening, but it rained nearly all day saturday. Today - Fathers Day (Happy Fathers Day to all you dads out there!) it is beautiful outside! So got the 2.5 yanked out of the Forester and started cleaning up 15 years worth of gunk on the crossmember...that is when I made an interesting discovery...This car caught fire at some point - supposedly happened at the shop he had taken it to when it started running bad. Regardless of when, it is making more work for me trying to find and repair damaged wires...and possibly the main throttle cable.. Damaged throttle cable sheath - not sure if this is going to affect operation or not...anyone care to weigh in? Negative battery cable is pretty trashed as well - will be replaced, as will the positive, just because. some damaged wiring near the battery location - not too bad here, but the plug for the washer pump is pretty melted... and damaged wiring down front - this is the main harness that runs under the radiator - look about an inch to the right of my thumb and you can see bare copper... Further inspection of the motor itself reveals damaged wiring on drivers side injector plugs amongst other things - will the plugs from the 2.2 harness work if I splice them into the harness in place of the damaged ones? (I know they will work on the injector side, but will the ECU be ok with them?) Should work, right? Am also looking for a replacement AC condenser for this beast - the existing one has a pretty good sized hole in it that was hidden by a piece of cardboard...

on a cast iron block, yeah, slightly warm does help - not so much on an aluminum one.

+2 on this method. I prefer PB Blaster myself... Have removed many a stuck rusty bolt/nut with the same method (inclucing the little 10mm nuts that hold the fuel pump in place on a Legacy...). Time consuming, but if it works without breaking things, you take the time. If you are so afraid of the wires, then perhaps they should also be changed? Old, brittle wires are not a good thing. OEM or quality NGK wires - pull one at a time, match length and install - no problems, good to go.

Also check the function of your fans - are they working? but yeah - kind of sounds like trapped air in the system...

also a good idea to keep a close eye on the coolant level for a week or so after doing the t-stat change. Filling the block first is always a good idea to reduce the amount of air in the system. Filling with the front end slightly raised will also help minimize air pockets, but there will always be small pockets that will eventually work thier way out, leaving you with a slightly lower coolant level - keep tabs on it and add a little as needed (I add in the overflow bottle to the "full cold" mark when engine is cold, they system will draw in what it needs) until it remains steady for several days to a week. at that point it should be good.

just gonna throw this out there... did you pound out the outer edge of the nut where it is indented in a notch on the axle? if not, that WILL make it much more difficult to remove as it was meant to do...

Just dont price yourself out of the market - if your lower cost is bringing work to you... maybe you should check with other local shops (posing as a potential customer) to get a ballpark of pricing in your area - you may be right on target for your market - pricing can vary greatly depending on region. You guys up in the PNW dont have the serious rust issues we do that make the job that much harder/time consuming to do.